THE GRAPE VINE. 63 



spected an excellent crop of grapes on vines at Dumfries 

 House, in Ayrshire, -which, I was told, can be traced 

 hack one hundred and forty-five years. Such vines are 

 found growing in calcareous and not over-retentive soils, 

 and many of the old vines on the Continent in an argilla- 

 ceous gravelly soil, and some on the mere debris of rocks. 

 While referring to these facts, it is not forgotten that 

 there are other circumstances and important points in 

 cultivation, connected more especially with the early forc- 

 ing of grapes under glass in this country, which are of 

 necessity adverse to the constitution and longevity of 

 the vines. But these references show more forcibly 

 what is invariably observed in practice — viz., that deep, 

 retentive, over-rich moist borders are not those from 

 which vines with good sound constitutions and fine 

 grapes are to be reared for a long series of years. And 

 I would therefore urge on the inexperienced to avoid, on 

 every consideration, the formation of borders of retentive 

 soils with large infusions of manure. It is scarcely 

 necessary now to warn them against carrion-borders. 

 These have, we believe, long ago been abandoned as 

 next to poison for vines. 



The result of rich retentive borders for the first few years, 

 as long as the fibry or organic matter is decomposing, 

 is a strong, rank, long-jointed growth, having a decided 

 tendency to be unfruitful if the season be dull and wet. 

 The bunches most frequently produced from such a 

 growth are long in the stalks — a sort of production be- 

 tween a tendril and a bunch — such as are most frequent- 

 ly attacked with shanking, and at last, when dished, show 

 a disagreeable amount of long weak stalks. The roots 

 formed in such pasty borders never ripen, and die back 

 in winter to the thick inactive roots. 



