CULTURAL CARE. 147 



This first ploughing should be doiie at the end of Winter, 

 at such a time that the vegetation may not be influenced by 

 the last frosts and the first spring rains. In low lands ex- 

 posed to white frosts the first ploughing should not be done too 

 late, for when soil is newly disturbed it favours the production 

 of white frosts. It should not be done too early, for the soil 

 would get covered with weeds before the white frost period, 

 and we know that the presence of weeds equally favours a 

 decrease of temperature. 



The first ploughing should be the deepest. In certain 

 countries it is done to a depth of 6 to 8 inches ; it should 

 allow the access of air as deeply as possible, and also allow the 

 water to penetrate and be retained in the sub-soil. Some 

 viticulturists however, condemn, in a general way, deep 

 ploughing for vines. They are of opinion that the destruc- 

 tion of superficial roots which play an important part in 

 the nutrition of the plant greatly injures its growth, but we 

 must not forget that in very dry countries, which are those 

 requiring deep ploughing, the superficial root system is not 

 found near the surface, for the amount of humidity there 

 is not sufficient to insure their development, or because, 

 after having grown under the influence of spring rains, they 

 dry and die under the influence of summer drought. There- 

 fore, it is only in climates where soils naturally keep moist 

 that shallow first ploughing can be advocated. 



Fig. 123. Arrangement of soil after first ploughing: 



We should try to obtain as high ridges as possible between 

 the rows, so as to increase the surface of soil exposed to the 

 action of the air. To realize this condition we must plough 

 away from the vines, and cover the sods in the centre by 



K 2 



