86 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 



great many different families were subjected 

 to trial." (Bnchner's Repertorium, ii. Reihe, 

 xix. Bd. S. 38.) 



ON A MODE OF MANURING VINES. 



The observations contained in the follow- 

 ing pages should be extensively known, be- 

 cause they furnish a remarkable proof of the 

 principles which have been stated in the 

 preceding part of the work, both as to the 

 manner in which manure acts, and on the 

 origin of the carbon and nitrogen of plants. 



They prove that a vineyard may be re- 

 tained in fertility without the application 

 of animal matters, when the leaves and 

 branches pruned from the vines are cut into 

 small pieces and used as manure. According 

 to the first of the following statements, both 

 of which merit complete confidence, the 

 perfect fruitfulness of a vineyard has been 

 maintained in this manner for eight yeans, 

 and according to the second statement for 

 ten years. 



Now, during this long period, no carbon 

 was conveyed to the soil, for that contained 

 in the pruned branches was the produce of 

 the plant itself, so that the vines were placed 

 exactly in the same condition as trees in a 

 forest which received no manure. Under 

 ordinary circumstances a manure containing 

 potash must be used, otherwise the fertility 

 of the soil will decrease. This is done in all 

 wine-countries, so that alkalies to a very 

 considerable amount must be extracted from 

 the soil. 



When, however, the method of manuring 

 now to be described is adopted, the quantity 

 of alkalies exported in the wine does nor 

 exceed that which the progressive disinte- 

 gration of the soil every year renders capable 

 of being absorbed by the plants. On the 

 Rhine 1 litre of wine is calculated as the 

 yearly produce of a square metre of land 

 (10-8 square feet English.) Now if we 

 suppose that the wine is three-fourths satu- 

 rated with cream of tartar, a proportion 

 much above the truth, then we remove from 

 every square metre of land with the wine 

 only 1-8 gramme of potash. 1000 grammes 

 (i litre) of champagne yield only 1.54, and 

 the same quantity of Wachenheimer 1*72 

 of a residue which after being heated to red- 

 ness is found to consist of carbonates. 



One vine-stock, on an average, grows on 

 every square metre of land, and 1000 parts 

 of the pruned branches contain 56 to 60 

 parts of carbonate, or 38 to 40 parts of pure 

 potash. Hence it is evident that 45 grammes, 

 or 1 ounce, of these branches contain as 

 much potash as 1000 grammes (1 litre) of 

 wine. But from ten to twenty times this 

 quantity of branches are yearly taken from 

 the above extent of surface. 



In the vicinity of Johannisberg, Rudes- 

 heim, and Budesheim, new vines are not 

 planted after the rooting out of the old stocks, 

 until the land has lain for five or six years in 



barley and esparcet, or lucerne; in the sixth 

 year the young slocks are planted, but not 

 manured till the ninth. 



ON THE MANURING OF THE SOIL IN VINE- 

 YARDS.* 



" In reference to an article in your paper, 

 No. 7, 1838, and No. 29, 1839, I cannot 

 omit the opportunity of again calling the 

 public attention to the fact, that nothing 

 more is necessary for the manure of a vine- 

 yard than the branches which are cut from 

 the vines themselves. 



" My vineyard has been manured in this 

 way for eight years, without receiving any 

 other kind of manure, and yet more beauti- 

 ful and richly laden vines could scarcely be 

 pointed out. I formerly followed the method 

 usually practised in this district, and was 

 obliged in consequence to purchase manure 

 to a large amount. This is now entirely 

 saved, and my land is in excellent condition. 



" When I see the fatiguing labour used 

 in the manuring of vineyards horses and 

 men toiling up the mountains with unne- 

 cessary materials I feel inclined to say to 

 all, Come to my vineyard and see how a 

 bountiful Creator has provided that vines 

 shall manure themselves, like the trees in a 

 forest, and even better than they! The 

 foliage falls from trees in a forest, only 

 when they are withered, and they lie for 

 years before they decay; but the branches 

 are pruned from the vine in the end of July 

 or beginning of August whilst still fresh and 

 moist. If they are then cut into small pieces 

 and mixed wiu the earth, they undergo 

 putrefaction so completely, that, as I have 

 learned by experience, at the end of four 

 weeks not the smallest trace of them can be 

 found." 



" REMARKS OF THE EDITOR. We find 

 the following notices of the same fact in 

 Henderson's Geschichte der Weine dt.r 

 alteiLund neuen, Zeit:' 



" * The best manure for vines is the 

 branches pruned from the vines themselves, 

 cut into small pieces, and immediately mixed 

 with the soil.' 



"These branches were used as manure 

 long since in the Bergstrasse. M. Frauen- 

 felder says:f 



" * I remember that twenty years ago, a 

 man called Peter Muller had a vineyard 

 here which he manured with the branches 

 pruned from the vines, and continued this 

 practice for thirty years. His way of apply- 

 ing them was to hoe them into the soil alter 

 having cut them into small pieces. 



" * His vineyard was always in a thriving 



' Slightly abridged from an article by M. Krebi 

 of Seeheim, in the " Zeitschrift fur die landwirth- 

 schaftlichen Vereine des Grosherzogthums Hes- 

 sen." No. 28, July 9, 1840. 



t Badisches landwirthschaftliches Wochenblatt. 

 v. 1834, S. 52 and 79. 



