THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 261 



soundness of his principles. A large silver medal, which 

 was awarded by the Horticultural Society, to some 

 bunches of grapes, exhibited September 7th, ISil, suffi- 

 ciently attested the advantage of his practice ; nor were 

 they a picked sample, but a fair gathering from the 

 vineries under his care, as we happen to know on the 

 very best authority. 



" It is therefore with no ordinary reluctance that we 

 ventTire to question a part of the system which Mr. Eob- 

 erts advocates. "We allude to the employment of carrion 

 in' his vine borders.* In a letter which we published 



* The improper use of the word "carrion" by Mr. Roberts has beea the 

 cause of this controversy or discussion, so far as the Bnglisli writers have 

 participated in it. In his rules for making the border, he calls it by this 

 name, when he is giving directions to have the substance procured. In 

 placing it in the border, he adds, " iSTot bringing it to the surface within 

 one foot, as its assistance is not wanted the first year." Thus it will be 

 seen, that it is not putrefying flesh, carrion, that he gives to the vine as 

 food, but the decomposed matter and the bones, which may be properly 

 termed a manure, composed of loam, or soil, and decayed animals. An- 

 other error, I think, of Mr. Roberts, is, his not directing that this flesh of 

 animals be used when iresh and sweet, and the disagreeable consequences 

 attending the removal of it, as described by him, would be avoided. If it 

 must be collected, before making the border, then let it be done a sufficient 

 length of time before removal, to insure its decomposition. What that time 

 may be will depend upon the climate and the season of the year. Near 

 the equator, a few weeks would be ample time for even the bonea to de- 

 compose. In England, it would probably require the whole summer for 

 the flesh and sinews to dissolve. At my garden in Salem, Massachusetts, 

 a very fat hog, that had died from excessive heat, in August, was placed 

 just under the ground, and covered with the soil, with the intention of re- 

 moving and scattering the remains on the border in the fall. In sixty or 

 seventy days, the place was opened, and not a bone even could be discov- 

 ered. The only vestige of animal remains that could have been part of tho 

 creature were some teeth, aud they may have been in the soil before. The 

 rapid decay in this case, no doubt, was owing to the excessively fat condi- 

 tion and age of the hog, which was only six or eight months. 



