BRIGHT ON GRAPE CULTURE. 75 



oflF the roots. I have taken up many grape vines, from 

 five to ten years old, and I can say, from practical ex- 

 perience, that those vines were the thriftiest upon whose 

 stem not only the foot-roots, but the side-roots were in 

 good condition.^' Mr. R. adds that he '^ considers it of 

 first importance that the foot-roots should penetrate 

 deeply." 



In our opinion, deep borders and deep planting con- 

 stitute two of the greatest errors now existing in grape 

 culture. We think no border should be made more 

 than two feet deep, and no vineyard soil should be made 

 rich to a greater depth than eighteen inches, or trenched 

 for any other purpose than to render it open and porous. 

 No vine should be planted more than four to eight 

 inches deep, and instead of making any effort to induce 

 the roots to go down deeper than that, every effort 

 should be made to keep them within four inches of the 

 surface ; and as soon as the roots are found to penetrate 

 to the depth of three feet, we would advise the vine to 

 be renewed by layers. We will guarantee that if a trial 

 be made, near Cincinnati, where the grape rot prevails 

 so badly, by planting the Catawba grape on the surface 

 of a rock, in four inches of soil, and well mulched winter 

 and summer, a good crop of grapes will be obtained, and 

 that the rot will never be seen on a vine so planted — 

 nor upon any other vine planted shallow, in a porous 

 soil, and properly mulched. 



It is frequently stated, by writers on grape culture, 

 that in many parts of Europe they spade up the ground 



