FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS. 65 



YINE BORDERS. The formation of vine borders in 

 gardens is a subject upon which the student will find 

 no lack of information, almost every successful 

 gardener attributing the superiority of his grapes to 

 some peculiarity in the construction of his borders, 

 and innumerable have been the paper conflicts waged 

 between the advocates of carrion, asphalte, ventilated 

 borders, etc., etc., and their opponents. The "car- 

 rion" controversy has probably caused the shedding 

 of more ink than any of the others, the ultraists on 

 both sides being probably in the wrong. But, 

 after all, we regard the construction of proper vine 

 borders as no very difficult affair, and shall first give 

 our own views in the matter and afterward quote 

 those of other authors. 



Of course in borders, as in other cases, it is neces- 

 sary that the bottom be as dry as possible. This 

 being provided for, if the soil is a light mellow gar- 

 den mold, we would rest content with trenching it 

 thoroughly, and adding liberal supplies of litter, well 

 decomposed manure, woollen rags, and especially 

 bones ; * and if in the bottom of each trench a good 



* In th ordinary course of agriculture, where " quick returns," if 

 not " small profits " are an important element of success, bones when 

 used as manure cannot be too thoroughly pulverized. Indeed, it is 

 often profitable to reduce them to the most active form that of a solu- 

 tion b/ means of acids. But for reasons to be hereafter stated, one 



