THE VINE. ] 467 



upon by the sun and the atmosphere, with the conse- 

 quence that their physical and chemical qualities are 

 improved and the young vine stands a better chance to 

 make a good start. Another advantage resulting from 

 this arrangement consists in the fact that the soil of the 

 trench is sooner moistened by the first rains, and there- 

 fore planting can be started quite early in the season, 

 and in fact as soon as the pruning season has com- 

 menced and cuttings have become available. 



The distance at which the trenches should be 

 constructed must vary with the nature of the soil. In 

 good rich soils the trenches should not be less than one 

 metre and a half in length, with the same distance from 

 one trend) to another in the same row, and again the 

 same distance from one row to another, so that each vine 

 may have for itself an area of 150 c.m. square or 2^- 

 square metres, thus giving 4,444 vines to the hectare, 

 or ^,200 if allowance is made for sites occupied by walls 

 etc. On soils of poor quality the distances are generally 

 less, the trenches often not exceeding one metre in 

 length, with the same distance from one trench to an- 

 other in the same row, although the distance from one 

 row to another is rarely less than one metre and a half. 

 In this case the number of vines to the hectare would be 

 6,666, but this figure is hardly ever reached, as usually 

 on such soils there are areas where the rock is to close 

 to the surface to permit an even construction of trenches 

 without entailing a heavy expenditure in cutting the 

 rock, levelling etc. 



From what has been said it is clear that the usual 

 custom is to plant the cuttings directly in their final 

 quarters. Of course, the vine can be transplanted in 

 winter with little trouble and with perfect safety, but 

 cuttings root so easily and require so little attention 

 when properly planted, that the planting of cuttings in 

 nursery beds to be transplanted to their final quarters 



