FORMATION OF VINE BORDERS, 69 



Abercrombie directs the top slip of sandy loam from 

 an upland pasture, one-third part ; unexhausted brown 

 loam from a garden, one-fourth part; scrapings of 

 roads free from clay, one-sixth part ; vegetable mold 

 or old tan, or rotten stable dung, one-eighth part; 

 shell marl, or mild lime, one-twelfth part. His bor- 

 ders he recommends to be from three to five feet in 

 depth, and where practicable, not less than four feet 

 wide within the house, and not less than ten feet wide 

 without. 



The vine borders at "Wishaw House, Lanarkshire, 

 in a cold and wet locality, are thus formed : Breadth, 

 12 feet, depth of soil 18 inches, under which is laid 

 a foot of hard clinkers, by way of drainage. The soil 

 used is that natural to the garden, which had for 

 years been under pasture, and is a remarkably strong, 

 rich brick-clayey loam, with no other preparation 

 than the addition of a moderate supply of stable ma- 

 nure. In this soil the best grapes ever produced in 

 Scotland have been grown for the last three years. 



A writer in the " Gardener's Chronicle" (1843, page 

 825) prepares his borders thus : The soil most suita- 

 ble for a vine border is the surface spit from a field 

 of an old fertile loam pasture ; this should be collected 

 some time before it is required, mixed with a good 

 proportion of cow dung, and the whole turned over 

 at intervals, three or four times, and exposed to the 



