THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 105 



medium than the branches, the supply of sap is consum- 

 ed quicker than the roots can furnish it, and this brings 

 on the disease. Dr. Lindley, every one must allow, is 

 very high authority ; Still I doubt this being the cause of 

 the blacking of the footstalks, which is the disease that I 

 particularly wish to refer to. I have the management ot 

 three houses in which grapes are grown. One, I begin 

 forcing the first of January, one, the first of February, 

 and one, the first of March. The first house ripens its 

 fruit in May, the second in June, and the third in July. 

 In the first and second, there shall be no shrivelled ber- 

 ries, in the third, if the weather is cloudy, there shall be 

 a great many. The covering is taken off the borders 

 about the beginning of April, and, if the coldness of the 

 borders was the cause, I should suppose that those which 

 ripened in May and June would be more subject to the 

 disease than the July one, for the earth undoubtedly 

 gets warmer as the summer advances. I havejjeen a 

 grape-grower for more than twenty years, and, during 

 that time, the disease has particularly engaged my at- 

 tention, as I have always been more or less subject to it, 

 and I am fully convinced that it is caused by the borders 

 being m^ade too rich and stimulating, and by a deficiency 

 of light. My borders are all prepared in the same way, 

 and of the richest materials, and the one that I com- 

 mence forcing in March produces foliage of the most 

 luxuriant description ; those large leaves require more 

 light to elaborate the sap than smaller ones, and, if light 

 is deficient, the sap is not properly prepared for the 

 healthy nourishment of the fruit, and this brings on the 

 disease. I have known vineries where borders have 



