82 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 15. 
at least ono half; nevertheless the same result con¬ 
tinued, which makes me now attribute it either to 
mismanagement on my part, as before stated, or to 
the ants with which we are pestered, who may pos¬ 
sibly fracture the skin of the grapes, and thus the 
moisture exuding may corrode the adjoining fruit.* 
The greenhouse in which the vine grows is a lean- 
to on the south side of the house, divided into two 
compartments by a glass partition, one of which, 
being the passage leading to the front door and con¬ 
stantly open, except at night time and in very stormy 
weather, has a continual draught through it; the 
other is closed everywhere except in front, which has 
a set of swinging sashes to let in the air as required. 
In the inner compartment there were three other 
vines of the Sweetwater kind. Now, as the Syrian 
vine, from the extraordinary size and handsome ap¬ 
pearance of the fruit, was an especial favourite, it 
struck me that the produce might be very materially 
improved both in size and quality by carrying a 
limb of it into the inner and warmer compartment. 
For the purpose, therefore, of this experiment, I 
turned out the adjoining vine, and conducted one of 
the branches from the outer division to fill its place. 
This was done the year before last. Last year, there¬ 
fore, you may conceive my mortification when I found 
almost all the fruit “ fog off” in the middle, as I have 
described. This year, however, has proved more 
favourable for the trial, although, for some reason or 
other, the fruit has not ripened so early by at least 
six weeks as it usually does ; and singular to say, the 
produce of that portion of the vine exposed to the 
draught has proved better flavoured and ripened ear¬ 
lier than that in the warmer situation, although in 
both cases it is much inferior to what it was before 
the alteration of position; for although those you 
have herewith are of a tolerable size, they are not so 
large by at least one-fourth as heretofore ; in short, 
they used to look more like damsons than grapes. 
Now, as I should much like to preserve the fruit, I 
shall be obliged by some suggestion how to prevent 
the rotting of the bunches, and also to know whether 
it would not be judicious to replace the vine in its 
original position.—M. X.” 
This is a very decided case of shanking, as the 
gardeners call that disease of the grape-vine, which 
is a gangrene and complete withering away of the 
footstalks of the berries, or of the central footstalk of 
the bunch. This, we have always thought, arises 
from the temperature of the soil being too much 
below that in which the branches are vegetating; 
and, consequently, the supply of sap to the grapes 
is too much diminished, and the parts which thus 
fail of support immediately begin to decay. This 
consequence of a diminished sujiply of sap is always 
apparent either in the leaves, flower, or fruit. The 
disease, like every other putrefaction, does not ad¬ 
vance rapidly unless there be much moisture in the 
atmosphere. Shanking we never knew to appear in 
the grape if the roots of the vine were within the 
house, which confirms our view; for when the roots 
are so situated they vegetate in a temperature vary¬ 
ing, as in a state of nature, according to that in 
which the branches are bearing their leaves and 
fruit. But when the roots are outside they must 
* Ants never injure fruit. They visit the vine in search of insects, 
or to teed on the grapes after they have become diseased, 
always be considerably colder and more sluggish than 
they ought to bo in proportion to the warmth within, 
while the other parts of the vine are hastened forward. 
The result of the experiment made by our corre¬ 
spondent still further sustains our opinion. The 
bunches shanked when grown in a cold greenhouse, 
but they shanked much more on that branch intro¬ 
duced into a warm ono. Tn the latter the demand 
for sap is even faster than in the colder structure. 
In this, and in all similar cases, wo would open 
the ground over the roots of the vine, and cut away 
those which strike deep into the soil, and by making 
the surface of the border rather more rich, and 
covering the surface with warm fermenting dung 
early in the spring, wo would encourage the produc¬ 
tion of roots nearer the surface. It is important in 
grape growing, and indeed in all cultivation, to get 
the roots into action before the buds begin to swell. 
This can only be done economically, in such cases 
as the present, by keeping the roots near the surface. 
Fermenting dung will then set them in motion in 
early spring, and the warmth of the summer sun 
will afterwards keep them sufficiently active. We 
recommend the branch to be withdrawn from the 
warmer house, and the cooler portion to have its 
temperature in early spring kept as low as con¬ 
venient, that the root-action may be able to keep 
pace wflth, if not to precede, the development of the 
buds. As the autumn comes on, with its chilly 
nights, and whilst the bunches are ripening, we 
should renew the coverings with long dung; re¬ 
moving it during sunny days. 
THE ERUIT-GABDEN. 
Planting Fruit-trees. —Having despatched for a 
little while our business with indoor fruits as con¬ 
cerns the amateur, we turn now most willingly to 
outdoor matters, which concern at once equally the 
cottager and the amateur. Now, as these two classes 
do not by any means comprise the whole of the readers 
of this little periodical, and though we sometimes 
shoot too high for the one and too low for the other, 
we do hope so to aim that all extreme points, as well 
as the intermediate grades, may one time or other be 
hit by the remarks we offer. 
The dull month of November reminds us that per¬ 
spiration, or, as our learned men term it, transpira¬ 
tion, is at its lowest ebb, or nearly so ; and that such 
is the period of which we take advantage, as being 
most favourable to transplanting processes. 
We cannot now stay to speak of kinds; we have 
before done so, and will again return to the subject: 
for the present it will be well to speak of general 
arrangements for planting, and of the accessories ne¬ 
cessary to a succesful carrying out of such objects. 
Drainage. —All soils are not stagnant; some, how¬ 
ever, are too moist for the successful culture of fruit- 
trees, and here commences the fundamental principle 
of all good fruit-growing. Here it is, we consider 
with the agriculturist, good gardening and good 
farming at once recognise the same general basis to 
all ulterior proceedings. This leads us to the consi- 
