250 THE CULTURE OF THE GKAPE. 



posed animal substances is forbidden.) If such a soil 

 can be found, tlie only preparation requisite before plant- 

 ing the vine, will be, if the situation requires it, some 

 kind of application, such as shells or charcoal screenings, 

 which would have a tendency to loosen and give per- 

 meability thereto, so as to allow the rain to pass freely 

 through the soil, and, at the same time, make it easy for 

 the roots to spread. This is just the soil we are attemj^t- 

 ing to form when we prepare the border, as directed 

 under the proper head. In Massachusetts,- I suppose 

 such a soil will rarely be met with, and a prepared border 

 must be resorted to. 



A benefit to be derived from the top-dressing of stable 

 manure and guano, according to Mr. Hovey, is, that the 

 roots are thus brought to the surface, " rather than that 

 they should go to the bottom after the dead carcasses." 

 These dead carcasses appear to be a great bugbear in our 

 friend's path, and one would suppose, by the dread in 

 which he stands of them, that the bunches of fruit, in- 

 stead of having their usual bloom, would be ornamented 

 with hogs' bristles, horses' hair, dogs' teeth, and other 

 curiosities. How long does he suppose this carcass re- 

 tains any appearance of what it was when placed in the 

 border ? In Massachusetts, and south of this, if placed 

 there during any time but the winter months, in sixty 

 days every vestige of the body will have disappeared, 

 excepting the bones, horns, hoofs, and hair, and will have 

 become incorporated with the soil and enriched it to a 

 great degree. The bones, being at the bottom, will re- 

 main according to their size and age, from one to fifty 

 years, continually and very slowly decomposing. Mr. 



