In the third year the vine is trained, that is, the shoots are tied to upright stakes planted at each root, or they are laid in an arch and tied from one root to another along the ground. In southern climates trees are planted at a certain distance from each other, and the viue, planted at their foot, is allowed to run up their branches, from which it is led in festoons from tree to tree, while the head and branches of the tree are cut off to prevent too much shade. This is by far the most elegant mode of training the vine; but in France the stakes and the low training are the only methods suitable to the climate. The pruning is generally done in the beginning of winter.
When vineyards are established in the plains, where sometimes, as those of Medoo, they produce very good wine, the intervals between the plants can be stirred by the plough, although forking and digging by hand is more common; • hoeing is as necessary in a vineyard to destroy weeds as it is in afield of turnips or any other crop sown in rows. Wherever a vineyard is overrun with weeds, you may he sure that there is no good wine, and much poverty in the proprietor. The pruning of a vine in bearing, the object of which is to produce much fruit without weakening the plant, can only be learnt by experience and practice; much of the success of a vineyard depends on this operation. In the best vineyards no manure is used, except that which we mentioned before, of leaves and tendrils; but some soils require to be recruited, and without manure would produce little or no wine. In this case there is no alternative, and composts must be formed, as is done in common cultivation, with animal and vegetable substances mixed and decomposed. Manure from the cow-home should be mixed with virgin earth from pastures and meadows, and laid in small heaps in the intervals between the rows. It may be left a little while, if it have any rank smell, and then forked in round the roots; the more it is decomposed the better. • Many a vineyard has lost its reputation after having been abundantly manured. The Johannisberg was much reduced in value, after having been clanged, while in the possession of General Kellerman.
After a certain time, which differs in different situations, the vine becomes less productive from the exhaustion of the soil, as is the case when the same crops are repeatedly sown in the same ground : this depends on the depth of the soils. All perennial plants shoot out their
roots farther and farther every year in search of fresh earth, and it is by this means that trees flourish for along time on the same spot ; but if the roots are prevented from spreading, or, the plants being too crowded, their roots interfere, a diminution of vigour is the con sequence. So it is with the vine. In some situations, where the roots strike in crevices of rocks in which rich earth has accumulated, the vines will continue in vigour for many years; but where their progress is arrested by a solid rock or substratum, they will in time show signs of exhaustion. In this case the remedy is the same as for land bearing corn. A fallow, or rest, as it is usually called, is necessary, together with the addition of such manures as shall restore the lost fertility. For this purpose a portion of the oldest roots are dug up every year, and the ground trenched or loosened two feet deep or more with the mattock, to expose it to the influence of the atmosphere. A compost is prepared with sods taken from pastures, or any virgin earth which can be procured; this is mixed with some lime and turned over several times, to rot all the roots and grass which may be in it, and to make It a uniform and rich mould. Holes are now made, exactly as when a new vine is planted, and In each of them a basket or bartowful of earth is thrown ; in this the new plants or cuttings are planted to produce new vines in due time : thus the vineyard is gradually renovated. The proportion thus followed every year depends an the natural duration of the vine in that particular situation. In inferior soils one seventh is thus renewed every year, in some a twentieth part is suffi cient, and there are vineyards which have never been renewed in the memory of the present generation, but these are few in proportion to the rest.
Vineyards for several years past, and in almost every country, have been subject to attacks of the Odium Tuckeri, a destructive fungus that has in many cases entirely ruined the vineyards. No perfect remedy has been yet found for the attacks of this fungus, but the most successful hitherto has been the sprinkling of the plant; with powdered sulphur. [Vrris, in NAT. HIST. DIV.]