70 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE. 



action of the weather. In preparing the border, the 

 old earth should be cleared away from the whole 

 space, to the depth of about two and a half feet, and 

 a main drain cut parallel with the length of the bor- 

 der, at its extreme outer edge. 



This should be at least two feet lower than the 

 bottom of the border, whether laid with concrete, 

 chalk or bricks, and the bottom of the border should 

 have a gentle inclination from the back to the drain. 

 To render this drainage more effectual, cut small 

 drains, placing drain tiles at their bottoms, at con- 

 venient distances, to run in a slanting direction from 

 the back of the border into the main drain, the latter 

 being six inches below them. A few turfs should 

 be laid over the tile drains with the grassy side down ; 

 the fresh soil may then be filled in, taking care to 

 keep the roughest part near the bottom. 



Three cubic yards of compost are enough for each 

 vine ; this will admit of the border being ten feet 

 wide, or with forty-eight cubic feet, you may form it 

 only six feet wide in the first instance, and add six 

 feet more as the vines extend. 



Roberts, the great advocate for carrion, gives the 

 following description of his border : " The compost 

 and manures I most recommend, and which I made 

 use of, are two parts the parings of a piece of old 

 pasture land, a strong loam laid up one year (or till 



