SOIL AND SITUATION. 



101 



occasionally be used with benefit, t'o give the yine a start 

 when first planted, but it is doubtful whether it would 

 be judicious or economical to depend entirely upon any 

 of them to carry it through a succession of years. I 

 have found fine ground bones to be a safe and not very 

 expensive stimulant for the vine. I sometimes use one 

 to two quarts to each vine when planting, mixing it 

 with the soil immediately about the roots. 



After a vineyard is planted, manuring must not be 

 neglected; for the vine needs not only to be supplied 

 with food at the start, but it will want feeding contin- 

 ually, if it continues to grow and bear fruit. How often 

 it will need a supply the vineyardist must be the judge. 

 All that is required is to keep up a healthy growth. 

 Too much manure may increase the size of the fruit, but 

 it will injure its quality. The manure may always be 

 applied upon the surface, and worked in with the culti- 

 vator or hoe, but the plow should never be admitted into 

 a vineyard, as it will cause more injury than benefit. 



Frequent and regular top-dressings of manure are 

 better than large applications at long intervals. Rank 

 unfermented manures should not be used for this pur- 

 pose, as they will often injure the flavor of the fruit ; 

 besides, they will more or less affect the health of the 

 leaves 



Upon very open and porous soils a mulching of 

 leaves, straw, tan-bark, or similar materials will be very 

 beneficial, but upon more compact soils it is better to 

 keep the surface of the soil open by frequently stirring 

 it with the hoe or cultivator, so that it will the more 

 readily admit the air, and with it heat and moisture. 

 When such soils become surcharged with water, as they 

 frequently do during long rains, they will give off much 

 of the surplus moisture if the surface is kept open and 

 uncovered ; but when they are covered with a mulch 

 they retain too much near the surface, and the soil will 



