THE VINE. ] 487 



to obtain full profit from the land by the cultivation of 

 certain field crops which do not interfere with the growth 

 of the vines. This operation of deep trenching is ex- 

 pensive but cannot be dispensed with, or even posponed 

 till the first or second year after planting, without pre- 

 judice to the vigour and early development of the young 

 vines. On rocky ground this trenching is necessarily 

 omitted, but then the omission is made up by the larger 

 dimensions of the trenches excavated for planting, '(his 

 work is usually done in summer or early in autumn, and 

 is immediately followed by the excavation of trenches for 

 the planting of cuttings as already mentioned, or if the 

 grower is going to make use of rooted plants (barbatelle) 

 holes are excavated 40 c.m deep, and as much in dia- 

 meter, and the soil allowed to be acted upon by the sun 

 and then moistened by the early rains before proceeding 

 to plant. Of course when the soil has been deeply 

 trenched and manured it will not be necessary to manure 

 again the plants or the cuttings during planting. 



In a specialized vineyard the distance at which the 

 vines are planted must vary with the nature of the soil 

 and with the more or less vigorous habit of growth of 

 the sort of vine which is grown, as well as with the 

 method of training which it is proposed to give to the 

 vine. On good soils and for vigorous sorts of vines, 

 the distance may be one metre and a half from vine to 

 vine in the same row, and two metres between the rows. 

 For poorer soils the distance may be reduced to one 

 metre from one vine to another, and to one metre and a 

 half, and in some cases even to one metre, between the 

 rows. The quincuncial method of planting, in which 

 the spaces between the vines instead of being squares 

 or rectangles are equilateral triangles, which is often 

 recommendable for other fruit trees, offers no advantages 

 in the case of the vine and only contributes to make the 

 proper tillage of the soil more difficult. 



