in the fall or early
spring. Under no circumstances should the green crop be permitted to
stand in the vineyard late in the spring to rob the vines of food and
moisture. The weather map must be watched at sowing time to make sure
of a moist seed-bed. Plate III illustrates two vineyards with
well-grown cover-crops.

TILLAGE

Grape-growers are not in the fog that befuddles growers of tree-fruits
in regard to tillage. He is a sloven, indeed, who permits his vines to
stand a season in unbroken ground, and there are no growers who
recommend sod or any of the modified sod-mulches for the grape.
Tillage is difficult in hilly regions and the operation is often
neglected in hillside vineyards, as in the Central Lakes region of New
York, but even here some sort of tillage is universal. The skip of a
single season in tilling stunts the vines, and two or three skips in
successive seasons ruin a vineyard. No one complains that grapes
suffer from over-tilling as one frequently hears of tree-fruits. There
is no tonic for the grape that compares with cultivation when the
leaves lack color and hang limp and the vine has an indefinable air of
depression; and there is nothing better than cultivation to rouse
latent vigor in a scorching summer, or when drought lays heavy on the
land.

_Tillage tools._

The tools to be used in tilling grapes vary with the topography of the
vineyard, the kind of soil and the preferences of the vineyardist. The
best tool is the one with which the ground can be well fitted at least
expense. Good work in the vineyard requires at least two plows, a
single-horse and a two-horse plow. The latter, except on very hilly
land, should be a gang-plow. For commercial vineyards of any
considerable size, several cultivators are necessary for different
seasons and conditions of the soil. Thus, every vineyard should have a
spring-tooth and a disc harrow, one of the several types of weeders, a
one-horse and a sulky cultivator. If weeds abound, it is necessary to
have some cutting tool, or an attachment to one of the cultivators, to
slide over the ground and cut off large weeds. Another indispensable
tool in a large vineyard is a one-horse grape-hoe, to supplement the
work of which there must be heavy hand-hoes. Very often the surface
soil must be pulverized, and a clod-crusher, roller or a float becomes
a necessity. A full complement of bright, sharp tools at the command
of the grape-grower goes far toward success in