CHAPTER XV. 

 THE VINEYARD AND SMALL FRUITS. 



g^ RAPES are among the most variable of fruits 

 ^^ , even in their wild state, in which climate, 

 ^^^ soil, shade, humidity, and perhaps natural 

 hybridization have originated such a multi- 

 plicity of forms that it is often difficult to distinguish 

 the original types and to refer the different forms to 

 their proper alliances. There are many varieties that 

 thrive well on heavy black loamy sandy soils, some do 

 splendidly on the adobe or clayey soils, and many do 

 all that is possible on red clayish sandy soils. The 

 former and the latter are adapted to the successful 

 cultivation of more varieties than is the adobe.' 



The Best Soils. — The soil best suited to the 

 grape, however, is a loose, porous one, not very wet 

 and not underlaid with water. Whether the soil is 

 sand or clay is not so important as its porosity and 

 ability to quickly lose its excess of moisture after an 

 irrigation or a drenching rain. Grape-vines should 

 not be planted closer than eight feet, and after the 

 first year no crop should be grown between the rows. 

 If the vineyard is large, roadways should be left to 

 haul into it manure and to haul out of it the grapes. 

 The lack of success in cultivating the grape on adobe 

 soil is caused by excessive irrigation — too much water 

 on the surface keeping the soil cold, and invariably 



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