340 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



in vigour of wood and foliage. With a well-drained border composed 

 of loam and a proportion of crushed bones, we consider this question 

 of proper and sufficient feeding to be one of the cardinal points of 

 successful Grape-growing. It is only necessary to look at the spread 

 of foliage and the weight of luscious fruit on the roof of a vinery, 

 where the Vines are in good order, to suggest to the merest tyro in 

 horticulture that plenty of raw material must be supplied before such 

 a crop can be produced year after year without breaking down the 

 plants. 



There are, of course, several ways of supplying the necessary food to 

 A^'ine-roots in such borders. Where the sap which oozes or flows from 

 farmyard manure can be had, it can be supplied with very good effect 

 in a liquid form ; but it is not desirable, in feeding Vines, to hold con- 

 stantly to the application of one sort of manure. The system we 

 practise is, to fork in a good dressing of fine bone-meal as near to the 

 roots as possible without injuring them, and then to cover the border 

 with 4 inches of the richest manure we can get, and which generally 

 consists of horse, cow, and pig droppings in a fresh condition. This 

 forking in of bone-meal, and this covering of manure, are generally 

 applied in November : the manure is allowed to remain undisturbed 

 until about the time the Grapes are just thinned, and it is removed 

 without interfering with the surface of the border, or taking away any 

 of the bone-meal, and a similar fresh coating of the same sort of manure 

 is again put in — thus making two such dressings in the twelve months. 

 If the weather be dry w^hen the summer dressing is applied, a 

 thorough soaking of water is given. Besides this, a sprinkling of 

 guano is sometimes applied in time of heavy rain; so that the nature 

 of the food supplied is somewhat varied. Sometimes we have given 

 a dressing of dry fresh soot once in the season ; and we think this 

 latter an excellent manure for imparting colour and texture to the 

 foliage. 



This may perhaps be considered excessive feeding, but there was 

 no manure except crushed bones put into the borders when made. 

 Besides the actual nourishment such top-dressings afford to the Vines, 

 another most desirable and beneficial result is that the roots are 

 enticed to the surface of the borders, and kept active there. 



There are a few cardinal points in Grape-growing which, if attended 

 to, all others are of minor importance. First, never to mix much 

 manure with the border, but to dress liberally on the top as above 

 described ; to have the most perfect drainage, and give plenty of 

 water in dry seasons and localities ; never to have the rods closer 

 together than 3| feet, nor the spurs closer than 18 or 20 inches; 

 to avoid an over-moist atmosphere, and to give plenty of air night 

 and day ; and last, but not least, to avoid high night-temperatures, 

 especially in the early part of the season. If these points are care- 

 fully attended to, there is no more grateful fruit-bearing plant than 



