THE GRAPE. 285 



plants, with small fibrous roots, can be made to grow 

 rapidly unless the soil be fine and rich. This applies to the 

 grape-vine ; hence the necessity of making the soil for the 

 planting of the vineyard deep and rich at the outset. If 

 the land is level so that it can be plowed, then plow it as 

 deep as possible with the common plow, and follow in 

 the furrow with a subsoil plow, thus loosening the ground 

 to a depth of not less than sixteen to twenty inches, the 

 deeper the better. Hill-sides not too steep may be pre- 

 pared by using a side-hill plow, and in plowing leaving 

 a strip of three or four feet unplowed at distances of 

 from eight to twenty feet, for the purpose of prevent- 

 ing washing. Very steep hill-sides must be dug with 

 the pick and spade. If the ground is not what is called 

 in good heart, but has been cropped yearly without 

 manure, it should be dressed with a coat of ashes, bone- 

 dust, or well-rotted barn-yard manure, and worked in with 

 the harrow or cultivator. 



Time to Plant. — Where the soil is well drained, or of a 

 light sandy or loamy character, and the climate not too se- 

 vere, we should prefer to plant in the fall. In such case we 

 should cover the entire plant with an inch or so of soil, to 

 be removed as soon as the frost will permit, in the spring. 

 The advantages of planting in the fall are, that as a rule 

 the ground works better, and the work is therefore better 

 done ; add to this that the earth becomes well settled 

 among the roots and often new fibres will be thrown out, 

 ready for growth in spring. But we have planted at all 

 periods, when the ground would work, from October to 

 June, and, if our plants were in good condition, have been 

 successful. 



Kind of Plants. — Vines one or two years old, with 

 well-ripened tops and roots, the latter one quarter of an 

 inch in diameter, are perhaps the best, whether grown 

 from single or triple-eyed cuttings, or by layers. 



Distance to Plant. — The distance apart at which to 



