Preparing the Soil. 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Planting. 31 



grounds. There are some locations so fav- 

 ored that no artificial protection is needed. 

 Remember, however, that no one locality is 

 suited to all kinds of grapes. (See page 3.) 

 2. A good soil for the vineyard should be 

 a dry, calcareous loam, sufficiently deep (say 

 3 feet), loose and friable, draining itself 

 readily. A sandy, yet moderately rich soil 

 is better adapted to most varieties than heavy 

 clay. New soils, both granitic and lime- 

 stone, made up by nature of decomposed 

 stone and leaf-mould, are to be preferred to 

 those that have long been in cultivation, un- 

 less these have been put in clover and rested 

 a few years. If you have such a location 

 and soil, seek no further, ask no chemist to 

 analyze its ingredients, but go at once to 



PREPARING THE SOIL. 



" The preparation of the soil is undoubt- 

 edly one of the most important operations in 

 the establishment of a vineyard, and one of 

 its objects should be to get the soil of a 

 uniform texture and richness throughout, 

 but not over-rich. This deep stirring of the 

 soil puts it very much in the condition of a 

 sponge, which enables it to draw moisture 

 from the soil beneath and from the atmos- 

 phere above, and hold it for the wants of the 

 plant ; hence, soils that are drained and 

 deeply stirred, keeping the good soil on the 

 surface, are less subject to the evils that 

 accompany and follow a drought than those 

 that are not so treated. It is of the first 

 importance, therefore, that vineyards and or- 

 chards at least should be put in the best con- 

 dition for the reception of the vines and 

 trees, if the best results are aimed at." — 



Pet. Henderson. 



The old system of trenching is no more 

 practiced, except, upon very hard, stony 

 soil, and upon steep hillsides, being too 

 costly and of very little, if of any, advan- 

 tage. The plow has taken the place of the 

 spade, and has greatly lessened the expense. 

 While we would urge a thorough work in the 

 preparation of the soil before planting the 

 vine, we believe that by careful grubbing (in 

 timber lands), leaving no stumps, which 

 would only be continual eyesores and hind- 

 rances to proper cultivation, and then, using 

 a large breaking plow, followed b}^ the sub- 

 soil plow, the soil will be stirred as deeply 

 as is really necessary to insure a good and 

 and healthy growth of vines. For old ground 

 a common two-horse plow, with a span of 

 strong horses or cattle, followed in the same 

 furrow by a subsoil stirrer, will be sufficient 

 to stir the soil deepl}^ and thoroughly, and 

 will leave it as mellow and as nearly in its 

 natural position as desirable. This may be 



done during any time of the year when the 

 ground is open and not too wet. Most soils 

 would be benefited by under-draining; the 

 manner of doing this is the same as for other 

 farm crops, except that for vines the drains 

 should be placed deeper ; it is less important 

 on our hillsides, and too costly to be here 

 practiced to a great extent ; wet spots, how- 

 ever, must be drained at least by gutters, 

 and, to prevent the ground from washing, 

 small ditches should be made, leading into a 

 main ditch. Steep hillsides, if used at all, 

 should be terraced. 



PLANTING. 



The soil being thus thoroughly prepared 

 and in good friable condition, you are ready 

 for planting. The proper season for doing 

 this here, is in the fall, after the 1st of 

 November, or in the spring, before the 1st of 

 May. Seasons differ and sometimes make 

 later planting advisable, but never during 

 frost nor while the ground is too wet. If 

 you have been delayed with your work of 

 preparing the soil in spring, the 3'oung plants 

 from the nursery should be heled in some 

 cool, dry place and covered, so that their 

 vegetation be retarded ; if they have already 

 made shoots, be specially careful to guard 

 against their roots getting dry. Most vine- 

 yards are planted in spring ; in northern and 

 very cold localities, this may be preferable. 

 We prefer fall planting ; the ground will gen- 

 erally be in better condition, as we have 

 better weather in the fall, and more time tO' 

 spare. The ground can settle among the 

 roots in winter ; the roots will have healed 

 and calloused over, new rootlets will issue 

 early in spring before the condition of the 

 ground would have permitted planting, and. 

 the young plants, commencing to grow as 

 soon as the frost is out of I he ground, will 

 start with full vigor in spring. To prevent 

 the roots from being thrown to the surface 

 by alternate freezing and thawing, a mound 

 of earth hoed up around the plants, or a 

 ridge thrown up with a plow so as to elevate 

 the ground somewhat in the rows, will be 

 found to afford all the protection necessary.. 

 By no means delay planting till late in spring,, 

 and, if your ground is not ready in time, you 

 had much better cultivate it with corn or hoed 

 crops of some kind, and postpone planting- 

 until next fall. Planting in rows, eight feet 

 apart, is now the usual method ; it gives 

 sufficient space for a horse and man to pass 

 through with plow or cultivator ; the distance 

 in the rows varies somewhat with the growth 

 of the different varieties and the richness of 

 the soil. Most of our strong vigorous, grow- 

 ers, will need 8 to 10 feet in the rows ; while 



