THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 215 



ment and fruitfulness, etc. — James Roberts, Rahy Castle, 

 December 13, 1847." 



" (We cannot find that Mr. Elliott has said one word 

 about Raby in his letter. Had he done so, we should have 

 waited for further information before we inserted it." — Edi- 

 tor's remarks.) — Gardeners'' Chronicle, 1S4:7, page 837. 



" One of the best modern writers on the vine is Mr. 

 Roberts, now gardener to the Duke of Cleveland, at Raby. 

 His Treatise on Vine Culture contains more really good ad- 

 vice, and sensible suggestions as to the way in which this 

 plant should be managed in vineries, than all the English 

 books of routine, which had been previously published, put 

 together. His success as a grape-grower, while gardener 

 to Mr. Matthew Wilson, at Eshton Hall, was a brilliant 

 example of the general soundness of his principles. A 

 large silver medal, which was awarded by the Horticultural 

 Society, to some bunches of grapes, exhibited September 7th, 

 1841, sufficiently attested the advantage of his practice ; 

 nor were they a picked sample, but a fair gathering from the 

 vineries under his care, as we happen to know on the very 

 best authority. 



"It is therefore with no ordinary reluctance that we ven- 

 ture to question a part of the system which Mr. Roberts 

 advocates. We allude to the employment of carrion in his 

 vine borders.* In a letter which we published last week, he 



* The improper use of the word " carrion" by Mr. Roberts has been the cause of 

 this controversy or discussion, so far as the English writers have participated in it. 

 In his rules for making the border, he calls it by this name, when he is giving 

 directions to have the substance procured. In placing it in the border, he adds, 

 " Not bringing it to the surface within one foot, as its assistance is not wanted the 

 first year." Thus it will be seen, that it is not putrefying flesh, carrion, that he gives 

 to the vine as food, but the decomposed matter and the bones, which may be prop- 

 erly termed a manure, composed of loam, or soil, and decayed animals. Another 

 error, I think, of Mr. Roberts, is, his not directing that this flesh of animals be used, 

 when fresh and sweet, and the disagreeable consequences attending the removal of 

 it, as described by him, would be avoided. If it must be collected, before making 

 the border, then let it be done a sufficient length of time, before removal, to insure 

 its decomposition. What that time may be will depend upon the climate and the 

 season of the year. Near the equator, a few weeks vv-ould be ample time for even 

 the bones to decompose. In England, it would probably require the whole summer 



