ROBBING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



83 



the soil the better the production. Soils impregnated 

 with alkali or where the water table is too close to the 

 surface should be avoided. 



LAYING OUT A VINEYARD 



First establish your base lines. It is best to have this 

 done with a transit, particularly if there are no estab- 

 lished regular subdivision lines to work from. If the 

 base lines are not at right angles, the rows will not be 

 straight, and nothing is more unsightly. Add to this the 

 difficulty of plowing and cultivating and the advantages 

 of straight rows will be readily understood. For planting 

 use a steel woven No. 19 galvanized wire, dividing same 

 up into sections as recommended under the heading of 

 "Methods of Planting," and at equidistant points on 

 the chain a piece of wire is wrapped to which markers 



Having set the stakes along the outside line at the 

 distance apart the vines are to be planted, start at the 

 same end of the field again and set another line of stakes 

 parallel with the first line and the length of the chain 

 distant from the outside line. Proceed in this manner 

 until the entire field is laid out in checks. With this 

 preliminary work done, and having exercised care in 

 the measurements to have the base lines parallel and 

 the stakes in each block opposite each other, no diffi- 

 culty will be experienced when planting commences to 

 have the vines line up. 



DISTANCE TO PLANT 



This always gives rise to much discussion, and opin- 

 ions vary so that the planter is often in a quandry as to 

 what course to pursue. The prevailing practice is to 



A one-year-old Muscat vine trained to 

 single cane and cut back to twenty- 

 four inches. 



A three-year-old Muscat vine well 

 trained. 



A two-year-old Muscat vine with 



spurs properly distributed along 



the cane. 



are attached and soldered into place. It is necessary, of 

 course, to change the markers to other points for plant- 

 ing at greater or less distances. It is best to have the 

 wire chain the width of the check, the last link coming 

 flush with the stake indicating the roadway. These 

 roads between the checks should be at intervals of 

 twenty-four rows for a wine and table vineyard and 

 thirty rows for a raisin vineyard. Start at one corner 

 of the field with the chain, which should have three-inch 

 rings at each end for inserting the iron stakes. These 

 should be made of one-half by two-inch iron, two and 

 one-half feet long and drawn down to a point at one 

 end. The stakes which are to be used as markers may 

 be split out of redwood, or any other material, for that 

 matter, and at least six inches of one end dipped into a 

 bucket of whitewash, so that the line of the base rows 

 may be readily seen. 



plant wine grapes 8x8 feet, leaving out the twenty- 

 fifth row for an avenue. For wine and table grapes the 

 avenues should not be farther apart than this. As it is 

 necessary to carry out the grapes in lug boxes to the 

 avenue, the pickers (if the work of harvesting is done 

 by contract) demand more per ton for the picking than 

 where the checks are twenty-four vines wide. For 

 types of raisin grapes which are to be short pruned and 

 headed low where the drying is to be done on trays in 

 the vineyard, any of the following distances are satis- 

 factory: 8x8, 7x10, 6x12 feet, always leaving the wide 

 rows east and west, so the trays shall get the full bene- 

 fit of the sun's rays. In this case the checks may be 

 thirty rows wide. For staked vines of raisin grapes, 

 where the drying is to be carried on in the vineyard, 

 6x12 feet is undoubtedly the most economical distance 

 to plant, as picking is much facilitated, the trays get 



