September 28, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
293 
cowshed from the first week in May until the Grapes began colouring, 
could not have other than a good effect, especially as the season of 1893 
has been the hottest and driest on record. Your correspondent was singu¬ 
larly fortunate in having such an abundant supply of cowshed drainings 
at a time when most cows were at grass and the tanks empty. The applica¬ 
tions appear to have suited the Vines admirably under the conditions 
prevailing in 1893—a broiling sun, a parched soil, and an arid atmo¬ 
sphere ; for the result was “ A magnificent crop of good bunches 
with medium sized berries (no puny stoneless ones), excellent in flavour, 
but as might be expected, deficient in colour.” 
“Poverty,” says Mr. Richardson, “is the cause of shanking in 
Grapes.’' Mr. Barron in “ Vines and Vine Culture,” gives overcropping 
as the “ cause of shanking to a very serious extent,” and Mr. Richardson’s 
Grapes were so plentiful that they were deficient in colour. With the 
Grapes unthinned there is more danger of poverty than when they are 
thinned. Of course Mr. Richardson means poverty of soil, but 
Mr. Barron includes “ rich materials ” as one of the causes of shanking. 
Though a believer in “ muck,” I am sorry to say that where it is most 
used shanking is most rampant, and Mr. Richarson’s experiment only 
proves the importance of feeding the Vines when the greatest strain is 
put upon them by the crops. 
As to the cause of shanking I must say that it has so far baffled both 
cultivators and scientists. The alleged causes are as opposed to each 
other as the poles of the earth, that is, shanking occurs in Grapes under 
conditions diametrically opposite to the assumed cause. Let us notice a 
few of them. 
Overcropping the I ines. —Mr. Richardson has shown that Vines with 
the Grapes unthinned, and a crop so heavy as not to colour well, 
there was less shanking than when the berries were thinned, and the 
seeds much less in number. In a vinery where the Vines are seen 
carrying a crop of Black Hamburgh Grapes an black as jet, and a weight 
of fruit equal to 1 lb. per foot run of rod, scarcely a shanked berry is to 
be found, but in one adjoining, and with the Vines carrying a bunch of 
Grapes here and there, not only small branchlets, but whole shoulders, 
and in some cases whole bunches have to be cut away because the 
Grapes are shanked. 
WeaJinees .—This must be distinguished from poorness of soil, for 
Vines against houses, and with the bunches unthinned, like Mr. 
Richardson’s, often produce enormous crops of Currant-like unshanked 
Grapes, and this is allowed to go on until the Vines become so exhausted 
as to yield nothing but leaves and tendrils. Such Vines with the shoots 
properly thinned and pruned, also fed at the roots with house slops, 
would bear excellent fruit if the bunches and berries were duly thinned. 
But this is not the weakness alluded to as conducive of shanking, for 
what is meant is a puny condition of the Vines resulting from early 
forcing or heavy cropping in consecutive years, even where the borders 
are rich, yet we have growths tendril like and small bunches with a 
large percentage of shanked berries. Border renovation, a year’s restand 
freer growth will generally insure better crops. But the opposite of 
weakness—that is, grossness, or Vines with soft long-jointed shoots, 
leaves like Rhubarb, and lank loose bunches, is also given as one of the 
causes of shanked berries, and the remedy propounded is border renova¬ 
tion, 
^Restriction. —Too close stopping or poverty of foliage and conse- 
quentry indiffereot root action is presumed to favour the dwindling of the 
bunches and cause the berries to shank. The remedy for this is alleged 
to consist in allowing the Vines to make more growth and to prune less 
closely. Vines, however, on the extension system often go wrong—that 
is, they produce Grapes that shank in some cases to the extent of one- 
third of the crop. The preventive for shanking in this case is assumed 
to be found in pinching. This shows the falsity of extremes. 
Checks to Groioth. —One of these, prejudged to promote shanking, 
is to remove a large quantity of foliage at a time and at distant intervals. 
This, of course, is a bad practice ; but the fact remains that at the oppo¬ 
site pole is seen Vines that have never had removed from them more 
growths than can be carried away at one time from a large vinery in the 
attendant’s apron, with a number of red sour berries in the otherwise 
well finished bunches when the Grapes are ripe. It is difficult to under¬ 
stand why outdoor Vines with the shoots cut back considerably just 
before the Grapes commence ripening have few shanked berries, while 
Vines so treated under glass have a large number of shanked Grapes. 
Chills. —Allowing the temperature to rise considerably in a vinery 
and then admit air so as to reduce it several degrees is said to produce 
rust on tender Grapes and shanking when they ought to ripen. The 
other side of the question is, that however careful the cultivator may be 
about ventilation, the Grapes often shank badly. 
Itich Borders. —When the carcases of animals were buried in Vine 
borders the Grapes were said to have been wonderfully fine in some 
cases and in others that the Vines absolutely refused to grow. About 
shanking under such conditions the records are mute, and I have no 
experience. Nevertheless rich borders are alleged to induce shanking in 
Grapes, but there is a difference as regards richness in Vine borders. 
Some are composed of material which settles into a close soapy mass, 
and the Grapes produced by the Vines planted therein sometimes shank 
in the stems of the bunches. Others are formed of rich material, with 
enough gritty and calcareous substances to render them porous and 
sweet, yet the Grapes borne by healthy Vines growing in them are 
shanked more or less. Mr. Richardson tells us that the cause of shank¬ 
ing is poverty of soil. Grapes certainly shank when the Vines are 
grown in poor soil, perhaps one berry in a thousand as compared with 
those growing in rich soil. 
Excessive Dryness at the Roots. —Mr. Barron gives this as paralysing 
to the young roots and a cause of shanking, for deluging with water 
afterwards destroys the roots. I presume every gardener has a copy'of 
Vines and Vine Culture, if not, he ought to procure one, for the 
illustrations of the Grapts—almost every variety—certainly all worth 
growing, with the descriptions, are worth double the money (Ss.). But 
the fact remains that Vines receiving 72 inches of water or equal to that 
of rainfall, have the berries shanked ten times worse than those of Vines 
growing in a gravelly soil receiving only 24 inches of rain direct from 
the clouds. 
Sodden and Sour Snl. —Whether the Vines are in pots or planted in 
borders this condition at the roots results in shanking in the Grapes. 
There is no question about that, nor is there any of Grapes also shanking 
when the roots of the Vines are in the most favourable circumstances as 
regards soil sanitation. It is a matter of degree, for it is not difficult to 
find shanked berries in the best examples of certain varieties, to wit 
Frontignans, Black Muscat, Muscat of Alexandria, and even in Black 
Hamburgh. 
Cold Borders. —Forty years ago there were ten outside Vice borders 
to one even partly within the houses. There was no more shanking in 
those days than at the present time. Mr. Barron mentions cold sub¬ 
soils, of course, with the roots in them, as a source of shanking, and it is 
quite true, nevertheless he recommends outside borders (and I agree 
with him) for summer Grapes; but I have seen Grapes ripe in March 
on Vines over Pines with the roots entirely in an outside border, and 
covered with a coating of the soapiest manure. It would have delighted 
Mr. Richardson to have seen it, for there were only “ a few shanked 
berries here and there.” That is one side of the picture, the other is 
Muscat of Alexandria Grapes shanking badly when the roots of the 
Vines are confined to inside borders. Mr. Richardson has only a few 
shanked berries and no puny stoneless ones with the roots of the Vines 
partly in and partly outside the house. The case is a hopeless one— 
Grapes will shank. 
Bad Management. —This includes errors in ventilation, syringing, 
watering, temperature, disbudding, stopping, thinning, cropping, feeding, 
and general routine, one and all of which may culminate in shanking. 
Unfortunately Grapes shank under the best treatment. 
Fungal and Insect Attacks. —Mildew infesting the growths and 
berries, and the destruction of the foliage by red spider, also scale and 
mealy bug, are said to induce shanking in Grapes. They may ; the 
facts are as positive in the opposite direction, for I have seen outdoor 
Grapes white with mildew in June with Grapes as black as jet and 
covered with a blue bloom in September, except where rusted by the 
sulphur in destroying the mildew. A similar thing occurred in a 
house, the Grapes ripening but much rusted. There was nothing 
remarkable in either case as regards shanking. Grapes may ripen off 
red, and even shrivel when red spider has exhausted the foliage; even 
scorched Vines shank less, if anything, than Vines do in some cases with 
flimsy foliage, and scale and mealy bug in no way contribute to shanking. 
I have seen whole houses of Grapes, every bunch of which had to be 
syringed before sending the Grapes to table ; but the scissors had not to 
be employed to cut out red, sour, shanked berries. 
Outdoor Grapes. —These are found to shank less than the same 
varieties indoors ; yet shanked berries are found both on thinned and 
unthinned bunches, on heavily cropped Vines and on those carrying 
only a few bunches. It is hardly necessary to say that shanked Grapes 
are common on Vines under glass. 
Time. —Shanking is generally confined to the period when the Grapes 
begin changing colour. Sometimes it is only a berry or two, in extreme 
cases it is a whole bunch ; generally one or more of the branchlets or 
shoulders, or parts of them that shank. One Vine has few, its neighbour 
of the same variety has many shanked berries ; some are red and sour, 
others are black and not ill-flavoured. It is similar with white Grapes. 
Some of the shanked berries shrivel, remain green, and are ill-favoured, 
while some retain their plumpness, attain a high colour, and are 
exquisitely flavoured, as found on some bunches of Muscat of Alexandria 
before me. It is not a question as to when the shanking occurs, for it 
does so both before and after the Grapes are ripe, also after they have 
been cut, bottled, and placed in the Grape room. 
Thirteen causes of shanking have been given, and still the real cause 
of the evil is as great a mystery as ever. All I know about shanking is 
that, like every other disease, it is induced by certain favouring climatic, 
sanitary, and cultural conditions. This being so, it follows that it is to 
a great extent prcventible by careful cultivation. Some varieties being 
more subject to it than others may be rejected, as is recommended in 
the case of Apples and Pears to avoid canker ; but this is an admission 
of being dead beat, and is analogous to killing a whole herd of cattle 
because one or two are afflicted with anthrax. Who can dispense with 
Black Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria ? Both are at the head of 
their classes in quality and in liability to shanking, but they have been 
to a great extent superseded by the thick-skinned varieties, less subject 
to the evil. Still the varieties first named are grown in proper structures, 
well provided with means for ventilation and heating, well constructed 
borders of sound material, and good cultivation all round, without many 
shanked berrie s. 
Notwithstanding all that has been advanced in support of shanking 
being a constitutional and heredital disease, the fact remains that it is 
of an organic nature, and as such has its rise in the morbidity of the 
subject. That, however, cannot give rise to any living organism ; it is 
caused by and owes its origin to a micro-organism, which, like all life, 
is dependent for its existence on a parental germ.—G. Abbey. 
