226 Vineyard Culture. 



there would still be a saving of one dollar and fifty-two 

 cents. 



The dressings by the horse cultivator, therefore, 

 greatly diminish the number of hands required, and al- 

 low of considerable saving in the expenditure. 



[No one in this country will question the greater economy 

 of using horse-power, and suitable cultivators ; and, as already 

 stated, when discussing the selection of vineyard sites, the 

 adaptation of the surface to the use of animals, becomes a 

 question of prime importance in the choice of vine lands. 

 Indeed, the abrupt hill-sides, that require manual labor, are 

 now generally passed by, in favor of hill-tops, that may be 

 tended with the plows, and, in many parts of the country ex- 

 tensive level lands are appropriated to vine planting. 



The difference in expense is greatly in favor of horse- 

 power ; indeed, extensive vineyards would not be planted if 

 they had to be cultivated by human labor. The whole ex- 

 pense is diminished more than one half, and as the cultivation 

 is but one item of expense, and the manual labors are the 

 same in both cases, the contrast between the expenditure by 

 the hoe and by the plow, could it be presented to the reader, 

 would be very much more striking. 



The author suggests, very properly, that the introduction 

 of the plow into old vineyards that had been cultivated by 

 hand, should be very carefully managed, and that the culture 

 should at first be very shallow, and gradually deepened. One 

 of the serious practical difBculties and objections to the plow, 

 consists in the danger of tearing off a shallow lateral root, of 

 considerable size, which is often attended with a splitting up- 

 ward of the vine-stock, for several inches, which is of course 

 a great injury. This accident may happen with the most 

 careful workman, and the most steady team, but is impossible 

 to avoid it with a fast and spirited horse, to whom the slight 



