FORMATION OF THE BORDER. 
9 
many very excellent plants, perhaps not in- 
ferior at all, have been, and many others are, 
constantly, raised from both cuttings and 
layers. 
TO RAISE PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS. 
Select for cuttings well-ripened wood, 
with the buds not far removed from each 
other; this is called short jointed. Cut them 
into lengths with only two eyes, one at the 
top and one at the bottom, the wood cut 
pretty close to the joints, but especially the 
bottom one. These may be placed in forty- 
eight-sized pots, close down upon the crocks 
which form the drainage, and the pots filled 
with the kind of compost already mentioned: 
the upper joint will be just above the soil. 
These may be placed in the hot-bed, as recom- 
mended for the eyes, though they are fre- 
quently placed close to each other, in about 
a foot of soil on the dung bed, and afterwards 
planted in pots. Our objection to this is, 
that the roots get damaged by removal at a 
period when they are brittle and tender, yet, 
if the cutting can be planted where it is to 
grow, and may remain undisturbed, we should 
give the preference to a cutting; but we 
should have the cutting with three eyes in- 
stead of two, and have two eyes under ground 
and one just above. In this case, the cut- 
ting would not have to be disturbed at all 
if it struck well, which is all but a certainty, 
nevertheless, when you plant cuttings to grow 
where they are planted, plant two for each 
place, that you may have the choice of the 
stronger. Our business, however, at present 
is with plants to be raised for removal; and 
here it is better, if not absolutely necessary, 
to have them raised singly in pots, that they 
may be shifted as they grow, until at length 
we have them under the south wall, regularly 
trained upright, and the side shoots pinched 
off at their first joints, to throw the entire 
strength into the main stem, which — like those 
from single eyes — may be frequently grown 
from six to ten feet in length in the first 
season. The difference is chiefly in the cut- 
ting requiring a larger pot to commence with; 
but it will require but two- sized pots instead 
of three, for the pots they should be perfected 
in, the first season, may be size twenty-four, 
the same as the single eyes. In raising a 
number of vines for a house, or indeed for 
any purpose, many more should be raised 
than are wanted, if the means can be had, 
because those which have made the strongest 
and ripest wood are to be preferred, and some 
will always be found stronger than others. 
RAISING VINES FROM LAYERS. 
In this case the new plant is made perfect 
before it is cut from the parent vine. The 
branch to be selected should be strong, ripe, 
and spring from some part pretty low 
down the vine, that it nny be easily bent 
down under the ground not far from if base, 
because the thicker the wood the better; it 
should, however, be not too rigorous, for the 
very rapidly growing branches have frequently 
much longer joints, that is to say, the buds 
farther apart; whereas, nil wood for propaga- 
tion should be chosen with short joint.-, full- 
swelling buds, as being the most fruitful. One 
of these being selected, it must be brought 
down to the ground and pegged fast below 
the surface, and not more than two eyes be 
left above ground, one close to the soil, the 
other just above it, so that when the part that 
will go beneath the surface is ascertained, all 
above the length required to be above ground 
must be cut away. This should be as soon as 
the leaf falls, and whichever of the two buds 
above ground grows the stronger should be 
selected for growth ; the other should be stop- 
ped or pinched off at the first joint. The 
mode of fastening these layers down is by a 
stick with a hook to it, thrust into the ground 
so as to hold the layer on the plant or lower 
side of an eye; and the more sudden the bend 
is at the place where it is held, the better it 
will be for the intended new plant. This will 
be perfectly rooted in a year, or by the next 
fall of the leaf. Many give the layer a sharp 
twist at the place where it is to be pegged 
down; others cut a notch half through the 
layer, which is supposed to facilitate the 
striking; but a sharp bend just behind the eye 
pegged down will be generally sufficient to 
insure healthy striking and proper growth: in 
fact, if a branch were merely laid along the 
ground, and a few heavy stones laid along it, 
the branch would strike at every joint. 
FORMATION OF THE BORDER. 
Presuming that we have plants raised from 
eyes, cuttings, or layers to plant out for our 
purpose, or that we are going to use cuttings 
for the plants themselves to root where they 
are to remain, we must first see to the forma- 
tion of the border, or space -wherein the roots 
are to grow ; supposing it to be the front of a 
house in which the vines are themselves to be 
trained, let every thing be cleared away for 
two feet six inches below the part you intend 
to be the surface of your border, and let a 
drain be made that shall carry off all water as 
low as that. This point must be managed 
somehow, for the vine must not be subject to 
watery visitations from below; and this can- 
not be avoided except by efficacious drainage 
under, and a perfect outlet at all times and sea- 
sons. For if there happen to be any rise of 
water where the drains are let off, so as to 
stop up the mouths of the drains, they might 
as well be awav altogether. The width of 
