400 THE GRAPE. 



depression with the spade, bend a shoot into this hole and 

 cover it with a few inches of earth, as shown in the following 

 figure (Fig. 543). The surface of the ground must then be 

 kept clean and mellow for the purpose of preserving moisture 

 in the soil ; and should the season be a very dry one, the sur- 

 face should be mulched — that is, covered with a few inches of 

 fine grass or short straw. If the shoot is a strong and thrifty 

 one, and grows well at its extremity out of ground, every 

 joint will emit a profusion of roots, before the end of autumn 

 presenting the appearance shown in Fig. 543. The layer may 

 then be taken up by cutting it close from the vine and short- 

 ening-back its extremity, and then, by setting a spade far 



Fig. 543,— Grape Layer, the roots Fig. s44 — Grape Layer, separated 

 formed. into two plants. 



under it, lifting the whole out of the ground. It is then cut 

 in two and forms two strong plants as shown in Fig. 544. 

 These layers may be then heeled-in or covered with earth for 

 the winter, giving some protection from freezing by covering 

 the surface with manure or leaves, or they may be packed for 

 the winter in boxes of damp moss in the cellar. 



Spring Layering. — As layers, like unmolested runners on 

 the strawberry, exhaust the main plant, they should be taken 

 very sparingly from bearing vines. When they are required 

 in large numbers, vines should be planted specially for this 

 purpose — the soil to be made very rich'and well cultivated, 

 so as to produce a strong growth of shoots — unlike the moder- 

 ate fertility required for bearing crops. The spaces between 

 these vines should be six or seven feet ; and generally two or 

 three years are required, in connection with cutting-back to 

 two or three buds, and training one or two shoots to upright 

 stakes, before the canes become strong enough to layer profit- 

 ably. When this is the case, begin the work late in spring, 

 about the time the buds open, by laying down the strongest 



