PLANTING THE VINEYARD. 41 



must here make the preliminary remark, that 

 the roots of the plants should not be allowed to 

 get dry. The roots are furnished with many 

 little mouths, and if these get dried up, they 

 never reopen. The plant has then to spend a 

 portion of its vitality in forming new ones, 

 which sometimes so exhausts it that it remains 

 feeble during the whole season. Every thing 

 should be so ordered as to secure, as far as pos- 

 sible, the integrity of the vital principle of the 

 plant. When the vines are taken to the vine- 

 yard to be planted, they should be covered 

 with wet matting or cloths, and removed only 

 one at a time. 



First, let us take the single-eye plant. The 

 ground having been already prepared, we 

 have nothing to do but dig a hole of the prop- 

 er size, and have at hand some good fine 

 soil to place around the roots. It is a com- 

 mon practice among beginners to bed the roots 

 in manure; a practice that is often fatal to 

 the best of vines, but especially to those that 

 are weak. We may remark, in a general way, 

 that we aim to place the roots from four to 

 ten inches beneath the surface, according as 

 the soil is heavy or light. We may also add 

 the caution, that the soil will sink, but the 



