HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 15 
base of the stems of this plant — produced, I presume, by the moisture from 
the earth rising in the dead stems by capillary attraction, and then being 
gradually forced out horizontally, through a slit, by the process of freezing." 
The explanation thus suggested, was the one which occurred at the moment ; 
and the correctness of it is left for the decision of those more competent to 
determine. W. D. 
West Chester^ Penna., January 8, 1855. 
THE COVERINa OF EARLY GRAPERY BORDERS. 
As this is a time when the forcing of grapes is commencing, a few words 
with regard to the covering of the outside borders may not be out of place 
in your journal. 
If we refer to those localities or climates where vegetation prospers best, 
and to the most fruitful regions, we shall find that there is no great disparity 
in the average degree of heat, between the . atmosphere and the base in 
which the roots of plants exist ; neither is there any extraordinarily steady 
difference at the various stages of growth, for when the plant is at rest the 
atmosphere, and likewise the soil as a general rule is coldest, and vice versa^ 
consequently there is a reciprocity and an equal action, or equal quiescence 
over all parts. We know likewise from experience, that if the head of any 
plant were exposed to summer heat, and the roots in the cold of an ice 
house, that prosperity could not long continue to exist; in such a case, if it 
were positively seen, we should know the evil results that would follow, and 
alter the circumstances accordingly, yet strange to say, there are some men 
at the present day so strongly attached to planting the grape vine outside 
of the house, and still stranger, the same persons are more particularly so 
when forcing is intended ; such men will argue that in this position, the 
roots more readily progress through the outside borders, and that it is 
indispensably necessary, as they have seen fine grapes grown in this way. 
Such logic only partakes of the principle on which it is advocated, and 
shows its own want of common sense, and will not bear the test of experi- 
enced practical, much less that of physiological reasoning, for, on the 
contrary, we all know the benefit of keeping all parts of other plants in an 
equal temperature, or if there is any improvement to be made, that a gentle 
bottom heat under and amongst the roots, and also about the lower parts of 
