50 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 



NURSERIES. 



Choice and Preparation of the Soil. Strictly speaking, any soil can 

 serve as a nursery, but in practice it has been found that those most 

 favorable are moist, sandy, or gravelly alluvials, rich in humus and all 

 the plant-food required for the normal development of the vine. Soils 

 that are compact naturally, or which tend to pack too much, such as 

 clay or adobe, are to be avoided, as are all soils that do not retain their 

 moisture well, or those that are not within the reach of irrigation water. 

 There also may be mentioned among the doubtful soils, those that tend 

 to bake or crust over on the surface. In case of a soil not naturally 

 rich in plant-food, the nursery should be previously well fertilized, 

 either with chemical fertilizers or stable manure. It is not economical 

 to plant a nursery in an exhausted soil, or one that is naturally not 

 very fertile. The slight expense of enriching the small nursery plot 

 pays handsomely in the end. 



In all cases the land should be very carefully prepared beforehand 

 by very deep and frequent plowing and cultivating. It has been shown 

 that American vines insist on deep plowing previous to being planted 

 out in vineyard form; but in nursery this is especially urgent. I have 

 seen in this State some nursery soils that have been selected at the last 

 moment when the soil was dry, given but a shallow plowing and the 

 vines planted at once. This cannot be too strongly condemned. 



Some recorded cases show that nurseries have been planted under the 

 shade of oak, eucalyptus, etc., trees " for the shade." This is to be 

 deplored, for sunlight is very favorable for the rooting, as well as the 

 callusing of cuttings; trees of all kinds so sap the soil of moisture and 

 plant-food that a young struggling vine cannot be expected to grow 

 at all. 



Planting. Grafted (as well as ungrafted) vines should be planted in 

 April or the beginning of May, or even earlier, according to the locality 

 and season. The nursery rows should be about 2-J feet apart more or 

 less according to the kind of plows and cultivators used; the workmen 

 should never be cramped by too narrow rows, and in large nurseries the 

 rows should be grouped in " blocks " for convenience. The ditches can 

 be made with a plow and deepened with a shovel. It is well to even off 

 the surface of the bank on which the cuttings are to rest, with a hoe or 

 rake. The cuttings should be placed on this sloping bank so that there 

 is good, loose soil below and behind; and each cutting should be pressed 

 in so that no useless air-spaces will be allowed to exist and cause drying 

 out. 



The cuttings should, in good, well-prepared soils, be so placed that the 

 joint will be an inch below the natural level of the soil. Then the most 

 friable top-soil, carefully pulverized, should be carefully put on next to 

 the cuttings and the ditch filled ; the first earth being packed so as to 

 avoid " air-holes." It is of course understood that no cutting should be 

 planted when the soil is wet. In cases of an adobe soil it is best to 

 barely cover the entire length of the cutting with a layer of sand, and 

 then add the top-soil to this, 



In banking the cuttings after the natural level has been reached, 

 it is the custom to cover the top of the entire cutting at first with a 



