74 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the former may be rectified by admixtures, 

 tending in the first case to keep it open 

 and porous, such as charcoal, rough bones, 

 and what is very good for the purpose 

 where it can be found is the residue from 

 the rot-heap, where all the vegetable refuse 

 and sweepings from the garden have been 

 thrown and become rotten. If it contains 

 a few stones and potsherds it will be none 

 the worse for it. Another good material 

 may be found by the side of the public 

 roads when the grass borders are pared, 

 as that contains a quantity of grit. All 

 these things are to be mixed with a degree 

 of moderation, but the principal ingredient 

 must be turfy-soil, from a meadow or the 

 border of a fielJ, say in the proportion of 

 two-thirds of the whole, whilst the remain- 

 ing third may be made up of the above- 

 named materials and good rotten farm- 

 yard manure. Again, if the soil of the 

 place is very light and porous, take rather 

 less than the two-thirds from the meadow 

 or field, and, instead thereof, proceed to a 

 brick-field, a common, or old clay-pit. In 

 such places a coarse herbage of rushes, etc., 

 covers the surface, and may be dug in sods, 

 and, by the use of a little brushwood or 

 prunings, may be roasted or charred, and 

 will make an excellent addition to the bor- 

 der, and tend to rectify the extreme poro- 

 sity of the soil. The other ingredients 

 above-named may then be added as in the 

 former case. Charcoal is one of the best 

 materials that can be put in to preserve 

 the border in a sweet and porous state ; 

 lime-rubbish or cinder-asSes must on no 

 account be admitted. They tend rather 

 to bind and concrete the soil, whilst they 

 add nothing in the form of nutriment to 

 it. Rough bones are a good ingredient, as 

 they tend to keep the soil open and to feed 

 the vines for many years, and the best 

 kind are the skulls from the tan-yards, 

 which may be slightly broken by an axe 

 or hammer ; but, where these are not ob- 

 tainable, use ground bones as they come 

 from the bone-mill. Bear in mind that, 

 although the vine likes good living, and 

 must have it, in order to give heavy crops 

 of well-ripened grapes, yet it must not be 

 surfeited by any such tilth as carrion or 

 garbage in the soil in which it grows. The 

 carrion theory has had its day, and worked 

 mischief enough ; avoid its use by all 

 means, and, in order to add strength and 

 vigour to the vines, rather depend on top- 

 dressings of good stable-dung and water- 

 ings of liquid-manure, than an over-dose 

 of it in the first instance. Now is a good 

 time to collect the various ingredients into 

 a heap together, so that by turning it two 



or three times it may be well mixed; but 

 let the turning over be done in dry and, if 

 possible, windy weather, so that it may be 

 in as dry a state as possible when the bor- 

 der is formed. Respecting the making of 

 the border, on referring to page 26, it will 

 be seen in the plan that the border enters 

 within the front wall of the house, which 

 is to allow of planting the vines inside, in 

 order to secure their stems and the collar 

 of the root from injury ; as well as that a 

 little stimulus may be given them in spring, 

 when forcing commences, from their close 

 proximity to the hot-water pipes and the 

 ready means it aiFords for watering with 

 warm liquid-manure at the same period, 

 when it is of so much importance that the 

 roots should be in advauce of the bran- 

 ches. It will also be seen that the border 

 is sunk but little below the ground line at 

 its commencement next the house, with a 

 fall sufficient to secure a good drainage ; 

 but this may be a matter of degree, to be 

 regulated according to the locality and 

 other local circumstances, for if the sur- 

 rounding soil and subsoil is of a warm 

 and porous nature, calculated to draw oif 

 water freely, the border need not to be 

 kept so high, but, on the contrary, may, 

 with some degree of advantage, be kept 

 lower, as it would then be less exposed to 

 drought in summer. If, however, the 

 situation is damp, and soil cold and wet, 

 keep the border well up, as there shown, 

 and in either case the border itself need 

 not be more than three feet deep, exclusive 

 of the drainage. "When the natural soil 

 has been removed to the desired depth, let 

 a iloor of concrete, consisting of lime, gra- 

 vel, and cinder-ashes, or some such mix- 

 ture, be rammed in, and a drain laid along 

 the front, so as to keep the border quite 

 free from any excess of water that may 

 get into it. Upon the concrete iloor put 

 six or eight inches in depth of brickbats as 

 a drainage, and upon these lay green sods 

 or some other material, such us a slight 

 covering of long stable-litter, to keep the 

 soil from mixing with the drainage. The 

 soil for the border may then be put in, 

 choosing dry weather, and it is worth while 

 also to choose bright, sunny weather for 

 the operation, as the soil will thereby 

 gather a degree of warmth highly benefi- 

 cial to the vines ; also avoid as much 

 as possible treading the soil, as its texture 

 may thereby be spoiled. It may in some 

 cases be desirable to form the border at 

 two or more periods, say six or eight feet 

 wide the first year, adding a like width the 

 year after ; but I think the concrete floor 

 should if possible be all put in at one time, 



