THE DISEASES VINES ARE SUBJECT TO. 51 



it arrests the transformation at once, and the berry re- 

 mains perfectly acid, and becomes shrivelled in a short 

 time. All that the eye can detect in the case is, the 

 decay of the little stem or shank of the berry ; and what 

 appears strange, it more frequently attacks grapes that 

 are not forced early than those that are. Many able 

 physiologists have attempted to explain its cause and 

 cure, though as yet with but little success; and it is 

 with diffidence that I enter on a path that has been trod 

 by such men. I will attempt to point out, first, what 

 I think its principal cause; I say principal, because I 

 consider that there may be several concurrent causes 

 aiding the chief one, such as over-cropping, destruction 

 of the foliage by red spider, or any other cause ; and 

 in the second place, to point out what I think the most 

 likely remedy. 



I will describe the circumstances under which 

 shanking is most generally met with. The most 

 frequent of these is when the roots of the vines have 

 descended into a cold wet subsoil ; but it is also 

 met with where the roots are not down in the sub- 

 soil, but where they are growing vigorously, towards 

 autumn especially, in a rich and what many would 

 term well-made border, where they receive plenty of 

 liquid manure, where the foliage in the house is fine, 

 the wood strong, and the young roots, if sought for, 

 will- be found pushing along in the rich earth in 

 September, like the points of a goose-quill. I have 

 known the appearances I have now described to be 

 all present where the border was paved under the roots 

 with stone pavement, yet there was scarcely a bunch of 

 grapes in the house that had a dozen unshanked berries 



