94 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



cold and wet for any considerable time after the grafts are planted will 

 cause the loss of a large proportion. 



The ideal soil for a nursery of bench grafts is a light, well-drained, 

 sandy loam containing an abundance of humus. It should be carefully 

 graded in order to have no low spots where the water will lie and drown 

 the grafts, and no high spots to which it is difficult to get the irrigation 

 water. 



The physical nature and condition of the soil is of more importance 

 than its chemical composition. The soil should not be poor, but it is, 

 on the other hand, not desirable that it should be too rich. Grafts 

 which grow very large in the nursery do not make the best vines in 

 the vineyard. Extra large grafts often die the first year after they 

 are planted out. Small dwarfed grafts are a year behind those which 

 are well grown, and probably never make profitable vines. A plant of 

 medium size, with good roots, perfect union, and a growth of from 15 

 to 18 inches, is the best. 



At least two months before planting, the soil of the nursery should 

 be thoroughly prepared. All weeds, stones, and rubbish should be 

 removed and the ground well plowed. Most soils should be plowed or 

 subsoiled to a depth of at least 18 inches in order to aerate and pulver- 

 ize the soil to promote quick rooting. Unless the roots of the stock 

 start almost as soon as the buds of the scion, the latter will dry out as 

 soon as its little leaves begin to evaporate water. If the subsoil is clayey 

 or contains a great deal of cementing material, it should not be 

 turned up. 



Soils which are defective, if used at all, should, of course, be fertilized. 

 Any fertilizer which improves the texture of the soil is to be preferred. 

 Well-rotted stable manure is useful, but the best fertilizer for the 

 purpose is a good crop of field peas or other legume plowed-in the 

 previous autumn sufficiently early to insure its complete rotting before 

 planting time. 



Cutting Grafts. Choice of Cuttings. To obtain the best results, 

 ooth in the percentage and quality of the grafted vines produced by 

 the nursery and in the profit of the vineyard where they are planted, 

 great care is necessary in the selection of cuttings for both scions and 

 stocks. 



For scions, cuttings should be taken only from healthy vines which 

 are known to have produced good crops. Cuttings from vines weakened 

 by phylloxera, root-rot, or other diseases are apt to be weak, soft, badly 

 nourished, and incompletely matured. Such cuttings will not give a 

 high percentage of No. 1 grafts, nor make a profitable vineyard. Cut- 

 tings showing signs of serious attacks of oidium, vine-hoppers, or other 

 fungi and insects should be rejected. The cuttings used should be of 



