Preparation of the Soil. 29 



Breaking up the Ground. — The vine, like all 

 ligneous plants, requires for its proper devlopment a 

 soil sufficiently pervious to the roots. The ground 

 must, therefore, be broken up before planting, so as to 

 bring it to that condition. 



The depth to which the soil must be trenched will 

 necessarily vary according to its looseness, and degree of 

 dryness : a dry and warm soil must be dug deeper than 

 a rich, substantial, and somewhat cold soil, because the 

 root must penetrate deeper in the first than in the last. 



It will also be evident, that soils of the same kind 

 must be trenched deeper in a southern than in a north- 

 ern latitude, because drought is more to be feared in 

 the former than in the latter. In this respect it will 

 be well to confine ourselves within the following lim- 

 its : the dryest soils of northern regions ought to be 

 trenched to a depth of eighteen inches, at least ; in rich 

 and somewhat cold soils, twelve inches will be enough. 

 In the south, twenty-four inches will not be too much, 

 in the first case, and fifteen inches in the last. The 

 manner of performing this work depends on the nature 

 of the soil. 



But in all cases the following rules ought to be ob- 

 served : 1st — the breaking up or trenching ought to be 

 done several months before planting, so that the sub- 

 soil brought to the surface may have time to improve 

 lender the influence of atmospheric agents ; 2nd — the 

 subsoil must be replaced byjfeurface soil, and vice versa. 

 Some have, it is true, advised, in such cases, the loos- 

 ening only, of the subsoil, without bringing it to the 

 surface. This system, though adapted to herbaceous 

 plants, the roots of which live at the surface of the 



