4:0 THE GEAPE CDLTUEIST. 



really hard nor fully formed. K the grciwth of wood is 

 very rapid, it is veil to check it by pinching off the end, 

 of the shoot a day or two before it is wanted for use. 

 After one set of cuttings has been taken off, another set 

 wiU soon push out ; these are to be removed when three or 

 fonr inches long, cutting them close up to the main stem, 

 so as to preserve a portion of the enlarged part at the 

 jrmction ; also cut off an inch or so of the small end of 

 the shoots ; these will usually grow more readily than those 

 taken at first. 



The young growing wood from vines in the open air 

 may bo used, but it does not strike root so readily, or_ 

 make as good plants as that from vines grown under glass. 

 AU the varieties of the grape may be grown from green 

 cuttings, but some root more readily than others, and there 

 wiU also be a great difference in growth of the plants, some 

 starting vigorously and continuing' so through the season, 

 while others under the same treatment wiU be but poor 

 feeble plants at the best. 



The propagator should always decide as to the value ol 

 .a particular mode of operation by the results. The ob- 

 ject is to make good vines, and it matters little how it is 

 done provided the point is gained. Some growers will 

 produce good healthy vines from both green and ripe 

 wood, while othfers fail with either. Therefore the best 

 method is that which produces the best vines ; but this 

 point can not always be decided by the size or appearance 

 of the vines ; for the reasons that a general inherent fee- 

 bleness is often hidden while the plants are undergoing 

 an unnatural forcing process. My own expeiaence has 

 led me to think that the surest way to produce vines ol 

 the best enduring qualities, is to use none but the most 

 fully developed wood ; remembering, however, that devel- 

 oped does not mean an overgrown, forced production, 

 either under glass or in the open air. 



