PROPAGATION BY LAYEKING. 67 



be spread about them, to preserve an even temperature 

 and humidity, or they might be put in a cold frame, where 

 they could receive any required attention. Where acres of 

 cuttings are grown, these things are not practicable. 



Depth to plant. As a general thing, cuttings should be 

 inserted so deep, that only two buds will be above the 

 surface of the ground, and in the vine only one. If cut- 

 tings are long, they need not be set perpendicular, but 

 sloping, so as to be within reach of heat and air. A 

 cutting of a single eye of the vine with a piece of wood 

 attached, must be entirely covered, say half an inch 

 deep ; see figures 56 to 60, ground line, A, B. l^ut such 

 cuttings are seldom planted, except in pots, in houses, or 

 in hotbeds. 



Preserving Cuttings. If cuttings are not planted in the 

 autumn, they should at least be prepared quite early in 

 the winter, and be buried in the earth out of doors, in a 

 pit. A mound of earth should be drawn up over the pit 

 to throw off water. At the very first favorable moment in 

 the spring they should be planted. Trenches are opened 

 as deep as necessary with a spade, and the cuttings set in 

 it at the proper distance, from three inches to a foot, ac- 

 cording to circumstances. When the cuttings are in the 

 trench, the earth is partly filled in, and trod firmly down 

 with the foot, then the balance is filled in and levelled 

 up. 



Cuttings require particular attention, in the way of weed- 

 ing and hoeing; if weeds grow up thickly, and appropri- 

 ate the moisture of the ground, or if the surface be allowed 

 to crack, as it may after rains, if not quite sandy, they will 

 either make a feeble growth, or fail entirely. The ground 

 wants repeated stirring, to keep it friable and perfectly 

 free from weeds. 



