174 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDEXIXa. 



have a sharp slope to the front, and six-inch di-ain- 

 pipes should be placed upon it in rows, three feet 

 apart, running from the interior to the front, before 

 the drainage is introduced. 



Heated Borders. — Some years ago, heated 

 borders were brought under the notice of grape- 

 growers, and much discussion followed. But it is 

 questionable if any one, save the raisers of young 

 "S'ines for sale, derived any benefit from the system. 

 The usual mode of heating is to place hot-water 

 pipes, either in tanks or rubble, and form the 

 borders over them in precisely the same way as is 

 usually adopted for Pines. ^Tien the pipes are 

 placed in tanks, the soil is liable to become soui' and 

 pasty and unfavourable to healthy root-action. In 

 rubble, the bottom of the border is apt to become too 

 dry ; the roots suffer from the opposite extreme ; red 

 spider follows, and the expense of putting in the pipes 

 ends in disappointment and failui-e. Before the system 

 of bottling late grapes came into general use, some kind 

 of bottom heat was considered necessary for starting 

 early houses in Xovember ; but with grape-rooms, in 

 which the fruit can be kept fresh and plimip until 

 May, the system, which was little better than a trap 

 for the unwary, has now passed away In the few 

 places where early forcing is still practised, aerated 

 borders are much more satisfactory, as war-:nth, 

 ammonia, and moistui'e can be forced into the 

 drainage in sufiicient quantity to excite the roots 

 in the compost immediately above it. As the borders 

 for early work should always be internal, a series of 

 drain-pipes, running quite through the drainage from 

 back to front, and opening into areas wide enough for 

 the reception of fermenting material, consisting of 

 horse-litter and leaves, will do good ser^'ice, as soon 

 as the buds on the Aines begin to swell. If applied 

 earlier, the new roots are formed out of the stored- 

 up sap, which should force the buds into actiA-ity. 

 Independently of the benefit which may be derived 

 from the warmth and ammonia, so complete a 

 system of root-ventilation is always advantageous, 

 particularly in low, cold, damp situations. 



Water. — "SVith all the other elements entirely 

 under his control, the grape-grower would not be 

 able to move one single step forward without an 

 abundant supply of water ; and yet how often do we 

 see the greater part of the rainfall running away 

 into the drains, or the provision for its retention so 

 sparingly made, as to leave the puny tanks in a jet 

 of houses quite empty a few days after the rain 

 ceases to fall 1 As special attention will be drawn to 

 this important element in the papers upon Pines, it 

 is not necessary to do more than refer the reader to 

 those pages, and to say that the supply in the vinery is 



quite as imperative as it is in the pinery. Indeed, 

 it is not an exaggerated assertion to say more vines 

 are ruined through the want of water than from 

 any other cause. Independently of the requirements 

 of the roots, the daily syringing and damping must 

 be carried out on a liberal scale; and as there is 

 nothing to equal good rain-water, copious tanks 

 should be provided for its preservation, if possible in 

 elevated positions, for supplying minor tanks in the 

 houses, and for use with the hose. Although many 

 growers never think of giving artificial wa' erings to 

 external borders, there can be no doubt that an 

 occasional deluge, dm-ing the growing season, would 

 greatly benefit the vines, at times when the strain 

 upon them is more than the roots can sustain. But 

 it is to internal borders that the greatest quantity 

 should be given, not in driblets, but in quantities 

 that wiU amount to something like a rainfall of 

 thii'ty-six inches in the course of the growing 

 season. 



As no rule can be laid down for watering an 

 internal border, the amateur will do well to saturate 

 every particle of the soil before the vines are started, 

 and to repeat the operation at short intervals from 

 the time the leaves unfold until the fruit is nearly 

 ripe. After that stage is reached less water will be 

 needed ; but the borders shovdd never be allowed 

 to become diy. After the last heavy watering, the 

 surface of the border should be well mulched to 

 keep in moisture until after the fruit is cut. 



Covering Vine Borders. — Of aU the opera- 

 tions in grape-culture, the covering of vine borders 

 has been more fi'equently discussed and abused than 

 all others put together ; some maintaining that it is 

 positively injurious, while others as strongly assert 

 that it is absolutely necessary. "With powerful argu- 

 ments for and against it fresh in their memory, the 

 majority of good gi-ape-growers, very wisely guided 

 by their own experience, have arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that it is in the abuse, and not in the use, of fer- 

 menting material that many have gone wrong. "Uliere 

 A-ines haA-ing the run of internal and external borders 

 are expected to produce ripe gi'apes in May, a good 

 covering of fermenting oak-leaves, at all times pre- 

 ferable to manure, is undoubtedly of great service 

 This win not only protect the surface roots from the 

 chilling effects of cold, rain, and snow through the 

 dead months of December and January, but will also 

 keep up a degree of warmth when the A-ines requii-e 

 all the assistance which nature supplies to them in 

 A-ine-gi'owing countries, where the heat of the soil 

 never descends below temperate. But instead of ap- 

 plying the fermenting leaves at the time the house 

 is closed, many prefer covering with bracken early in 

 the autumn, to keep in latent heat, and putting on the 



