General Notes.
—It is not my intention to here describe the various tools used in the vineyard so minutely that they can be made after the description, but simply to enumerate and call attention to them in order that as little repetition as necessary may be made. Every local blacksmith or mechanic invents, improves or patents vineyard tools of every description, and almost every year sees new tools introduced and older ones discarded. Still a few of these tools have become standard, and modifications of them are not always improvements.
The Sheep’s-foot.
—This is a very useful tool in planting grape cuttings. It consists of a round rod of three-eighths-inch iron and about three and one-half feet long, furnished with a cross handle at the upper end. The lower end is very slightly flattened out and split to a depth of one and one-half inches, the cleft thus formed being a little wider at the point of the bar, while the interior angle of the cleft should be rounded in order that the cutting may not be cut. The sheep’s-foot is used in very soft ground only, where it can be pushed down readily. In planting, the lower joint of the cutting is grasped by the cleft in the rod, and both are pushed down together to the required depth. A twist is then given the handle, so as to get the rod loose from the cutting. The rod is then pulled up, and a tamp with the foot sets the ground solid round the cutting. Care should be taken that the cutting is not pulled up with the rod, as it will prove fatal to the cutting.
The Planting Bar.
—This bar is used also in loose ground free from rocks. It consists of a flat bar of iron two and one-half inches wide, from three-eighths to one-half inch thick and three and one-half feet long, and is furnished at the upper end with a handle. In using this bar, it is first pushed in the ground, and a hole is made for the cutting. The cutting is then pushed down into the hole, the bar inserted alongside of it and pressed forward, in order to fill the hole and set the soil solid around the cutting.
The Dibble.
—This tool is simply a hard piece of oakwood, with a curved handle and pointed. It is a most useful instrument when the vines are being pruned. By means of it the soil is scraped off from around the trunk of the vine, to enable the pruner to cut off the suckers as close to the trunk as possible. Every pruner should be furnished with a dibble.
Planting Chains.
—These are best made of twisted wire, such as is used for clothes lines. Lines made of cotton or hemp are apt to stretch when dry, and shrink when wet. Copper wires are inserted to mark the distances at which the vines should be planted.