32 THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



feet deep ; if bones, or tlie carcasses of animals can be had, 

 cover the bottom well with them ; if these are not readily 

 procured, slaughter-house manure may be substituted ;* mark 

 off ten feet more of the border, and cover this manure with 

 part of the soil from it ; upon this, put an inch or two of 

 oyster shells, or old lime rubbish, mixed with broken bricks ; 

 over this, put some soil from the border ; then a good cover- 

 ing of cow manure ; upon this, a slight covering of loam 

 again, followed with a good portion of oyster shells, or the 

 substitute ; and over this, a thick covering of stable manure, 

 well rotted ; finish with a covering of the loam.f The Avhole 

 length is to be made m this manner, in alternate spaces of ten 

 feet each trenching. After it is finished, the border should 

 be three feet six inches deep ; it will settle to less than three 

 feet in a few months ; any soil left, after it is finished, can be 

 carried off. J 



* See Manures. 



t Drain for the Border. — If drains are necessary, they should be made after this 

 plan : the main one to be of brick, extending the whole length of, and on the outside 

 of the border, the bottom of this being covered with stones not less than one foot 

 deep. On these, every six feet, should be smaller drains of brick, tile, or stone, 

 leading to tlie main one, and this can be carried to any convenient point. I have 

 never found it necessary to form these under any border, stones at the bottom an- 

 swering every purpose. Verj' few situations can require them in this countrj'. 



Dr. Lindley is of opinion, that, in the draining of the border, the improvement is 

 more by the admission of air and heat than by the removal of water. — Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, 1847, p. 651. 



X The above is the method by which I have twelve thousand square feet of border 

 prepared. 



After throwing out the soil, the materials are placed in the border, and following 

 each other in these proportions : First, nine inches of the strong slaughter-house ma- 

 nure, (or the carcasses of animals, or bones, etc..) four inches of soil, two inches of 

 shells, four inches of soil, six inches of cow manure, four inches of soil, three inches 

 of shells, four or five inches of stable manure, and six inches of soil. 



These articles were thrown as roughly as possible into place, and not levelled ; 

 the first manure, for instance, in some places, would be only six inches deep, and in 

 others, ten or twelve, or more, just as it would happen to fall from the shovel, the 

 above measurements being near what they would have been, if on a level. Avoid- 

 ing, as much as possible, the forming of layers, which, at first sight, would seem to 

 be the case, but the juices of the strong manures would be all imbibed by the soil 

 placed amongst them, and rendered rich accordingly. 



In the strong manure, at the bottom of the border, no care was taken to have tiie 



