GRA 



[ 441 1 



GRA 



is a more delicate procedure, and it is 

 well to introduce a portion of the pre- 

 vious year's wood where possible. 



Cuttings are best made from shoots 

 in the rest state, and may either be 

 made short or long. Speedily recom- 

 mends two inches of the two year old, 

 and one bud or eye of the new. These 

 were inserted perpendicularly in pots, 

 the bud just level with the surface. 

 They will, however, strike root from 

 thick shoots, of three or four years 

 old, of a greater length, and these may, 

 if necessary, be planted at once in the 

 border ; or if in pots, deep ones must 

 be used, and the cutting may be sloped 

 or bent. In all these cases, the cuttings 

 must be buried nearly their whole 

 length beneath the siirface. Bottom 

 heat will facilitate speedy rooting. 



Eyes. This is the most approved 

 plan, for the plant thus approaches 

 nearest to a seedling state. These are 

 generally planted in pots, a single eye 

 in each, at the end of January, and 

 plunged in a bottom heat of from 70 

 to 80. Prunings are reserved for this 

 purpose in the autumn, and these 

 being cut in convenient lengths, are 

 imbedded in moist soil until winter. 

 About half an inch of wood may be re- 

 served above the eye, cutting it sloping 

 away from the bud, and about an inch 

 or so below the bud ; the latter section 

 made horizontally. These, inserted 

 singly in five-inch pots, may be plunged 

 in a bottom heat of from 70 to 80, 

 and care must be taken that the worms 

 do not get into the soil. When grown 

 nearly a foot in height, they should be 

 repotted into pots of about seven inches 

 diameter, using a rich turfy soil, and 

 draining thoroughly. Many good gar- 

 deners reserve a portion of the two 

 years old wood at the base of each 

 eye, and there can be little doubt that 

 it is good practice. 



Coils. Obtain prunings from healthy 

 and fruitful vines on the rod system ; 

 these prunings should be from two to 

 four feet in length. Such being plun- 

 ged in a bottom heat of from 70 to 

 80, and in an atmosphere ranging from 

 50 to 00, have a tendency to produce 

 roots before shoots; and this is the 

 object sought. Fruiting pots of twelve 



to fifteen inches in diameter should be 

 used, and a compost of turfy loam and 

 half rotten manure, with the addition 

 of charred material, lime rubbish or 

 sand ; any, or all of them added in the 

 proportion of a sixth of the mass, in 

 order to ensure the free passage of 

 moisture. Thorough drainage being 

 secured, the end of the shoot is pressed 

 down against the bottom of the pot, 

 and the shoot bent round, until as 

 many coils or turns as possible are 

 made : leaving at last, four or five stout 

 eyes above the level of the pot rim. 

 The pot is then filled with the com- 

 post, and careful watering, a judicious 

 control of heat, augmenting the amount 

 of atmospheric warmth as the leaves 

 unfold, together with the usual routine 

 of stopping, thinning the berries, &c., 

 as applied to established vines, must 

 be carried out. The turfy compost is 

 filled in as the coiling proceeds. 



Grafting is not often practised. As 

 in most other cases of grafting, the 

 stock should be slightly in advance of 

 the scion. Perhaps the stock should 

 have unfolded a few large leaves before 

 the operation is practised. Then the 

 usual whip grafting is the best plan. 

 A couple of eyes on the graft are 

 sufficient. It is good practice to bind 

 moss round the whole at last, even 

 shading the buds of the scion for 

 awhile. The moss may be moistened 

 daily. 



Inarching. This may be performed 

 with either the growing shoot, or with 

 that in a rest state. A plant established 

 in a pot of the kind to be introduced 

 must be procured. With regard to in- 

 arching in a rest state, it is proper that 

 the sap should be in motion at the pe- 

 riod of operating, and that the stock, if 

 possible, should, as in grafting, be 

 slightly in advance of the scion. Vines 

 which are breaking are in an eligible 

 state, and the kind to be inarched may 

 be just emerging from a rest state. 

 The point of junction being determined, 

 the pot must be so fixed as that no 

 slipping can occur, and that the shoot 

 may be readily bent to meet the parent 

 plant. Nothing is necessary but to 

 pare a thin slice of bark with a little of 

 the wood from the facings of the scion 



