GRAPE VINE BORDERS. 



was too rich with shins of beef, heads and even whole bodies, of animal putrefaction 

 One half had to be removed, and the remainder incorporated with sandy loam from an old 

 pasture. The vines were cut down, (those that were alive,) and replanted. They now 

 do well and bear freely, but in wet seasons are subject to mildew. 



Another, and on a larger scale, was made about eight years ago. The soil and every 

 etc., etc., to carry the whole figure out for a four feet deep border, was carted six miles; 

 the vines grew well for two years, and produced one good crop, when the roots all perish- 

 ed except a few near the surface. Every load of loam cost at least two dollars, indepen- 

 dent of the animal " fixings," when there was abundance of light loamy soil and decom- 

 posed vegetable matter on the premises, to make a permanent and wholesome foundation 

 for grape culture. About two years ago the soil was renewed, many of the old vines re- 

 placed and others cut down, and now they promise well. The error of those rich, deep 

 borders, consists in their decomposing and becoming a solid, greasy, unctuous mass, that 

 would poison any roots, however gross their feeding powers. In these excessively rich 

 borders the Frontignac and Muscat grapes never succeed Avell — the foliage is of a yellow- 

 ish sickly green, the wood long jointed, with weak eyes, the fruit when produced, crack- 

 ing before maturity. These are stubborn facts, not high colored, to which I could add 

 several others if the confirmation of our position required it. Now sir, for the other side 

 of the picture, (and we will keep under the mark.) We know a vine border of a graperj^ 

 eighty feet long and sixteen feet wide, that has been made six years. The subsoil is clay, 

 and in rather a low situation. Eighteen inches under the surface there was formed a re- 

 gular bed, of old bricks, stones and oyster shells, eight or ten inches deep, shelving to a 

 drain, to keep the bottom perfectly dry. The natural soil was a rich, dark loam, to which 

 was added one-quarter street manure, the whole being well incorporated and frequently 

 turned; the border when finished, was one foot higher than the surrounding surface, 

 forming an open, dry, porous soil, twenty inches deep. The vines have uniformlj'^ produc- 

 ed great crops, well ripened and colored, consisting of about thirty-five to forty kinds of 

 foreign grapes. The border was never mulched nor covered, in summer or winter. In 

 June and July they had several waterings of liquid manure. On examining the roots 

 they were found to be strong and fibrous, ramifying in every inch of the soil. 



There is another grape border ninety feet long and thirty feet Avide, that we have care- 

 fully observed the past ten years. The substratum to within eighteen inches of the sur- 

 face is sand and gravel, or gravelly loam, which required no draining; the situation is na- 

 turally elevated. A depth of twenty inches to two feet was dug out and replaced with 

 the sod from the Avalks of the garden and an adjoining field, to which was added one-quar- 

 ter decomposed leaves and rotten barn-yard manure, mixed only when deposited on the 

 spot. The growth and product have been the finest I have seen — Hamburghs weighing 

 over three pounds, and Syrians from six to nine pounds per bunch. The wood is uni- 

 formly short jointed, and of a particularly healthy growth. The border has had an an- 

 nual top-dressing in Avinter of stable manure — no manure water — and although the estab- 

 lishment has been under the management of four different gardeners in that period, the 

 vines, in crop, character, color and growth, have maintained their peculiar high qualities. 



We have never admitted the practice of deep, rich preparations, for the culture of the 

 grape, even of materials well incorporated, though we doubt not that under judicious 

 management, vines will grow vigorously and produce good crops of half colored, large 

 fruit; but when the fibre of the loam loses its elasticity, and the manure and carrion are 

 decaj^ed, the whole becomes a sour, unctuous mass, retentive of moisture, through 

 no roots will permeate, and even the strongest will deaden and decay, as in the cases 



