76 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



with teams, but the distance between plants in the rows is 

 less, sometimes being no greater than three and a half or four 

 feet. The rank-growing Rotundifolias of the southern states 

 need much room, nine by sixteen feet being none too much. 

 Sunshine must govern the distance apart somewhat. Grapes 

 picked in the pleached alleys of closely set vineyards of the 

 North and East are few, small and poor ; farther south, shade 

 from the vines may be a requisite for a good crop. 



The number of vines to the acre must be determined before 

 growing or buying plants. This is done by multiplying the 

 distance in feet between the rows by the distance the plants 

 are apart in the row, and dividing 43,560, the number of square 

 feet in an acre, by the product. 



PREPARATION FOR PLANTING 



It is impossible to put too much emphasis on the necessity 

 of thorough preparation of the land before planting the grape. 

 Extra expenditure to secure good tilth is amply repaid by 

 increased growth in the grape, and all subsequent care may 

 fail to start the vines in vigorous growth if the land is not in 

 good tilth preparatory to planting. The vineyard is to stand 

 a generation or more, and its soil is virtually immortal, two 

 facts to suggest perfect preparation. The land should be thor- 

 oughly well plowed, harrowed, mixed and smoothed. The 

 better this work is done, the greater the potentialities of the 

 vineyard. Here, indeed, is a time to be mindful of the adage 

 which comes from Cato, a sturdy old Roman grape-grower of 

 2000 years ago : "The face of the master is good for the land/' 



Preparation is a series of operations in which it is wise to take 

 advantage of time and begin a year before the vines are to be 

 set. The land must be put in training to fit it for the long 

 service it is to render. The two great essentials of preparation 

 are provision for drainage and thorough cultivation. Both, 



