124 MANUAL OF MODERN VITICULTURE. 



disturbed at that time of the year becomes loose and 

 mellowed under the influence of frost : it gets well aerated, 

 and has time to settle down before planting. Further, every 

 thing is in favour of autumn trenching. 



2ND. MANURING. 



Manure should be applied before planting, except in the 

 case of soils naturally very rich. This operation is above 

 all necessary when an* old vineyard is uprooted and planted 

 again with new vines. All matters must be restituted to the 

 soil (nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash) which have been 

 abstracted by the old vines. American vines, especially those 

 liable to chlorosis, seem to require these matters more than 

 any others. When a plantation of American vines is made 

 on the site of an old European vineyard in soil of medium 

 fertility 25 to 28 tons per acre of stable manure, or its 

 equivalent, should be applied. Manures or fertilizers decom- 

 posing slowly should be preferred, as it gives them time to 

 wait for the roots of the plant and furnishes it with food for a 

 longer period. Bones, leather, residues from glue manufacture, 

 bamboos, box, rock-rose, lentiscus, and other such material 

 may be advantageously used in these cases. Manures of 

 this kind present the advantage of not forcing the vegetation 

 of the young plant, generally too powerful naturally. 



Fertilizers should be spread all through the thickness of 

 the ploughed part, without, however, resting on the bottom,, 

 where the water would dissolve the matters they contain. 



