74 



CHAPTER VI. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



Having selected the site for the vineyard, the next thing to do is 

 to prepare the soil for planting. 



The vine being a deep-rooted plant, the greater the ease with 

 which its roots can penetrate to a considerable depth the more 

 vigorous and healthy will it be, the longer will it live, and the 

 better will it be able to stand severe drought during the summer 

 months. No means facilitates the penetration of the ground by the 

 roots more than deep preliminary cultivation, which is, therefore, not 

 only beneficial but necessary. Many persons are in the habit of 

 saying thp* deep cultivation is unnecessary, and that they have 

 observed vLies doing better on land which was simply ploughed to a 

 depth of a few inches than on that which was subsoiled. This may 

 be the case for the first few years, but once the vines have attained 

 their full development, the difference between the yield of the two 

 soon becomes manifest, the advantage, of course, being on the side of 

 the properly cultivated vines, which will continue to thrive for many 

 years without becoming exhausted. Although good results are often 

 obtained on land which has received only a simple ploughing, far 

 better results would have been obtained had it been more deeply 

 worked. The longevity of vineyards in the old country, where vines 

 have frequently been cultivated for centuries on the same land, is, in 

 a great measure, to be attributed to proper preparation of the soil. 

 Although a stiff soil naturally benefits more by deep cultivation than 

 a free one, it has been found in France, at Aigue Mortes, where vines 

 are planted in almost pure sand in order to enable them to resist the 

 attacks of the phylloxera, that, contrary to expectation, trenching to 

 a considerable depth (2 or 3 feet) had a most beneficial effect on the 

 growth of the vine, and increased the yield to a considerable extent. 



The stirring of the soil does not only act mechanically, in rendering 

 it penetrable for the roots, but by aerating it renders certain sub- 

 stances more readily assimilable. In addition to this it improves the 

 drainage and enables rain to be absorbed more readily, as well as a 

 proper amount of moisture to be retained. 



