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CHAPTER XIII. 



CULTIVATION. 



The surface of a vineyard must be kept in a thoroughly loose 

 condition ; we have already seen that the ground must be properly 

 loosened to a considerable depth before planting ; it must also be 

 kept in a loose state as much as possible, and no agent is more 

 powerful in this direction than thorough cultivation of the surface. 

 If the surface be kept loose, the lower layers will not settle down to 

 the same extent as would otherwise be the case. In addition to this, 

 cultivation is necessary in order to destroy the weeds, which grow 

 with great ease in most vineyards, with detrimental influence to the 

 vines near them. 



The different cultural operations which should be performed in 

 a vineyard may be grouped as summer and winter cultivations. 



The winter cultivation is the most important, and has for its primary 

 object the proper aeration of the soil. This acts beneficially in 

 a variety of ways, but chiefly in rendering many mineral substances 

 more soluble, and therefore more readily assimilable than would 

 otherwise be the case; this cultivation should preferably be executed 

 with the plough, as by turning the soil upside down greater facilities 

 are afforded for its thorough aeration. 



The depth of this ploughing should not be too considerable, as it 

 would be liable to injure the tender absorbent rootlets of the vine ; 

 as these do not, and should not, come so near the surface in a dry as 

 in a moist climate, it follows that the winter cultivation should be 

 deeper in the former than in the latter case. In a general way 

 it should vary between 4 and 6 inches 4 inches in a cold, and 6 inches 

 in a warm dry district. The best means of executing this ploughing 

 varies according to circumstances. If excessive moisture during the 

 winter is to be feared, the ground should be gathered up to the vines 

 on each side, so as to leave a furrow down the centre of the row by 

 which the surface water may run off. If too much moisture is not to 

 be feared, this will not be necessary, and the soil may be ploughed in 



