THE GEAPE CULTURTST. 



Sometimes it is desirable to graft a whole vineyard, and 

 if the vines are young and healthy it is perfectly practi- 

 cable to do so ; but if the vines are, as is often the case, 

 old, stunted, and diseased, it is better to dig them up and 

 plant new ones. Because, if very large and old vines are 

 cut down and grafted, a large portion of their roots is very 

 likely to die in consequence of the severe check they re- 

 ceive by having ah 1 the top removed ; and these dead and 

 decaying roots will have a tendency to convey disease to 

 the whole plant. 



In these days, when men are planting acres of compara- 

 tively new and untried varieties, there will be, without 

 doubt, hundreds of vineyardists who will soon discover 

 that they have many sorts whose fruit will not pay for cul- 

 tivating the vines. Yet many of these varieties will make 

 good stocks on which to graft other kinds. Where a num- 

 ber of vines or a vineyard are to be grafted, and they are 

 to be grown for fruit only, I would not depend entirely 

 upon the stock for permanent support, but I would layer a 



portion of the graft 

 when it had grown 

 one season. The vines 

 should all be layered 

 one way ; that is, take 

 up the stakes to which 

 the grafts have been 

 tied, and set them in a 

 line one side of the 

 vines and about two 

 feet off; then dig out 

 a trench five or six 

 inches deep, from the 

 vine to the stake ; bend 

 down the vine into it, 

 and bring up the end 

 and tie it to the stake, 



