Planting of a Vineyard. 95 



vigorous ; the first ripe grapes are never gathered on 

 the edges of the vineyard. The old, worn-out vines, 

 and those planted in poor soils, mature earlier than 

 those "that are young and well manured. Now, in 

 northern latitudes, the ripening of the grapes being im- 

 perfect, it will be well to reduce their vigor by crowding 

 them more than in the South. 



5th. Nevertheless, this crowding must not be over- 

 done, otherwise the vigor of the plants would not suf- 

 fice properly to nourish the grapes, which would then 

 yield but an inferior wine. It must not, besides, be 

 forgotten that light and air must circulate freely round 

 all the plants, and that the soil must be warmed by the 

 sun. 



6th. In a word, while taking into account all the pre- 

 ceding conditions, such a space must be left between 

 the plants that the tillage of the ground may be done 

 by the plow, whenever the inclination of the surface 

 will permit its use. 



We have now only to point out the limits to be 

 adopted under the preceding circumstances. Unfor- 

 tunately no direct experiment has been made, to solve 

 that important problem. Nevertheless, if we examine 

 all that transpires on the subject, in the general practice 

 of the different vine regions, it will be seen (by the fol- 

 lowing table) that this problem has everywhere been 

 solved conformably to the circumstances just enumer- 

 ated : 



