298 THE GARDENER. [July 



and less severe carry finer Grapes than those carry which are subject to 

 long summer droughts and do not receive sufficient artificial watering. 

 Here, then, is the practical lesson of these reflections if they are 

 correct. 



Much has been written about the Vine growing on rocky terraces 

 and hill-sides, as on the Rhine, and arguments drawn from such posi- 

 tions urging the avoidance of moisture about the roots of Vines. But 

 from whence are the roots of such Vines drawing their supplies 1 We 

 should like to know how deep down they may be, away from the effects 

 of the scorching sun, and whether there may not be more moisture 

 available in the crevices of such rocky positions than is taken into 

 account. More than this, the heaviest vintages of Grape-growing 

 countries are not got from these scorched positions, but from the 

 alluvial plains. 



"Whether in many instances it would not fare much better with 

 many Vines if they had double the amount of water they receive 

 during their active season, is a question well worthy of consideration. 

 Many Vines may be, and no doubt are, injured by too much wet while in 

 a dormant condition ; but it is questionable whether the other extreme, 

 during their season of active growth, is not equally pregnant with evil, 

 if not more so. 



Perhaps the sewers at Hampton Court — if it be correct that the 

 great Vine there has its roots in a sewer — may have more to do with 

 its long-sustained career, of which we have heard so much, than the 

 extension system, for we apprehend the " sin of limitation " has been 

 long ago perpetrated on it. The nature of the soil may have as great 

 a share in the results that can be pointed to as extraordinary. There 

 can be nothing more surely established than that the Vine likes a real 

 loam with some body in it, apart from mere vegetable fibre. A light 

 gravelly soil, it is well known, will give great results while the fibre 

 lasts and keeps on decaying, but when that process terminates the soil 

 is poor and hungry — far too much so to sustain Vines for any length 

 of time vigorously. In such soil their knell may be sounded generally 

 when those in a soil with a good solid loamy body will scarcely have 

 attained their prime. 



NOTES OK" " AMERICAN " OR PEAT - SOIL SHRUBS. 



ANDROMEDA. 



In this fine genus we have a rare combination of some of those quali- 

 ties which are most valued in outdoor flowering shrubs. The uni- 

 formly neat habit of growth, elegant foliage, and the singularly graceful 

 beauty of the flowers of the various species, have long been appreciated, 



