SECRETARY'S RKPORT. 91 



during our brief summers, to a greater depth than one foot, we 

 believe that that depth should not be exceeded in the prepara- 

 tion of the soil for planting, unless, indeed, it be necessary to 

 break up the subsoil to promote drainage in a soil which is wet 

 at some seasons of the year, for the grape is impatient of a wet 

 soil, which is always colder than a dry one, but on a sandy 

 loam with a porous subsoil, which is the best for the grape, the 

 stirring of the earth to a great depth will do more harm than 

 good. 



PLANTING. 



For planting, we recommend strong, well-rooted vines of two 

 years ; these come to bearing sooner than the yearling vines, 

 being better established and with better wood and roots, while 

 they are more easy to handle than older vines, the long roots of 

 which will give too much trouble in planting on a large scale. 



Buy the vines from a grower, who will take them up care- 

 fully, and give you all the roots ; you can better spare the 

 superfluous tops of the vine than any of the roots, which are 

 never superfluous. 



In planting, take care to spread out the roots in every direc- 

 tion, but do not let them cross or overlay each other, which 

 leads to the formation of knots, which interrupt the flow of the 

 sap. The proper depth to plant is, in our climate, six inches ; 

 if less than this the roots may suffer from drought ; if more, 

 new roots are likely to be formed in the warmer surface soil 

 which will be broken and torn by the cultivation, while the 

 lower roots w'ill go down into the colder and less fertile subsoil, 

 and the vine will not ripen its wood so well, nor the fruit so 

 early. 



As to the best time for planting the vine, the autumn is the 

 best season, if the soil be dry, as the roots get well established 

 in the soil, usually making fibres from the main roots during 

 the first two or three weeks after planting, and they are thus 

 prepared to start early in the spring, getting a good growth 

 before they are pinched by the heat and drought of midsummer; 

 this is a great gain in such soils ; but if they be wet or heavy, 

 and liable to heave with the winter frosts, or if water stand 

 upon it in the winter and spring, then we would prefer the 

 latter season, when the advancing warmth promotes the forma- 

 tion of the fibrous roots, and the vine, having the whole summer 



