324: APPENDIX II. 



great difficulty that the clusters, no longer protected, arrive at 

 maturity. It is better, then, entirely to abandon this arrange- 

 ment, to demote a certain space of wall to the vine, and to pro- 

 ceed in such a manner that this shall be entirely covered. This 

 is what has been done for the trellis of Fontainebleau, and those 

 of Thomery, by means of the following forms. 



HORIZONTAL CORDON OF THOMERY. Fig. 70. Each vine- 

 stock taken by itself presents exactly the arrangement of 

 the simple horizontal cordon. That which constitutes the 

 Thomery system is the position of the cordons with regard 

 to each other. The wall is covered from summit to base with 

 cordons of the same length placed one over the other, and sup- 

 plied by vine stocks planted at regular distances. 



To construct this trellis we first determine the distance to be 

 preserved between each cordon. As the space is to be tilled by 

 shoots which spring from the upper surface of the cordons, it 

 should be such that the shoots may reach a development suffi- 

 cient to maintain the requisite degree of^strength in the vine, 

 without, however, passing the upper cordon, for it would, in 

 that case, be shaded too much. Experience has shown that a 

 distance of from 17 to 20 inches is, in the greater number of 

 .cases, sufficient, and that to this height the shoots may be 

 ^deprived of their buds without diminishing the strength of the 

 wine. This distance, may, however, be augmented for very 

 ~hardy varieties in very fertile soils by from 4 to 6 inches. 

 Monsieur Felix Malot has established at Montreuil a trellis, the 

 cordons of which being placed at a distance of only 15 inches 

 from each other, render it necessary to stop the shoots as soon 

 as .they laave attained that length. The sap from the roots 

 being concentrated in a smaller space, he obtains, in general, 

 larger bunches ; but this detracts from the strength of the vine 

 and the duration of the trellis, and the growth of the grapes 

 occupying a longer period, they do not ripen so well. The cul- 

 tivators of Thomery prefer smaller bunches more equally ripened. 

 It will next be proper to decide the height of the wall, that we 

 may know the number of cordons to be erected. Supposing 

 that, like almost all those of Thomery, this wall is 8 feet in 



