214 
JOUT!^-AL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  10,  1898. 
I  have  had  a  striking  experience  of  the  extent  to  which  heat  can 
be  husbanded,  in  the  case  of  a  Vine  border  from  which  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  ripening  Grapes  by  the  last  week  in  April,  and  where  circum¬ 
stances  did  not  allow  of  any  inside  border.  I  uncovered  part  of  the 
border  at  its  middle  in  February,  and  plunged  a  thermometer  in  it  to 
the  depth  of  16  inches,  and  found  that  in  a  very  short  time  it  raised 
the  mercury  from  40°  to  60°.  This  border  was  well  raised  above  the 
September,  and  which,  of  course,  did  not  require  much  fire  heat.  One 
limb  of  the  Vine  ripened  its  crop  in  the  early  division  in  April ;  the 
other  limb  in  the  late  division  did  not  ripen,  as  I  have  noted,  till 
September.  In  the  early  house  the  bunches  were  compact  and 
moderate  sized,  and  there  never  was  a  shanked  berry  in  them ;  in  the 
cool  house  the  branch  of  the  same  Vine  produced  much  larger  but 
looser  bunches,  in  w^hich  there  was  always  more  or  less  shanking. 
Fig.  39.— Section- a,  Level  Terrace;  b.  Slope;  c.  End  of  Fall;  d.  Walk;  e  and  dotted  line.  Level 
ordinary  ground  level,  had  a  more  than  usual  slope  to  the  front,  and 
was  always  covered,  as  indicated  above,  early  in  autumn. 
The  late  Mr.  Thrower,  who  for  so  many  years  grew  very  superior 
early  Grapes  at  High  Canons  in  Herts,  to  my  knowledge  ripened 
nineteen  crops  in  succession  of  Black  Hamburgh  Grapes  from  the 
same  Vine  in  a  vinery  where  there  was  no  inside  border,  and  where 
the  outside  one  was  covered  as  I  have  described.  In  spite  of  all  this 
I  would  much  prefer  to  have  an  inside  border,  while  at  the  same  time 
I  would  not  like  to  be  without  one  outside  also,  even  in  the  earliest  of 
forcing.  Admitting  that  the  roots  in  an  inside  border  are  so  circum¬ 
stanced  that  they  respond  more  readily  and  effectually  to  their  task 
than  those  in  an  outside  border,  yet  the  latter  respond  with  their  aid 
at  a  time  when  it  is  most  required.  I  question,  however,  if  the  outside 
border  be  properly  managed,  if  they  are  far,  if  anything,  behind  those 
inside  in  starting  to  their  work.  It  is  a  nice  point  that  I  have  never 
proved. 
As  a  rule  there  is  not  so  much  call  for  very  early  forcing  now  as 
there  was  before  long-keeping  Grapes  came  on  the  scene.  It  is  now  a 
Fig.  40. — Lawns  Points  (1)  and  Pincushions  (2)— Bad. 
comparatively  easy  and  common  thing  to  have  good  old  Grapes  till 
June ;  still  no  Grape  suitable  for  early  forcing  or  for  late  keeping  can 
compete  with  Black  Hamhurghs  for  quality,  and  it  is  not  a  difficult 
matter  to  have  them  fit  for  table  in  May.  The  pity  is  that  other 
comparatively  coarse  sorts  have  ousted  them  so  much  out  of  their 
place  in  autumn  and  early  winter, 
I  should  like  to  refer  to  a  rather  interesting  experience  I  had  in 
connection  with  early  forcine  in  the  case  of  the  outside  border  that  I 
have  described.  One  of  the  Vin^s  was  planted  near  the  division  which 
separated  the  early  from  a  house  where  the  crop  was  not  ripened  till 
The  cause  of  this  difference  of  the  size  and  shape  of  bunches  arose 
from  the  different  degrees  of  ripeness  to  which  the  two  branches 
attained. 
Shanking  is  no  doubt  the  result  of  different  causes.  Still,  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  the  build  or  shape  of  bunch  has  something 
to  do  with  it.  This  is  what  may  be  termed  to  some  extent  a  vexed 
question.  I  have,  however,  noticed  that,  on  Vines  in  the  best  con¬ 
dition  and  not  given  to  shanking  generally,  when  a  loosely  built  bunch 
has  been  left,  that  bunch,  and  that  only,  on  a  given  Vine  has  shanked. 
If  this  be  one  of  the  things  that  cause  shanking,  the  remedy  of  ripening 
the  Vines  so  as  to  produce  compact  bunches  points  to  the  cure  of  this 
predisposing  cause. 
Before  closing  these  desultory  remarks,  it  may  be  of  service  to  some 
of  your  readers  to  call  attention  to  the  practice  of  some  growers  in 
mulching  Vine  borders  when  fire  heat  is  not  applied  to  the  houses  till, 
say,  the  1st  of  March.  I  have  seen  the  borders  of  such  Vines  covered 
with  a  considerable  depth  of  cow  manure  in  December  and  January. 
Surely  a  little  thought  should  be  sufficient  to  guide  to  the  conclusion 
Fig.  41.— Lawns  Common  Sense  Curves— The  Better  Way. 
that  this  is  not  good  practice.  Such  a  mulching  at  such  a  time  is,  to 
a  great  extent,  wasted,  and  is  a  poor  non-conductor  of  heat.  It  is  much 
better  to  cover  with  some  loose  litter  or  straw  at  the  time  named,  and 
when  the  sunshine  ol  March  to  June  is  acting  beneficiall}^,  to  draw  off 
the  straw  by  day  and  leplace  it  in  the  afternoon  to  conserve  the  heat. 
When  the  Grapes  are  thinned  and  the  roots  active  is  the  time  to 
apply  rich  mulching  and  top-dressings,  which  nourish  and  conserve 
moisture,  and  thus  attract  the  active  roots  to  the  surface.  Coverings 
and  uncoverings  of  straw  in  spring  have  a  wonderful  effect  in  warming 
the  soil.  By  such  practice,  the  great  growers  for  London  and  other 
