. Oil a Devonshire Practice in planting Vines, $c. 4-01 



Art. XV. On a Devonshire Practice in ■planting Vines, and 

 on the Use of Salt as a Manure for Arable Lands, and for 

 renovating Grass Lawns. By William Collyns, Esq. 

 Surgeon, Kenton, near Exeter. 



Sir, 



In one of the Numbers of your very useful Magazine, there 

 is a statement from a gardener, of the grapes in the garden he 

 superintended having invariably rotted before they ripened, and 

 of his having remedied this, by taking up the vines, and plant- 

 ing them at a less depth than they were before. Now, in this 

 part of the county of Devon, vines are very commonly trained 

 over the cottages, and they are planted in almost every garden; 

 and it is a common rule with our labourers and gardeners, if 

 the subsoil is not gravel at the depth of a foot or eighteen 

 inches, to fill in the pits where vines are to be planted, to 

 within that distance of the surface, with stones, gravel, broken 

 pottery, &c. in order, as they say, to prevent the roots running 

 too deep, as then the grapes will rot, and seldom ripen; 

 whereas by such management it very rarely happens but that 

 our out-door grapes ripen every season ; and as a proof of its 

 good effect, I have this day, August 1 8th, had gathered from 

 a vine so treated some years ago, a very fine bunch of sweet 

 water grapes, from a south wall, perfectly ripe. 



Your notice respecting the sowing of the Salsola sativa, in 

 Languedoc, is not correct ; the inhabitants do not dread the 

 corrosive powers of salt, but knowing how the soil is impreg- 

 nated therewith, their practice is to sow the salsola with their 

 wheat, that they may be sure of a crop, as, if the wheat fails, 

 the salsola succeeds, and vice versa. You observe, too, from 

 Mr. Bennett's statement to the Bath Society, that salt is not 

 a manure at all, but merely a stimulant. Now I have proved 

 its great value as a manure in arable lands that are light and 

 sandy, and its astonishing power of recovering old pastures, 

 and renovating the greensward in gardens, lawns, and plea- 

 sure-grounds, which I have detailed in a small pamphlet, 

 printed by Mr. Woolmer at Exeter, one of which I will send 

 to you as soon as I get a reprint, the others being all sold. 



It occurs to me, that your notices respecting cottage eco- 

 nomy may be valuably improved, by occasional notices of the 

 medicinal effects of our indigenous plants, as affording cheap 

 and useful remedies ; and if that portion of old woman's know- 

 ledge which I possess can contribute to so useful a purpose, it 

 is at your service. Sir, I am, &c. 



William Collyns. 

 Kenton, August 18. 1826. 



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