THE GRAPE VINE. 145 



ring the ground so often that weeds barely make their 

 appearance, is not only the best, but most economical cul- 

 ture. 



It need scarcely be added that in using the plough 

 or cultivator among trees, a very short whiffletree should 

 be used, the horse should be gentle and steady, and the 

 ploughman both careful and skilful ; and laborers who 

 use the spade or hoe, should be duly cautioned against 

 cutting or bruising the trees with their implements. 



SECTION 5. PROPAGATION AND NURSERY CULTURE OF 

 SEVERAL FRUIT TREES AND SHRUBS NOT USUALLY 

 GRAFTED OR BUDDED. 



1st. The Grape Vine. This is one of the easiest sub- 

 jects to propagate among all our fruit trees. 



In all stages of its growth it should have a dry and 

 rich soil, dryness first and most of all. The surest 

 method of propagation for unpractised hands, is layering. 

 A branch or shoot of the current season's growth, laid 

 down in June, in the manner described in the first part 

 of this book (figs. 61 and 62), will be well enough rooted 

 to bear transplanting in the fall or spring following. The 

 reader is referred to the instructions on layering. 



The next mode is by long cuttings. At the winter 

 pruning, the strongest, roundest, and firmest shoots of the 

 previous season's growth are selected, and cut into pieces 

 twelve to eighteen inches long, with two or three eyes, as 

 in fig. 60. They are cut close to an eye at the lower end, 

 or a piece of the old wood may be attached, like fig. 58. 

 These cuttings are buried in dry, sandy earth, till the 

 ground is fit to receive them in the spring. 



In planting, the whole cutting is buried but one eye, 

 and some cover that even as much as an inch deep. The 

 long cutting must be laid in the trench obliquely, as in 



