Propagation of the Vine. 65 



mate, and are justified by the practice of the best wine- 

 countries. 



The same can not be said of the other class of admixtures : 

 those of foreign ingredients of any kind, which may very 

 properly be called adulterations, which will be considered in 

 another place.] 



PROPAGATION OF THE VINE. 



'X'HE vine may be propagated from the seeds, from 

 cuttings, by layers, and by grafting ; let us consider 

 under what circumstances the one or the other of these 

 modes of reproduction must be preferred. 



Seeds. — Seeds can not be used, on a large scale, for 

 planting a vineyard. For, although they may have been 

 gathered from varieties of first-rate quality, and per- 

 fectly adapted to the locality, they will generally pro- 

 duce very inferior plants, and the seedling obtained will 

 always be more or less removed from the parent stock, 

 and approximate nearer to the wild state. But, as it 

 has sometimes happened that seedlings have possessed 

 superior qualities to the original stock, this mode of re- 

 production has been employed, to obtain new varieties 

 still more worthy of cultivation. It is thus that our 

 vineyards and trellises have been gradually improved by 

 the excellent varieties which we now cultivate. This 

 operation, practiced in gardens, or nurseries, is a very 

 slow process, for it will sometimes be eight or ten years 

 before the plants will bear, although it may, it is true, be 

 hastened by laying down the young plants successively ; 



