MR. ERRIiVGTOX OX THE CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 51 



The loamy turf should be thrown in alternate layers with the 

 other portion of the materials, which should be well blended 

 together, and close at hand : — some raw stable marmre, chiefly 

 droppings, should be strewed in thin and regular layers, all 

 through the mass : before, however, filling the above compost, 

 which I should advise to be two feet in depth, I would place a 

 layer of half-charred brush-wood, of some strength, over the 

 drainage and substratum ; this layer should be nearly a foot in 

 depth. 



Such a border I am assured would defy all weathers, and 

 would be found after several years, on the stamp of a foot, to 

 have preserved its elasticity in a very considerable degree ; pro- 

 viding that mortal enemy to texture, " the spade," be kept from 

 it. It would only be necessary to cover the roots occasionally 

 with a slight dressing of raw manure, the moment the vines had 

 cast their leaves. 



Some cultivators seem to think that a healthy vine will carry 

 all the fruit it may " show :" so it will, but in what way ? — vvhy, 

 in the production of small berries, deficient in colour and flavour ; 

 for be it understood, the two latter points always accompany 

 each other. In addition to this another evil is to be feared, viz., 

 an injurious lessening of the vital energies of the vine. 



It will generally be found, I believe, after all the complaints 

 about large grapes, that the latter when thoroughly coloured are 

 decidedly richer than the under-sized ones. 



It may be asked therefore, what is the true medium to be ob- 

 served ? It is, I confess, not easy to answer this so as to be per- 

 fectly understood ; however, as a general rule, I should say that 

 spurred vines confined to the rafter, and established on the prin- 

 ciple of border-making before detailed, will assuredly, under 

 good management, produce from fifteen to twenty pounds weight 

 each, every year, for many years. Vines spread over the whole 

 house will yield a third more. It is, however, a better plan, 

 where very superior fruit is tiie object, to keep below this mark. 

 The leading shoot, if there be one, is a pretty good criterion of 

 the energies af the vine ; this, if the vine is honestly cropped, 

 should always be disposed, and also allowed if possible, to ramble 

 freely. 



One point in connexion with good grape-growing is an ele- 

 vated border. One half of the cubical contents of a vine border 

 should, in my estimation, be above the ground-level of the front 

 walk. Now it will be found, I believe, on close examination, 

 that a great portion of the old vinei-ies in the kingdom, by a 

 defect in the original plan of fixing the floor-line too low, pre- 

 clude, by the level of the front sashes (if any exist), the possi- 

 bility of the border being much higher. Now as it will, I con- 



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