296 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



takes: one consists in planting too deep, and 

 the other too shallow, and it would be difficult 

 to say which has destroyed most vines and 

 trees. If vines are planted too deep, they be- 

 come enfeebled, and are winter killed ; if they 

 are planted too shallow, the frost heaves the 

 crowns above the surface, and they are also 

 winter killed. The vines are then said to be 

 tender, and the variety, in consequence, suffers 

 in reputation ; whereas the cause of winter kill- 

 ing often lies, not in the tenderness of the 

 vine, but in the want of knowledge or judgment 

 in the planter. There are other causes of win- 

 ter killing, it is true, not related to planting, 

 but which, as we have remarked elsewhere, 

 are, to a good degree, within the control of the 

 vineyardist. 



A very common fault in planting consists in 

 not placing the crown of the plant at the 

 necessary depth. We have seen many hun- 

 dreds of vines with the middle and ends of the 

 roots six inches below the surface, while the 

 crown was scarcely two. The winter often kills 

 the roots of such vines, but it first strikes the 

 crown. Now, it should be borne in mind, that 

 when the roots (in this book at least) are di- 

 rected to be covered four or six inches deep, it 



