THE FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 



447 



Soil. — The soil that I have found most 

 suitable for vine culture, is the following: 

 The top spit of an old pasture, of medium 

 texture, to be pared not more than three 

 inches in depth, and containing the great- 

 est quantity of turfy fibre possible; well 

 decomposed black, or bog earth, that has 

 been well pulverised with the action of a 

 winter's frost, and summer's sun, and fre- 

 quently turned; well rotted horse manure — 

 that from an old hot-bed is most suitable; 

 coarse ground bones; gypsum, or sulphate 

 of lime ; dried night soil, or poudrette; and 

 oyster shells, to render the border always 

 ope?i and porous ; woolen rags, and scraps 

 of leather. In a border that I saw made, 

 at Whittlebury Lodge, Northamptonshire, 

 England, the seat of Lord Southampton, 

 fourteen years ago, which was made in an 

 early vinery, the produce of which, up to 

 the present time, has been the admiration 

 of all who are fortunate enough to see the 

 grapes in a ripe state, the following is 

 the quantity of ingredients that was used, — 

 the border containing fifty cart loads of 

 soil : Turfy loam, 25 loads ; rotten hot- 

 bed manure, 5 do.; coarse ground bones, 

 50 bushels ; bog earth, 5 loads ; dried night 

 soil, or poudrette, 50 bushels ; 2 loads oys- 

 ter shells ; 8 loads woolen rags and leather 

 scraps; 50 bushels of sulphate of lime, or 

 gypsum. The whole was then incorporated, 

 with the exception of the rags and scraps 

 of leather, which were put in the border in 

 thin layers. The result of this combina- 

 tion far surpassed the expectations of Mr. 

 South, the gardener; and any cultivator 

 using the same materials as pointed out, 

 may, with judicious management in the 

 house, realise a crop of grapes inferior to 

 none. 



Mulching. — This is an important opera- 

 tion in this climate, and is greatly neg- 

 ected, in late graperies especially ; and 



upon this operation depends, not a little, the 

 swelling of the fruit. Nothing can be 

 more injudicious than to see a vine border, 

 especially where late grapes are grown, 

 elevated two or three feet above the sur- 

 face, and having a considerable inclination 

 to the south, finely raked over, and the fiery 

 rays of a summer's sun evaporating every 

 particle of moisture within, its influence, to 

 the depth of 15 or 18 inches, — the very 

 place where all the fine rootlets and active 

 feeders of the vine ought to be located. 

 But under such circumstances, they are 

 unable to exist there; it being absolutely 

 nothing else but dry dust. Should rain 

 happen to fall copiously, such borders are 

 very little benefitted, as it runs off 1 with 

 nearly the same facility as water off a 

 duck's back. When borders are properly 

 mulched, no inconvenience will be expe- 

 rienced from drouth. As soon as there is 

 an indication of a dry spell of weather set- 

 ting in, the border should be immediately 

 mulched ; and if there has been a good 

 day's rain previous to the operation, so 

 much the better. In mulching vine bor- 

 ders, good half decayed leaves, or fresh 

 cow manure, to the depth of eight or ten 

 inches, will be found very efficient. As 

 soon as the extreme heat of summer has 

 passed, say early in October, it may be 

 taken off roughly, and what remains may 

 be forked into the border. The usual time 

 for applying the leaves, &c, to the border, 

 is from the middle to the end of May. Of 

 course, this depends in a great measure on 

 the season. 



In Mr. Cleveland's article on vine bor- 

 ders, I see he ascribes the superiority of his 

 grapes the past season to having used tan, 

 as a stimulant for the vines. This, how- 

 ever, I think is erroneous; and with all 

 due respect for him as a cultivator, I beg 

 to say that, in my opinion, it can be traced 



