144 GKAPE CULTURE AND WINE-JIAiaNG. 



but avoid gray claj, wliicli bakes in summer. The last of all 

 which may be used for the production of wine is a light sandy, 

 gravelly soil. This will give an abundance of wine, but it will 

 not keep for any length of time. It will soon change color and 

 become sour when exposed to the air ; and the only mode of 

 keeping this kind of wine for years is by adding to it brandy or 

 alcohol, which, of course, deprives it of its purity, and makes it 

 injurious to the health of the consumer. 



The soils described above are recommended for producing wine, 

 as just stated ; but for producing marketable table grapes, the 

 planter should select a piece of ground which is a rich black 

 gravelly or sandy loam, exceedingly mellow, as most of the allu- 

 vials are ; and if well-rotten manure from sheep or cattle corrals 

 can be obtained, it will pa}^ well to haul it on the ground. To 

 be prepared for the grape-vines, it should be moderately moist, 

 though not too moist. In this State deserted Indian villages are 

 often found. In such localities the soil is exceedingly rich. A 

 bucketful of it in the hole of a vine will astonish the planter by 

 its effect. Such soil as just now described, either made by nature 

 or artificially, will produce magnificent bunches of grapes, with 

 large berries, in an immense quantity, which, of course, will please 

 the eye and palate, as the bulb or skin is thin, and consequently 

 the best qualified for table use. 



Plowing. — The best mode to plow the land is with the so-called 

 " deep-tiller ;" for with it, by putting three horses abreast, you can 

 plow twelve inches deep, except the soil should be very rocky. 

 Follow this plow, in the same furrow, with a common shovel-plow, 

 or, as it is called in some places, bull-tongue. This simple instru- 

 ment, with two horses attached to it, will tear up and pulverize 

 the earth ten or twelve inches more in depth. There are various 

 designs of subsoil plows, but most of them require a great mov- 

 ing power, and will not answer after all. The above-named "bull- 

 tongue" is successfully used by many planters in Sonoma and 

 Nape Valleys. But it matters very little what plows or subsoil - 

 ers the planter uses, as long as he plows and subsoils hi-s land from 

 twenty to twenty-four inches. 



Layinrj out the Vineyard. — It is sufficiently proved, by close ob- 

 servations in Europe and California, that the vine planted eight 

 feet apart is the best mode, especially in California, where land is 

 yet cheap and labor high. Vines planted at this distance can be 

 worked with the shovel-plow and one horse. Eight feet is as 



