190 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



can now be had at from two to three dollars per thou- 

 sand, and rooted plants at about twelve dollars per thou- 

 sand. Hence there is but little gained here, by growing 

 young plants in a nursery. 



CHAPTER XXXVL 



LOCATION, ASPECT AND SOIL. 



Vineyards are more easily planted and cultivated in 

 valleys than on hillsides, and on the rich bottom lands 

 are generally more productive ; yet to those who desire 

 fine quality, the hillsides are to be preferred. Vineyards 

 in the valley are more liable to damage from late frosts 

 in the spring and early frosts in autumn, and the fruit 

 is naturally inferior. Our best wines, in the future, will 

 have to come from the hillsides, from light, rich, warm 

 soils, and from small growers, not the immense whole- 

 sale cellars where hundreds of tons are crushed in a day, 

 handled pellmell and mixed up without regard to qual- 

 ity. But it would be equally unreasonable to suppose 

 that fine wines could be made from vines planted on the 

 bed rock, or in locations which will nofc support even a 

 moderate growth of grass, as we often see them on our 

 southern hillsides. What the vine wants, here as else- 

 where, is a deep, moderately rich soil, which will enable 

 it to send its roots down to elaborate its food. This is 

 generally found on the hillsides sloping to the north or 

 northwest and southwest, where the redwood, manzanita, 

 mountain laurel and hazel form the natural growth. If 

 such a hillside is not too steep, there is the location for 

 the vineyard not on the southern, slope, where the soil 



