THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 253 



guano, bone-dust, or the cai'casses of animals, perfectly 

 decomposed, (I do not care ■which, the effect, in either 

 case, will be the same,) be continued from year to year, 

 I see no reason why they should not continue to prosper. 

 The border can, at any time, be made wider, if necessary. 

 If these applications are omitted, I have no doubt that, 

 in a few years, the fruit would deteriorate. In the bor- 

 der prepared with the materials of oyster shells, bones, 

 dead horses, cattle, and slaughter-house manure, as de- 

 tailed in iny plan, the vines, if well treated in the gra- 

 pery, would continue to fruit well for fifty years or more, 

 without the application of guano, etc., or liquid manure, 

 the application of which is quite as offensive as any of 

 the prohibited articles ; and guano, if dissolved in water, 

 and suffered to remain exposed to the heat and san in 

 the grapery, is more so than any substance I have recom- 

 nlended, proving that it contains all these disagreeable 

 materials, if you choose to bring them into action, and 

 select that time to apply them to the border. Any one 

 may satisfy himself of the truth of this assertion, by 

 taking a few ounces of the guano and mixing it with a 

 quart of water and exposing it as above named. If this 

 is the case, all the bad effect of strong manures upon the 

 flavor of the fruit must follow the use of this substance 

 as well as of the before-named. That it does have this 

 effect, I do not believe. Before these substances will be 

 used to nourish the vine, they must be chemically 

 changed ; before this is done, they are a poison ; and, if 

 in sufficient quantity, v/ill destroy life in the roots which 

 are exposed to them. It may be said that guano is al- 

 ready changed ; that it has laid exposed for years to the 



