SOILS.

_General Remarks._--No one certain variety of soil can be said to be the

best for raisin purposes, and both in different countries, as well as in

the same district, various varieties of soils are valued equally. Every

raisin district has, however, its favorite soil, which is supposed to

have some peculiar advantages for the raisin grapes, but upon closer

investigation we generally find other varieties of soils which are not

inferior. Growers who have succeeded with raisin grapes on one variety

of soil are only too apt to consider this kind preferable to any other.

This is especially the case in California, where soils vary so much and

where in some districts it is difficult to find forty acres with a

uniform soil. Whether the soil is black, red or gray, it makes but very

little difference, as long as it is rich and susceptible of the highest

state of cultivation and has the faculty of retaining moisture. The

deeper and richer the soil the better the Muscatel grape will thrive and

produce, and as such soils are most generally found along the banks of

creeks and rivers, or in their bottoms and sinks, we might conclude that

in such localities the best soils for the Muscat grape may be found.

Other varieties of raisin grapes, such as the Malaga (California) and

the Sultana, do well in less rich soil; indeed, they bear profitably in

places where the Muscat would be a failure. It is therefore important

for every vineyardist to carefully select his soil and then plant on it

the proper variety of vine.

_Malaga._--The soils of Malaga are of various kinds. The best is a

reddish loam containing much gravel, both coarse and fine. This soil is

very stiff and hard, and when dry is as solid as a brick. The red color

is derived from oxide of iron or other iron compounds, which many of the

best vineyardists consider a most desirable element in any raisin soil.

The upland vineyards, or those on the slope of the hills, contain soils

of decomposed clay and slate mixed with more or less gravel and sand.

The Dehesa lands contain alluvial deposits of a black or gray color.

_Valencia and Denia._--In this district we find soils of many different

grades and colors. The sandy and gravelly soils are considered as

producing the finest flavored raisins, and those having the best keeping

qualities, while the rich, loamy soils of the valleys produce raisins of

inferior flavor and keeping qualities, but of larger size and more per

acre. For economical reasons, the latter soils are preferred, as they

alone can be irrigated and made to produce large crops. Some of the best

vineyards in this district contain a gray, ashy soil, quite similar to

the white ash of the Kings river lands, while others are growing on a

red clayey loam similar to the California red soil.

_Smyrna._--The raisin-grapes of Smyrna in Asia Minor are almost

exclusively grown on a white limestone soil, which consists of

decomposed white rocks mixed with a stiff ocher-colored loam. This soil

is so rocky that it must first be cleared, and the large rocks are

carried away and used for boundary walls. This is the soil in the coast

districts. In the interior the Sultana vines, as well as the Muscats,

are replaced by fig orchards and other trees which delight in sandy

soil,--too sandy to produce profitable raisin crops.

_Zante._--The soils of Zante, the home of the Currant grape, are of

various kinds. The heavy marl of the plains, which contains a large

percentage of gypsum or sulphate of lime, is considered the best; indeed

the gypsum is by many considered indispensable, or at least highly

beneficial, to the above variety of grape. Other soils are red clay,

gray marl and gravelly loam, all containing an abundance of lime. The

Currant grape grows well and produces well on all these different soils,

but does the best on the gypsum soil, which is therefore the most

valued. On other soils the bunches are less solid, and the quantity of

grapes produced is somewhat less, while their quality is inferior.

[Illustration: Scene in a Fresno Raisin Vineyard: Raisin Trays Exposed

for Drying.]

_Chile._--The Huasco grape grows in the valley of Huasco, on the coast

of Chile, in a soil that is very light and red, containing a great

quantity of sand. While very light in weight, this soil is said to be

very rich in plant food, and yields good crops.

_Fresno._--The Fresno soils are of several kinds, but the three

principal varieties are red or chocolate-colored loam, white or gray

ashy soil, and a light, very sandy, loam. To this may be added the

deeper gray bottom soils or alluvial deposits of the Kings river. Each

one of these varieties have different grades more or less suitable to

the Muscatel grape. The best grades of each are equally valuable, while

again the poorer grades are not to be recommended. The deep

chocolate-colored loam is by many preferred, and the largest and most

successful raisin vineyards are now located on this soil. But even in

the best districts the soil varies to such an extent, that while one

twenty-acre field will yield 250 boxes of raisins to the acre, the

adjoining field, with only a slight change in the soil, will yield only

seventy-five boxes to the acre. The best grades of the white ashy soil

are also very good, and almost identical with the gray bottom-land

deposits of Kings river. The light sandy soil should be avoided for

Muscat grapes, but may do for Malaga and Sultanas, especially if

judiciously fertilized.

_Other Soils in San Joaquin Valley._--In Merced the best soil is heavy

chocolate-colored loam, in places redder, in others darker, almost

blackish. It is generally mixed with some gravel. As a rule, all the red

soil in the San Joaquin valley is of the same characteristics, and well

suited to the Muscat grape, provided the ground is sufficiently level.

In Tulare county the proper soil for the Muscat is found to be the

bottom lands of Kings and Kaweah rivers, as well as the deposits of the

smaller creeks. This variety of gray alluvial loam is exceedingly

fertile, and there is none superior for the Muscat grape. But an

admixture of alkali often spoils soils which otherwise would be

considered the very best. A similar soil is found in Kern county,

especially near Kern Lake, and which must be rated among the best in the

State, its color being a deep bluish gray. The vineyards of Yolo and

Solano counties are located on a very similar soil, rich in humus, lime

and phosphates, but more yellowish or pale chocolate colored.

_Orange County._--A similar rich alluvial deposit is found in Orange

county in the fertile district known as Santa Ana valley. The soil

around Anaheim, Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin consists of a more or less

dark alluvial loam of unsurpassed fertility, and especially adapted to

the Muscat grape. It varies as to the percentage of sand and gravel. The

sandiest soil in this district, while less rich, brings the earliest

grapes, which come to perfect ripeness several weeks before those grown

on the heavier soils, but the latter produce the best raisins.

_Redlands and Riverside._--The Redlands soil of the mesa lands is

reddish, rather darker than the same quality of soil in Riverside and

Fresno. It is mixed with sand and gravel, and partakes strongly of the

nature of the red or chocolate-colored loams of the State. The Lugonia

bottom soil consists of a very sandy loam, on which the Muscat grape

has proved a failure. The best Riverside soil is red or

chocolate-colored sandy loam, so often spoken of. Towards Rincon we find

alluvial bottom soils producing grapes of superb quality and size. The

soil of the San Bernardino district resemble the red Fresno soils, while

the white ashy soil is not found there.

_El Cajon._--The El Cajon valley soils are of three or more kinds: Rich

red clay mixed with gravel, with the color changing from lighter

chocolate to deeper reddish. This is a very desirable soil,--a steel

gray or slate gray adobe with much gravel of a coarse nature; a black

adobe with some gravel; an alluvial sandy loam consisting of decomposed

granite mixed with much vegetable matter and humus. The El Cajon soils,

while sandy and gravelly, produce exceedingly sweet and highly flavored

grapes but comparatively small crops.

_Subsoils._--The subsoil in a raisin vineyard is of great importance.

Properly irrigated soils, if they are sufficiently rich, need not

necessarily be very deep, as the raisin grapes, especially the Muscat,

seldom extend deeper than eight feet below the surface. Even from four

to five feet of rich soil may be considered as enough in irrigated

vineyards, where the water is abundant. In poorer soils, or in districts

with less irrigation, the roots of the vines penetrate much deeper, and

the importance of the subsoil in such cases is apparent. Any rich

subsoil will serve our purpose. It is always best to thoroughly

investigate the subsoil before the vineyard is planted, and in doing

this the following points must be considered: The subsoil should be as

rich as possible, and there should, in no instance, be less than four

feet of rich top soil. _Very_ sandy soil or pure sand is not a proper

subsoil for raisin grapes. Such soil will cause the top soil to dry too

quickly after each irrigation, and will cause the top soil to leach out,

while it besides gives no nourishment to the vines. Hardpan is not

desirable, not even admissible, except in places that are or will become

subirrigated. Alkali or salty subsoils will soon spoil the quality of

even the best top soil. This especially is the case in irrigated

districts, where the salts of the subsoil are carried to the top by the

rising waters or by the continued irrigation. Hardpan which readily

dissolves when wet is not injurious.

_Hardpan Soils._--While I have alluded to them already, a few more

remarks on these soils are here in place. The hardpan consists of a

stratum of hard soil or hard rocky substance below the top soil. The

depth at which the hardpan is found varies. In places where it is

situated eight or ten feet below the top surface it does but very little

harm, and may even prove beneficial in localities where water for

irrigation is scarce, as it checks too rapid drainage. If the hardpan is

situated closer to the top soil, it may seriously interfere with the

vines, and if too close, or say within two or three feet from the top,

it makes such soils entirely unfit for raisin grapes. If situated

somewhat lower down, say from four to six feet, the hardpan does no

great harm in subirrigated districts, while, in places where irrigation

is not used, it leaves the top soil too shallow and too dry. But

allowance must always be made as to the nature of the hardpan. Some

varieties of hardpan are so hard that they can best be compared to

regular stratified rocks, impenetrable to the roots of the vines, and

impervious to water. Other hardpans again are softer, and allow the vine

roots to penetrate more or less readily, while some again are so soft

that they dissolve in water and make good soil for the vines. If the

hardpan is very shallow, it may pay to blast holes through it, in order

to allow the roots of the vines to penetrate to lower soils. But if the

hardpan is thick and hard, and if there is no immediate prospect of

subirrigation, it is better to use such land for some other purpose than

for raisin-vines, which will only pay properly if grown under the most

favorable circumstances, and on the best and deepest soils.

As to the nature of the hardpan, a few remarks may prove of interest.

The hardpan can best be compared to a stalactite formation similar to

those found in various caves. It has been formed very much in the same

way as they were. In caves the rainwater, that seeps down from the top

surface, dissolves various substances, especially carbonates (and

silicates even) which again are deposited on the underside of the cave

roof. This precipitation of hard material is caused both by evaporation

of the water, as well as by attraction and adhesion. Such redeposition

of dissolved minerals is seen for instance if solutions of salt in water

are passed through tasteless and clean sand. The water will come through

sweet and tasteless, the salt having adhered to the surface of the sand

grains. Similarly, if a hole is dug near the seashore in the sand, the

salt water will seep through, and form a well of more or less tasteless

drinking water. In the formation of hardpan, this is exactly what has

taken place. The rainwater has dissolved certain elements, such as

carbonates of lime, or carbonates of sodium and various other salts, and

in its way through the lower strata of the soil these dissolved elements

have again been taken up by the sand and cemented it together. Thus it

is explained why hardpan upon examination is so often found to resemble

sand or sandstone: the lower sandy strata of the soil have been

especially effective in causing the lime in the water to adhere to the

numerous surfaces of every individual grain of sand. In hog-wallow

districts the hardpan is found principally between the individual

hog-wallows, but rarely in or under them. The rainwater has here carried

the minerals in the soil to the deeper places between the hog-wallows,

in which it has accumulated to a greater extent than anywhere else, and

thus formed a heavier hardpan. In flooding the hog-wallows, the top of

every hog-wallow is seen to settle and fall in, there being no hardpan

below it, if the sides of the hog-wallow are steep. Where the hardpan

consists principally of lime compounds, its chemical composition is not

detrimental to the vines. But where the hardpan is cemented by alkalies

more or less soluble in water, these deleterious substances will

dissolve and rise to the surface to the great detriment or even to the

total destruction of the vineyard.

_Comparative Value of Soils._--The river bottom soils, or soils formed

by the deposit of creeks, are with few exceptions rich and deep, and

contain in abundance all the elements necessary to produce a superior

Muscat grape. Such soils are, however, often injured by subsoils

containing mineral deposits, which will injure the vines, or by

hardpans, which will cause the soil to dry out. Poor soils will not

prove profitable, and rather than plant vines on such soils it would be

better to plant no vines at all. The rich soils are not only the

heaviest producers, but the vines grown on them are stronger and

healthier and in every way better able to resist the attacks of insects

and fungi and the ravages of other inexplicable diseases. But regardless

of these advantages the various soils leave their effects on the grapes,

some of them producing sweet and very keeping raisins, while others

cause large berries and bunches, which bring the highest market price.

Thus the lighter and drier soils produce richer flavored and sweeter

raisins than the wet and rich soils, which again produce the largest and

handsomest grapes. On the latter soils the raisins when cured will be

found to be dark and covered with a heavy bloom, while the raisins from

the sandier or gravelly soils are lighter in color and with less

pronounced bloom. The keeping quality of the raisins from gravelly soils

is well known. In California the keeping quality of the raisins is

seldom inquired into, as our raisins keep remarkably well and are in

this respect superior to those grown in Spain. This may be from the

effect of our drier climate more than from any certain quality in our

soils.

As a rule it may be said that poor soil causes the raisins to mature

earlier than the rich, heavy loams, and on this account the latter are

to be greatly preferred, as the earliest raisins in any district are

never as good as the bulk of the crop, and are in demand rather as a

curiosity, and for the purpose of supplying an early market, than

through any superior qualities. In some districts there is such a great

difference in the time of ripening upon the various soils that the

grapes grown on the earliest soils are used only as table grapes fresh.

In planting a raisin vineyard, the future profits depend upon the choice

of land, and it is far better to pay a high price for the best land than

to take the inferior land as a gift. Few of those who now enter upon

raisin culture take the proper care in selecting the land, neither do

they sufficiently, if at all, realize the advantages of the rich soil,

nor the disadvantages of the poor land.

_Alkali Soils._--While nothing but first-class land is to be recommended

for raisin vineyards, and alkali lands are of all soils those least

suitable for our purpose, still a consideration of these lands will

interest many raisin-grape growers. The best lands for raisin purposes

in California are often contiguous to alkali lands, or to land

containing more or less traces of alkali. A vineyard on the best soil

contains often spots charged with alkali, and it may be inconvenient for

the grower to allow these spots to lie idle, and he would prefer to fill

them up with vines. The first work must then be to get rid of the alkali

or reduce it to such an extent that it will not prove injurious. The

general alkali lands are classed in three kinds, according to the

quality of the alkali.

1st. Alkali salts, such as carbonates and borates. These are greatly

detrimental to the vines, and no vines could be expected to do well in

such soils, as even the smallest percentage of this alkali is injurious

or even ruinous to the crop. In clayey soils these alkalies cause the

clay to harden in such a way that no good tilth can be obtained. The

land may be plowed ever so much, it will only turn up in chunks and

never become properly pulverized. These true alkali salts consist

principally of carbonate of sodium (sal-soda) or of carbonate of

potassium (saleratus). _Remedies_: Gypsum, land-plaster or leaching with

water.

2d. A second class of alkalies are the sulphates and chlorides, all

soluble in water. Such salts are: Magnesium chloride (bittern),

magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt), calcium chloride, etc. These salts,

when not present in too large quantities, are easily counteracted by

lime.

3d. A third class of alkalies is composed of neutral salts, such as

chloride of sodium (common salt), sulphate of sodium (Glauber salt),

sulphate of potassium, all soluble in water, but not convertible into

less injurious substances by lime or gypsum. These salts do not bake the

soil, but rather contribute towards keeping it loose and mellow.

The remedies which are practical and not too expensive may be divided

into several classes, which, if used in combination, may prove

effective, while each one of them used separately would fail.

1st. Leaching with water. All soluble salts may be leached with water.

The alkali land should be checked and so ditched that the water from

each check can be drained into a waste ditch. But, besides these waste

ditches, drain ditches should be made for the purpose of draining off

the water, say to a depth of four feet below the surface. The _modus

operandi_ consists in first flooding the soil, and while the check is

yet full the floodgates are opened and the water drawn off into the

waste ditch, when the water will carry off the salts which have been

dissolved in it. A second or third flooding should be allowed to settle

in the soil and be drained off below into the drain ditches. The

drawback to common leaching is that under certain circumstances the

water may deposit its alkali in lower strata, especially if they are

sandy, and there form hardpan or alkali accumulations. A much better

method is under-drainage by means of pipes or gravel drains constructed

all through the tract at certain regular distances. This under-drainage,

if properly constructed under conditions favorable for its perfect

working, is by far the best method of freeing alkali soils from their

superfluous salts. To what extent this system is practical depends upon

circumstances. To reclaim large districts by this method may not prove

economical as long as good land is plentiful and cheap, but where

smaller alkali tracts are surrounded by soil, and where it is of

importance to get a uniform plantation, under-drainage by pipes or

common drains is both the surest and most practical solution of the

alkali problem. Under-drainage is strongly recommended by Prof. E. W.

Hilgard, who has repeatedly pointed out its value, and who has called

the author’s special attention to this as yet little understood remedy.

2d. Deep and constant plowing. Deep and frequent plowing acts in various

ways. By being mixed with a larger quantity of soil, the alkali is

diluted sufficiently to not cause any serious injury to the crops, the

damage generally being done near the surface. Constant plowing also

prevents evaporation, which carries the alkali to the surface and

deposits it there. This method can only be successful when the alkali

salts are limited in quantity, and no one need expect to be able to rid

badly charged lands from their alkali by plowing it under.

3d. By plowing under green or dry crops. If grain can be made to grow on

the alkali land at all the turning under of it, either green or dry,

will in course of time greatly reduce the alkali. The turned-under

stubble or straw forms in decaying an acid, which in many instances will

combine with and counteract the effects of the alkali. Similarly, straw

stacks spread on alkali spots and plowed under will considerably reduce

the alkali. But manure containing ammonia and other salts should not be

used, as it will, on the contrary, only increase the alkali by adding

other or similar salts to those already in the soil.

4th. Cropping. If water, either in the form of sufficient rain or as

irrigation can be had, alkali lands can be reclaimed by cropping. It is

amply proved that beets and carrots, as well as other plants, such as

salt-bush (_Chenopodium_), take up large quantities of alkali salts, and

in the course of a few years render alkali soils available for grain.

Wheat also extracts alkalies, and repeated croppings with grain will in

the course of time prepare the soil for vines and trees. Bermuda grass

will completely remove the alkali from soils to the depth at which the

roots can penetrate, and must be recommended for the worst places.

Afterwards, cropping with annual crops may be advisable before vines are

finally planted on such reclaimed lands. The Australian salt-bushes, or

_Chenopodium_, extract alkalies, and are besides liked by stock. They

should be introduced to alkali lands and take the place of the

California native salt-bushes, which are not eaten by stock. While being

real desert plants, they yet require some moisture in the soil, but they

could probably be grown anywhere on the alkali lands in this State where

the rainfall is over three or four inches.

5th. By chemicals. The use of chemicals of various kinds in

counteracting the alkali is not resorted to by our farmers as it should

be. The principle upon which chemicals can be used is that obnoxious or

greatly injurious alkalies may be changed into less obnoxious and less

injurious salts, or even into fertilizers. The most available of these

chemical compounds are gypsum (sulphate of lime) and lime (carbonate of

lime). When the alkali consists mainly of carbonates, such as carbonate

of sodium (sal-soda) or potassium carbonate (saleratus), in other words

of the class which we have designated as class number one, the most

dangerous and worst class of alkalies to combat, gypsum may be used as

an antidote or rather as a means to convert these alkalies into alkalies

of the second class, or the sulphates. The principle upon which this is

done is to displace the sulphate in the gypsum and force it to combine

with the alkali (sodium carbonate) and form sulphate of sodium (Glauber

salt), an alkali belonging to the third class of alkalies, and which is

twenty times less injurious to vegetation than is class number one. The

change is made on the following principle, and might be thus

illustrated: To the alkali in the soil (carbonate of sodium), add

sulphate of lime. As soon as the mixture is made with sufficient water,

a change will take place, and the substances (carbonate of sodium and

sulphate of lime) will form new compounds. Thus we will get, out of

those two substances, two new compounds, _viz._, carbonate of lime and

sulphate of sodium. Of these, carbonate of lime is not injurious to

vegetable life, and sulphate of sodium (Glauber salt) is only injurious

when present in large quantities. The carbonate of lime is not soluble

in water, but the sulphate of sodium is, and can consequently be

eliminated by underdraining or by flooding, as we have previously

described.

To know when gypsum can be used is not necessarily a scientific matter.

Mix some of the alkali in a tumbler with water, and allow the mixture to

settle. In another tumbler mix some gypsum and water, and allow it to

settle. Then mix the two clear liquids, which, if gypsum is an antidote

and the proper thing to use, will be turbid or milky through the

chemical combinations which take place. If the water remains clear,

gypsum will not prove an antidote to the alkali under consideration. The

use of lime is based very much on the same principle. If the second

class of alkalies are present, and lime is added, the changes that take

place may be illustrated as follows: Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate)

combined with calcium carbonate, will form two new compounds, _viz._,

gypsum (calcium sulphate) and magnesium carbonate, both of which

substances are less injurious to crops. But, as I have already stated,

raisin-vines prefer soils which are naturally free from alkali, and

should never be planted on soils which cannot readily be reclaimed.

Chemical antidotes may do where the alkali occurs in a few spots mixed

in among tracts of good soil, but where the whole field must be

reclaimed some other crop than vines had better be first attempted.

There is too much good and suitable soil in California, and until all

this is occupied the alkali soils had better be given up to other crops

than vines.

_Fertilizing._--To this date but few grape-growers manure their soil.

California has not yet been engaged in the raisin business twenty years,

and her vineyards are comparatively virgin. The first raisin vineyards

were planted on the deepest and richest soil, the soil which would

naturally hold out the longest, but the croppings of a raisin vineyard

are enormous, and when from eight to ten tons of green grapes have been

taken from the soil year after year, it is but natural that the land

should become gradually exhausted. In Spain it is considered that even

the richest soils require manuring after ten years of constant cropping

with Muscats, and the same experience is likely to become ours in

California. So far, I know of not one vineyard which has yielded Muscat

grapes for ten continuous years and still keeps yielding as much as

formerly. Yearly the crop must become less, and finally will not be

large enough to pay. The manuring of the Muscatel vines is fully

understood in Spain, where all kinds of manures are used. When home

manures fail in supply, the Spaniards use imported fertilizers, such as

Mexican phosphates, etc. This fertilizer brings in Spain sixty-five

dollars per ton, and is brought there from our very doors,--the Gulf of

Lower California. It could be laid down here for, and is actually sold

here now at, forty dollars per ton, or twenty-five dollars less than in

Spain; still to my knowledge only very few raisin-growers in Fresno use

it for their vines. In one year one of these succeeded, with the aid of

this phosphate, in raising the crop of an acre of Sultana grapes from a

very poor yield to over eight tons. The grapes were grown on a piece of

sandy soil of the kind well known to Fresno vine-growers, and which is

generally considered as less suited to raisins, lacking in fact in more

than one of the necessary qualities of a good raisin soil.

It is certainly a wrong policy to crop the soil until the grape crops

begin to fail. The soil will then be so exhausted of several of its

ingredients, that it will take the most scientific treatment to bring it

back again to what it was formerly, and it is even questionable if this

could be done in a way that would prove profitable. Experience in Spain

teaches that vineyards which formerly used to yield from eight to ten

tons of green grapes to the acre now, after years of neglect, only yield

two tons to the acre, and even with expensive manuring can in no way be

brought back to their former fertility. On the other hand, we know that

vineyards which have been fertilized from the beginning have for fifty

years been kept up in apparently as good condition as at first; it is

accordingly this method that must be recommended. The manure or

fertilizer must be varied occasionally. In rotation, phosphates, bone

dust, guano, stable manure, sheep manure, lime and plaster of Paris or

gypsum may be used, but it is best to have every variety of soil in the

vineyard analyzed, and to apply from year to year that kind of

fertilizer which is particularly needed. The phosphates are those which

will first give out in our California soils. Phosphates must therefore

be considered as the best fertilizers we can use, but the quantity to be

used must always be determined by a practical chemist. Of these chemical

fertilizers, it is dangerous to use too much, as they might injure the

vines, and from fifty to a few hundred pounds to the acre may in some

instances suffice and produce better crops than would four or five times

as much. But, regardless of chemical fertilizers, the cautious

raisin-grower should endeavor to return to the soil as much as he

possibly can out of the wastes of his crop. The refuse of stems and

berries, which are wasted at the stemmer and in the packing-house,

should not be burned, as is generally the case, but returned to the

vineyard, and applied one year on one piece of ground, and another year

on some other piece. If, however, these wastes must be used as fuel in

the dryer, etc., the ashes should be carefully collected and spread over

the soil, and kept dry and shaded until thus used.

Another most valuable fertilizer generally wasted is the trimmings. In

our careless California farming, these trimmings of the vines are put in

piles on the roads, outside of the vineyards, and there burned. Thus the

ground loses the most powerful soluble salt, which would greatly

increase the yield of grapes and the profits to the farmer. Where the

vines are planted far enough apart, the trimmings may be burned between

the rows of the vines without injury to them, but, when the vines are

set close, there is no other way than to carefully collect the ashes and

spread them evenly over the soil. Some vineyardists use large troughs

made of galvanized iron and perforated with holes. These vats are drawn

through the vineyard by a team, and scatter the ashes evenly over the

soil. The vats may be so constructed that the cuttings are burned in

them directly as they are being pulled along, thus saving much labor as

well as ashes. Such contrivances will probably only prove profitable in

large vineyards, where there are long rows and few turnings for the

teams. Even the stable manure in our State is not used as it should be.

It is hardly possible to understand how vineyardists can be thoughtless

enough to haul loads upon loads of stable manure on their roads or in

holes and waste places, while their vines adjoining are suffering from

the want of sufficient nourishment. In the irrigated districts, this is

a very common sight, and the wet places on the road are often deep with

manure and strongly smelling of ammonia. If the manure had been placed

around the vines, the increase in crops would probably have been

sufficient to enable the owner to macadamize or otherwise permanently

fix the roads.