474 



FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 



You j'ourselves will be encouraged in the 

 labors of your own hands ; and others, 

 hitherto faint-hearted and inactive, v/ill 

 witness your triumphs, and imitate your 

 example, in these labors of private interest 

 and public philanthropy; and so the work 



will move on, through your influence, until 

 its consummation is attained, and our cul- 

 tivated landscapes, in their farthest nooks, 

 are clothed in new beauty and loveliness. 

 William Bacon. 



Richmond, Mass.. March. 1819. 



NOTES ON THE FORMATION OP VINE BORDERS. 



BY WM. SAUNDERS, NEW-HAVEN, CT. 



There is, at present, considerable attention 

 directed to the nature of the soil most suita- 

 ble for the growth of the grape-vine; and, 

 notwithstmding all that has been written 

 about it, the subject appears still undeter- 

 mined, if we are to judge from the many 

 dissenting opinions that are from time to 

 time promulgated. As it is by the inter- 

 change of ideas that we can correct false 

 impressions, and ascertain true principles 

 in any branch of science, I beg to offer the 

 following remarks, in the hope of promoting 

 the end in view. 



We are informed, by the valuable re- 

 searches of chemists, that all soils contain 

 organic and inorganic matters ; the first of 

 these embrace carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 

 (fee; and the latter, potash, soda, lime, mag- 

 nesia, alumina, iron, silica, manganese, 

 sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, &c. These 

 ingredients are again found in more or less 

 quantities in all plants ; hence, it has been 

 established as an axiom, that the soil which 

 contains the greatest quantity of the con- 

 stituents of plants, is the most suitable to 

 their grow^th. 



Chemical analyses have also established 

 the fact, that turf s from old pastxtres pre- 

 sent the greatest quantity of those constitu- 

 ents ; the organic part of which, yields to 

 plants humic, ulmic, geic and other acids, 

 and supplying, by its decay, in contact 

 Math the air which penetrates the soil, am- 



monia, carbonic acid, and other nutritive 

 substances ; and also liberating inorganic, 

 that is, saline and earthy matters. 



We farther learn, from analysis, that 

 fresh stable manure, contains more or 

 less of nearly all the inorganic constituents 

 of plants, and from 20 to 25 per cent, of 

 organic matters ; and, I believe, it is con- 

 sidered to contain more of all the constitu- 

 ents than any other manure, and evolves, 

 during decomposition, considerable quanti- 

 ties of carbonic acid gas, ammonia, &c. 



This, then, would be my material for 

 growing grape-vines. I would take bits of 

 the turf, not exceeding four or five inches 

 in thickness, from an old pasture of good 

 loamy soil. I would add about one-fourth 

 part fresh stable manure, as free of litter 

 as possible ; turn it in rough, and mix it 

 well with broken bones, or rough charcoal. 

 These, mechanically, would keep the mass 

 of soil open and porous, and allow a free 

 circulation of the atmospheric gases ; and 

 chemically, the bones would supply phos- 

 phate of lime, and other necessary ele- 

 ments, while the charcoal would condense 

 ammonia, and by its colour increase the 

 warmth of the soil. If additional stimulants 

 were necessary, I would supply them in 

 properly prepared liquids, which is the most 

 scientific and beneficial manner of applying 

 manure to the roots of plants. " Solid 

 substances, whether vegetable, animal, or 



