For a description of the tools used in planting, I beg to refer to the end of this chapter. I will now further consider the above points. Many failures are made by not planting in moist soil. If irrigation is needed, irrigate before planting, then plow and harrow, and then plant. When moist cuttings are planted in dry and warm soil, the latter will extract all the moisture from the cuttings, and the latter will fail to grow. I have seen parties first plow deep furrows through the vineyard, so as to air and dry the ground before planting the cuttings. This is not necessary and even harmful. Moist and warm ground is essential to the starting and growth of cuttings. The lower end of the cutting should be lodged in solid ground, or the cutting will fail to grow. This point is of the utmost importance, and should be carefully observed. If, when the cutting is pushed down in the soil, a small air chamber form at the lower end, the butt end of the cutting will mold, and the latter will be poisoned and die. Nine-tenths of all the failures in planting are caused by neglect in this respect. Care is especially needed when the sheep’s-foot is used. Only one eye should be left above ground, which is enough for all purposes. Any more eyes will exhaust the cutting before it is rooted, and the additional length of the cutting will expose it to the danger of being broken or otherwise injured. The soil must be tamped hard all along the cutting so as to cause the latter to attract the necessary moisture. Loosely set cuttings very often fail, especially in dry seasons. All inferior cuttings, especially those frosted or otherwise injured, should be thrown out before being brought to the field. A cutting costs so little that it pays to use only the strongest and best, when a much better stand will be the result. Frosted cuttings can be detected by their darker color. Fresh and healthy cuttings should have a green and fresh cambium or inner bark, and a fresh cut should show fresh sap oozing out.