A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine/Part 1/Chapter 3
CHAPTER THIRD.
Of the Preparation of the Soil, the Choice of Plants, and different Methods of Planting.
WHEN the cultivator, having applied the principles of the first chapter, to the situation in which he finds himself placed, and having combined as many favourable circumstances as may be compatible with it, has fixed upon the site of his vineyard, it becomes his next care, to prepare the soil for the reception of the plants; and for this purpose, that proceeding is best which is most effectual in clearing it from weeds, and reducing it to a friable and porous state.
The depth to which it is necessary to labour the soil, depends upon its nature, and the nature of the climate. In colder climates, a less depth is sufficient, because the plant is not suffered to grow to a large size, and has consequently less need that its roots should penetrate deep. Where a warmer climate allows the enlargement of its dimensions, it is, of course, requisite, that its roots should extend in proportion, and that the soil should be prepared to such a depth, as may not oppose their dissemination.
In some climates it would appear, that no soil could be too dry, or too shallow for the vine; cases being mentioned, as occurring in some districts of France, to which the ordinary means of tillage are quite inapplicable, and where it is necessary, in the first instance, to blast the decomposing rocks, and afterwards, by mallets, to reduce them to the size of nuts, or peas. An instance of this kind is described, where a proprietor, by these means, reduced a naked calcareous rock, and planted upon it the vine, which, to the surprise of every one, not only succeeded, but produced, and, after forty years, continued to produce the finest wine of the district.
As a preparation for the soil intended for wines, it is common in Burgundy to sow lucerne and sainfoin, which have the advantage of destroying parasitical plants, while their long roots serve to reduce the soil to a loose and permeable state. Before the vines are planted, these roots and stalks are care fully collected and burned, and their ashes spread, on the soil. Crops of beans, or potatoes, are also recommended, not only on account of the labours they require, but because the manure which it is necessary to give them, is, when its grosser parts are volatilized, beneficial to the young plants.
While the soil is in the course of preparation, the larger stones should be collected, and these may be usefully employed for enclosures; or, if the ground is steep, for forming terraces, to prevent the soil from being carried down by the rain. Where there are no stones to form enclosures, even ditches are recommended, in preference to live hedges, which ought never to be allowed to exceed three feet in height.
The most common methods of propagating vines, are by cuttings, by rooted plants, and by layers. Of these methods, that by cuttings is most recommended, and most generally practised. A good cutting should consist of a shoot of one year's growth, together with a small piece of the older wood attached to it; not that this adds in any respect to its goodness, but because it shows, that one shoot bas not been divided into several cuttings, as those buds nearest the bottom send forth the strongest shoots.
Rooted plants, which are cuttings prepared for two or three years in a nursery or garden, are generally found to languish so much, from the change of soil, and from the injuries the very minute and numerous fibres of the roots have sustained, as well as from the want of that care to which plants in a nursery are accustomed, but which cannot be extended to them on a larger scale, as to make it doubtful whether much advantage is obtained by the process—and whether more time is required by cuttings, for the development of their roots, or by rooted plants, to reconcile themselves to their wew situation.
Rooted plants are also procured by layers. A strong shoot being chosen in spring, and the buds nearest the stock being carefully removed; it is bent carefully into a small trench. prepared for it. The extremity, which rises above, is fixed to a small prop, and in autumn a rooted plant is obtained, when, or at the commencement of spring, it may be separated. A better method is, to carry the shoot through a basket of earth; but this is too expensive to be practised on a large scale.
The greatest caution is recommended, in selecting the stocks, from which to take cuttings. When the mother plant has not finished half its career, it is still endued with all its vegetative energy, therefore, they should have reached the age of eight or ten years, where the vines subsist during twenty-five or thirty years, and from twenty to thirty years, where they endure a hundred. It ought to be ascertained, that they produce large and well ripened fruit; that their wood is strong, sound, and without blemish or bruise. Their qualities should never be left to chance, but after the kinds of vines to be propagated are determined upon, the vineyards should be examined in autumn, just before the vintage, and those which are most healthy and vigorous, marked with a thread, or a twig of osier. From these only, the cuttings should be taken, when the wood is perfectly ripened, which it generally is, after the leaf has fallen. It is necessary that they should be of such a length, that, after having part of their upper extremity cut off, they may be put from nine to fifteen inches into the ground.
If the vineyard is to consist of several varieties, care must be taken to place each in the most favourable circumstances.
First, there should be one grand division of white and coloured varieties; the coloured varieties generally ripen ten or twelve days earlier than the white; they should, therefore, be planted in the lowest part of the vineyard. The great object is, to have every variety ripe at the same time and, therefore, those varieties which differ considerably in the period of their maturity, should not be planted together; and as far as situation will effect it, the others should be so placed, that the forward may be restrained, and the tardy accelerated. Those which ripen with the greatest difficulty, always shew vigour of vegetation, they should, therefore, be planted in the least fertile part of the soil; and the bottom part of the slope, or the richest part, should be appropriated to those which are more valuable for the quality, than the quantity of their produce.
It will thus be necessary, that the cuttings of each variety should be tied up separately, and marked.
The time of planting is different, in different climates. In the warmer climates, if this operation is deferred till spring, it frequently happens, that the young plant has not time to acquire strength to resist the heats of summer, while the temperature of the atmosphere, besides, seldom falls so low, as altogether to stop vegetation; and there is generally established, at the extremity of the plant, a sort of movement, which, if it does not give birth to apparent roots, so disposes the plant, nevertheless, to produce them, that they burst forth spontaneously in the first of the fine weather.
In colder climates, it is otherwise, and to plant before the winter, would be to risk the success of the plantation. The humidity of the soil would tend to rot that part of the plant below the surface; and the two eyes left above, would frequently be so much injured, as to be incapable of developing their buds.
Where, then, the winters are severe and wet, the plantation must be deferred to the spring, and there is, in this case, also less danger from the more moderate heat of the summer. But where the winters are mild, the planting in autumn affords many advantages.
When it is necessary to preserve the cuttings, some time before they are planted, they should be tied in bundles, and kept in a cellar, buried in damp sand, with two or three of the eyes of the upper extremities exposed to the air. In some places they are preserved in trenches, opened in a dry soil; and, if care is taken that they should not press too much on one another, they will be found, when drawn out for plantation, to have put forth, from the lowest eyes, numerous small roots. It is rare that a plant, in this state, if properly managed, does not succeed.
The distance at which the plants are placed, is determined by the height to which it is intended they should be confined, and this again depends upon the climate. In the colder climates, they are frequently planted so close, as from one and a half to two feet, and it is conceived that this closeness serves to protect them from frosts, and assists their ripening, by increasing the temperature of the air, in consequence of its circulating less.
In proportion as the heat of the climate is more capable of elahorating the juices of a larger plant, they, are placed at a greater distance, and this distance sometimes extends to six feet. For vines of a middling height, three feet in the rows, and from three, to three and a half feet a-part, are the most common distances, unless it is intended, as is frequently the case in the south of France, to sow corn in the intervals, in which case they are to be seen at all distances.
The method of planting usually adopted for cuttings, where the soil has sufficient consistency, is the dibble. It is made something in the form of a large auger, or like the letter T, the cross bar being wood, and has an iron projection, or stop, about the depth to which the plant is intended to enter. The depth varies according to the distance, it being necessary to preserve a proportion, between the roots and the branches. Where they are to be very close, from seven to nine inches in depth will be sufficient; and where they are to be of larger growth, and more distant, from twelve to fifteen inches.
Whatever be the depth determined upon, the plant must be cut down, to leave only two knots, or eyes, above the surface. It is always the knot nearest the surface, which parts the stock; and if any thing occurs to destroy it, or prevent its shooting, it is only necessary to uncover, with the finger, the next lower eye, which will immediately supply its place. Before planting, the cutting is kept in water from the time of its being cut; if new, or from the time of its being taken from the trench or cellar, where it has been preserved, after being introduced into the hole, a few handfuls of fine mould, or what is more common, of wood ashes, are put about it, and some pour in water, of the drainage of dunghills. If the ground slopes, the plant should be placed a little opposed to its inclination. Where the slope of the ground is gentle, it is recommended to open trenches, from one end to the other, giving them a depth proportioned to the distance of the plants. This is the best method, especially for rooted plants; a quantity of fine mould is also generally spread where the plant is to be placed. If it is a rooted plant, it will require all the care which is usually given to young trees, none of which are more susceptible of injury.
It is of great importance, as facilitating the various labours they receive, that the plants should have a regular arrangement, that of a quincunx is recommended, and possesses, in this respect, great advantages; but it often happens, that the irregularity of the ground, and the stony soil, will not allow of this, in which case, it is necessary to dig a hole, if the dibble cannot be used, whenever opportunity offers, care being taken to place the uppermost and finest soil at the bottom of the hole, and nearest to the plant.
It is a very common practice, to place two plants in the row, inclining one to the right, and the other to the left; but this is very much disapproved of, as forcing the roots to intermingle, and stifle each other.
It is particularly recommended, to finish planting in one season, and to preserve a few cuttings, or plants, to replace any which may not have taken; and, finally, to finish, by making the soil perfectly level and smooth.