506 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



ripened, each cutting having about four eyes, or buds. 

 Cut thein off close to the lower joint, and about an inch 

 above the upper. The earth should be pressed closely 

 about the cuttings. The best time for putting them out 

 is the last of November or December. The linest vines 

 are raised from cuttings planted where they are to re- 

 main. Being undisturbed by removal, they are more 

 thrifty and long-lived. Remove all the cuttings but one, 

 if more than one succeeds, and use them to replace where 

 others have failed. During the summer, keep the ground 

 clean and light, by repeated hoeings, and pull off super- 

 fluous shoots, leaving but one or two to grow at first, and 

 one eventually. 



In fertilizing the grape the fact must be borne in mind 

 that the plant requires a large per cent, of potash and 

 phosphoric acid, and, during the fruiting season, a small 

 application of nitrogenous manure may be applied; not 

 enough, however, to cause a too rapid development of 

 canes to the detriment of the fruit-bearing powers. Mr. 

 Starnes, the horticulturist of the Georgia Experiment 

 Station, recommends the following formula for a good 

 grape fertilizer: 



Cotton-seed meal 1,000 pounds. 



High-grade acid phosphate 500 pounds. 



Kainit 500 pounds. 



' 2,000 pounds. 



" The fertilizer should be used at the rate of two pounds 

 per vine — one-half the amount, or one pound to be mixed 

 with the second layer of dirt excavated from the holes. 

 This pile or mound being used to fill the holes after the 

 top soil has been sifted around the roots of the plant, the 

 fertilizer does not come into immediate and direct con- 

 tact with the young rootlets; but as it becomes soluble 

 is carried down in a dissolved and assimilable state. The 

 rest of the fertilizer should be applied interculturally at 



