42 
ON THE SHRIVELLING OF GRAPES. 
cold. Moreover, the border was shaded by a row of espalier trees, 
which grew a short distance from it. I had not the opportunity of 
raising the roots to the surface; I therefore removed the apple-trees, 
lowered the walk at the front of the border, and, as the stems outside 
of the house were naked, I laid a covering of decayed leaves and dung 
on the surface. By these means the roots were ultimately acted upon 
by the genial rays of the sun. Within the houses, I left but a thin crop 
of grapes, and a limited supply of wood for the succeeding year. The 
result was most satisfactory. 
My usual practice now is, to dress the border every summer with 
decayed leaves and a little loam. In a cold, wet season, I leave but 
thin crops; in a dry, hot season, good crops. When the latter is the 
case, I supply the roots with water most abundantly, without any fear 
of paralysing their efforts. The grapes produced are generally admired 
for their size, colour, and flavour. 
To young gardeners I would say, do not be too anxious for a great 
crop in your Jirst effort. Endeavour to ascertain the capabilities of 
your vines. Attention to the ripeness of the wood and the circum¬ 
stances of the place, will very much assist you in this particular. If 
you are required to make new borders, elevate them as much as you 
conveniently can, particularly if the site be low and damp. A bed of 
compost from eighteen to twenty-four inches is quite depth enough. 
Extend the roots horizontally, as much as circumstances will admit. 
To gentlemen may I be allowed to say, desire to have good fruit 
rather than great abundance: make every allowance for local circum¬ 
stances, and the natural difficulties your gardener has to contend with. 
Do not place implicit reliance on the writings or the sayings of any man, 
merely because he has obtained a degree of notoriety;—many write and 
talk from no other motive. Mr. Judd, I fear, is amongst the number. 
Why, every gardener of ordinary observation knows that when the 
“ cuticles of the berries” are acted upon by the sun’s rays, it is by the 
concentration of the rays acting like a burning-glass, and injuring only 
the part where the focus strikes : hence we see the side next the sun 
injured—the other side perfect. I have, indeed, known grapes really 
scalded by vapour heated to a great degree ; but that is a very different 
thing to the “ shrivelling of grapes.” 
As far as I have observed, when grapes are injured from external 
causes, the berry discovers it first. In the “ shrivelling of grapes,” the 
defect is first exhibited in the pedicle. 
G. P. R 
