THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 209 



a fine house and undoubtedly judiciously treated ; and, if the 

 plan of adding strong stimulating manures, such as guano, 

 bone-dust, or the carcasses of animals, perfectly decomposed, 

 (I do not care which, the effect, in either case, will be the 

 same,) be continued from year to year, I see no reason why 

 they should not continue to prosper. The border can, at any 

 time, be made wider, if necessary. If these applications are 

 omitted, I have no doubt that, in a few years, the fruit would 

 deteriorate. In the border prepared with the materials of 

 oyster shells, bones, dead horses, cattle, and slaughter-house 

 manure, as detailed in my plan, the vines, if well treated in 

 the grapery, would continue to fruit well for fifty years or 

 more-, without the application of guano, etc., or liquid ma- 

 nure, the application of which is quite as ofiensive as any of 

 the prohibited articles ; and guano, if dissolved in water, and 

 suffered to remain exposed to the heat and sun in the grapery, 

 is more so than any substance I have recommended, proving 

 that it contains all these disagreeable materials, if you choose 

 to bring them into action, and select that time to apply them 

 to the border. Any one may satisfy himself of the truth of 

 this assertion, by taking a few ounces of the guano and mix- 

 ing it with a quart of water and exposing it as above named. 

 If this is the case, all the bad effect of strong manures upon 

 the flavor of the fruit must follow the use of this substance 

 as well as of the before-named. That it does have this effect, 

 I do not beheve. Before these substances will be used to 

 nourish the vine, they must be chemically changed ; before 

 this is done, they are a poison ; and, if in sufficient quantity, 

 will destroy life in the roots which are exposed to them. It 

 may be said that guano is already changed ; that it has laid 

 exposed for years to the weather. It is not so changed but 

 that it may be still more so, and it is yet capable of ferment- 

 ing and heating. It is not unusual to find parts of, and even 

 whole, birds, more or less decomposed in it. 



It is no objection to the use of any substance, as a manure, 

 that there is a certain time or stage in its decomposition 

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