88 
THE FLORIST'S JOURNAL. 
Propagation. —Various are the methods which have been 
adopted by different propagators of the vine ; namely, by seeds, 
layers, cuttings, buds, inarching, and grafting. 
Propagation by seed is resorted to, to obtain new varieties ; 
the seeds ought to be sown early in February, in bottom heat, 
in order to accelerate their germination, and when they have 
made two or three leaves, they maybe potted, singly, into small 
pots, and be again plunged in a little bottom heat, until they 
have made fresh growth; they may then be removed to a shelf 
in a vinery, prior to their being inarched on some side shoot, 
or spur of an established vine: if allowed to remain in pots, it 
will be four or five years before they show any disposition to 
fruit; but by having them in a forward and healthy condition, 
fit for inarching, the season they are sown, they will in all pro¬ 
bability show fruit the following summer, and should the variety 
prove unworthy of cultivation, the spur can be removed at the 
pruning season, and a fresh one will supply its place. 
Propagation by layers is sometimes practised both by nur¬ 
serymen and practical gardeners : it is performed thus ; — in 
winter, or in the spring, take a shoot of the previous year’s growth, 
cut it down to one eye, and then give it a twist, or cut a ring 
round the bark a few inches under the place where it started 
the foregoing season — that is, on the second year’s wood; then 
peg it down to the soil ; and when once it has got rooted, which 
will be about the beginning of August, it may then be detached 
from the parent stock, which will give it check sufficient to stop 
its growth, and thereby enable the wood to become properly 
ripened before winter. When this process is performed in a 
vinery, it is generally done in pots ; the branch intended to be 
layered is introduced through the hole in the bottom of the pot, 
which is then filled with soil; when rooted, it should be cut era- 
dually away, until it is finally detached. I have seen as many 
as twelve bunches upon a layer thus managed, which certainly 
formed a very-pleasing object when set upon a dining-room 
table. I would, however, by no means recommend the use of 
such plants for furnishing a vinery, for I have had an opportu^ 
nity of witnessing the trial of a few such as these, some years 
ago, and the result was but little short of a failure ; the wood 
the}' - made the season after planting was scarcely more than two 
feet long, and small in proportion. 
Propagation by cuttings is now very much out of practice, as 
