lengths of six or eight buds each, leaving at the ends not less than a couple of inches of the blank wood for the protection of the terminal buds. Stick these temporary cuttings about nine inches in the ground, in a warm and sheltered situation, where they will be effectually protected from the severity of the winter. The best time to plant them out, is about the middle of March, but any time from the first of that month to the tenth of

April will do very well. When this period arrives, if the young vines about to be raised, are afterwards to be transplanted, choose such a situation for the planting of the cuttings, as is well sheltered from the wind, and not too much exposed to the sun. More than six hours sunshine in any day will be injurious rather than beneficial, and with respect to the wind, if the cuttings be not protected from its injurious effects, they will scarcely strike at all, even in the very best prepared soil. A moderate portion of sunshine, and effectual shelter from the wind, are absolutely necessary to ensure the growth of the cuttings. Previously to planting them, the soil must be well prepared for their reception, by being digged to the depth of eighteen inches, and the earth made very fine. If it be in any degree stiff or heavy, take two-thirds of it entirely away, and supply its place with light rich mould, or road scrapings. For every cutting, add half a spit of well rotted dung from an old

cucumber bed, and mix the whole well together, making it as fine as possible. This being done, prepare the cuttings in the following manner. Cut the shoots into lengths containing two buds each, and let the uppermost buds have an inch of the blank wood remaining beyond them. The extremities of these must be cut in a slanting manner, and the slant sides be opposite to the buds. Take the other ends of the cuttings that are to be inserted in the ground, and cut them transversely just below the buds, and the cuttings will be complete. The pruning knife should be very sharp, so that the cuts at the ends may be perfectly smooth. The length of each cutting betwixt the two buds, should not be less than four, nor more than six inches, in order that the bottom buds may be at such a distance from the surface of the soil, as will best promote their vegetation.

The cuttings being thus prepared, must be planted immediately, for which purpose make holes in the ground (about a foot apart each way, if the plants when raised are to be subsequently transplanted,) with a stick about the size of the cuttings, and insert the latter, so that the uppermost buds shall be just even with the surface of the ground. Press the mould close round each cutting, in order to prevent the sun and air drying up its juices. If the mould should subsequently sink down, and leave the buds above

the surface, more must be added to keep them even with it. After the first of May, care must be taken to keep the soil round the cuttings constantly moist. For this purpose, supply each cutting as often as required, according to the state of the weather, with about a pint of soapsuds; and continue so to do, until it has formed a communication with the soil, which will soon be rendered apparent by the protrusion of a shoot, and its daily elongation. When the bud bursts, the process of evaporation commences, and if the moisture in the cutting be consumed quicker than the latter can absorb it from the soil, the young leaves turn yellow and die, and the vitality of the cutting will be in danger of being destroyed.* It is indispensable, therefore, that the soil round each cutting should be constantly kept moist, in order that the latter may absorb sufficient nourishment to supply the bud with food, until, by the emission of roots, it has established a communication with the soil, and is thereby enabled to feed itself. As soon as

* If the first shoot that pushes from the cutting should die off, which, at times, it will do, even after it has grown five or six inches in length, the cutting must not on that account be taken up, because, another shoot produced from the bottom bud, will, most probably, push through the socket of the decayed one about the middle of the summer, or, as soon as the bottom bud becomes sufficiently warmed by the sun to emit roots, and thereby form a communication with the soil.

the cuttings have protruded shoots about three inches long, and their leaves have a healthy appearance, watering may cease for a time, but throughout the summer when the weather is dry, the young plants should be assisted in their growth by the moderate application of liquid manure. Soap-suds are the best for this purpose, but dung-water will do very well, provided it be not too powerful. The surface of the soil round the cuttings should never be allowed to cake or get hard, but should be kept open, and in a fresh and finely-pulverised state, by being, as often as necessary, forked lightly up. As the shoots advance in growth, they must be constantly kept staked, or nailed to the wall; and their tendrils and lateral shoots managed throughout the summer, in the same manner as those of the layers. At the fall of the leaf, cut every plant down to the two lowermost buds.

CHAPTER IX.

ON THE PRUNING OF VINES.

PRUNING and TRAINING are so closely connected together, and so mutually dependent on each other, that they almost constitute one operation. In pruning a vine, regard must be had to the manner in which it is afterwards to be trained; and in training it, the position of the branches, must, in a great measure, be regulated by the mode in which it has previously been pruned. Nevertheless, the two operations are sufficiently distinct to be treated of separately, although many observations that will be made, will relate as much to the one as to the other.

The chief object in pruning a vine, is to increase its fertility; which is effected by cutting out the superabundant wood which it annually produces, and adjusting the number and length of the branches that are to remain, to the capacity of the plant for the maturation of its next crop of fruit, and for the production of future bearing-wood. The necessity for this operation will appear evident when it is considered; first, that the shoots of a vine which bear fruit one year, never bear any afterwards;