230 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



and tuds, or single eyes. The first metliod is not 

 often brought into requisition, and it is to he regretted 

 that it has heen almost entirely given over to the 

 hyhridist, who works hy cross-fertilisation for raising 

 new kinds, when freaks of an extraordinary nature 

 frequently follow. If seeds of many of our old kinds 

 that have not heen cross-fertilised are sown, they 

 invariably reproduce themselves ; when, like the 

 offspring of any other family, they differ in strength 

 and robustness of constitution, hut they are not 

 hybrids. Bowood Muscat and Venn's Seedling 

 are said to be seedlings from the old Muscat 

 of Alexandria and the Black Muscat, and they 

 differ from their parents to an extent that leads 

 many to consider them distinct varieties ; the 

 first, in being earlier and requiring less heat, 

 and the second in having a better constitution. 

 in setting better, and having a thicker skin and 

 shorter foot-stalks ; the grapes also keep much 

 longer after they are ripe. 



Assuming that seeds have been saved, they 

 should be sown in pots or pans, in February, 

 plunged in bottom heat in a propagating-pit, 

 and the young seedlings should be potted off 

 singly when they are large enough to handle. 

 If re-plunged at once into bottom heat and 

 treated as vine -eyes, they will make rapid 

 growth and soon he large enough for inarching 

 on estabhshed vines for trial. If stocks are not 

 available, they can be grown on, and fruited in 

 pots. Mrs. Pince and Madresfield Court Mus- 

 cats, Alnwick Seedling, Duke of Buooleuch, 

 and a host oi others, are English hybrids. 



Cuttings. — As every bit of weU-r 

 wood, containing one or more eyes, will throw 

 out an abundance of roots when placed under 

 the influence of warmth and moisture, no 

 difficulty is experienced in getting cuttings ■„.''~r 're ,t 

 to grow very freely. In vine-growing coun- ting, 

 tries, where the .vines are propagated by 

 tens of thousands, the cuttings are made from 

 pieces of wood some four to six eyes in length. 

 Hardy kinds are sometimes propagated in this way 

 in England, and they do very well for walls ; but 

 plants so raised do not make the best vines for hot- 

 houses, as the cuttings harden and form an obstruc- 

 tion to the descending sap when the vines get into 

 free growth. Where convenience for striking them 

 in heat does not offer, short-jointed pieces, prepared 

 Uke Currant cuttings — i.e., with all the lower buds re- 

 moved — may be put in against a warm wall or fence 

 at pruning time. The following season they should 

 be encouraged to make two shoots, which will get 

 properly ripened by the autumn ; but as this rarely 

 happens in this country, the method is of little use 



to the cultivators for whose guidance these papers 

 are written. 



Layering is the primitive method employed for 

 increasing the stock of established varieties, either 

 out of doors or in vineries. The layers may be 

 pegged down into pots, or directly into the borders, 

 where, without notching or twisting, the moist soil 

 soon induces the formation of an abundance of roots. 

 The young vines, when ripe and dormant, can be 

 severed and taken away for planting, or they 

 may remain attached without detriment to the 

 parent vine. 



By adopting this method it is no unusual 

 practice, where vines are planted inside, to 

 make one particular variety fill a whole house, 

 by constant layering and cutting away other 

 kinds as the space is required for extension. 



In this way the late house at Eastnor, which 

 originally contained one vine of Lady Downes, 

 was filled with that best of all late-keeping 

 grapes. 



In this way also Mr. Wildsmith, the intelli- 

 gent gardener at Heckfield Place, after carrying 

 his Lady Downes vines over the two sides of a 

 span-roofed house, layered all the leaders into 

 the border opposite to that from which they 

 started, and, strange as it may appear, severed 

 them at the base. By a single stroke of the 

 knife the vines were made to stand on their 

 heads, without suffering any apparent diminu- 

 tion in the quantity or quality of their produce. 



Eyes. — The fact that an enormous number 

 of young vines are now raised annually from 

 single eyes, stamps the system as being the best 

 yet introduced by the British grape -grower. 

 In all cases, the wood from which eyes are 

 taken should be firm and well ripened, as 

 success greatly depends upon having a per- 

 fectly matured bud to commence with. There 

 are two ways of making the eyes ready for potting ; 

 some cut them half an inch above and below the hud 

 (Fig. 6), while others slice a piece off the lower 

 side to induce the rapid formation of roots ; but 

 this is a matter of little consequence, provided a 

 steady bottom heat of about 80° is constantly main- 

 tained in a propagating-pit, which can have full ex- 

 posure to light. The eyes should be planted early in 

 January in small pots, rather fii'mly filled with rich 

 loam and sharp sand, dry enough to bear pressure 

 without becoming adhesive. The pots and buds 

 being ready, the usual method is to scoop out a little 

 of the soil, replace it with sand, and press the hud 

 firmly down until it is level with the surface, when 

 a light sprinkling will be necessary to consolidate the 



