212 



GRAPE. 



high health in the following year. It is also well 

 known, that the roots of the vine, in order to have 

 healthy moderate-sized shoots and high-flavoured 

 fruit, require a horizontal range more or less exten- 

 sive ; deriving, it seems, much benefit from the in- 

 fluence of the air and heat of the sun when near the 

 surface. 



If these observations are facts, it is matter of 

 wonder to see what some authors have advised re- 

 specting the formation of vine borders. Vast accu- 

 mulations of the richest soils and manures are mixed 

 together, as if for the gross-feeding drum-head cab- 

 bage, rather than for the delicate-feeding and abste- 

 mious grape vine; which, in its native habitation, 

 is content to climb upon and subsist by what it can 

 draw from the interstices of the naked rock. 



Many mistakes having been made, and many erro- 

 neous ideas having been circulated, respecting the 

 formation of vine borders, it is highly necessary, in 

 this place, for the author to declare what his own 

 conclusions are on the subject. 



In the first place, it is absolutely necessary that 

 the bottom of a vine border be dry, and, if possible, 

 hard as well as dry. If the subsoil be clayey, it 

 should not be dug into to give depth, because such 

 excavation is apt to become a receptacle for water, 

 unless this be prevented by efficient drainage. If a 

 vine border must needs be made on such a subsoil, 

 it is better to raise the border by bringing upon it 

 an additional quantity of proper soil, than gaining 

 depth by breaking into the natural subsoil, where 



