532 
STATE HOKTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 
in any soil, in any part, high or low. This may be, and undoubtedly is, true 
to some extent, of some vines, but the question should rather be, in what 
soil they can grow to the greatest advantage. The vine would seem to be, in 
Mr. Atwood’s opinion, a moral philosopher, with a taste for poetry, finding 
“good in everything,” but it has, as we know, its favorite habitats, and 
among these none seem to suit it better, and scarce any so well, as our rich, 
warm, stimulating and generous lime-washed clay. 
Treatment of the soil. —I know of no other proper treatment of such 
a soil as now spoken of than that of breaking it up thoroughly— 
pulverizing it to a depth of twenty-two to twenty-four inches. This 
is exactly what I did with ray garden, trenching it two feet deep by 
measure. The digging of holes, or pits, or conversion of your land 
into a sort of grave yard, a place for bones and dead animals, or, 
as some do, into a kind of limestone or rock quarry, for the vine, is mere 
nonsense. I have tried all these methods of soil preparations, and others 
too absurd for consideration, and the simplest—the one I have recommended 
—the only one recommended by practical men, by experience and by sci¬ 
ence, is the best. I repeat, for where so much importance attaches, repeti¬ 
tion is admissible : the only preparation the soil requires for grape growing 
is simple, thorough breaking up to a depth of twenty-two to twenty-four 
inches. But what of manure ? some one may ask, and the answer is, none in 
the preparation of the soU. There are many reasons for being thus appa¬ 
rently dogmatic on this point, but the reasons are as sound and scientific 
as they are numerous. To discuss them, however, at this time wonld occupy 
too much space ; otherwise they are as interesting as they are useful to know. 
As to after-treatment of the soil, after the first or second year, when the 
vines are thoroughly rooted, if it is thought that the soil requires any en¬ 
riching, it should be treated with surface manuring very sparingly laid on. 
I give mine scarcely any, but when the vines are bearing well I scatter over 
and around the borders, during the winter, a rather plentiful supply of wood 
ashes, lightly forking them in when spring comes. 
Aspect. —The best aspect for grape growing in our climate is, by reason of 
the shortness of the summer, that where the vine can get the sun all the day 
long. The next best, the southeast or southwest. Some vines, like those 
which are rather late, want the most sunny situations, while others, like 
^hose which have but a scant foliage, require a situation more sheltered from 
the sun. There are, however, a variety of ways of adapting your vine to the 
situation you plant in. As for instance, if you wish shelter for a tender 
vine, like the Kebecca, which is planted where it is exposed to the sun all 
day, supposing your vine in any open space, plant at its back a vine of heav¬ 
ier foliage ; or, if like the Catawba or Anna, needing more warmth, plant 
against a tight fence, facing south or southwest. 
Elevation, —The elevation of the ground you plant on, is almost, if not 
quite immaterial, provided it is sufficiently drained., and protected from the 
