The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-29
SUBSOILING FOR GRAPES.
The Best Way of Making the Roots of the
 Vines Spread Out.

The Best Way of Making the Roots of the
 Vines Spread Out.
 Judging from my own experience I think that the roots of the vine need to penetrate the subsoil. am aware that of late it has been recommended and practiced to set out vineyards up- on cheap scale without trenching or subsoiling.
 This in my judgment is the chief reason why the vine suffers so much from sporadic diseases. The roots be- ing too near the surface are subjected to all the changes and vicissitudes of climate conditions, while if set deeper they would receive the protection of deeper soil against sudden changes.
 An experiment that I made few years ago saves so much of my heavy expense of subsoiling, and has proved so satisfactory, that can recommend it to vineyard planters. It is so sim pie, and applicable to all varying con- ditions that no one need hesitate, about adopting it. l simply plowed and cleaned out trenches in the fall as steep as their sides could be made eight feet apart and twenty inches deep, set the vines in the trenches in the following spring and filled them in again mainly with the blow.
 The reason for success in this exper- iment of fall tronching is found in the action of frost during the winter being enabled to penetrate the subsoil deeper than it could otherwise do through the means of these open trenches, thereby fining and commin- uting the soil and subsoil and bringing up to the surface some of the lost fer tility of past ages. I found to my great surprise that before the frost had gone out of the ground the trenches were deeper or the ridges were higher in the spring than the fall, showing that the frost had penetrated from the trenches sides into the soil of the ridges, heaving and loosening it much deeper and refining it as had never before observed under any other con- ditions. I found that 1 had been util- izing the forces of nature to do my work free and far better than could do it at a great expense myself with teams and subsoil blows.
 Subsequently it was shown that as the roots of the vines spread out and grew the feeding roots at the ends gradually rose little as they ap- preached the centers of the rcws, and that occasionally the blow in the sub- sequent tillage of the vines cut off the end of a few of these feeding roots, but could not perceive that this was a serious injury, for new and more branching roots were sent out from the severed ones the next season, and 1 sometimes imagined that it had rein vigorated the vines, and caused them to grow more luXuriantly, but l could not express a positive opinion as to this, without more experience and ob- servation.
 Another point gained was, that in the spring I did not have to dig holes to set the vines at @ busy season of the year. The holes were already dug just the right depth. The fine top soil had fallen in from the sides of the ditches, making the very best possible conditions, after strewing a little phosphate, ashes and bone dust in the trench, for the fine subsequent, healthy and vigorous growth obtained, and I found that I could work the soil some two weeks earlier than that un- trenched. 1 actually set the vines while there was yet frost in the ridges, the soil working dry and mallow.-- Cor. Philadelphia Gardener.