6 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[January, 
never colour or ripen, but they become intensely sour, and they soon decay and 
require to be cut out. In many cases, all that the eye can detect is a minute 
black speck, or a ring round the stem or stalk of the berry. In other cases, the 
whole stem is quite blackened. It may be noted that shanking is far more 
prevalent amongst late grapes than amongst early forced ones ; and again, that 
it is but seldom seen amongst out-door grapes; while some varieties—those of 
the Frontignan class, to wit—are far more subject to shanking than others, such 
as the Eoyal Muscadine. 
As to the causes of “ shanking,” many and varied opinions have been given. 
It is not so much, we believe, the result of any one special cause, as of a variety 
of concurrent causes. In a broad or general sense, shanking seems to be the 
result of some overstrain, some bad condition or injury, to the feeding or respira¬ 
tory organs of the vine. Either the foliage has been in some way injured, 
or prevented from performing its proper functions ; or the roots have got into bad 
condition, and cannot perform theirs ; or, it may be, a combination of both these 
causes may exist. As to the immediate or leading causes of shanking, we shall 
briefly call attention to some of the principal:— 
1. Overcropping.—The crop of fruit must be regulated according to the 
strength of the plant, and this may nearly be estimated by the amount of properly 
developed leaves ; so that an over-crop of fruit is just tantamount to a scarcity of 
leaves, an overstraining of the power of the plant, and the result is shanking to 
a very serious extent. 
2. The destruction of the foliage by red-spider, burning, or other causes, 
which, again, is equivalent to a scarcity of leaves. 
3. A stripping-off a great quantity of fully developed leaves at one time, as 
is frequently done by those who neglect timely stopping, which interference with 
the foliage affects in a corresponding degree the action of the roots, and so on. 
4. The roots getting into a cold subsoil, or the border becoming sour and 
soddened, whereby the young spongioles of the roots are destroyed. 
5. Borders composed of too rich materials, containing too much organic 
matter, in consequence of which the vines may grow with great luxuriance, but 
seldom ripen the wood well. The roots formed, although plentiful, are very soft 
and spongy ; they do not acquire firmness, but rot and decay during the winter 
season, and consequently the next season a fresh supply of rootlets has to be pro¬ 
duced ; then, when the strain upon the energies of the vine by the advancing 
fruit crop takes place, the roots are not in a proper condition to meet it, and as 
a result shanking begins. This late production of roots, their decay in winter, 
and the subsequent shanking, may go on year after year. 
C). Excessive dryness at the roots, such as to cause injury to these organs. 
If the border is allowed to get dry whilst the vines are in full growth, 
and is then deluged with water, the young roots will as a consequence be 
certainly destroyed. 
These, then, are several of the causes that directly or indirectly lead to shank- 
