52 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



transportation; every thing, in brief, is favor- 

 able to the lifting, packing, and shipping of the 

 vines, and they are received in good order. In 

 the spring, the very opposite of these conditions 

 exist, and it is no uncommon occurrence to re- 

 ceive vines with the buds gone, bruised, or 

 started into growth, greatly to the damage of 

 the vines, and sometimes resulting in much 

 loss. Our advice is, to buy in the fall ; to plant 

 as long as the work can be well done ; to " heel 

 in " the vines that are left over, and finish the 

 planting early in the spring, or as soon as the 

 ground has become warm. We should prefer 

 to buy in the fall, even though we did not 

 plant till spring. From what we have said, 

 the reasons will be obvious. 



The plants, when received, should be " heeled 

 In " as follows : select a dry place, where water 

 can not stand, and dig a trench eighteen inches 

 deep and from twelve to eighteen inches wide, 

 throwing the earth all on one side. In this 

 trench the vines are to be placed close together 

 in a slanting position, and the roots covered 

 with soil to the depth of a foot. Where a 

 large number of vines are to be "heeled in," 

 the trench may be dug wider, and when the 

 .roots of the first row are covered, another row 



