234 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



eyes be perfectly formed and firm, as it is not 

 necessary to remove the wood from the interior 

 of the shield, as is the case when budding- the 

 Rose. 



Having procured the buds, make a longitudinal 

 cut, an inch or more down the stem, then make a 

 transverse cut across the stem at the top of the 

 first incision, raise the bark on each side with great 

 care, then take off the bud with a thin slice of wood 

 adhering, force it into position, make a clean cut 

 at the cross-incision, and bind 

 tightly with bast or yarn (Fig. 

 12). Keep the buds slightly 

 shaded and moist by frequent 

 damping with the syringe ; 

 but do not remove the liga- 

 tures until after the leaves 

 fall from the vines. 



Planting (Yearlings) 



If one operation in vine cul- 

 ture has undergone more 

 changes than another, it is 

 unquestionably that of plant- 

 ing. Years ago, it was the 

 j raotice to incur great expense 

 in the preparation of broad, 

 deep borders for the external 

 planting of one-year or per- 

 haps two-year-old vines. These 

 were allowed to make a year's 

 growth, which was cut down 

 to within a few inches of the 

 starting bud, a second year's 

 growth was treated in like 

 manner, and the third year's 

 rods were considered strong 

 enough to carry a few bunches 

 of grapes. 



Modern growers, who pro- 

 pagate, plant, and fruit their 

 vines within two j^ears from the eye, pooh-pooh 

 the slow process, by which our forefathers built 

 up the fine old vines still existing in many parts 

 of the country, and from which, notwithstanding 

 the fact that their ages range from forty to four- 

 score years, heavy crops of the finest grapes are still 

 being cut. They plant and re-plant; but still the 

 Leviathans exist; a fair proof that the premature 

 fruiting of vines means a short life and a hard one, 

 which may and does suit the grower for market who 

 works for quick returns, but it is not quite the 

 system that can be recommended to the proprietors 

 of private places, who look upon their vines as heir- 

 looms, and object to the frequent disturbance and re- 

 planting of their borders. 



While admitting, however, that the old system is 

 slow and the new one fast, it is by no means difficult 

 to draw a line between the two, which will enable 

 the modem grape-grower to frame the outlines of 

 old vines, and at the same time to vie with the 

 express grower, who is straining every point to keep 

 pace with the times. Assuming, then, that the front 

 of a vinery or range of vineries has been built upon 

 arches or piers, to admit of internal planting, that it 

 is the intention to use vines which have been grown 

 from eyes and ripened off into 

 what are termed "planters," 

 by the end of August, there are 

 two courses open to the culti- 

 vator. He may either plant at 

 once, before the vines go to rest, 

 or defer it until the spring. 

 The best months in which to 

 plant ripe canes are September 

 and October, February and 

 March ; the most unfavourable 

 months are November and 

 December. 



If the vines must be ob- 

 tained from a nursery, they 

 should be secured early, and 

 placed where they can be safe 

 from drenching rain, wind, and 

 worms. If intended for autumn 

 planting, and the new inside 

 borders are ready, they may be 

 shaken out at once, say in 

 September or October, and 

 after carefully examining the 

 roots, to ascertain that they are 

 fresh, healthy, and free from 

 Phylloxera, they may be planted 

 a foot or a little more from the 

 front sashes ; very shallow and 

 well elevated, to allow for the 

 subsidence of the new compost. 

 Rich, light compost, consisting of turf, bones , and 

 charcoal, or charred refuse, without manure, answers 

 best. Give a little water to settle the soil about the 

 roots, and mulch with half-rotted manure, to keep in 

 the warmth and moisture. 



Some grape -growers think a season is saved by 

 autumn planting, while others aver the vines make 

 better growth the following year by being cut back 

 in October, and kept in the pots until February, the 

 most natural time for the mutilated roots to estab- 

 lish themselves in newly introduced fermenting soil. 

 The latter course having been decided upon, each 

 vine should be cut down to within eighteen inches of 

 the pot (Fig. 13) early in the autumn, to prevent 

 bleeding when the sap begins to rise again. When 



Green-budcling. 



