WAYS TO GROW GRAPE VINES 



Growing Vines by Layering. This is another method of mul- 

 tiplying vines which is but little employed in California, because 

 it is so much easier to secure plants by cuttings, as the mnifera 

 species roots so readily. Layering consists in bending down and 

 burying one of the lower canes so as to facilitate top and root 

 growth from each of the buds. To hold the cane in place, stakes 

 are used, the trench being left open until the shoots grow out 

 and then, by covering the roots are developed. The cane must 

 rest in. moist earth, and usually has to be watered artificially, as 

 well as treated to prevent evaporation. The following winter the 

 cane is raised and a plant made at each node. 



Another use for layering is to fill a vacancy in the row, a cane 

 being taken from the nearest living vine. In this case the layer 

 must be set in a deep trench so as not to be torn out by the plow, 

 and the layered cane is at once covered in with earth, all but 

 one or two buds at the extremity, where the new vine is desired. 

 Such a layer usually bears the second year and is then detached 

 from the parent vine. 



Both the layers described are laid down early in the spring, 

 before growth starts in the vine. Summer layers of the current 

 season's growth are sometimes made, but are not usually satis- 

 factory. 



Growing Vines from Cuttings. This is the prevailing method 

 in this State both to secure grafting stocks and to grow vines on 

 their own roots. In growing from cuttings', different policies are 

 adopted, i. c., placing the cuttings in permanent place in the vine- 

 yard, or rooting them in nursery to be afterward transferred to 

 the vineyard as "rooted vines." First, the various kinds of cuttings 

 will be considered, and their placing mentioned later. 



Growth from Single Eyes. The use of single eyes or single 

 buds, the shortest possible form of cutting, is not large in Cali- 

 fornia, but some growers have reported good results. The method 

 is to prepare the cuttings with a half-inch or so of the cane on 

 each side of the bud and plant them carefully, with the bud upwards, 

 in well-prepared soil, covering the cutting completely, but very 

 little under the surface. Success depends upon retention of mois- 

 ture in the surface soil to induce rooting, and mulching is advis- 

 able. The method of propagation, too, seems best adapted to the 

 moister parts of the State, whence, in fact, most success with it 

 has been reported. Besides economy of wood in getting a plant 

 from each bud of the cane, which is sometimes an object, growing 

 from single eyes is advocated because of the satisfactory root 

 system secured, which much resembles that of a seedling. The 

 use of single eyes is obviously better adapted to nursery than 

 to field growth. 



