TEE VINE IN THE GIRONDE. 829 



which has not been before used for cereals, or which has not been ma- 

 nured for a long time, at least half a cart-load of manure is required 

 for a row containing from 75 to 80 plants. In planting a feeble or used- 

 up ground double that amount of manure must be employed. It is 

 very important to have the plants well chosen; to this end it is only 

 required that the foot or base should be healthy and vigorous, taking 

 them only from branches having hitherto borne fruit. In certain com- 

 munes each cutting has a little of the wood of the preceding year; but 

 great importance is not attached to this latter precaution, as many 

 succeed as well in planting the young end. To replace the dead feet 

 in a young plantation root-plants are sometimes preferred (called 

 " chevelus " or " barbeaux") to the ordinary plants or layers. 



This replacement is also made by " provins." The term " provins " is 

 applied to a branch or tributary of the old vine-stalk, upon which new 

 roots develop without separating it from the mother vine. In order to 

 make a " provin " a long branch is left upon the old vine- stalk nearest 

 to the one to be replaced, and if possible in the same row ; a pit is 

 then dug, about 1 foot deep, between the two plants ; it is then filled 

 up with mold or manure, if the earth be poor ; the branch is then put 

 into the pit without separating it from the mother vine, and the end 

 raised in the place of the dead stalk ; it is supported by means of a 

 wooden stake, and requires to have its top cut off like the mouth-piece 

 of a flute, care being taken that the bud should be on the side opposite 

 the slope in order to avoid its being drowned or damaged by the flow- 

 ing of the sap. The severing of the " provin" is indispensable to pre- 

 vent the mother plant from declining or even dying. The separation 

 is begun after the second year by cutting on the branch a cross-section 

 about one-third deep, and by completely cutting it the year after. These 

 " provins," or layers, have the advantage of producing from the first 

 year ; it is admitted in the Me'doc that every " provin " pays its expenses 

 from the first year. The u provins " are made at the period when the 

 sap begins to ascend into the branches, rendering them more supple ; 

 care is taken to make some slight incisions in the part of the branch 

 lying under ground, so as to facilitate the growth of the roots. In the 

 planting of the vine by layers I find that five different modes are em- 

 ployed in the department. The three first are the most extensively 

 used. 



(1) Planting by reversion. This mode is certainly the best, but also 

 the most costly, inasmuch as the work for one acre costs about $117. 

 It consists in opening trenches in the direction of the vine-rows, a suf- 

 ficient distance apart; the first trench being finished, the earth coming 

 from it serves to fill up the last ; manure is then thrown in and the 

 plants, or " barbeaux," are placed in, being supported by stakes. The 

 next trench then undergoes the same operation, and so on to the end. 

 Planted in this manner the vine produces early, but is not of long dura- 

 tion. 



