I 149 ] 
^re planted, but ought yearly to improve. You 
^re therefore to keep the ground free from weeds 
and grass ; which are great enemies to vines. If 
-you have any litter, short straw and chalF, the 
shives of broken hemp or Hax, the chalFof flax-seed, 
the dust and chaff of buck wheat, and the straw 
trod fine by horses, when it is dry, any or all of 
these spread over your vineyard, after it is well 
hoed or ploughed and harrovv^ed, will keep down 
the grass and weeds, .preserve the .ground moist and 
mellow, and greatly prevent the good soil from 
washing away. If this he done the first three or 
Jour years^ it vnll greatly forward the mnes^ and it 
w^ili finally prepare the soil to produce good crops^ 
by keeping it loose, airy and mellow, in which 
vines greatly delight. 
You will easily perceive the necessity of plant¬ 
ing a nursery when you plant your vineyard, in or¬ 
der that every plant that dies may have a ready and 
thrifty successor, and no ground go to waste. Your 
cuttings for the nursery, should be selected and 
prepared with the same care as those for the vine¬ 
yard. They should be planted in even rows, at 
six inches distance, and the rows three feet asunder 
that they may be hoed and kept clean, and scatter 
some short straw and chaff along between the rows 
to keep the ground moist and the weeds down. Let 
the ground of your nursery be in good heart, but by 
BO means so rich as the soil of the vineyard ; if it 
is, when the plants are removed into the vineyard 
U 
