48 ON SOIL. 



made very fine. The deficiency should be made good, 

 by adding an equal quantity of dry materials of the 

 above-mentioned description, and of the sweepings of 

 a high road, all of which must be well mixed and 

 incorporated together. If the natural soil of the bor- 

 der be too sandy and light, the same process may be 

 followed, with the exception of the addition of road 

 sweepings. In lieu of these, should be added a suffi- 

 ciency of fine mould collected from molehills, which 

 is generally of a rich loamy nature ; or of fresh soil 

 from some neighbuoring meadow or common, which, 

 if well pastured, will prove very fertile ; but if neither 

 of these can be procured, the deficiency may be made 

 good from the top spit of a field of good arable land. 

 And of whatever nature the soil may be, in which it is 

 intended to plant vines, it ought to contain, at least, 

 one-third of dry materials of the above-mentioned de- 

 scription. 



With respect to the sweepings of roads, I am deci- 

 dedly of opinion, that those obtained from a turnpike 

 road, or from any other high road, kept in a good state 

 of repair by the frequent addition of stones, and on 

 which there is a considerable traffic of horses or other 

 cattle, is the very best compost that can be added to 

 any border intended for the reception of vines. Its 

 component parts, consisting chiefly of sand, gravel, 

 pulverized stones, and the residuum of dung and urine, 

 afford a greater quantity of food, and of a richer and 

 more lasting nature, than can be found in any other 

 description of compost that I have ever seen, or heard 

 of being used for that purpose. I have, on many occa- 

 sions, opened the borders of vines to examine the direc- 

 tion of their roots, and to discover the particular species 

 of soil which they preferred, and I have uniformly 

 found, that where any portion of this compost had been 

 introduced, the fibrous extremities of the roots had 



