54 



VINEYARDS. 



afterward set. The ditch was dug three feet deep, and 

 the throat of the drain formed by placing flat stones like 

 the two sides of a steep roof, upon the bottom. Stones 

 and rubbish were then filled in to within 15 inches of 

 the surface. Fresh bones with the flesh attached were 

 spread liberally upon the rubbish and the earth levelled. 

 The soil is a strong, deep loam, on a somewhat retentive 

 bottom, having a southeasterly slope. The row runs 

 very nearly north and south, the vines being planted 

 on the east side of the trellis about a foot distant, and 

 leaning towards it. 



In the autumn of 1861, the vines were all cut down to 

 within two or three buds of the ground and left with- 

 out protection. In the spring of 1862 a trellis was 

 built of posts and wire. The posts were chestnut, 2x2, 

 except one at each end, which was 3x5, and braced in 

 a foot. The posts were set ten feet apart, two and a 

 half feet deep, and were dipped in gas tar before setting. 

 I would now set them but six feet apart. Four strands 

 of No. 12, annealed, iron wire were attached to the 

 posts by staples made of the same wire. The lowest 

 wire is 18 inches from the ground, and the others are 

 placed at distances of 14 inches, so that the top wire 

 is just five feet from the surface of the soil. These 

 wires are coated with Paraffine varnish to keep them 

 from rusting. During the summer of 1862 a single 

 shoot was trained perpendicularly from each vine, all 

 other growth being rubbed off as soon as it started, and 

 all laterals were pinched back to one leaf, and this 

 operation was repeated and continued as long as they 

 made new growth. 



In the autumn of 1802 the first vine at one end of 

 the row was cut off at the third wire of the trellis. 



