October 5, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
816 
CAUSES OF SHANKING IN GRAPES. 
In addition to the various theories propounded by your correspondents 
(page 262) as to the causes of shanking in Grapes, I will venture to add 
another one, and that the application of too much water, especially if 
the Vines should be rooting in a retentive soil. This I proved to my 
own satisfaction some years ago, although it may not concur with the 
experience of those advocates who advise the application of water to 
growing Vines in unlimited quantities at weekly or bi-weekly intervals. 
According to these practitioners it is impossible to overwater Vines, 
irrespective of the size of the border or the nature of the soil they 
are rooting in, and is supposed to be the panacea for recuperating their 
energies if any ill should befall them. There are, however, many cases 
where not nearly sufficient water is given. 
Some time ago I was, like many other gardeners, imbued with the 
idea that there was nothing like plenty of water for Vines if Grapes of 
the highest quality were desired, and of this element the borders had a 
surfeit, and the Vines, too, as I had about as bad an attack of shanking 
to contend with as there could possibly be. Upon examining the border 
it seemed cold and inert, with the ends of the young roots decaying 
away. This was a lesson to me that I shall ever remember. The roots 
were completely paralysed, consequently they were quite unable to 
afford adequate support to the Vines at a critical period. Since that 
time I have always been more sparing in the application of water, never 
applying it until the border was in condition to receive it. When to 
apply water depends upon the size and also formation of the rooting 
medium. 
I do not dispute in the least the causes propounded on the page 
mentioned, as if good Grapes are to be secured all are shoals, of which 
everyone should steer clear. The benefit of a covering of warm leaves 
as explained by Mr. Ward I can fully endorse, as the beneficial 
properties of which for forced Vines I have proved repeatedly. This, 
as many readers are aware, is no new idea, but an old method. There 
is one error, however, that many cultivators who adopt the practice 
often fall into, and this of removing the covering too early. Probably a 
suitable warm covering was placed on the border at the commencement 
of forcing, this period being either December, January, or even well into 
February, and kept up till the weather becomes warmer. At this time 
the covering is removed, and the Grapes are at a critical stage, the 
colouring process only commencing. This sudden removal of the 
material undoubtedly gives the Vines a check, the roots becoming quite 
disorganised, with the result of colouring being arrested and also an 
attack of shanking. This past season, although the weather was fine 
and warm, I did not remove the covering from our early Vine border 
until the Grapes were almost perfectly coloured, and looking back over 
a series of years I never had early Grapes better or more free of 
shanking. The Vines are very old, with rods and spurs of an antiquated 
appearance. Covering with cold manure or exposed to the weather 
after being put on is of little benefit, as if open to rains and snow 
the material soon loses heat and becomes a cold inert mass, making the 
border cold also, consequently it is impossible for the roots to remain 
active. After placing on a layer of leaves the whole should be covered 
with properly constructed boards or sheets of corrugated zinc. 
The benefit which accrues to Vines from lifting the roots out of deep 
and cold borders, and relaying them nearer the surface in suitable 
compost, is only too well known to those gardeners who have adopted 
the practice. It is a never failing remedy of rejuvenating the most 
decrepit of Vines, and where shanking is due, or can be traced to the 
Vines rooting deeply in a cold and inert soil, this process, with other 
cultural details well attended to, will arrest it completely.—A. Young. 
Shanking may be caused by overcropping, neglect in growth, tops 
running wild, and then shortened back wholesale. It is also caused by 
the Vines growing in an imperfect border, combined with bad drainage. 
All Grapes have a tendency to thus shank more or less. Shanking in a 
green state is no doubt caused by defective root-action, the top growth 
being in advance of roots. Possibly it is caused by the loss of fibrous 
roots during the winter. In this case it plainly shows a weakness, and 
can he remedied for the next season by draining and renovating the 
border, top-dressing, and applying less water. 
Whatever may be said to the contrary, I have proved that chemical 
manures are far in advance of that from the farmyard. True, the 
immediate gross growth does not follow the application of chemicals, but, 
on the other hand, we have sounder fruit of higher fiavour, with hard 
close grained wood for our next season’s crop. Vines that are over¬ 
cropped are most liable to shanking, though it may also be caused by 
want of water at the roots in hot dry weather, combined with a low 
temperature at night or early mornings. In Gros Colman it is a shoulder 
that is generally affected. This can be removed without any great detri¬ 
ment to the bunch beyond the actual loss of weight. Black Alicante 
will go at the bottom, the first symptoms being slow colouring. Lady 
Downe’s is often affected on the top where we can least spare berries. 
Cold sour borders will also produce this disease, but growers can by 
careful attention reduce it to a minimum. Some persons profess not to 
have shanking, yet I question if any vinery is faultless for one year. 
Should shanking arise from any accidental cause, as overcropping or 
neglect of attention in the due stopping of the growths in proper season, 
this will not necessarily follow the following year if attended to. If, 
however, the fault be at the roots or border it will be more diflScult 
to cope with. In wet sunless seasons with outside borders shanking 
is generally prevalent. The remedy will be in lifting the Vines or 
protecting the borders. No doubt there is a form of shanking that arises 
from unripened wood of the previous year. Damage to the roots will 
also cause shanking. Some four years since I had several Vines, the 
roots of which were mutilated by moles, the result being red sour berries. 
Now they are not quite perfect, but improve every year.— Stephen 
Castle. 
NEPENTHES MIXTA. 
This Nepenthes, which is depicted in the accompanying illustration 
(fig. 45), is an interesting and highly coloured hybrid, being the result 
FIG. 45.-—nepenthes mixta. 
of a cross between N. Curtisi and N. Northiana. It was raised by Messrs. 
J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, and was exhibited by them at the Drill Hall, 
James Street, S.W., on Tuesday, September 2Gth, when the Floral Com¬ 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society awarded a first-class certificate 
for it. The pitchers are about 9 or 10 inches in length, somewhat 
narrow, of a greenish red heavily blotched with brownish red. The ribs 
which surround the mouth of the pitcher are dark crimson, which 
enhances its appearance. The plant shown on the occasion mentioned 
bore six fine pitchers. 
