RESISTANT VINEYARDS GRAFTING, PLANTING, CULTIVATION. 135 



and, owing to the tendency of many grafted vines to heavy bearing, 

 fertilization is more likely to be needed. As a rule, the same methods 

 of pruning are applicable. With very vigorous stocks, such as Rupestris 

 St. George, it may be necessary to prune some varieties longer to 

 counteract a tendency to "go to wood." With most stocks, on the 

 other hand, the fertility of the vines is increased and shorter pruning 

 is advisable. In any case the amount of pruning can be determined 

 by the strength of the vine itself as with ungrafted vines. 



III. FIELD GRAFTING. 



It is possible to start a resistant vineyard by planting the stocks 

 directly in the field and grafting them there after they are rooted 

 instead of planting bench grafts. This was formerly the commonest 

 method and is still largely practised in some districts. It is, however, 

 in all cases less satisfactory and more expensive than the methods 

 already described. In some cases on steep hillsides, in very stony or 

 stiff soil it is almost impossible to make a satisfactor}^ vineyard by 

 field grafting. Good results are sometimes obtained by this method 

 in fairly level, loose soils, but the results are so much at the mercy 

 of the weather that even with the best work it is only by chance that 

 good paying vineyards are established in this way. Even when, by an 

 extraordinary combination of favorable conditions, a field-grafted 

 vineyard is successfully established the cost is always more than the 

 cost of a similar vineyard started with bench grafts. 



As field grafting is still practised to a considerable extent, and as 

 many vineyards of resistant stocks have been planted, it seems necessary 

 to describe the method. 



Preparation of the Soil. Thorough plowing and subsoiling are even 

 more necessarj^ when planting ungrafted resistants than when planting 

 bench grafts. This is because good results can be obtained only if the 

 resistants are grafted young, and this makes it essential to obtain a good 

 growth the first year. If the stock remains in the ground for two, three, 

 or more years before grafting, it becomes hard and refractory to graft- 

 ing and good unions can not be obtained. The stocks should make 

 sufficient growth the first year to allow of their being grafted the spring 

 following the planting. 



Cuttings or Hoots. It is better, whenever possible, to plant good 

 cuttings than roots. This is because when they are grafted the follow- 

 ing year the wood where the union is made is a year younger than in 

 the case of roots and the unions are correspondingly more perfect. This 

 is especially true with Rupestris and Riparia stocks, which make 



