Novombor 18, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



3G1 



CA1 SES OF GRAPES SHANKING. 



HERE is, perhaps, i talad; 



tn which < trapes are subject 

 which has given rise to more 

 .■once of opinion than 

 that termed shanking. This 

 is not surprising it', as is 

 probable, almost anything which militates against the health 

 of a Vino may produce it. 



Shanking may be described as the death of the foul 

 which unites the berry to the bunch, or part of the main 

 stall; tn which the footstalks of the berries are attached. 

 The effect is to prevent single berries, or the part or whole 

 of a bunch of Grapes, coming to perfection, by the stoppage 

 of the necessary supply of sap, thus destroying the hopes of 

 the cultivator at a period when he feels secure of sucn ; 



Nothing is more certain than that cither a low wet 

 border -will cause shanking, or that a soil totally unfit to 

 grow Grapes will produce it ; but I am more than ever 

 convinced that many a border is condemned, and many a 

 hou e i iplai !. where the fault is entirely in the mode of 

 cultivation. 



I saw a house only a few days ago near a gravel-pit, 

 where the soil, a chalky loam mixed with stones, was a 

 good Vine soil naturally, and where the roots must go 

 many feet to find water, and was told that several kinds 

 always shanked, and I was not at all surprised to hear il. 

 I could name several places where Grapes have shanked, 

 and would defy any one to point out a reason why the 

 soil could be in fault : but, which is more to the purpose, 

 I could show Vines that for years together have shanked 

 their fruit, hut which, two years after the S3 _ stem of pruning 

 was altered, have brought then - fruit to perfection. 



Vines may often be seen mismanaged in the following 

 manner : — The side shoots are correctly stopped at one 

 leaf above the fruit, hut afterwards are allowed to make 

 seven or eight, or even more, leaves, which are all cut off 

 and carried away in one day. I have seen harrow-loads of 

 shoots and foliage thus removed. Now, is it possible such 

 an amount of foliage can be removed from a growing Vine 

 without injury'.' — that we can, whilst a Vine is in full 

 growth, with impunity cut through scores of fruit-bearing 

 brandies almost as thick as a man's little finger, and the 

 plant not feel any ill effects ? — that roots growing rapidly 

 will receive no check '.' — that roots thus checked, particu- 

 larly if the sort be a weak grower, will receive no perma- 

 nent injury '.' 



I believe it only requires attention to be directed to the 

 subject to see the absurdity of the practice. Let us next 

 see what takes place where Vines arc properly attended to. 



The shoots are stopped, as in the other case, as soon as 

 one good leaf is formed above the bunch of flowers. This 

 No. 294.- Vol. XI., New Series. 



checks the sap, and diverts il to the fruit. The strongest 



shoots on tmen ■' ig, and when two leaves 



are formed, the point of taken out with the 



thumb-nail. There is no loss of ' this case The 



o I ' V more 



I fellows In ed, and i re in turn tri at id in 



i me manner. The sap is thus equalised, and no use- 



le foliage is i ' Ly to be removed This treat- 



ment is a gradual one, spread over the whole time a Vine 

 is growing, and nof the ivork of one day. The plant as a 

 receives no che 



! gain, some Vines are not allowed to carry foliage at 

 a 1 ! in proportion to the fruit expected from them. Can 

 they under these circumstances make healthy roots? Some 

 of your readers will as!;, 1 'id you ever see Barbarossa or 

 Black Alicante made to shank % such pruning '.' I answer, 

 No : but I have seen them reduced to barrenness by it. 



Haiing thought long on this subject, I have observed 

 closely the conditions under which shanking has occurred, 

 and in some cases have been able t.< i predict it a year before- 

 hand, and I am more than ever convinced that the mode 

 of management pointed out is its most prolific source. — 

 J. R. Pearson, OkUwell. 



HYPOCAUST HEATING FOR HORTICULTURAL 

 STRUCTURES. 



Like most important features in horticulture, the heating 

 of glass structures has at time.s been a subject of more 

 than ordinary interest, and especially when a new mode 

 has been introduced which has promised to eclipse all that 

 have preceded it. That considerable improvement has 

 been made in economising the materials made use of to 

 produce heat there can be no question, but that there is 

 abundant room for a still further advance in that direction 

 is equally certain, judging from tho waste which occurs 

 even in the most carefully constructed apparatus To a 

 certain extent a loss of fuel would appear inevitable, but 

 there seems to be no reason to doubt that with improved 

 means the amount of that loss would be much diminished; 

 and the plan to which I now seek to direct attention ap- 

 pears to be calculated to make the most of the fuel con- 

 sumed, and to have merits peculiarly its own. It has been 

 in actual use for some time, and has answered very well : 

 and though the gentleman to whom horticulturists owe the 

 introduction of this mode of applying heat — C. Wykeham 

 Martin, Esq., M.P., of Leeds Castle, Kent — disclaims the 

 merit of originating it, he is as much entitled to our thanks 

 for resuscitating a plan, which is said to have been adopted 

 some sixteen or eighteen centuries ago, as if he had been 

 the original discoverer. 



Mr. Martin takes for his model the Roman hypocaust; 

 but as many readers of the Journal may not. perhaps, 

 understand "the term, I may state that old Roman villas 

 were heated from open fires acting on a fireproof floor at 

 the lowest part of the house, and that the heated air, con- 

 sequently, found its way upwards through the various 

 apartments which required warming. Now. though the 

 Romans applied lire heat in the way described, their mode 

 No. 346. -Vol. XXXVI., OLDSrsms. 



