GRAPE VINES COVERING BORDERS. 289 



borders a dressing of air-slaked lime should be applied in the autumn, and mixed with 

 the soil as deeply as can be done without much disturbance of the roots. A covering of 

 lime, 2 inches thick, often effects a wonderful improvement in vines that have been 

 over-manured. Thomas phosphate (basic cinder) may be used in such cases with great 

 advantage at the rate of 2 pounds per square yard ; the chief agent wanted is lime, 

 and of this the phosphate mentioned contains 50 per cent., with smaller proportions of 

 other elements which are of service to vines. 



Covering Vine Borders. "Where the vines are planted in outside borders, and a 

 portion of the stem is exposed, that part must always be protected by haybands wrapped 

 round it, and the roots near the collar should have litter placed over them. This is 

 absolutely necessary to preserve the vines from collapse during severe frost when the 

 sap is active. The remainder of the border, where the vines are not started before 

 February, may be left exposed to the beneficial action of the weather. Where the vines 

 are planted inside and forced early, the outside border should be covered with not less 



than 6 inches of dry oak or beech leaves or bracken, before the temperature of the 







soil has fallen below 50. The covering retains warmth in the soil, especially when a 

 thatching with coarse litter is applied so as to throw off heavy rains and snow. Borders 

 so covered should have the materials reduced in spring, when the outside mean tem- 

 perature is 50, only retaining a little of the shortest for protecting the surface roots. 

 Where the roots are wholly outside and vines are forced early, a continued supply 

 of fermenting materials, such as 3 parts leaves and 1 part stable litter, should be 

 employed on the border from the time the house is closed until the grapes are ripe ; 

 the covering must then be gradually removed, leaving a little to protect the surface 

 roots. The fermenting materials must be renewed from time to time, so as to maintain 

 a genial warmth in the soil ; an excess of heat is highly injurious. Glazed lights placed 

 over the fermenting materials so as to throw off heavy rains and snow are distinctly 

 advantageous. 



The borders of late vineries should be exposed until the setting-in of heavy rains in 

 autumn, and then covered with glazed lights, or dry material, such as bracken or leaves, 

 with the addition of tarpaulin, thatched hurdles, or wood shutters during wet periods. 

 Uniform moisture and temperature are essential to the sound keeping of grapes ; if the 

 soil is dry they shrivel, and if constantly saturated the berries are liable to decay. In 

 dry autumns, and where the borders are exceptionally well drained, covering them may 

 not be necessary, and the grapes may keep sound if the wood is well ripened ; but a 



VOL. II. P P 



