44 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



cut back to eight or ten inches, all on the same side of the vine, 

 and are not left closer together than twelve inches. In nursery 

 practice, Rotundifolia vines are trained along the ground for 

 layering. Vines on arbors, in greenhouses, or on sides of 

 buildings are easily layered in boxes or pots of soil. Plants 

 grown from layers are not as conveniently handled as those 

 from cuttings. 



Green wood layering. 



Layered plants from green wood are sometimes grown to 

 multiply quickly new or rare varieties. The work is accom- 

 plished in midsummer by bending down and covering shoots 

 of the present season's growth. Strong plants are seldom 

 obtained from summer-layering and it is never safe to attempt 

 to grow more than one or two plants from a shoot. The most 

 forceful culture possible must be given summer-layered plants 

 after the separation from the parent vine. It is very generally 

 agreed that plants from summer-layers not only do not give 

 good plants, but that the parent vine is injured in taking an 

 offspring from it in this way. 



Layering to fill vacancies in the vineyard. 



There is sure to be an occasional gap even in the best vine- 

 yard. Young plants set in vacancies must compete with 

 neighboring full-grown vines, and often in a bit of land so un- 

 favorable that it may have been the cause of the demise of 

 the original occupant. Under these circumstances, the new- 

 comer stands a poor chance for life. A plant introduced by 

 layering a strong cane from a nearby vine has little difficulty 

 in establishing itself on its own roots, after which it can be 

 separated from the parent. Such layering is best done by 

 taking in early spring a strong, unpruned cane from an ad- 

 joining plant in the same row and covering an end joint six 

 inches deep in the vacant place, but leaving sufficient wood on 



