PROPAGATION OF VARIETIES. 



31 



Formerly more certain success in propagating the vine by joints was 

 considered gained by halving the joint before planting, as shown in Fig. 

 19; but, recently, operators have practised the simple manner of prepar- 

 ing the cuttings with about two inches of 

 wood below, and half an inch above the 

 bud, and then planting in frames or pro- 

 pagating-houses, by simply placing the 

 eye or cutting in a perpendicular posi- 

 tion, the bud just level with, or nearly 

 covered in a bed of clean, sharp, building A ^ i oint P re P ared and Panted, 

 or lake sand. A gentle bottom heat is to be maintained steadily, at the 

 same time keeping the air in the house or frame quite cool until the lower 

 end of the cutting or bud has commenced to form roots, when the air of 

 the surface or volume of the house may be increased in warmth to stimu- 

 late growth of vine. 



In the method of growing from single eyes, or two-eye cuttings, in 

 out-door practice, it is considered best to prepare the cuttings during 

 winter, and pack them in clean damp — not wet — sand, in a cool dark cel- 

 lar, where they will callus ; and then, just as soon in the spring as the 

 ground can be worked, plant the cuttings out, selecting as far as possible 

 a sharp sandy loam for the location, covering the bed half an inch deep 

 with the soil, and then two to three inches deep with mulch of sawdust, 

 tan bark, &c. 



In preparing cuttings of what are termed hard- wood varieties, such as 

 Delaware, Norton's Virginia, &c, it is customary with some propaga- 

 tors to scrape off the outer bark from the lower end of the cutting, and 

 to soften it by soaking in water from ten to twenty hours before placing 

 them in the bed or frame. 



The large English black mulberry is propagated by cuttings, as 

 follows : About the last of October take cuttings from the thrifty shoots 

 of a bearing tree, cut out all the buds except two or three at the top, 

 and pare off the bottom of the cutting just below a bud. Lay in the 

 cuttings in a sheltered border, burying them so that only the two buds 

 at the top are exposed, and covering them with some loose straw or lit- 

 ter. In the spring make a small hot-bed with very sandy soil, in which 

 to plant the cuttings on taking them out of the ground, or place each 

 one in a small pot in any hot-bed ready at hand, and in a few weeks 

 they will be found to have made roots freely. 



As a general rule, cuttings succeed best when they are taken off 

 just between the young and the previous year's wood ; or, in the case of 

 young side shoots, when they are cut off close to the branch preserving 

 the collar of the shoot. The lower end should be cut smoothly across 

 just below a bud, the soil should in all cases be pressed firmly about the 

 lower end of the cutting, and it should always be planted before the 

 buds commence swelling, that the wound may in some measure heal 

 before growth and the absorption of fluid commences. 



Propagation by Layers and Suckers. 



A layer may be considered as a cutting not entirely separated from 

 the plant. 



Layering is a mode of propagation resorted to in increasing some 

 fruit-tree stocks, as the Paradise stock, the Muscle Plum, and some 



