THE GRAPE VINE. 77 



of soil, both inside and outside the house ; and against 

 the roots that will there be found, some of them taking 

 the lead, place a section of sharp river or pit sand, or 

 gravel, at least 4 inches thick. As soon as the roots 

 enter this poor sharp material, they will branch into a 

 thousand small active roots, and enter the layer of new 

 soil that has been subsequently laid against this sand 

 or gravel. This may be repeated at every addition to 

 the border, and the result will be that, instead of a 

 few long, straight, naked roots, the whole border will 

 be full of a class of active woody roots, that survive 

 the cold and wet of winter infinitely better than those 

 great snake -like ones formed in rich soil. These 

 perpendicular sections of sand or gravel have the 

 additional advantage of acting as drains to draw off 

 superfluous water/' 



TIME AND MANNER OF PLANTING VINES. 



To fix a given day or week, irrespective of circum- 

 stances, for the performance of gardening operations, is 

 now very much a thing of the past. In the planting 

 of vines this is especially applicable ; they may be 

 planted from February to August, according to circum- 

 stances. In order, however, to get the best possible 

 growth the first year, spring and early summer are the 

 best seasons to plant. It is only where vineries and 

 borders cannot be got ready in time, or where a crop 

 has to be cut the same season from the house to be 

 planted, that later planting should be practised. The 

 exact time in the early part of the year should be 

 decided by several considerations, such as the charac- 

 ter of the season, the state of the vines themselves, 

 and whether the vines are intended for being forced 



