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the air and light, too many leaves might grow, and as the evapora- 

 tion through these organs is excessive, compared with the amount 

 of moisture the tender rootlets can absorb, the young plant, after 

 having shown a fictitious growth for a while, soon withers and 

 gradually dies away. 



The joints should be short and numerous, and no cuttings 

 should be taken from a vine attacked by any fungoid pest, such as 

 anthracnose or cndium, &c., as they are as a rule less vigorous, and 

 there is always the risk of propagating the disease and infecting the 

 young vineyard with the disease. 



These details having been attended to, cuttings will be obtained 

 that will strike more readily and produce stocks that will soon bear 

 a heavy crop of fruits. The fresher cut, the better will cuttings 

 strike. It is not always possible though to get cuttings freshly 

 pruned, as late pruning delays the bursting of the buds in the 

 spring, and causes the vine to weep, thus weakening it, whilst it 

 may happen that cuttings may have to be got from great distances. 



A good packing for vine cuttings, when sending them a long 

 distance, is to tie them into bundles of 100 to 200 each, and put 

 around them some straw very slightly moistened with water, and 

 wrapped up in more dry straw and then put in cradle cases or in 

 gunny bags, which, on arrival, should be opened, the bundles taken 

 out and placed in an open furrow in some place of the vineyard not 

 liable to be flooded and where the soil is loose and well drained. 



The best time for planting is at the beginning of the spring, in 

 the moister districts, as at that time the surface soil has been 

 sufficiently penetrated by the warmth of the atmosphere to favour 

 the growth of the tender rootlets. In drier places, where the hot 

 weather comes early and the rainfall gets scarce as the spring draws 

 on, the planting should be done a little earlier. 



The importance of only planting such cuttings as are likely to 

 strike is evident, as if many blanks have to be filled in the season 

 after, it is always at greater expense, and at a loss of twelve 

 months, so far as the bearing of the vines is concerned. Should 

 any doubt be entertained as to the striking capabilities of the 

 cuttings and some varities, such as the brown Muscat, for 

 instance, are very hard to strike the bundles are often taken 

 from the trench where they have been lying, and placed a few inches 

 deep into water. After three or four days, the bark gets sappy, 

 and small wart-like swellings, covered with a little gummy substance, 

 show at the butt. The cuttings should then be planted without 

 delay, as the rootlets of the plant, looking like delicate white little 

 threads, soon break out and might possibly be damaged during the 

 operation of planting. 



A single eye cutting produces a more vigorous root system than 

 a cutting 10 to 12 inches long, and a medium size one will, in a 

 similar manner, strike a better constituted root system than long 

 cuttings 18 to 20 inches long, in which case a distinct system of 

 roots will come out in layers out of every joint, and will not be so 



