GRAPES 
larly heavy, with the disc harrow. The 
three-gang plow will cover an 8%-foot 
row in one bout. Where no cover crop 
was sown, the disc may replace the plow. 
The subsequent cultivation is done with 
the grape hoe, hand hoe, spring-tooth 
harrow, and dise harrow. Just about the 
time that the root-worm has transferred 
to the pupa or “turtle” stage and has got- 
ten into the upper layer of the soil, 
ready to emerge and, as adult, to lay 
its eggs on the canes, the grape hoe may 
be used to throw a furrow away from 
the hills. This exposes the delicate 
pupal stage of the insect to the sun and 
other climatic conditions which are very 
destructive to it. Cultivate at regular 
intervals of ten days and always just be- 
fore the soil has crusted from a rain, 
and especially often in a season of 
drought. About the first of August dis- 
continue cultivation, the last operations 
being gang plowing, dragging, and plow- 
ing a single furrow up to each side of the 
hill. Care should be observed to keep 
the soil level throughout the entire width 
of the row during the growing season. 
This insures a more uniform distribution 
of rainfall. 
Cover Crops 
The vineyard should be sown to a cov- 
er crop at this time by broadcasting and 
dragging in with the spring-tooth har- 
row or else drilling it. Before sowing, 
it is well to watch the weather maps 
pretty closely and try to sow just before 
or just after rain. If good cultivation 
has been given we will have now a good 
seed bed. Mammoth clover, vetch, Can- 
ada field peas, clover mixed with cow- 
horn turnips, and winter wheat mixed 
with cow-horn turnips can be used. 
Mammoth clover sown at the rate of 20 
pounds per acre has proven very satis- 
factory and makes an ideal nitrogenous 
cover crop for the vineyard. It decays 
rapidly and adds much nitrogen and 
humus to the soil. 
The next most promising nitrogenous 
cover crops for the vineyard are hairy 
vetch and a mixture of mammoth clover 
(15 pounds) and cow-horn turnips (1 
pound per acre). A mixture of winter 
1093 
wheat (1 bushel) and cow-horn turnips 
(12 ounces per acre) promises a very 
satisfactory non-nitrogenous cover crop. 
In addition to furnishing and liberat- 
ing plant food in the soil, the organic 
matter derived from a cover crop im- 
proves the mechanical condition and con- 
serves moisture. A crop growing late in 
the fall, after the vines have ceased 
growing, also utilizes nitrates that are 
being formed then and would otherwise 
be lost by leaching, especially on knolls 
and hillsides liable to washing. There 
can be no doubt that the grape does best 
under frequent and thorough tillage, and 
this means that organic matter and 
humus are being rapidly burned out of 
the soil. Hence the loss must be sup- 
plied by the use of stable manure, cover 
crops, or organic commercial fertilizer. 
Intercropping 
Many growers grow potatoes, cabbage, 
beans, etc., between the rows of the 
young vineyard for the first two years, 
while others interplant blackberries, rasp- 
berries, currants, gooseberries and straw- 
berries for indefinite periods. Observa- 
tion shows that neither of these plans is 
in keeping with the best vineyard prac- 
tices; and both the primary and second- 
ary crops suffer as the result of such sys- 
tems. The only crop that should be 
allowed in the vineyard is the cover crop. 
Fertilizers 
The fertilizers required by the grape 
are still largely a matter of experiment, 
and until this phase is thoroughly worked 
oul, the grower must rely on his vines 
to tell him what is needed. Even should 
the wood growth indicate a lack of nitro- 
gen, it would not indicate that more 
nitrogen should be added to the soil, as 
there might be a sufficiency already pres- 
ent, yet unavailable by reason of poor 
tillage, lack of drainage and other faulty 
practices. 
Manuring 
The above statements will apply equal- 
ly well to the use of stable manure. It 
is probable that stable manure does pro- 
duce vigorous wood growth in some in- 
stances and it is just as probable that 
its direct fertilizing value has been over- 
