Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-09-10
VINEYARD PLANTING.
ras Necessity for Proper Cultivation of
the Ground.


Judging from my experience (sayl
D. S. Marvin in Popular Gardening) ]
think the roots Of the vine need to pene
trate the sub-soil. / am aware that o
late it has been recommended and prac
ticed to set out vineyards on a cheap scale
without trenching or ~sub-soiling,
-, This, in my judgment, is the CHIEF
reason why the vines suffer so much from
sporadic diseases. The roots, being toe
near the surface, are subjected to all the
changes and vicissitudes of climatic con-
ditions, while if set deeper they would re-
ceive the protection of a deeper soil against
sudden changes.
An experiment that l made a few years
ago saves so much Of the heavy expense OF
sub-soiling. and has proved so satisfactory,
that / can safely recommend it to vineyard
planters. 1t is SO simple and applicable to
all varying conditions 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 pillow.
The reason for success In this expert
ment of fall trenching is found in the &C
ton of frost during the winter being ena-
bled to penetrate the subsoil deeper than
it could otherwise do through the means
of these open trenches, thereby filming and
comminuting the soil and subseil and
bringing up to the surface some of the lost
fertility of past ages. ! found to nay 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
in the fall, showing that the frost had pen
etrated from the trenches sideways into
the soil of the ridges, heaving and loosen
ing itmuch deeper and filming it as l had
never before observed, under any other
conditions. l found that | had been util-
izing the forces of nature to do my work
free and far better than | could do it at
great expense myself with steam and sub
soil plows.
Subsequently it was shown that as the
roots of the vines spread out and grew the
feeding roots at the ends gradually rose a
little as they approached the centers of the
rows, and that occasionally the pillow in the
subsequent tillage of the vines cut off the
ends of a few of these feeding roots, but ]
could not perceive that this was a serious
injury, for new and more branching root;
were sent out from the severed ones the
next season, and / imagined hat it had
reinyigorated the vines, and caused then
to grow more luxuriantly, but could no
express a positive opinion as to this, with
out more experience and observation.
Another point gained was, that in the
spring | did not have to dig holes to Sc
the vines at a busy season Of the year
The holes were already dug Just the RICH
depth. The fine top soil had fallen il
from the sides of the bitches, making tn
very best possible conditions after strewin;
a little phosphate, ashes and bone dust il
the trench, for the fine subsequent
healthy and vigorous growth obtained
and l found that | could work the sol
some two weeks earlier than that no
trenched. l actually set the vines Will
there were yet frost in the ridges, the sol
working dry end mellow.