loOcT.. iQi:;.] The I'sc of Livic in Victorian Vineyard!'. 



629 



of ihtr lime content <it soils lies an eas\ way ot lirin_^ing about a very con- 

 siderable imjirovement. 



Th'i- application of lime to the soil of a vineyard may he considered 

 from two distinct points of view, viz., as supplying a i)lant food and 

 as affecting soil improvement. 



LiMK AS A Plant Food. 



The vine, like all other plants, demands a certain quantity of lime 

 for its normal and healthy growth. Lime is, in other words, an essen- 

 tial plant food in the same way that nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and p()tash 

 are. Notwithstanding its vital importance, however, it is a noteworthy 

 fact that this phase of the question is scarcely ever considered l)y con- 

 tinental writers on vineyard manuring. Its utility as a soil improver is ■ 

 frecjuently mentioned ; but its manurial value, or value as a plant food, 

 the yearly removals of which must be returned to the soil, if production 

 is to l>e maintained, receives no consideration whatever. 



Perhaps the explanation is that, as compared with the other three 

 plant foods, lime is usually present in such enormous quantities in luiro- 

 pean soils that there is no possibility of its ever l:)eing exhausted ; under 

 such conditions it cannot present anv mterest from a strictly manuriid 

 stand-point. 



.So generalh rich in lime are the vine soils of France that excess 

 of this constituent was, in the early days of reconstitution, a very fre- 

 quent cause of non-success, ur^til the introduction of stocks less sensitive 

 to lime in excess than those first tried. 



Nevertheless, the quantity of lime annualK removed from each acre 

 of vineyard is considerable. Though it naturally varies a good deal 

 from one locality to another, according to yield, variety, climate, &c., 

 the figures arrived at by Rousseau and Chappaz, as the result of their 

 investigations in the Chablis district of J'rance, will give .some idea of 

 the annual lime requirements of the vine as compared with the other 

 plant f(X)d materials usually taken into account. The yield being at the 

 rate of 320 gallons per acre, requirements would be similar to tho.se of 

 Victorian vineyards — 



Firtilizi)ig Stibstaiiccs Ahsorbed per Acre. 



Xitrogen. 



Phosplioric 

 Acid. 



Dry leaves 

 Dry prunii'igs 

 Marc .. 

 Wine 

 Lees 



lbs. 



933 01 

 904-72 

 3-JU>14 

 310-47 

 9-25 



lbs. 



16-626 



5-121 



5-716 



-8.33 



•584 



28-880 



lbs, 

 2-351 

 1-240 

 1-653 

 -200 

 -1.39 



5-583 



lbs. 



8-220 

 6-360 

 6-668 

 2 174 

 -699 



24-121 



lbs. 



55-981 

 12-66e 



5 004 

 ■34.> 



1114 



75-110 



* Kxtiact iroiii ■ Etude sur le Vignoble de Chablis." By E. Rousseaux and G. Chai)paz. Rertu de 

 Viticulture, 23rd Febnuny. 190.-,. 



From this table it will be seen that the vine extracts more of Hrpe 

 than of all the other plant food elements put together, and nearly three 

 times as much lime as potash. It is true that the bulk of the lime is 

 contained in the leaves; these, however, are largely blown away bv the 

 wind, only a small proportion returning to the soil. 



