152 MANUAL OF MODEEN VITICULTUKE. 



To sum up, first ploughing has for its object the aeration 

 of the soil, and must be done deeper than any other, and 

 expose as great a surface as possible to the action of the air. 

 It is often crossed. 



2nd. Scarifying or second dressing. The object of the 

 following ploughing is to maintain the beneficial effect of 



Fig. 132. Old Roman Foot Plough, still in use in Bas-Languedoc for 

 vineyard ploughing. 



the first. These scarifyings are often repeated during the 

 summer in certain districts, while in the Provence only one 

 scarifying is generally clone ; in other districts four or five, 

 but usually only two. 



(a) Spring dressing. Its object is to destroy weeds 

 grown after the spring rains, and to break up the crust formed 

 on the surface of the land, so as to diminish evaporation. 



Fig. 133. Renault-Gouin's Double-furrow Plough. 



The rising of the water, replacing surface evaporation is due 

 to capillary attraction; therefore, the more divided the sur- 

 face the slower the rising. The object of this operation is 

 also to level the surface by ploughing towards the vines, 

 destroying the ridges which in dry climates increase the sur- 

 face of evaporation. Spring scarifying should be done 



