are covered with an inch or two of
soil, thus forming a wide ridge in the nursery row with the union of
the grafts at the original level of the soil. Cultivation should begin
at once and be frequent enough to prevent the formation of a crust, in
order that the young shoots may not have difficulty in forcing their
way through the soil. Roots start on the cions sooner than on the
stock, the soil being warmer at the surface, and help sustain the
cions until the stocks are well rooted, at which time all roots
started on the cion are removed, and at the same time the tying
material is cut if it has not rotted. Suckers are removed as soon as
they show above ground. The grafts are dug as soon as the leaves fall
and the young vines become dormant, after which they are sorted in
three lots, according to size of top and root, and heeled-in in a cool
moist place until they are to be planted.

_Nursery_ versus _home-grown vines._

The verdict of all vineyardists is that it is better to buy
nursery-grown vines than to attempt to grow them. The high quality of
the vines which can be purchased and the reasonable purchase price
make it hardly worth while to try home-grown vines, especially since
considerable investment, experience and skill are required to grow
good vines.

"PEDIGREED" GRAPE VINES

Many viticulturists, in common with orchardists, believe that their
plants should be propagated only from parents which have good
characters, that is, are vigorous, healthy, productive, and bear fruit
of large size, perfect form, good color and good quality. They
believe, in short, that varieties can be improved by bud selection.
There is, however, but little in either theory or fact to
substantiate the belief of those who say that varieties once
established can be improved; or, on the other hand, that they
degenerate. Present knowledge and experience indicate that heredity is
all but complete in varieties propagated from parts of plants. The
multitude of grapes in any variety, all from one seed, are
morphologically one individual. A few kinds of grapes go back to
Christ's time, and these seem to agree almost perfectly with the
descriptions of them made by Roman writers 2000 years ago. How, then,
can the differences between vines of a variety in every vineyard in
the land be explained?

Ample explanation is found in "nurture" to account for the variation
in vines without involving a change in "Nature." Soil, sunlight,
moisture, in