526 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 30, 1887. 
system of husbandry well calculated to be of great benefit both to the 
individual and the State; instead of which the Government unquestion¬ 
ably encouraged, by apathetic neglect, a wasteful system of agriculture, 
disastrous alike to the district, to the English and native planters, and 
to the Government of the Presidency itself. 
I can conceive of no more interesting, and perhaps profitable under¬ 
taking, than if the Government of Madras had at the commencement of 
the Coffee industry established an experimental garden in some suitable 
p vrt of the district under the supervision of a competent English 
gar lener capable of conducting experiments with a view to discovering 
the best ami most permanent mode to be adopted in the cultivation of 
the berry, the demonstrating of the advantages of conservation of the 
many natural advantages the district possessed, as well as conducting 
other experiments outside Coffee planting, which would doubtless have 
been of the highest interest both in a horticultural and botanical point 
of view. The opportunity was lost, and in consequence a magnificent 
district of Malabar, rich in splendid soil and numberless .natural pro¬ 
ducts, has been partially if not wholly ruined. It will take many ages 
before the soil can be renewed that has been washed down to the sea in 
thousands of tons, or the forests be renewed on the Ghaut ranges. Vast 
tracts whereon once stood magnificent jungle containing trees of vast 
size and great value, then clothed with fields of beautiful Coffee trees, are 
now only covered with impenetrable thickets of thorny scrub, bearing 
silent testimony to the mistaken and wasteful policy of the Govern¬ 
ment. 
My next paper is the last I shall devote to my remarks on this dis¬ 
trict of Malabar. I left it about the year 1807 to reside on the 
Neilglierry hills, but returning to the Wynaadin 1871 I found matters 
greatly altered. Leaf disease had made its appearance, and was steadily 
pursuing its course of destruction ; but of this 1 shall have more to say 
in my concluding paper on the Wynaad. I will only say here that 1 
have frequently noticed what I used to suppose was a distinct species of 
Coffee, which seemed to escape the leaf disease to a considerable extent. 
Every estate had a small proportion of this sort. It grew more stiff and 
erect than the ordinary type, had much narrower leaves, and flowered 
twice a year, the first time just after the south-west monsoon, and the 
second when rain fell or together with the other kind. The berry was 
more oblong, and the plant seemed to withstand the long drought much 
better than the ordinary kind. The nature of the climate and the 
planter’s duties preclude the possibility of his undertaking experiments 
in the way of hybridising or selection of a nature likely to prove of any 
real utility in the way of producing new varieties likely to prove more 
hardy and better adapted to the climate. It was therefore all the more 
to be regretted that the. Government did not come to his assistance, and 
instead of devoting all their attention in horticultural matters to the 
gardens situated in such delightful climates as Ootacamund and Banga¬ 
lore, they did not divide it between them and such deeply interesting 
and splendid districts as Wynaad and Coorg.— Planter. 
(To be continued.) 
YINES AND BORDERS. 
Soil and climate vary in different latitudes, or in the same parallel 
there is so much diversity of strata and of surface as to necessitate a 
different routine of practice, which has given rise to diversity of opinion 
on the part of cultivators, and caused no little perplexity to beginners in 
Grape cultivation. There is not any questioning of authorities in pro¬ 
pounding opinions which verified by practice run counter to their 
expositions, for the simple reason that good as a certain system mav 
be in a certain locality and generally applicable to most, it docs not 
meet the requirements of cultivators in some, it may be peculiar soils 
and locations, so that much is necessarily left to the judgment of culti¬ 
vators. With all deference therefore to the authorities, I consider much 
must be left to the individual cultivator, as none are so near disaster 
and failure as those who follow authorities with a blind confidence 
without the exercise of judgment in the measure of their application 
to the exigencies of their case. 
The vagaries of Grapes are proverbial. Some varieties do remarkably 
well with a certain cultivator in a particular locality, but he fails to do 
anything with other sorts with which a neighbour may be very successful. 
“ Experientia docet ” has favoured us (page 389) with a remarkable 
article on “ Unorthodox Vine Pruning,” in which he mentions my having 
elaborately reviewed a previous article of his. At the onset your corre¬ 
spondent must understand that in the article on page 173, August 20th, 
1806, he attributed better results in Grape growing to long pruning only, 
and in his second (page 389 of the current volume) he takes the credit 
of a dressing of lime—“ an extraordinary one”—at least 2 inches thick, 
and that “ with the fresh soil and manure dressing on the strip of 
border ” (6 feet) “had a good effect.” This is clenching an argument by 
an argument of another character. They are very different. It was 
long pruning (page 173, August 26th, 1886), now (page 389, May 19th, 
1887), addenda liming and border renovation, which amounts to this, 
that long pruning or extension prompts increased and corresponding 
root-action, liming liberates inert matter or converts it into humus ; it is 
taken up and nitrogenised in the Vine by the increased power of the 
leaves elaboration and assimilation, stouter wood, plumper eyes, and 
more stored-up sap is deposited—the wood in fact is mineralised—giving 
solidity alike by the lime and the increased food supplies resulting from its 
application. Then there is the fuller exposure of the foliage to light and 
air, inasmuch as with extension there are fewer parts—two or more 
shoots are converted or turned into one, so that we get a shoot the 
strength of two or more, and concentrate by the eularged foliage more of 
the assimilated matter in one bud than was effected on the old lines or 
small leaves on four. By “ the fresh soil and manure” we get the good 
effect through encouraging fresh (especially if the dressing extended up 
to the collar of the Vines, as I presume it did) rootlets, and the conse¬ 
quence is that the Vines are to all intents anil purposes in a renovated 
border. Who can wonder that Mr. T. W. Sanders attributed most of the 
rejuvenated condition of the Vines at The Firs to the lime ? “ Expe¬ 
rientia docet ” admits that the lime with the fresh soil and manure 
dressing had a good effect, but he falls a long way short of the fact he 
sou.lit to establish by his first communication. If extension be essential 
how is it that so many Vines bear excellent crops on the restricted 
system ? Our friend’s long pruning owes its potency to the r gard had 
to the roots, but that is foreign to the issue raised by his first communi¬ 
cation. In that it was a question of rejuvenating Vines by means ot 
the foliage alone, there not being in many cases means of access or 
consent to renovating the borders, but he now tells us to “ by all means 
improve the roots of unfruitful Vines whenever that is possible, and 
when active fibres are induced to form freely and abundantly in firm sou 
near the surface of the border the character of the foliage and wood 
will soon be changed,” which is the practice of all successful Grape 
growers from time immemorial ; and is it not that which caused the 
improved condition of the Vines named by your correspondent. 
Rejuvenation surely is not effected by extending the Vines whilst the 
feeders—“ the roots of which are practically beyond control in cold 
wet borders away from the influence of the atmosphere. Will the 
extension cause the Vines to root nearer the surface ? It will cause tliem 
to make longer growth, more foliage, and the buds will correspond ; but 
what of the wood ripening? Are the bunches not loose, bad setters, 
having stoneless berries? Do they not shank? Are the Grapes not 
deficient in colour and finish ? Who would rely on Grapes so grown to 
keep ? It is extension ; then it is getting the roots to the surface, and, 
lastly, avoiding oveicrowding. The fact is, get a proper medium for the 
roots, and good management will be rewarded by abundant crops ot 
useful Grapes. The extension is after all only another name for keeping 
the foliage duly exposed to light and air, so that it can properly assimilate 
the food transmitted to it by the roots. It is thorough solidification ot 
the growth as made—stout (two or more shoots in one, through the 
increased aliment and power of elaboration and assimilation), short- 
joint wood, thick leathery foliage, full well-fed buds that afford the 
most satisfactory crops of Grapes. 
The case of the Vines at The Firs contradicts rather than proves your 
correspondent’s argument of Vines being renovated by extension pure 
and simple. The roots were not beyond the influence of lime and ot 
fresh soil and manure applied to the surface—they were not in any 
sense beyond control. If our friend thinks extension is any remedy for 
Vines that from having the roots beyond control in a border that from 
being cold and wet is unsuited to them as a rooting medium, I may tell 
him that he is mistaken, and that nothing short of fresh soil and manuie 
at the surface so as to encourage fresh roots from the collar will avail 
in rejuvenating the Vines and getting them into a satisfactory fruiting 
condition. The extension I admit will promote root-action, but with¬ 
out the stimulus of fresh soil and manure to the surface it will only 
aggravate the evils of grossness, long-jointed wood, imperfectly deve¬ 
loped buds, unripened wood, a bad setting, loose bunched, mildewed, 
rusted, shanked, bad finished, and unwholesome crop of fruit. If) on 
the other hand, the Vines are weak, the soil not being an unfavourable 
rooting area, then another complexion is given to your correspondent s 
case. The extension and the longer pruning, with the advantages ot 
increased space for the foliage, will effect wonders, making just, all the 
difference between strawy and cane-like wood, between a miserable crop 
of small bunches of priceless fruit and a full and good one of well-finished 
and refreshing Grapes. 
I be ran with the full intention of having something to say about 
lime and other inorganic substances in respect of Vines, but as I have 
gone so far without alluding thereto, it will perhaps be best to reserve 
that for another occasion. In the meantime allow me to inform your 
corresr ondent of the strong impression he has given me of the great im¬ 
portance of surface roots, and of inert matter rendered active by an 
application of lime. The first is highly suggestive, pointing as it does 
to the unimportance of border's being made nearly so deep as they are 
on the orthodox s stem, and of most soils (only secure an ameliorated 
surface with water freed from the subsoil) being capable of Grape pro¬ 
duction.— G. Abbey. 
LEEDS SHOW. 
June 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. 
The annual Exhibition took place on the above dates in spier did weather. 
We are sorry to have to r cord the fact that the effoits of the Committee to 
provide a first-class Show for Leeds and district have not met with the 
support they merited, and it will now be for them to consider whether they 
are justified in carrying on the Show. For years they have struggled man- 
fully against innumerable difficulties, hoping for outside support, and this 
year the Fates seemed likely to favour them. The weather was all that 
could be des : red, a beautifully arranged Show had been brought together, 
and it only needed the presence of the public to ensure a gr at success; but 
once more the hopes of the Committee were doomed to disappointment, as 
the attendance on each of the four days was meagre in the extreme. That 
such a Society as this should collapse would be nothing short of a disgrace 
to the town, and it is to be hoped that the wealthy inhatitants will come 
forward and support the Committre in their praiseworthy efforts to make 
tL e Society a permanent institution. 
