80 MANUAL OF AMERICAN GRAPE-GROWING 



leaving at least one rod from road or fence for a headland. 

 With the wire thus stretched, a stake is placed at each of the 

 distance tags to represent the first row of vines. Beginning 

 at the starting point, sixty feet are measured off in the base 

 line and a temporary stake is set ; eighty feet at a right angle 

 with the first line are then measured off at the corner stake, 

 judging the angle with the eye ; then run diagonally from 

 the eighty-foot stake to the sixty-foot stake. If the distance 

 between the two stakes is one hundred feet, the corner is a 

 right angle. With the base lines thus started at right angles to 

 each other, one can measure off with the measuring wire as 

 large an area as he desires by taking care to have the line each 

 time drawn parallel with the last, and the stakes accurately 

 placed at the marking points on the wire. 



Still another method which may be put to good use in laying 

 out a vineyard, especially if the vineyard is small, is to combine 

 measure and sight. The distances about the vineyard are 

 measured and stakes set to mark the ends of the rows around 

 the area. Good stakes can be made from laths pointed at 

 one end and whitewashed at the other. A line of stakes is 

 then set across the field each way through the center, in places, 

 of course, which the two central row r s of vines will fill. When 

 these are in place, if the area is not too large or too hilly, all 

 measurements can be dispensed with and the vines can be set 

 by sighting. A man at the end of the row has three laths to 

 sight by in each row and a second man should drive stakes as 

 directed by the sighter. Accurate work can be done by this 

 method, but it requires time, a good eye and much patience 

 in the man who is sighting. 



SELECTING AND PREPARING THE VINES 



Young grape vines covet life, for they are usually vigorous 

 and not easily injured. Hence, the plants may be brought 



