54 



spread there and by being so close to tiie surface expose the plan? 

 to all the casualties of tlie weather, and all the various operations 

 of tilling and training, that must be carried on about the Vine. 

 But neither layering nor the setting out of layers should ever be in- 

 trusted to the hired vine-dresger or labourer. The injuries that may 

 be done by careless digging and hasty work to the young stocks 

 can scarcely be calculated. "VMien done with the attention and care 

 due to the operation, it has these advantages besides those already 

 enumerated The sucker yields plentifully and affords a strong wine ; 

 it allows the bunch to be kept near the ground, in places where the 

 low culture is strictly indispensable : and the stocks from layers will 

 jost considerably : there are even instances of immense duration, as 

 in the vineyards of L Tonne, Cote d Or, and Saone and Loire, which 

 are two hundred years old, and the wines of which, as also of the 

 vine-grounds of La Chainette and Migrennp near Auxerre, are gene- 

 rous, delicate, and strong ; and those too of Mares-d'Or, (district of 

 Dijon) which are racy, nourishing and of a high relish. 



In some districts they only layer in young plantations, in others 

 they do it from time to time to renew old stocks ; and in others they 

 annually layer a quarter, or sixth, or eighth, or even less, of the 

 whole of their Vmes. The first method is improper when it is done 

 to multiply the original number of stocks, because by the frequent 

 repetition it wears out the virtues of the variety, and renders it in- 

 ferior. But when practised to fill up the space of occasional dead 

 stocks it is perfectly recommendable For the second case it must 

 be said, that it is needless to wait till a Vine is dead to renew it ; 

 the proper time is when its pristine vigor declines : and when it5 pro- 

 duce diminishes in quantity, or what is of more consequence, in 

 quality. The third method cannot meet the approbation of any man 

 of science, because its purport and tendency is to perpetuate the 

 culture of the Vine in the spot it actually occupies for any period of 

 years, and the Vine, like all other plants, will in time exhaust the 

 earth of those principles which alone nourish it. 



Atter a certain lapse of time it should cede the soil to some other 

 growth, that by the alternation of other vegetation, the mould mar 

 become lively and fertile, in place of being impoverished and dead. 



Of L'TTRE.VCHiyG. 



"SMien a Vine either by age or the poverty of the soil begins to 

 fail, the \ine-dresser may postpone its ultimate fate by this operation, 

 which will reanimate it, and it will yield in consequence for five, 



