prudent to choose those of the second, or third class, as usually they produce more abundantly, and are more certain, than those of the first class.

This branch of vine culture is, however, but very imperfectly understood, and only in its infancy. Indeed it would require the united experience of whole districts, for a long series of years, to satisfactorily prove which varieties of the grape are best suited to the soil and climate of Australia. Even in France, a variety of the vine from a particular vineyard celebrated for the production of fine wine, is often transplanted to a different locality judged to possess equal advantages as regards soil and exposure, equal care is bestowed on the culture of the plant, and in the making of the wine, and yet a wine of very inferior quality as compared with the original, is often the result. The very opposite of this has been obtained by transplanting vines from a vineyard producing wines of a very ordinary quality, to a spot where first class wine grapes have been grown. The cause of these

seeming anomalies has never been satisfactorily accounted for. It, however, is an established rule in vine culture, to grow only those varieties which are celebrated for their good qualities, for the production of wines either of the first, second, or third class.

The vineyards may be planted either with young plants or with cuttings. The plants

chosen for second or third class wines should be hardy, of moderate vigorous growth, abundant bearers, and early ripe; the berries rather small, and close set, yielding a copious flow of pure juice, very rich and sweet, with a fine aromatic flavour, and slightly astringent taste. The cuttings should be chosen from fruitful plants, and be about 15 inches in length, and as thick as the middle finger; the buds should be plump, and the joints close, and if a small piece of the previous year's wood can be left attached all the better. Collect the cuttings at the pruning season, immediately they are detached from the mother plants; select only the best, cut them roughly into lengths, carry

them immediately under cover, and if there are more sorts than one, keep them separate, and number, or tally them as such. Immediately before planting, dress them with a sharp pruning-knife; cut off all tendrils, claspers, and laterals, or side shoots, then make a smooth horizontal cut close under the lowest bud, from which the roots will strike out; or if there is a piece of old wood attached, leave about 2 inches of it: trim the upper ends so as to leave about 2 inches above the uppermost bud, for if you cut too near the bud from which is expected a shoot, it will be apt to kill it, as a portion of the bud next to the cut, from exposure to the sun and air, will be sure to die.

If the cuttings can be obtained as above, and the ground is in good order, i. e., neither too wet nor too dry, but moderately moist, they should be planted at once in the vineyard, as by this method the plants progress more rapidly, and arrive sooner at a state of bearing, than if rooted plants were transplanted, although the

last method is not without its merits, and is

practised on the continent of

extensively practised

Europe.

The distance at which the vines should be planted depends upon the quality of the soil, and the situation of the vineyard. Where the soil is of the first quality, and the situation good, a distance of 6 feet should be observed from row to row, and as the plant may be expected to grow luxuriantly, they should be quite 4 feet apart in the rows. In a soil of medium quality plant them 4 feet from row to row, and 3 feet apart in the rows, when it will require about 3,640 cuttings to plant an acre. But if the soil is poor, they ought to stand closer: 3 feet by 2 feet will not then be too close.

The distances having been determined, and the ground marked off, by means of a measuring rod, a line and pegs, in the ordinary way, then with a square-mouthed narrow-bladed spade square holes should be dug to the depth of the length of the cuttings, at the required spots, along the stretched line, when a boy

should take a bundle of cuttings and place them one by one in the holes, holding each one firmly by the hand to prevent it shifting, and with just one bud and an inch or so of the wood above the surface of the ground, while the operator proceeds with his spade to fill in the soil about the cutting, observing to break it fine. When the hole is half filled the soil should be pressed firmly round the cutting with the foot, after which the hole should be filled up without being again trodden. In the same manner proceed with the others until the first row is completed, when the line must be shifted to the next row, and so on, until the required number of rows are planted. Some careless and inexperienced persons plant their vine cuttings with a common dibble, a method much to be condemned, as many of the choicest and most valuable varieties so planted invariably fail. In France and other vinegrowing countries an iron instrument is used, made in the form of the blade of a carvingknife, with a cross handle of wood securely