1868.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
63 
While we cannot agree with this, we accept it 
in so far as it is a protest against working by a 
set rule and an injunction to use judgment in 
the treatment of the vine. We should think 
him a very poor surgeon who should always 
amputate an arm or leg in the same place. 
As a knowledge of anatomy is the basis 
of all successful surgery, so an understanding 
of its structure is the foundation of all 
proper treatment of the vine. The parts of the 
vine and its manner of growth being once 
understood, all systems of pruning and training 
become plain, and difficulties that present them¬ 
selves in all of them, are readily surmounted. 
Perhaps no one has given us the anatomy of 
the vine so clearly as is done by Dr. Mohr in 
his admirable little work, “ The Grape Vine,” 
translated by Horticola. For our purpose we 
cannot do better than present his figures and 
condense his account of it. If we look at the 
stem of a vine, whether it is growing in summer, 
or now, while it is bare of leaves, it is plain to 
see that it is made up of a succession of joints, 
a leaf, or place where a leaf has been, a space of 
Fig. 2.—SHOOT OF THE VINE. 
vine for a few inches that does not bear any¬ 
thing, another leaf, and so on, the whole stem 
being a repetition of this. The point to which 
the leaf is attached is called the node, and the 
space between the nodes is an internode, a term 
not much used in speaking of the vine. The 
node is a point, tfei understanding of which is 
of the greatest importance, and we give (fig. 1) 
Dr. Mohr’s figure of it as it appears in summer. 
The node is the place at which the young shoot 
breaks with great ease when green, but as it 
ripens a stronger union is formed between the 
parts, and the stem no longer breaks readily at 
that place. From the node springs a leaf, which 
is united to it by a joint, and from which itspon- 
taneously separates when 
ripe. At the place where the 
leaf and stem join, and up¬ 
on the upper side of the leaf 
stalk, are two buds. One of 
these buds grows the same 
season it is formed; the other 
(unless in cases of accident) 
remains dormant until the 
following season. On the 
side of the stem opposite to 
the leaf is a tendril, (or cluster 
of grapes, instead) which does 
not (like the leaf) drop off 
spontaneously. These parts 
alternate upon the stem. In 
the figure the leaf is on the 
left hand, and the tendril, 
(shown here with grapes), on 
the right; on the node above, 
the leaf will be upon the 
right and the tendril on the 
left, and so on throughout the 
whole length of the branch. Here there are all 
the parts (save the root) that are to be taken into 
account,—the branch, (or stem), the node, the 
leaf, the bud, and the tendril. The tendril is to 
be regarded as a barren cluster, for we always 
find the cluster occupying the place of the 
tendril, and not rarely one that is part tendril 
and part cluster, bearing grapes. The vine, 
as long as it continues to grow, keeps on repeat- 
ing'these parts, as seen in figure 2, and a full 
study of these will prepare the novice for the 
next steps—the appearance of the branch in 
autumn and the growth the following spring. 
----- 
Raising Box from Cuttings. 
The advice has usually been given to set none 
but rooted plants in making a box edging, for 
the reason that we have seen such unsightly 
failures from cuttings made and set in the usual 
way. Our friend, “Phil. Woodley, Esq.,” of 
N. C., sends us his plan, which we give below. 
His success may be due to his manner of mak¬ 
ing and setting the cuttings, though his more 
genial climate may have something to do with 
it. Box is still the favorite edging where it will 
stand the winter, though we should not advise 
allowing plants in an edging to grow to the 
size that “Esq. Woodley” indicates. 
“The first step is to lay off the yard in some 
plain, but pleasing manner. After having 
thus laid off the walks, (which may be done 
with old shingles, pieces of laths, or anything 
of the kind, moving them until you have the 
line exactly as desired) then prepare them for a 
suitable edging. Nothing answers this purpose, 
we think, half as well as our common dwarf 
box. It may bo raised to any extent in the 
following way: Trench your line six or eight 
inches deep—twelve is better—and four or five 
inches wide; then fill up with rich, light com¬ 
post, composed of wood mould, a small 
quantity of ashes, and rakings from any rich 
spot about the yard, and pack the same hard to 
its very top. The feet are the best packer that 
can be used. All is now ready for the box. 
Cuttings can be procured from any large shrub 
Fig. 1. —THE NODE. 
of the kind within reach, making them about 
six inches long, and leaving only about one inch 
of leaves on the whole piece, and that at the 
very top. Now make a dibble of any stick or 
piece of wood convenient, but round at the top, 
to secure the palm of the hand from injury, and 
you are ready to commence the edging. Plant 
the cuttings as you go—say twelve inches apart 
—first making the holes with the dibble, and 
then pressing the dirt firmly around each cut¬ 
ting, from bottom to top, and leaving but the 
inch of leaves on the top above the surface. I 
should have said that, after laying off the line 
for the edging with old shingles or laths, (which 
may be put as thickly as desired), and the course 
of the future border is fully determined on, the 
most of the sticks may be taken up for con¬ 
venience in trenching, the few remaining only 
determining the general direction, and before 
making the boles for planting the cuttings, a 
slight mark ought to be made on the packed 
compost, corresponding exactly to the line be¬ 
fore marked by the sticks. This will insure 
regularity, and the line should be marked and 
re-marked until it is exactly as desired, for no 
future trimming can supply the deficiency. 
This is my plan of making an edging, and so 
well has it answered that out of about 2,000 cut¬ 
tings set in my yard, I lost twelve. They have 
had no attention save keeping them clear of 
weeds, and an occasional trimming. They have 
grown so handsomely under this treatment that 
it is now necessary to take up every other one, 
that those remaining may have ample room to 
“spread” themselves, thus giving me another 
supply for my own use and that of my friends.” 
Plant Lice again. —We gave last month 
Mr. Rivers’ preparation to destroy plant lice, or 
aphides, and we now give another, in order to 
keep our readers informed of everything that 
offers a prospect of relief from these pests. As 
soon as the young shoots push on the fruit trees, 
they are, in many localities, covered with these 
minute, but multitudinous, insects, each busily 
engaged in sucking the juices from the tender 
wood and checking its proper development. A 
correspondent in the London Journal of Horti¬ 
culture gives the following: 1 ounce of aloes, 2 
ounces of soft soap, and 1 ounce of sulphur, in 
a gallon of water. The preparation is said to be 
efficient, and if the common Cape aloes is used, 
it can be made sufficiently cheaply to allow it to 
be freely used. Dwarf trees in the garden are 
attended to without much difficulty, but for 
larger trees the task becomes one of considera¬ 
ble magnitude. Still, with Page’s Sprinkler, or 
some similar implement, all parts of a moderate 
sized tree can be reached. The insects multiply 
rapidly, and are most successfully attacked when 
they first make their appearance. The same 
writer says that this preparation is destructive 
to tlirips. If it will keep off our thrips, so in¬ 
jurious to the grape vine, it will be valuable. 
Tiie Pear Scale. —The (English) Journal 
of Horticulture has recently given a remedy 
for the pear scale, which we give as we find it. 
It is simply to paint over the affected trees with 
boiled linseed oil, in early spring, just before the 
buds expand, and consequently just before the 
scale insect begins to multiply. Where the 
scale is very bad the trees may as well die of 
the remedy as of the disease.-Now, mind 
that we do not endorse or recommend this 
treatment, but if any one has a scaly pear tree, he 
can try anything that offers a prospect of cure. 
