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CHAPTER VIII. 



PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 



The vine may be propagated in three ways 

 By seed, 

 By cuttings, 

 By layers. 



PROPAGATION BY SEED 



is only resorted to for the production of new varieties, as the vines 

 grown in this way often differ considerably from the parent stock, 

 even if the seeds were not the result of hybridisation. 



Certain American sorts may be raised in this way if they are intended 

 to form stocks to graft on. Such are the V. Solonis, some of the wild 

 varieties of V. Riparia and V. Rupestris, and some of the other species 

 which cannot easily be grown from cuttings, although these give more 

 constant results. The seeds should be only taken from perfectly ripe 

 grapes, and preferably from the finest berries of the bunch. They 

 should be steeped in water for a few days, sown in October, and 

 covered with about an inch or two of rich, loose soil. It takes about 

 a month for them to appear above ground, and they will not com- 

 mence to produce fruit till the fourth or fifth year. 



Although seeds are the means provided by nature for the repro- 

 duction of the vine, and plants grown in this way are remarkably 

 well constituted, it cannot be recommended to the practical vigneron. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 



is the usual, and one may almost say the only, method employed on 

 a large scale. It is our intention to here consider cuttings and rooted 

 vines together In the following chapter we shall discuss the relative 

 advantages of each. 



Any fragment of a vine shoot less than twelve months* old, and 

 comprising one or more buds, may be looked upon as a cutting, and is 

 capable of producing a new vine. 



* It may be of interest to mention that of late years vines have been largely 

 propagated in France from what are termed herbaceous cuttings ; that is, the 

 green fragments such as are broken off the vine when disbudding. They require 

 great care on account of the facility with which they dry up, but otherwise 

 strike easily. According to Fox, the softer the tissue the greater are the facilities 

 for the emission of roots. 



