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plants in thofe whofe trenches and paths are wide, 



1 the planes Icfs crouded, and for this reafon there 

 id be but few vigncrons but would be of this 



opini(Mi. 



V/hcn I fiy, that when one plants Auvernats, they 

 fliould luive five feet in bread:h f )r the trench, and 

 as much for the path, and two feet fix inches dii- 

 t:\nce between each plant, I fpeak of thofe Vines 

 phmted in a very good bottom of earth, becaufethey 

 will laft many ages without being renewed after the 



ulual manner. 



For as to thofe lands where one is obliged to renew 

 the vineyard in about twenty or five and twenty years, 

 it will be fufficient to allow four feet and a half for 

 the breadth of the trench, and the fame for the path, 

 aiid twenty inches for the diftance between each plant, 

 becaufe thefe Vines will not lalt a very long time, by 

 reafon the roots will grow large, and fpread far in 

 tlie earth, in fuch a manner, that they would injure 

 another. I fuppofe, neverthelefs, this land to 

 be pafTably good, for otherwife the breadth of the 



trench and the path m 



between each plant, or the vineyard, mufl: be the 



oftener dunged. 



There are two forts of plants, thofe from cuttings, 



and from layers. 



The cutting is a young fhoot of the fame year that 

 has no roots ^ they 'alv^ays leave at bottom a knot of 

 the wood of the preceding year. Thefe are the moft 

 ■ cofrimofily'ufed. They give it no other management 

 ilian'tb cutoff the clafpers and the tops, at the fame 

 time that they take them off from the Vines, and lay 

 them down in the earth in a bundle, when they cut 

 them before winter, and cannot plant them till the 



fpring. 



This plant is good, and commonly fucceeds when it 



has been well chofen, being planted in lands well dif- 



pofed and well cultivated ; but yet there is an mcon- 



veniehcy iri ufing it, a'nd'that when it is "io be "planted 



in lands that are naturally 'moift, or tliar retain 'the' 



Water/,* If it be planted "early, and there fall cold rains 



V 



there fo, that betwixt each rovv* and the ihoot there 

 may be a fufficient diltance, that the fnoots may not 

 hurt one another, and that the vigneron may have 

 room to pafs between them when he is trimminjir 

 them ; for he muft hoe them three times a year to hin- 

 der the weeds from o-ru\vin<:^ about them, and choak- 



one 



uft be greater, and the diftance 



..♦ 



fc-i 



- ►-/ 



, in great abundance, the plant foaks in the water, and 

 ^■-^the ilcin or rind come-off, and it perifhes inftead of 

 ' '"■\akihe*ro6ri ttid if it be planted td6 late, arid the I Vjp^ucrk^up the dead fhoots,to open the earth to a good 



ing them, and depriving them of a part of their 

 nouriflimenr. 



This portion of ground is a fort of nurfery, fince the 

 gardeners make them, that they may liave plants to 

 plant in thofe places where they are wanting. 

 I am alfo of the opinion, that it is the prudence of a 

 citizen to have on his eftate (efpecially fince the cut- 

 tings do not take root but with difficulty) a place 

 where he may always have layers in as large a quan- 

 tity as he pleafes, or fliall iuffice for all thofe that 

 fnall not fucceed, at leaft if they be not well chofen, 

 and which require a particular care in their cultivation. 

 I fliall confider, at the end of the following article, 

 after what manner we fhould plant the layers in the 

 ridges. 



It is for the mtereft of a citizen to order his afi'airs fo, 

 that his vineyard may be always full of plants, to the 

 end that it may produce a good quantity of wine j 

 becaufe it often happens, notwithftanding all the pre- 

 caution that can be taken to keep a vineyard well fur- 

 nifhed, that it will want to be fupplied, by reafon of 

 the quantity of plants that die from time to time, be- 

 caufe one cannot always fupply their places by the 

 means of layers \ and likewife fometimes there will not 

 be wood enough upon the Vines that are near for that 

 purpofe, and that it would not be proper to make ufe 

 of the top of the fhoot, for feveral reafons that might 

 be given, and therefore it will be proper to place 

 plants between the others. , „, \ 



Some vignerons will fay, that it is very rare that thefe 

 middle plants fucceed in a .vineyard where they are 

 planted; to which it mayt'e'anfwered', that it is true, 

 that a middle' plant may not fucceed, when the earth 

 has not been well prepared before the planting, or 

 when it. has fto other management but that of the 

 vineyard in common ; but it. is very certain that it 

 ;will fcarce fail,, if care be taken, after the vintage, to 



/' |reat heats and. droughts overtake it before k, has 



*'' piit forth buds tliat are paflably ftrong, itisfcorched, 



' wherefore it is better to make ufe of the fecond fpe- 



cies of plants, not only in thefe forts of lands, but 



all others. 



The layers are the long flioots of Vines of three years 



" growth, which have been la'yed down in the ground, 

 - and have put' out fmall roots"; thefe' are better, and 

 lefs liable to fail; they may be planted at all times in 

 ^V winter and in any kinds of lands, provided they are 

 y fuch a^ 96'not?ftain'the"watef;--'T^^^^^ this'cafe it were 

 '^ better to vi^ait till March to plant them, or at leaft till 

 ^^t'tKe gYoand'appeats''1icalthful, for we^:thould never 



'"'plant in 'ground which is very wet. ' , ";-'' ^^ ' ;' '. 

 Before the layers are planted, they ought to be 

 bruned, that is, to cut off a few of their roots ; and 

 when' they are weak at the place where they were bent, 



i 



r -• 



",; depth before winter, not only to the end that it may 

 ^.' mellow, but alfo that the Vines may not be damaged 

 in cutting off part of its roots, by which it would 

 be greatly weakened, if it were not done before the 

 fpring; and if in every hole were put a baflcet of frelh 

 earth, or about the twerifieth part of a fcuttle full of 

 well rotted dung,' efpecially when the plant is fet in 





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eft roots." 



^ ■ The lavers are a great'deal lefs fubjeft to foak In the 

 \ 'water than the cuttings, becaule having roots before 

 ' the V were planted, * they make" new ones fooner than 

 ;'^ thofe which have none.' " ' ' r. ._ : -. . ^ - 



^"tt is true, thefe layers 'are more rare than the other, 

 * '^'but it ^s ail' eafy matter to render them common 

 ^'"'Vnough, becaufe one may have whole acres of 'them, 

 ' and all the precaution that is neceffary for it, confifts 

 ' 'in' making lavcts, 'when they are well grown, from 



_ 'i 



ftony, clayey, or gravelly ground. 

 I have feen among Vines very ftrong in wood, and of 

 a hundred years of age, a middle plant very ftrong 

 to the third eye, and which always continued to do 

 well ; and I can affirm, that thefe Vines are planted in 

 as ftrong lands as any are in our plot of vineyards. 

 Now if the middle plant does well there, as it is cer- 

 tain it does, we may take it for granted that it will 

 ftill do better in thofe lands which are light ; and hence 

 it IS, that there is not any land where one may not 

 plant, or \yhere It will not lucceed. 

 Perhaps the vignerons may fay that a middle plant- 

 will be worth nothing amdrig young Vines, becaufe 

 thefe pu(h with fo miach force, that their fhobts would 

 choke It. ' ■ 



the fhobls. 



.1 * - 



- » 



* I 



'y-[ Thefe'may be planted in two different places, either 



' '1n fomd pi^ce of land defigned folely for this purpofe, 



':dr in the middle of each ridge, at the time that a vine- 



yardfsplanted;-. *^"- «v'"— ■ - ■ 



.i^'V 



*- _ 



If they be planted in^aparticLuar piece of ground, 

 they muft oe laid in rows betwixt the Vines, and 



I agree that it may fometimes fo happen, but then 

 this is a proof that the year following there will be 

 found in the vineyard wood enough to make layers 

 there. Therefore it would be ufelefs to fet a mid- 

 dle plant, becaufe it is more likely to fail, and like- 

 wife it will not produce fruit fo foon as the layers, 

 which produce it the fame year in which they are 



made. \ i 



This reafoning is more juft than the confequence that 



they would draw from thence ; that is to fay, that it 

 would be ufelefs to plant a middle plant ; for if a vig- 

 neron ftiould every year cut off the wood of the vine- ' 

 yard, which might ferve for the making the layer, and 



ngt fet a "middle plant there, the vacancy that'would 



be 



1- 



