Oil the Fonnation of Vine Borders. 53 



such manures acquire the high vahie which belongs to them. 

 But it is not alone by their direct action, that they affect 

 plants injuriously ; the putrid gases which they give out, are 

 destructive to the young stems and foliage of plants, in pro- 

 portion to their strength ; such gases are, up to a certain point, 

 absolute poisons, although below that point they are nutri- 

 tious. It is not very long since, that plants, in a small green- 

 house, were almost destroyed inconsequence of a dead hedge- 

 hog having been allowed to putrify in it ; and it appears from 

 Mr. Roberts' statement, that some of his young Vines, about 

 thirty, are dead at the ends; those thirty being 'entirely con- 

 fined to the roof Vines planted outside,' precisely those which 

 the light gaseous products of the rotten carrion, used in neigh- 

 boring borders, though not in their own, would be most likely 

 to affect. Mr. Roberts, however, is not inclined to refer the 

 bad condition of his Vines to any such cause ; but he hints at 

 the glass being possibly in fault. He also refers to Mr. Jones 

 Nash's admirable Vine borders at Bishop's Slortford, which 

 ' are stated to be gorged with manure, and fleshings of skin- 

 ners and tanners,' and compares them, as we understand 

 him, with his own. But, in truth, there is no analogy. Not 

 a particle of carrion was employed there. Such animal mat- 

 ters as skin, hair, and trimmings of hides, decompose very 

 slowly, and are not carrion any more than bones are. It is 

 the animal matter which rapidly becomes putrid, and passes 

 off in clouds of poisonous gas, that renders carrion, properly 

 so called, objectionable. 



"The Vine dressers of France object to manure altogether. 

 Virgil, to be sure, recommends it in some lines, which should 

 be committed to memory by every young gardener : 



Next : when you layers in your Vineyard make, 

 Mix some rich dung, and shells and pebbles break, 

 Spread the good soil with lib'ral hand around, 

 And trench them deeply in the lighten 'd ground ; 

 Superfluous moisture thus glides through the earth, 

 And healthy vapors aid the tender birth. 



" No doubt these are wise maxims. No modern discovery is 

 at variance with them ; on the contrary, they are confirmed 

 by the experience of the most intelligent cultivators. The 

 whole aim of the poet, is to inculcate the necessity of keeping 



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