DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



393 



parinjT their catalo<Tue of fruits to be recommended 

 lor general cultivation. 



Tiic directions for the culture of native vines are 

 not less satisfactory than for those under glass. 

 The author's experience with them has not been 

 so extensive as with the latter; but he has col- 

 lected a great amount of information from the 

 most experienced cultivators in various parts of 

 t!ic Union, and added many very sagacious re- 

 marks on the dill'erent modes of cultivation and 

 management. 



In conclusion, we have an exceedingly interest- 

 ing discussion of the subject of borders and ma- 

 nures for vines, beyond all question the most im- 

 portant item in the whole process of vine culture. 

 It seems that the use of animal manures, in the 

 jH'eparation of the border which Mr. Allen advo- 

 cates, has been objected to of late by English wri- 

 ters, and has elicited some critical remarks from 

 Mr. HovEY, who denounces the whole system as 

 ■' quackery." It is not the first time that an old 

 established systen has been thus attacked, and 

 some patent, short-hand method recommended in 

 its stead, which has been found, on examination, 

 to amount to the same thing as that which it 

 would supersede, but for the most part less simple 

 and natural. To which system the term " quack- 

 cry" is most apjdicable, the public will decide; 

 but I respectfully suggest to horticulturists, as 

 well as physicians, that it is a very awkward 

 weapon to handle, — being almost always double- 

 edged, and for the most part had better not be 

 used in discussions whicli are honestly intended to 

 elicit truth. 



Mr. HovEY objects to the use of animal ma- 

 nures, in the preparation of the border, but re- 

 commends a compost of old sod and topsoil with 

 tlioroughly rotted stable manure and ground bones, 

 and then an annual top-dressing of stable manure 

 and guano. This amounts, in the end, to the 

 same thing as Mr. Allen's system, -with the addi- 

 tional labor of the annual top-dressing. Guano is, 

 in its effects, the same as animal manure; but if 

 the latter, in the form of carcasses of animals, 

 bones, &,c., is freely mixed with the border, in 

 such a position that the roots of the vines will not 

 reach them till the flesh , fat , ^-c, is reduced to a 

 proper condition for their consumption , they will 

 then furnish a constant supply of nourishment for 

 a long series of years, without the necessity of 

 any top-dressing. The objection of Mr. Hovey 

 and of many Engli-sh writers, whose opinions are 

 quoted at length, seems to be that fresh animal 

 manures, (" carrion,") are not in a state to be 

 consumed by the vines. In this opinion, Mr. Al- 

 len entirely concurs, as he insists upon the condi- 

 tion which I have emphasised above. I believe, 

 and think Mr. Allen would agree with me, that 

 when practicable it would be better to have the 

 necessary decomposition effected beforehand ; for 

 no one can suppose that the flesh of animals can 

 serve in a fresh or putrid state as food for plants. 

 But few cultivators, about to plant vines, can af- 



ford to wait for this decomposition, and I should 

 feel no hesitation in adopting Mr. Allen's plan; 

 first, because the i-oots certainly would not be 

 drawn towards it till it was in a condition for 

 their consumption ; and secondly, because I have 

 seen the theory confirmed by practice in many in- 

 stances where the vines had been exposed to all 

 the risks to which it is asserted such treatment 

 would render them liable, yet manifesting, by 

 their healtliy appearance, that they were provided 

 with the best possible nourishment. The carcass 

 of an animal is so offensive and disgusting an ob- 

 ject, that nature seems to bid us, in the most im- 

 perative tone, and under the severest penalty, to 

 put it out of the reach of the senses ; and the only 

 mode of doing so, is to bury it in the earth ; and 

 in the whole wonderful system of nature's econo- 

 my, we know of nothing more beautiful than this 

 provision, by which she forces the animals which 

 have drawn their subsistence from the vegetable 

 world, to give back tiieir component parts, to be- 

 come the Ibod of what they have fed upon, and 

 thus to spring again into life under new and beau- 

 lilul forms. The flesh is presently changed to 

 the richest mould, eagerly sought by the roots of 

 the vine; and the bones, which are slower of de- 

 composition, are soon enveloped in a net-work of 

 fibrous roots, whose ends fasten themselves like 

 leeches upon their surface. 



Since the first publication of Mr. Allen's trea- 

 tise, I have heard surprise expressed by several 

 cultivators at his advice, that the foliage should 

 not be syringed after the buds had burst, and the 

 vines were tied up to the wires. In corrobora- 

 tion of his advice, I can certify that, for two sea- 

 sons past, we have had an opportunity of observing 

 its results in two houses, in which not a drop of 

 water has been thrown on the foliage throughout 

 the time of growth, and we never saw more 

 healthy and vigorous shoots and leaves ; and in 

 one of these houses, where syringing had formerly 

 been practiced daily, and where the vines then 

 suffered much from mildew, no appearance of that 

 disease has been seen since it was omitted. 



I would particularly impress upon growers of 

 the grape the remarks of Mr. Allen upon the 

 points by which the quality of the fruit is to be 

 distinguished. So common is the idea that the 

 size of the bunch is the criterion of excellence, 

 that everything else seems to be sacrificed to it ; 

 and I have more than once seen enormous bunches 

 displayed at horticultural exhibitions, of which, in 

 reality, the growers should have been ashamed. 

 The two points which should first be considered in 

 determining the quality of this fruit are, first, the 

 size and evenness of the berries; and second, the 

 colour, which is invariably an indication of the 

 flavor. These being equal, the size of the bunch 

 is next to be considered; but as a general rule, 

 the medium sized bunches are far superior, in 

 these essentials, to those enormous clusters which 

 are often filled with unequal sized and poorly 

 coloured berries. 



