THE GRAPE IN KANSAS. 9 



PROPAGATION OF GRAPE-VINES BY LAYERING. 



Layering is a method of raising young vines by burying a branch of an old 

 vine while it is still attached to the original root. The plan is especially desirable 

 for growing vines which do not root readily from cuttings, as well as to get bear- 

 ing vines quickly. Layers usually fruit at least a year soorer than those grown 

 from cuttings. Strong canes of well-ripened wood should be selected, choosing 

 those that can be bent to the ground without breaking. The soil should be dug 

 away to a depth of two or three inches and the cane laid into the trench with the 

 end left out. The cane should be fastened down firmly with pegs and be covered 

 with only a small depth of soil, perhaps an inch at first. The work is usually 

 done in June, but can be done later if water is given occasionally, so the young 

 roots will not dry out. At every joint of the covered cane roots will start out, 

 and the latent buds will develop into new shoots. Not all should be allowed to 

 grow, however, as there is not sufficient strength for all; so the rankest-growing 

 shoots are selected and the other ones broken off, only about half that start be- 

 ing allowed to grow. When the shoots are a few inches in height stakes should 

 be provided, as the growth is much more rapid when support is given them. 

 When the shoots get nicely above ground a little more soil may be hoed around 

 them every time they are cultivated, until the trench is a little more than even 

 full. The reason for filling it up slowly is because, if too great depth of earth is 

 over the cane at first, it will be liable to rot. These layered vines should be cul- 

 tivated once a week until late in the season, except there should be a period of 

 very dry weather, when it might be best to mulch them heavily with strawy 

 manure and give up cultivation for the rest of the season. In late fall the young 

 plants can be separated and set out in the vineyard, or stored in a cool cellar till 

 spring. 



SPRING AND SUMMER LAYERING, AND HOW PERFORMED. 



Layering is the simplest, surest and easiest method of increasing the grape, 

 and is the best way to grow vines where only a few are wanted. There are two 

 kinds of layers, called spring and summer layers, from the season at which they 

 are made. 



Summmer layers are made in the summer, generally the last of July, from a 

 branch of the same season's growth. They are likely to be weak for several 

 years, and do not make as good plants as the spring layers. In making them the 

 wood should be slit for an inch or so near the buds that are covered. Bury about 

 one foot of the cane four inches deep in the ground and it will be rooted by late 

 autumn, when it should be separated and be treated as a young vine, and it is 

 generally best to get them well started in a garden or nursery before planting in 

 the vineyard permanently. 



Spring layers may be made by laying down any cane early in the spring. It 

 will root in one season. By fall it will have made a good growth of roots, when 

 it may be cut from the main cane, and, if strong, it may be divided into two 

 plants. By a little different treatment of the spring layer a vine may be grown 

 from each bud on the layered cane. For this purpose some thrifty cane should 

 be selected in autumn, pruned of its laterals and buried. In the spring it 

 should be uncovered and only one shoot permitted to grow from each joint. 



