We can either increase this kind by cuttings, as has
been described, or we can layer part of the vine that has won our
approval by well-doing. I shall take the latter course with
several delicious varieties in my vineyard. Some kinds of grapes
do not root readily as cuttings, but there is little chance of
failure in layering. This process is simply the laying down of a
branch of a vine in early spring, and covering it lightly with
soil, so that some buds will be beneath the surface, and others
just at or a little above it. Those beneath will form roots, the
others shoots which by fall should be good vines for planting.
Every bud that can reach the air and light will start upward, and
thus there may be a thick growth of incipient vines that will
crowd and enfeeble each other. The probabilities are that only two
or three new vines are wanted; therefore all the others should be
rubbed off at the start, so that the strength of the parent plant
and of the new roots that are forming may go into those few shoots
designed to become eventually a part of our vineyard. If we wish
only one vine, then but one bud should grow from the layer; if two
vines, then two buds. The fewer buds that are permitted to grow,
the stronger vines they make.
It must be remembered that this layer, for the greater part of the
growing season, is drawing its sustenance from the parent plant,
to which it is still attached.
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