Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/119

 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