CHAPTER [V. 
BORDERS OR PREPARED BEDS. 
Tue formation of beds, or more technically borders, in 
which to grow the grape vine is of great importance, per- 
haps more so than any other portion of the whole routine 
of culture, for without a proper matrix in which the roots 
may luxuriate, it is impossible to succe 
The more important any branch of horticulture is, often 
the greater the number of opinions respecting it. This is 
strictly true, in the present instance. Some have advo- 
eated the admixture of great quantities of raw animal car- 
casses, in such quantities, and large masses, that one would 
think, if their reasoning were true, that a recently filled 
cholera burial-ground, would be the best place on which ~ 
to erect a grapery, or plant a vineyard. Others again 
have yecnanpeuiiell large doses of blood, and the stink- 
ing offal of slaughter-houses, in so fresh a state that the 
very idea is enough to nauseate the strongest stomach, 
and forbid the cultivation of this luscious fruit. Fortu- 
