344 
[August, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Grape Trellises Again. 
In tlie Agriculturist for April we gave Mr. 
Knox’s plan for a grape trellis, and it has been 
adopted by a number of our readers. We now 
present the form used by Mr. A. S. Fuller, the 
well known horticulturist of Brooklyn. The 
article is an extract from a forth-coming work, 
by Mr. Fuller, on the culture of the grape. A 
plain and practical work upon the grape is 
much needed, and we shall be disappointed if 
the work alluded to is not just what is at pres¬ 
ent required by the inexperienced grape grower. 
“ The usual manner of making grape trellises 
with wires running horizontally, is not only very 
objectionable, especially when the vines are 
trained with horizontal arms, but it is a much 
more exjiensive method than the one shown in 
the engraving below, consisting of two horizon¬ 
tal bars, and perpendicular wires. Every-body 
Fig. 1.— fuller’s grape trellis. 
who has made trellises in the ordinary manner, 
is aware of the difficulty of keeping the wires 
straight, even if the posts to wdiich they are 
fastened are not more than eight feet apart, as 
the wire will contract and expand at every 
change of temperature, being loose on hot days 
and tight on cold ones. Besides, much larger 
wires must be used, if put on horizontally, to 
support the fruit and the vine. But the most 
serious objection that I have found is, that the 
■wires, unless very near together, are not where 
they are most needed when the young bearing 
shoots first start, for they must be tied to some¬ 
thing to support them when only a few inches 
long, or they are very liable to be broken off by 
heavy driving rains. If the wires are eight 
inches apart (which is nearer than the usual 
custom to place them) the young shoot must be 
at least twelve to fifteen inches long before the 
strength of the vine will admit of its being tied 
to the horizontal w r ire; besides, when tied, the 
strings will allow the shoot to slip lengthwise 
of the wire, and often it will crowd or become 
entangled with its neighbors. To tie the vine 
very tight to the wire, would cause it to become 
girdled as it expanded in growth. 
The above are but a few of the difficulties 
wdiich I have had to overcome in using the 
It is built in the following manner: Select 
posts of good hard durable wood of from 4 to 6 
inches in diameter and 62 feet long, set them in 
the ground 24 feet deep and in a line with the 
vines and 8 feet apart, that is if the vines are 
that distance apart: a post should be placed 
between each tw T o vines at equal distance from 
each. When the posts are set, nail on strips 24 
inches wide and 1 to 1 inch thick, one strip or 
bar being placed 1 foot from the ground, and 
the other at the top of the posts; then take No. 
16 galvanized iron wire and put it on perpen¬ 
dicularly, twisting it around the lower and upper 
bar, each wire being placed just where the up¬ 
right bearing shoots are to grow. It is well to 
lay down the arms by the side of the lower 
bar and make a mark on it where each wire is 
to be put, before fastening the arm; then re¬ 
move the arms to one side while putting on the 
wire. If a wire should not be in the exact 
place where it is w T anted it can be easily 
moved to the right or left, provided it is 
only, twisted around the bars. The dis¬ 
tance between these upright wires will 
differ according to the variety of vine, as 
the distance between the buds varies very 
materially in different varieties, but usual¬ 
ly 8 inches will be the proper distance, 
sometimes wiring at every bud and with 
others only at every alternate one. It 
will readily be seen that in this mode of 
making a trellis, when the young shoots 
start, they can be tied at any time 
when necessary, and there is no need nor is 
it judicious to tie them tight to the wire; they 
should be left at least one inch from it, the two 
shoots being tied to the one wire. The cost of 
wire is about one-fourth of that when large ho¬ 
rizontal wires are used. The arms should be 
fastened to the lower bar either by strips of 
leather tacked on, or by tarred twine tied around 
the arm and lower bar.” 
[Fig. 2. represents the trellis with the vine 
trained according to Mr. Fuller’s system. We 
should remark that the two engravings were 
sent to us as one, and in cutting to fit our col¬ 
umns, the left hand post in Fig. 1, and the right 
hand one in Fig. 2, are represented only half 
the proper thickness.—E d.] 
Fig. 2 . —fuller's trellis with the trained vi 
common grape trellis with horizontal wires or 
bars, and to avoid these difficulties I have 
adopted upon my own grounds (for low trained 
vines with single arms) a trellis constructed like 
the one shown in the above illustration. (Fig. 1.) 
Making' Cuttings. 
A large number of our plauts are propagated 
from cuttings, and as this is the season at which 
many are started for winter blooming, a few 
hints upon the rationale of the process will be 
timely. A plant may be regarded as a sort of 
compound being, made up of a number of dis¬ 
tinct parts, each of which is capable, under fa¬ 
vorable circumstances, of becoming an inde¬ 
pendent plant. Every plant, at least all 
those in cultivation, will be found to be 
made up of a succession of joints, each 
consisting of a piece of stem of greater or 
less length, and a leaf or pair of leaves as 
the case may be, eacli leaf having at its 
base a bud which may or may not be large 
enough to be noticed. The point at 
which the leaves are attached is called a 
node or knot, and not only do the ISaves 
start from here, but when the stem is 
buried in the earth, the nodes are the points 
from which roots most^ readily start. 
Though in some plants they will spring from 
any part of the stem, in the majority of cases 
they are only successfully produced from the 
nodes. We make two sorts of cuttings; those 
from the ripened wood after the leaves have 
fallen, and those in which the plant is still in a 
growing condition and retains its leaves. The 
last named are the kind made at the present 
season. With proper care and treatment each 
joint of a plant may be made to grow, but in the 
ordinary way of making cuttings, a shoot con¬ 
taining several joints is taken. To make a cut- 
ting a shoot is 
taken from the pa¬ 
rent plant, its low¬ 
er leaves cut off, 
and set in the 
ground with one 
or more knots be¬ 
neath the surface. 
In removing the 
shoot we separate 
it from its natural 
source of nutri¬ 
ment, and it has 
to make new roots 
before it can be¬ 
gin 011 its own ac¬ 
count as an inde¬ 
pendent individu¬ 
al. Plants differ 
very much as to 
the readiness with 
which the cut¬ 
tings will strike 
root. Some are 
so difficult in this 
respect as to re¬ 
quire all the skill 
of the professional 
propagator, while 
others will root by 
being merely plac¬ 
ed in the soil. The 
roots are formed 
from material con- 
gerantum cutting. tained in the stem 
and leaves, and they must be produced before 
any considerable growth can take place. Evap¬ 
oration is constantly going on from the leaves, 
and, in most plants, it is necessary to cover the 
cuttings with a hand glass or other protection 
to prevent exhaustion by evaporation. Let us 
take for example a cutting of a common Pelar¬ 
gonium or Geranium, as it is commonly called. 
A shoot of tolerably mature wood is taken, cut 
at a node or knot, the lower leaves removed, and 
it is set in the ground as far as the dotted line. 
In about two weeks, more or less, it will be 
found that a new growth has commenced be¬ 
tween the bark and wood; it appears as a sort of 
excrescence or callus as it is called by the gar¬ 
deners. This callus is material supplied by the 
stem and leaves, and forms a sort of bed from 
which roots will start; it often attains a consid¬ 
erable size, as is shown in the figure, and seems 
capable of performing the functions of the root, 
as cuttings that are well callused will often 
make considerable growth before any roots are 
pushed out. A cutting which makes a good 
callus is pretty sure to live. In a rich soil, cut¬ 
tings are apt to decay before they root, and much 
better success is usually had if they are planted 
in a naturally poor soil, or one made so by a 
large admixture of sand. The professional 
gardener strikes his cuttings in pure sand, and 
uses bottom heat; many plants can not be root¬ 
ed except in this manner, and all are more cer¬ 
tainly managed in this way. Many persons 
not having these appliances, or the skill to use 
them, are deterred from propagating, thinking 
that cuttings can only be grown by these means. 
The fact is that a large share of our shrubs and 
herbaceous plants can be readily propagated by 
