130 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



manure is also excellent, when it can be procured. The manure should 

 be spread on the surface and plowed in. If the manure is not well 

 rotted, however, it may do more harm than good, unless applied at 

 least twelve months before the planting. The vines are apt to dry out 

 or become moldy at the base if they are in contact with very strawy 

 manure. 



In every case, it is advisable to place a little nitrogenous fertilizer 

 below each vine when it is planted. For this purpose ground or 

 steamed bones, tankage, or old stable manure may be used with 

 advantage. Two or three ounces of the first two or half a shovel of 

 the last well dug in and mixed with the soil at the bottom of each 

 planting hole is sufficient. A general fertilization of the land is 

 usually best postponed until the second year. 



Intercalary Crops. As a rule it is better not to try to raise any 

 crop between the vines unless there is an abundance of water. In 

 most parts of California the young vines need all the moisture avail- 

 able in the soil during summer and, unless summer irrigation can be 

 given, the soil between the vines should be kept clear of crops and 

 weeds. With irrigation it is possible to raise a crop of corn or other 

 hoed crops without injury to the vines during the first year, providing 

 nothing is grown nearer than 3 feet from the vines. After the first 

 year the land should be given exclusively to the vines. 



Planting. If the ground has been plowed deeply, as already 

 explained, and no fertilizer is to be used, the grafts may be planted 

 with a dibble. This method has several advantages and can be used 

 in all soils which do not contain large stones or coarse gravel. It is 

 not recommended, however, except for sandy and sandy-loam soils. 

 It is rapid and facilitates the perfect alignment of the vines, as well 

 as makes it much easier to attain the very important object of placing 

 the unions at exactly the right height above the surface of the ground. 

 For planting in this way the roots must be pruned very short. The 

 stronger roots must be pruned down to y inch, and the smaller 

 removed altogether. There is probably some loss of strength to the 

 vines by this close root pruning, but it is not very serious. The young 

 rootlets start from the cut end of the root wherever it is cut, and the 

 main advantage of a rooted vine over a cutting is the rapidity with 

 which the rootlets start and grow. However long we leave the roots 

 they are of no use to the vine until they have developed new rootlets. 

 If we leave the roots longer when planting with a dibble they will be 

 turned up when planted, which will result in crooked and improperly 

 placed roots. 



Fig. 18c shows a convenient form of dibble. It consists of a sword- 



