Deoember 2, 1876. 1 JOTJBNAL OP HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



485 



was therefore provided for in the most effective manner. The 

 bottom of the border when excavated was the exact counter- 

 part of a ridge-and-furrow roof. 



Now where concrete is necessary there can be no better base 

 for it than these diagonal ridges and pipes laid between them. 

 There cannot then — the falls for the drains being right and 

 the oatfalls clear^be any possibility of the border becoming 

 water-logged. 



I am of opinion that on a sandy or gravelly subsoil, or 

 also on the sand or limestone formation where the subsoil is 

 porous, that it is not necessary to concrete the bottoms of 

 Vine borders. Provided the water can pass away freely con- 

 crete is not necessary ; but where it cannot pass away — as in 

 a bed of clay, for instance— then I should certainly have a 

 ridge-and-furrow bottom concreted and drained, with an effec- 

 tual outfall for the water which I should apply liberally in the 

 growing season. 



There is very little doubt but that Vines have suffered 

 greater injury by drought than by water, and that concreting 

 and drying the borders on a porous subsoil in dry districts has 

 in many instances been carried to excess. Where Grapes are 

 prone to shank it is worth while considering whether dryness 

 of the roots is not one of the contributing causes. I am 

 acquainted with a fine vinery which every year produces 

 many shanked berries, but in no year did I see them in a 

 worse condition than in 1868, when the year's rainfall of the 

 district was under 20 inches, whereas in 1872, when the rain- 

 fall was nearly double that amount, shanking was much less 

 inveterate. 



I do not dispute that shanking is fostered by a water-logged 

 BOil, but I suspect that the effects are not widely different 

 whether the spongioles have rotted by wet or shrivelled by 

 drought. 



The Vine in its nature is a water-loving subject. Its rapid 

 Buoculent growth, its expansive foliage, and, more than either, 

 its juicy fruit, all cry aloud for water. I have very little doubt 

 that if a Vine in its growing state — roots, wood, leaves, and 

 fruit — were analysed, that 75 per cent, of its bulk would be 

 water. If that is so its wants are clearly foreshadowed, and 

 water it must have ungrudgingly if it is to flourish vigorously. 

 The best proof that that is sound theory is the support which 

 is afforded by actual practice. I have only been able to grow 

 heavy crops of Grapes by heavy waterings in the growing 

 season. But there must be efiioient drainage. It is not pri- 

 marily a question of water but one of drainage, for if the 

 latter is perfect the supply of the former can scarcely be too 

 great. 



But the mechanical nature of the Boil must be taken into 

 account. Some soils are more retentive of moisture than 

 others, and a weight of 20 inches of rain on one soil may in 

 its effects be represented by 40 inches on another, and vice 

 oersd — that is, the drainage being the same in two instances 

 the Vines in one border will need double the amount of water 

 over those in the other, solely by the difference in the mecha- 

 nical nature of the soil ; and it is here that the intelligence of 

 the gardener must be exercised. We may lay it down as a 

 rule that the Vine is a moisture-loving subject; that it must 

 have water liberally, but the precise meaning of "liberal" 

 must be left to individual interpretation to be governed by the 

 local circumstances of each case. 



Concreting, I have said, is not necessary on a porous subsoil 

 where water can pass away freely, and injury has often resulted 

 by concreting on such soils. It is all very well to say that we 

 concrete to prevent the roots passing into a poor unnutritious 

 soil, but it must also be remembered that concrete not only 

 prevents the roots descending, but it also prevents the earth 

 moisture ascending. It completely arrests capillary attraction. 

 The summer's sun cannot draw up the winter's rain from the 

 reservoirs of the earth through a concrete roof, and by that 

 cause alone Vines suffer injury in dry districts. 



The roots of Vines when they pass into an ungenial inert 

 medium are generally driven there ; they are in search of food 

 and moisture, which they cannot find near the surface. There 

 need bo no fear of injury arising to Vines by the descent of 

 their roots into unsuitable soil if what they need is afforded 

 them near the surface. They do not enter the inert soil 

 because they like it, but because they penetrate it in search of 

 the matter which they need, and the more such soil is deficient 

 in the food of which they are in search the further will the 

 roots ramify. The natural preventive is to supply food on or 

 near the surface of the border, and if sufficient moisture 

 acsompanies it to render it soluble, then the roots will not 



wander into bad soil and receiTe injury in search of what they 

 need. 



There are cases where concreting is necessary, but not to 

 prevent the roots going out of their proper compost, but as a 

 means of conducting superfluous water into the drains. I 

 could give some instances of the use and abuse of concrete. I 

 have this year seen the concrete of a Vme border laid bare, and 

 on it rested 3 inches of water. The border was nearly on a 

 level, and what drains there were had become choked by sedi- 

 ment. Sediment traps are exceedingly useful, but extremely 

 dangerous. They are not uncommonly placed by the side 

 of the gravel walk, under which the main drain — the Vine- 

 border catchwater — is conducted. The loose gravel is washed 

 through the grating, and is left in the sediment box until it 

 reaches the level of the drain, and is then conducted into it; 

 and thus are Vine borders, by neglect of timely and systematic 

 attention given to the drains, made waterlogged by the very 

 medium that was provided to keep them dry. I have had to 

 take out two Vine borders which had become waterlogged by 

 the simple matter of permitting the drain pipes to become 

 choked with the surface washings of gravel, &c. In both these 

 instances sediment boxes had been provided, but their contents 

 had not been regularly removed, and hence the mischief. I 

 know at this moment a Vine border which has become sour by 

 the same means, and the border will have to be renewed before 

 good Grapes can be obtained. It would have been far better 

 that those borders had not been concreted and drained at all 

 than that the drains should have been neglected. It is with 

 good reason therefore that I say. Look to the drains. 



I am well acquainted with a splendid range of vineries which 

 had been erected, and borders made regardless of cost. The 

 site was not wet, and the rainfall of the district is exceptionally 

 low, yet these borders were concreted, and I believe they were 

 never watered ; the Grapes as a consequence were poor and 

 unsatisfactory, so much so that the gardener relinquished his 

 charge. A different system was then adopted. The concrete 

 was broken up, and heavier soil incorporated with the border ; 

 heavy surface dressings of manure were given, and water 

 copiously applied in the growing season ; and the same Vines 

 have since produced splendid crops of fruit, which are a source 

 of pride of the owner as they are a credit to the gardener. 

 Some of the finest Grapes that I have seen have been produced 

 by borders which have been attended to by rich dressings of 

 manure with occasionally fresh soil and bones at the top, 

 rather than by a smooth layer of lime, tar, and ashes at the 

 bottom. 



Yet on the other hand I have known the concreting of Vine 

 borders in conjunction with an effective system of drainage 

 decidedly beneficial. Seven years ago a border site was exca- 

 vated in a soil which approached clay. Drainage was pnt-in — 

 that is, a foot of stones, &a., and the soil made of a suitable 

 compost, yet the Vines did not flourish. The berries shanked 

 and did not colour well, and the foliage was much attacked by 

 insects. The Vines were eventually lifted, and the soil was 

 taken out. A layer of concrete was placed on the drainage, 

 and drains made with sharp falls and clear outfalls ; the border 

 was enriched on the surface, and water given freely ; and for 

 the past two years the crops have been of the very first order 

 of merit. In this case I doubt not that the manure at the top 

 has been of greater benefit than the concrete at the bottom, 

 yet the two in conjunction have proved the practice to have 

 been correct and good. 



I can quote another instance. A clergyman was most anxious 

 to have good Grapes, but his border site was in a natural hol- 

 low and the soil was clay. An excavation was made and a 

 good border compost put in, but the Grapes were not good. 

 The natural hollow was simply a water trap, and a layer of 

 concrete was placed on the surface of the border — previously 

 taking up the Vines — another border being built entirely above 

 the ground level, and the crops have since been most superior. 

 This border is heavily top-dressed annually, and frequently 

 watered with sewage until it passes through the mass of soil 

 and out by the drains. 



This record of practice may be useful at a time when Vine 

 borders are in the course of construction and renovation. It 

 tends to prove that concrete is useful where not abused. 

 When it is necessary it should be laid with a sharp gradient 

 and in connection with drains which must be kept in order. 

 If the site is very low and the soil heavy and wet, it is advis- 

 able that the border be made entirely above the ground level. 

 But in many, and I am inclined to think in most, instances 

 concrete is not necessary, and of infinitely greater moment is 



