96 



climate. In Champagne this has become a regular cultural operation; 

 the totality of the vines of a vineyard are thus buried every year, one 

 shoot, cut back to three eyes above ground, replacing the vine of the 

 previous year. 



FIG. 19. 



Reversed layering (Fig. 19) gives more vigorous vines than either 

 of the other methods, the root-system being well constituted and 

 identical to that of a vine raised from a cutting. Strange though it 

 may seem, no ill effects result from the turning upside down of the 

 stem of the young vine which this process entails. 



The buds on the long rod should be brushed off when they com- 

 mence to grow, with the exception of the three or four nearest the 

 ground. The young vine may be severed from its parent during the 

 winter following the operation. 



It is unnecessary to insist that the part of the shoot buried in the 

 ground should be much longer in a warm than in a cold climate, 

 where 6 or 7 inches would suffice. Varieties which only strike with 

 difficulty may be propagated in this way. The only disadvantage 

 of reversed layering is to prevent cross cultivation during the summer 

 months. 



Multiple layering is made use of for the propagation of such sorts 

 as do not grow readily from cuttings. It is doubtful whether it 

 would pay to have recourse to it on a large scale under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, although the plants obtained in this way are excellent in 

 every respect. Small vine-growers having only an acre or so per year 

 to plant would derive great benefit by adopting it. 



