CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



CUTTINGS IN THE OPEN AIR. 



This is the ancient method of propagation ; the cuttings 

 being called malleolus, on account of 

 their resemblance to a mallet. Pre- 

 cisely this form is continued in use to 

 the present day,, and in France its use 

 is quite general. Fig. 12 is a repre- 

 sentation of this form. The head of 

 the mallet, a, is a piece of the old cane, 

 the wood being at least two years old. 

 The shoot, 5, is the growth of the pre- 

 vious season. It is not true that roots 

 Fig. 12. are more easily developed from the old 



wood than from the new. It is also obvious that but 

 a very limited number of cuttings can be obtained from a 

 single vine, and none at all except by cutting back the 

 fruiting cane. It is true, however, that some varieties 

 will root more readily in this way than by simple cut- 

 tings. The reason is probably twofold: 1st, The old 

 wood being hard, the young wood is preserved in a more 



