THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 237 



and fruit ; but, he adds, the effects are deceptive ; for, after 

 a time, the manure Avill cease to act, and the vine will languish. 

 But is not this failure caused bj neglecting to renew the ma- 

 nure ? Plant a vine in a new soil, a good loam for instance, 

 it will grow well, and bear fruit for some years, but soon (as 

 Chaptal says of the manured vine,) it will cease to bear fruit, 

 or only in a diminished degree. Renew this soil by adding 

 to it more loam or manure, either as a solid or liquid, and it 

 will regain its former vigor. The soil must be strengthened 

 by yearly application of suitable matter. That harm is done 

 by improper manuring, I have no doubt. If vines, when 

 young, are too highly manured, and this stimulant is not con- 

 stantly kept up, they will fail to do well ; and this is what I 

 should most fear from Mr. Roberts's system ; not from the 

 bodies of animals deposited in the border, but from the ma- 

 nure placed on the surface, to produce heat. 



Dr. Lindley, if I understand his language, does not dis- 

 courage the use of the articles named by Mr. Hovey, with 

 "the exception of carrion, and this only, as such, and not to 

 the use of it, as I have recommended, in the formation of the 

 border. In the last article written by him, on the subject, he 

 says, " we readily admit, that, after a time, the dead horses, 

 in the vine borders, at Eshton, ceasing to be dangerous, will 

 become a potent and harmless manure." By the authorities 

 quoted, and the approval of other systems of border compost, 

 which contain manures in large quantities in them, I appre- 

 hend that Dr. Lindley, and other experienced cultivators, in 

 Europe, do not differ widely from me, in the opinion I have 

 formed, and in the practice which I have carried out and rec- 

 ommended to the public. 



It must be apparent to a thoughtful reader, that, when I 

 propose a substitute, to take the place of a soil so unsuitable, 

 as to require removal from the place where the border is to 

 be situated, that the compost named for the purpose, must 

 be, in my opinion, in every respect, suited for the welfare of 

 the vines. Mr. Hovey, in his sweeping remarks, relative to 



