108 



Review of Loudon's Gardener^ s Magazine. 



weather ; and besides that, they have the advantage of a wider range for their 

 roots, without any competitors to dispute with them, wliich might draw 

 more nutriment from the soil. Single trees, consequently, soon become 

 more robust than trees in plantations, and are of greater stability. 1 think 

 the fir tribe is too often, even almost exclusively, made use of in the planting 

 of belts ; in cases where these trees are left to themselves, their lower branches 

 soon decay, and, in consequence, admit light to be seen through the interval 

 thus occasioned. This should be always prevented, if possible; and, to this 

 end, the wider the belt is the better: narrow stripes of a few yards in width 

 effect but little, when compared to a belt of considerable breadth ; and al- 

 though the planting, &c., in respect to the former, may be attended with less 

 expense, the result in a few years will be much less satisfactory in point both 

 of beauty and utility." 



Art. 5. Oil the Rot in Larch, ^'c. 



The larch tree in England is very subject to rot ; and sometimes 

 whole plantations die off. This article is in elucidation of the cause 

 of this disease. 



Art. 6. A Diary of the Course of Culture applied to the Grape Vine. 



A valuable article, the Diary containing the progress of the vine, 

 from the buds first starting to the ripening of the fruit. The forcing, 

 it will be seen, commenced the 8th November. — The varieties of 

 the vine cultivated, are the Black Hamburgh, Dutch Sweet-water, 

 and old St. Peter's. We extract the whole of the Diary : — 



The vinery open. The wood ripe : not pruned. 

 We have had two slight frosts. 



The vines pruned. The vinery shut up. No arti- 

 ficial heat applied. 



Vines pared ; the loose and rough bark only taken 

 off. 



Tan j)it filled with new tan (twelve loads). Soil, 

 pathway, &c. kept wet. 



Vines washed with soap-suds by means of a paint- 

 er's sash-brush, the suds being in a tepid state. 



Vines anointed with a mixture of soft soap and 

 black and white sulphur dissolved in warm soap- 

 suds ; the mixture applied to the vines at about 

 100° of heat. Vines laid down on the tan, and 

 moistened with a fine syringe twice a day. The 

 tan forked every other day. 



Forked the border about 3 in. deep ; laid on turfy 

 loam and old lime mortar, about 2 in. deep ; then 

 old hot-bed dung, well rotted, 2 in. ; the roots 

 being near the surface, having been planted as 

 shallow as possible. 



Walls whitewashed with lime and sulphur. 



Laid leaves on vine border 1 ft. thick, and fresh hot 

 dung 1 ft. : protected the above from rains, &c. 

 by reed covers used at other times for pine pits. 



The floor dressed with a coat of road-drift, for the 

 sake of sprinkling. 



