84 Vineyard Culture. 



down with hooked pegs, which keep it firmly in its place. 

 This is done just before the buds burst, but after the sap has 

 begun to flow freely into the canes. By this means the buds 

 all along the vine will have been excited, and in due time 

 they will break, and it is desirable to have them break evenly. 

 The soil near the layer is kept nicely cultivated, and as the 

 shoots grow, they are to be tied up to small stakes provided 

 for the purpose. The cultivation will bring some earth in 

 contact with the layer, and soon cover it ; but this is not 

 enough. Some good soil, or compost, is to be filled in against 

 the shoots", until the old cane is buried about six inches deep. 

 This furnishes a bed of fine soil for the young roots, which 

 will be very abundantly produced, not only from the parent 

 cane, but also from the lower joints of the young upright 

 shoots of the current year's growth. 



Taking up and dividing, is to be done in the fall, so soon as 

 vegetation is entirely arrested. The soil is then in better 

 condition than in the spring, and the roots can be more per- 

 fectly removed than when the ground is wet and heavy, par- 

 ticularly in clayey lands. Great care is needed in taking up 

 the layers : a trench should be opened with the spade on one 

 side, then the earth is to be loosened with a fork, and the 

 fibers carefully preserved, and the whole branch, with its roots 

 undermined, until all be free. The cane is then cut off from 

 the parent vine, and divided, so that each shoot shall make a 

 separate plant. If all has been well, there may be almost as 

 many well rooted layer-plants as there were buds on the cane ; 

 but this is seldom, or never, the case. These new plants are 

 to be assorted and put away for the winter, either in the cel- 

 lar, in sand or moss, or they may be heeled-in upon some 

 warm, dry spot out of doors. 



These layer-plants are in great request among planters, and 

 they command an extra price, for though made up of young 

 wood, they are well furnished with roots, and are sure to 



