THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 5, 1858. 
221 
riiis gave a rod bare of buds for balf tbe length of the 
louse. Tbe other buds on tbe sboot were, of course, 
eft for future fruitfulness. Tbe laterals for tbe whole 
length were treated alike. Tbe main leaves, even on 
Re disbudded part, remained until they fell off, when 
they turned yellow. A commencement in removing 
the laterals, at tbe ripest end of tbe sboot, was made 
in September; and all were removed by tbe middle of 
October. Next spring each Vine showed plenty of 
fruit; but only four bunches or so were taken from 
each. Tbe spur system has been adopted, and there has 
been a good crop ever since. Tbe roots have a fair 
allowance of weak guano water, &c., in summer; and 
every autumn they are top-dressed with fresh loam 
and broken bones, and some superphosphate of lime. 
We know of other instances in which Yines are 
planted at the end of such pits outside, with an 
opening in the wall-plate for the stem to be in ; and 
which, after the fruit is gathered, may be taken out¬ 
side at pleasure : or kept outside, if desirable, wrapped 
in a cloth or straw bands, until the buds begin to 
swell, when it is introduced beneath the glass. Either 
of these modes would incur less trouble than growing 
in pots, but they would not be equally interesting. 
R. Eish. 
COVERING A VINE-BORDER WITH GRASS. 
“ I have read carefully most of the valuable papers upon 
Vine borders, &c., in The Cottage Gardener of the last 
two or three years ; but I do not find an answer in these for 
what I wish to know, viz., ‘ Whether it would answer to 
cover a Vine border, and lay it down in grass, after having 
thoroughly drained and concreted the bottom, filled in good 
compost, and planted the Vines ?’ The border is fourteen 
feet wide; and grass would come in better than beds, with the 
rest of the ground about it.”—A Subscriber. 
[There can be no doubt of the plan answering. Several 
instances have come under our observation ; and three or four 
cases have been managed according to our suggestions. Some 
of these may be of use to you; though, we imagine, that from 
your speaking of draining and concreting, you are pretty well 
conversant with the whole affair. We presume your border 
will not slope greatly off the level; and, therefore, draining 
will be all the more important. 
If the level inside the house is as high, or rather higher 
than the outside border, then it would be best to plant the 
Vines inside the house, as then the stems would want no pro¬ 
tection ; and if the front wall is built with arches, the top of 
which is only a few inches below the soil, there will be no 
liinderance to the free outgoing of the roots. If it be necessary 
to plant the Vines outside, each stem should be secured 
against the wall, by three sides of a wooden box stuffed with 
sawdust, and a bevelled top to keep all dry. And the use of 
these boxes being at once apparent, they will be no eyesore to 
connoisseurs in fitness and beauty; though, as they constitute 
no ornament in themselves, it would be as well to avoid them, 
by planting inside, if possible. 
Before planting, however, the depth of the border is the first 
thing to be considered. Presuming that you have from six 
to twelve inches of open rubble above your concrete; then, 
supposing that you meant to force your Vines pretty early, 
say to begin from Christmas to Eebruary, then you ought to 
have not less than two feet and a half of open fibry compost. 
If, instead of forcing, you merely mean to let your Grapes 
come in almost naturally, then from eighteen to twenty-four 
inches will be sufficient. In a shallow border, unprotected 
except by turf, if you attempted early forcing, you might run 
the risk of losing a crop, by the want of reciprocal action 
between roots and branches, in very cold weather. If the 
roots were deeper, they would suffer less from the radiation of 
heat from the surface. The deeper they go beyond two feet 
and a half, the safer would they be from the cold; but the 
more likely would the Vines be extra luxuriant at the expense 
of contracted fertility. If forcing be not contemplated, then 
from eighteen to twenty-four inches will be sufficient. 
The formation of the border also requires consideration. 
Eibry brown loam should be preferred, kept open by a good 
allowance of old brick rubbish ; and even pieces of chalk and 
charcoal; as Grapes are generally the best flavoured, when the 
roots have access to calcareous matter. Except when planting, 
(when the roots may have a little road-drift, and leaf mould 
about them), we would put little or nothing in the way of 
dung, or leaf mould, in the compost. Unequal sinking, extra 
luxuriance at first, and starvation afterwards, would be 
avoided. The manure given should be of a very lasting 
character, such as broken bones ; and the oldest of these should 
be placed nearest the young plants, and the freshest at the 
outside of the border. If circumstances permit, half of the 
width of the border might be made at first, and the other half 
added at several times afterwards. This, however, we fear, 
would break in upon the neatness. 
It is amazing how little watering such a border will require ; 
but means must be provided for giving it without soaking the 
grass on the surface, or interfering with the general neatness. 
It would be easy to have a pipe at the end of the drain, to 
plug that up when necessary. Round pipes may also be 
sunk upright in the border, with a green-painted plug in 
the top, so as hardly to be perceived on the grass ; and 
examining the earth at the bottom of these will always enable 
you to ascertain the dryness and moisture of the soil. In 
these, common and manure water may be poured, so as to 
communicate at once with the bottom of the border ; so that, 
the drain being stopped, the moisture will rise by capillary 
attraction; or it may be diffused through the soil at a depth, 
say from six to eight inches from the surface. Though it is 
desirable to be able to do this, yet, as already remarked, when 
a border is so turfed over, it will not be very often necessary. 
A few pipes thus left with their tops shut will enable you to 
judge of the state of your border at any time, as respects 
moisture ; and heat, too, if you place thermometers in them. 
The turfing should also be a matter of consideration. 
Choose turf with fine soft foliage, as the roots of such do not 
go deep. To prevent, in some measure, the grass growing 
too strongly, let the turfs be cut rather thin, and mix a couple 
of inches of sand with the poorest of the compost for a sur¬ 
face. In general seasons, the last mowing should take place 
shortly after the middle of October; so that, if the border be 
not rendered unsightly, it may be rather longer than the rest 
of the lawn during the winter; as, the longer the grass, the 
better will it protect from cold the soil beneath.] 
CUTTING OLD SNAGS FROM VINES. 
“ Some Vines have been pruned for many years on the 
short spur plan, and the spurs are now so long that they look 
ugly. Would you advise me to cut the spurs off clean to the 
main rod (I am afraid they will not break regularly again) ; 
or, do you advise me to carry a new rod up the rafter this 
next summer, and cut the present rod off the next winter ? 
I can easily do so, for they are very strong. They have made 
wood this summer two inches in girth, and leaves quite like 
parasol leaves ; and the fruit I had this summer was splendid : 
my employer said they were like little Apples. I cut bunches 
of BlacJc Hamburgh nearly two pounds in weight, and 
West's St. Peter's , more than two pounds; which makes me 
afraid to do anything to them to injure them.”—A Young 
Beginner. 
[Most people would be disposed to let well alone. Pro¬ 
vided you get a good regular crop, what matters it how you 
prune. Two years ago, we saw a very fine crop of Grapes; 
and the spurs, many of them, were from one foot to three feet 
in length: for the rods had not been renewed for twenty 
years; and the gardener said he rather liked them for early 
forcing, as, in combination with the main stem, they acted as 
reservoirs of nourishment to the swelling and the expanding 
buds. However, there is no difficulty in the way, if you wish for 
mere neatness and elegance as to appearance. If your Vines 
are as fertile as they seem to be luxuriant, then they might 
be all cut in close to the main stem; and you would have no 
want of fruit, after thinning away the greater part of the 
shoots, that would come from the embryo buds at the cut 
places. It is just possible that you may have more luxuriance 
than fertility ; and, in that case, you could not make sure of a 
regular crop. As you are a “young beginner,” it would not, 
