250 THE FRUIT GROWERS GUIDE. 



the grapes are indifferent in quality and the wine is inferior. These remarks have 

 special reference to the open-air cultivation of the vine in the southern and western 

 parts of England, on warm slopes or sunny walls. 



In many localities the natural soil of this country is as well suited to the grape vine 

 as that of the best wine-producing countries, but our gravelly soils are poor in potash. 

 It is easy, however, to make soil capable of producing the finest grapes by a judicious 

 admixture of inexpensive materials. But due regard must be had to the mechanical 

 state as well as to the chemical composition of borders for vines. The soil must be 

 permeable by the roots and be sweet, so as to admit of a steady assimilation of the 

 nutrient elements, and preserve the roots in a healthy state. Eight and wrong procedure 

 in the preparation of soil for vines are shown in the illustration on the next page. 



From E, Fig. 76, we learn that the soil must be gritty enough to allow water 

 to readily percolate and pass away, yet so compact as to insure the breaking up of the 

 roots into numberless fibres. In F the border was a mass of organic matter, settled 

 into a close sour staple, unsuitable for fibrous roots, and rendered poisonous by an excess 

 of liquid manure and heavy mulchings. It was wet and cold, and the roots sought 

 the most aerated part, namely, the rubble. The mechanical composition of the border 

 is, therefore, of paramount importance for securing a maximum of roots, and these 

 should be so fed as to produce grapes at a minimum of expense. 



Preparation of Natural Soil for Outdoor Vines. Sandy or gravelly soils, with the 

 subsoil free from stagnant water, only need stirring to the depth of the good soil, and 

 the subsoil loosening, with a judicious admixture of clay, dried and pounded, the 

 amount varying from one-third to one-sixth, according to the departure from a friable 

 loam. Very brashy silicious soils are best improved by clay marl, to supply lime, 

 potash, and other mineral substances. A depth of 18 inches is ample for outdoor vines. 

 To secure this, one-fourth of clay soil or clay marl means 4J inches mixed with 13^ 

 inches depth of natural soil ; one-fifth, 3^ inches with 14^ inches ; and one-sixth, 

 3 inches with 15 inches. It is inadvisable to incorporate manure with the soil, as it 

 tends to luxuriance, and the cultivator's control over the growth is the greatest when 

 manurial dressings are restricted to the surface. 



Stiff soils contain abundant supplies of vine food, but practically sealed through 

 lack of drainage and aeration. It is not always easy to drain a low site, but borders 

 can be made above the surrounding level. Eemove the good soil, lay it aside, and 

 mix with it broken sandstone, the largest particles oeing the size of a hen's egg, old 



