58 ON MANURE. 



annually obtain bunches of grapes weighing from one 

 to two pounds, with berries measuring from two inches 

 and a half to three inches in circumference. 



A similar examination of another border some years 

 since, produced the like result. About seven years 

 previously to my inspecting it, a few bones had been 

 inserted in the soil, one of which was the thigh bone of 

 an ox. After carefully removing the top spit of the 

 border, into which the fibres of the roots had pushed 

 themselves pretty thickly, I discovered this bone about 

 a foot below the surface, and about four feet distant 

 from the stem of a vine. The hollow part which had 

 contained the marrow, was open at both ends. On 

 examining it, I found that a root of the vine had trav- 

 ersed the surface of it, in a direct line, from one end to 

 the other, throwing out an immense number of small 

 fibres, which covered its entire convex surface. On 

 a closer inspection, and tracing the course of the root, 

 it appeared, that when it had reached the end of the 

 bone, instead of pushing straight forward into the soil, 

 it had turned down over the single thickness, entered 

 the hollow part, and was returning, through the inside 

 of the bone, towards the same end at which it first 

 came in contact with it. The bone was very thick, and 

 though it had been in the ground seven years, it pre- 

 sented scarcely any signs of decay. It was so com- 

 pletely enveloped in fibres, that no further examina- 

 tion could take place without putting the health of the 

 vine in jeopardy. This vine is also a Black Hamburgh, 

 and for many years past it has annually produced both 

 fruit and current year's bearing-shoots of the very finest 

 description, although the soil in which it grows is far 

 from being a rich one. The fact of the root clinging 

 to the bone, and making a retrograde movement through 

 the hollow part of it, rather than push forward into the 

 soil, is conclusive as to its decided preference of the for- 



