VINERIES. 



323 



border. The situation of the garden at 

 this particular point is low and damp, 

 and hence the desirableness of protecting 

 the border from the effects of heavy rains, 

 and also the certainty of sufficient mois- 

 ture rising upwards to supply the roots 

 of the vines. We especially mention this, 

 because it is an illustration very much to 

 the point, showing the necessity of prac- 

 tical knowledge : here, owing to the situ- 

 ation of the garden and the vine border, 

 the concrete is most advantageous; — first, 

 by protecting the border, which is natu- 

 rally damp, from heavy rains ; and, 

 secondly, by communicating increased 

 warmth to the border earth, by the 

 smooth hard surface of the concrete 

 absorbing a greater amount of heat from 

 the rays of the sun than the rough and 

 loose surface of a common border would 

 do. Thus, at Trentham, the practice is 

 obviously advantageous, and in very dry 

 situations it might probably be question- 

 able ; hence practical knowledge can 

 alone prove the safe guide in all such 

 matters." 



We have made this long quotation be- 

 cause it entirely coincides with our own 

 views on the subject; and we shall add, 

 as a proof of the theory, the condition of 

 the large vine at Hampton Court, which 

 is in circumstances exactly analagous to 

 those of vines in concreted borders. This 

 celebrated vine has no prepared border, 

 and if the roots penetrate within the 

 house, they are securely covered with a 

 pavement floor ; while, by extending out- 

 wards, they come into immediate contact 

 with the walls of a large drain and the 

 remains of old foundations. When that 

 drain was opened a few years ago, the sides 

 were completely covered with the roots of 

 the vine. The same may be said of vines 

 planted in hothouses whose roots have 

 penetrated under the paved floors of tan- 

 pits, as was the case at one time at Clare- 

 mont ; and the finest Muscat grapes we 

 ever, had were from these. The advo- 

 cates for admitting air to the roots of 

 vines may do so, in the case of concreted 

 borders, by carrying air-drains through 

 them ; and those who will insist on sup- 

 plying the roots with liquid manure, may 

 do so, also, by introducing drain-tiles to 

 act as distributors. But neither of these 

 cases will materially alter the conditions 

 of a concreted border, if the drainage is 



complete beneath. The great merits of 

 these borders in cold damp situations 

 appear to us to come under three heads 

 — namely, the supply of solar heat to the 

 roots, by conduction through the con- 

 crete ; the prevention of cropping, and 

 consequent preservation of the roots ; 

 and the uniformity of temperature and 

 humidity in the border. 



Something of the same kind was done 

 some years ago by Mr Barron at Elvaston 

 Castle, in the case of peach and apricot 

 trees on the open walls. With a view to 

 accelerate the ripening of the fruit by 

 radiation, foot-tiles, 3 or 4 feet in width, 

 were laid along the bottom of the walls; — 

 this had its effect upon the fruit, and no 

 doubt also upon the roots, tending to pro- 

 duce the effect intended. 



As substitutes for concreting vine bor- 

 ders, they might be covered with Bangor 

 slates, say 2 feet by 3 ; or with slabs of 

 coarse glass, half an inch thick, laid on a 

 bed of finely-sifted coal-ashes or sand. 

 Both are great conductors of heat, and, 

 if laid in an imbricated manner, would 

 throw off the rain completely. They 

 need not be jointed at the edges, so that 

 they might be taken up and relaid when- 

 ever it was found necessary. In Scot- 

 land, where the slates, although of much 

 less size, are much stronger, and admit of 

 being walked over, vine borders might 

 be covered with them, laying them down 

 as on a common roof, and, if deemed 

 necessary, pegging them to the border 

 with wooden pegs. Plain tiles might 

 also be used ; and thin plates of cast-iron 

 may yet be found an excellent substitute. 

 But the best of all protections to vine 

 borders would be a roofing of glass, slates, 

 or tiles, laid on rafters a few inches clear 

 of the surface of the border. 



The aeration of vineries has now as- 

 sumed a very tangible form ; and there- 

 fore we find the most intelligent and 

 enterprising cultivators adopting the 

 system, and with the most satisfactory 

 results. Amongst the various modes by 

 which this subterranean ventilation has 

 been effected, we may notice that adopted 

 by Mr Spencer, the very intelligent 

 director of the gardens at Bowood, Wilt- 

 shire, and communicated by him to the 

 Council of the London Horticultural 

 Society. "By a reference to the plan, 

 fig. 435, it will be seen that the house in 



