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Layers. — For the amateur who wishes to propagate only a few 
plants from a favorite vine, or the grape grower who wishes to 
supply a few plants for vacancies, the method of hard wood layering 
is highly recommended. It consists simply in taking strong canes 
and laying them in small trenches in the ground under the vine, cov- 
ering one or two buds with soil. The ground should be spaded and 
made loose before putting in the layers, as the formation of roots 
will be more rapid and abundant if the ground is loosened up. If 
not sufficient canes are available for the number of plants desired, 
the long canes may be bent down at two or three places, thus making 
as many plants. This is known as serpentine layeiiug. The under- 
ground joints are held in place by means of forked branches. Layers 
of hard wood are put in in the fall or early spring, and in one year's 
time will be ready to be severed from the parent vine. 
Soft wood layers are made with growing canes in the summer, in 
the same manner as the hard wood layers, and if made in July, will 
root enough by fall to be transplanted at that time or in the follow- 
ing spring. Soft wood layers do not make as strong plants as hard 
wood layers, hence are not made except in rare cases. 
Grafting —In recent years the grape has been grafted very exten- 
sively, especially in Europe and other countries, where the European 
grape ( Vitis vinifera) is grown, and the American insect, the Phyl- 
loxera, has been introduced. This insect is so disastrous upon the 
roots of the European grape, that it is necessary to propagate the 
vine by grafting upon roots of resistant species of grapes. Such 
species are Vitis riparia, our common wild Frost-grape, one of the 
parents of the Clinton grape, Vttis rotund i folia, or Southern Fox- 
grape, Vitis rupestris, or Sugar-grape of the West. The Clinton 
grape in Pennsylvania is commonly attacked by the phylloxera, but 
in spite of this fact it thrives and seenTs to suffer but little. 
The grape is not a difficult subject to graft, but the operation must 
be carefully performed. On acount of the flexible nature of the vine 
the grafting is usually performed below the surface of the ground. 
The deft-graft is best suited to an established vine which is to be 
cut down and replaced by a better variety. The vine is cut off about 
two inches below the surface of the ground and pared smooth. The 
stub is then split with a large chisel, such as carpenters use, or with 
a regular grafting chisel. Sometimes a stub is so hard to split, 
that it is better to saw a slit to receive the scions. The scions are 
two buds in length. Well-ripened, short-joined wood should be 
taken. The lower end of a scion is cut wedge-shaped and two scions 
are placed in each stub. These should be inserted at a slight angle 
with the grain of the stub to make certain that the cambium lines of 
stock and scion cross each other. No wax is needed in this method of 
