444 VINE SOILS AND VINE MANURES. 



by Mr. M. Henderson, of Coleorton, Leicestershire, the most success- 

 ful exhibitor of early grapes in England, it is not without its merits, 

 and it is of cheap and easy application where other systems could 

 not be practised. The system presupposes the complete protection of 

 the borders from cold rains, and then, at the time of commencing to 

 force, it receives a thorough soaking of weak manure -water at the 

 temperature of 80 : the first watering will raise the temperature to 

 60, and the second and third, following some weeks afterwards, will 

 increase it to 70 or more if necessary. In this way Mr. Henderson 

 has succeeded in exhibiting grapes at the early metropolitan shows 

 with almost undeviating success, and with the further advantage that 

 few of his compeers have been able to bring their fruit to the table at 

 that early season in such a state of complete finish. Of course this is 

 not entirely attributable to the use of warm water for raising the 

 temperature of the soil, though no doubt it played an important 

 part. 



Vine Soils and Vine Manures. Few plants in cultivation are 

 more pliable than the vine ; for, whether perched upon the side of a 

 mountain, or with its roots lying in the bed of a sewer, it will, so long 

 as those roots are not in stagnant water or a cold ungenial soil, produce 

 fruit. It may not be the best in the world, or, judged by a proper 

 standard, any credit to the grower ; but still with the majority the 

 produce may pass as grapes, to which too frequently the estimate 

 of sour may be applied without any stretch of imagination. But for 

 the production of grapes of the finest quality certain conditions must 

 be complied with, and those are first, that the soil in which the plants 

 are growing, and if possible the subsoil also, shall be free from stagnant 

 water; secondly, that mechanically its qualities shall be free and 

 porous; and thirdly, if grapes of superior quality are desired, it shall 

 be free from rich, raw, and stimulating manures, and yet contain 

 sufficient stimulant of a permanent character, such as bones, charcoal, 

 and burnt earth, to yield the food necessary for the proper and per- 

 manent sustenance of the vine. 



Within the last quarter of a century various nostrums have been 

 prescribed for the growth of this plant, some recommending one mix- 

 ture, some another ; but, in plain truth, the more simple the compound 

 so long as the right ingredients are used the more certain the suc- 

 cess. If we go to the valley of the Thames or the Mersey, or if we 

 procure the alluvial deposit of any of our great rivers, more especially 

 where the " tidal wave " serves, and it is rich in vegetable matter, we 

 may make sure the vine will grow in it. We mention the tidal wave, 

 and we do so because we have a conviction that the vine does not 

 object to, but rather luxuriates in, a " taste of the brine." Go to 

 Brighton, to Garston, or, for a more recent example of success, to 

 Glammis Castle near Forfar where the grapes were grown which 

 attracted so much attention at the last International Fruit Show (1869) 

 at Edinburgh or go to many places which we could name on 

 the coast of England and Wales, and you will find good grapes, and 



