December  30,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
617 
NOTES  ON  VINE  BORDERS. 
The  season  has  again  come  round  when  the  bulk  of  Vine  borders 
in  gardens  throughout  the  country  will  receive  their  annual  over¬ 
hauling  and  top-dressing.  Early  and  second  early  houses  will,  of 
course,  have  been  dealt  with  during  the  autumn,  lut  as  late  Grapes 
are  not  as  a  rule  cleared  till  Christmas,  the  border  dressing  does  not 
receive  attention  till  January.  Comparatively  narrow  Vine  borders 
seem  to  be  much  more  general  now  than  they  were  twenty  years 
ago,  and  to  my  mind  it  is  decidedly  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 
At  various  times  I  have  had  to  deal  with  numbers  of  Vines 
growing  in  borders  of  very  limited  dimensions,  and  with  many  more 
having  wide  ones  for  the  roots  to  ramble  in,  and  the  difference  in 
regard  to  the  number  and  character  of  the  roots  found  in  the  two 
types  of  borders  has  usually  been  very  marked.  I  do  not  remember 
ever  having  seen  a  wide  Vine  border  really  well  permeated  with 
roots.  This  fact  alone  should  show  us  that  great  width  is  not 
required  ;  indeed,  it  is  a  distinct  drawback,  because  if  Vine  roots  do 
not  ramble  through  the  whole  of  the  soil  at  their  disposal  during  the 
first  few  years  such  soil  becomes  sour,  and  roots  avoid  it,  to  seek  the 
food  given  in  the  form  of  top -dressings.  I  am  convinced  that  Vine 
borders  from  6  to  8  feet  in  width  and  2^  feet  in  depth  are  large 
enough  for  all  purposes.  I  have  frequently  helped  to  reduce  the  size 
of  borders — especially  inside  ones — and  in  each  instance  the  results 
justified  the  procedure. 
When  preparing  for  top-dressing  I  remove  loose  surface  soil,  clear 
it  out  of  the  house,  and  then  point  the  border  over  with  a  fork.  If 
plenty  of  fibi’ous  roots  are  found  the  fork  is  only  allowed  to  penetrate 
the  soil  about  an  inch  in  depth,  but  if  few  are  noticed  another  layer  of 
soil  is  removed  till  roots  are  met  with,  as  it  is  quite  useless  to  add 
fresh  soil,  unless  it  is  placed  where  active  feeders  will  soon  find  their 
way  to  it.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  dig  a  hole  every  year  or  two 
near  the  extremity  of  the  border  to  find  out  whether  or  not  the  roots 
are  working  freely  there.  If  few  roots  are  found,  a  trench  should 
be  ta'ren  out  along  the  whole  length  of  the  border  from  2  to  3  feet  in 
width,  and  any  good  roots  that  are  met  with  be  tied  back  and  carefully 
preserved. 
The  old  soil  must,  of  course,  be  wheeled  away  to  make  room  for 
fresh.  An  excellent  compost  for  filling  in  such  trenches  is  one  made 
by  mixing  thoroughly  with  six  barrowloads  of  good  turfy  loam  one 
of  hirse  droppings,  one  of  lime  rubble,  a  half-bushel  of  half-inch 
bones,  and  three  shovelfuls  of  soot.  Before  this  is  placed  in  the 
trench,  the  drainage  at  the  bottom  should  be  cleared,  and,  if  necessary, 
increased  by  adding  another  layer  of  clinkers  or  broken  bricks,  to  be 
covered  with  straw,  turf,  or  bracken.  As  the  work  of  filling  the 
trench  proceeds,  the  preserved  roots  already  referred  to  should  be 
spread  out  evenly  in  the  soil,  have  the  points  cut  with  a  sharp  kni'e, 
any  long  fibreless  ones  being  “  notched  ”  as  well  to  induce  them  to 
send  out  fibres. 
It  is  important  that  as  large  a  number  of  roots  as  possible  should 
be  brought  up  to  within  9  inches  of  the  surface  of  the  border,  for  they 
will  generally  go  down  fast  enough,  although  we  may  hold  out  many 
inducements  to  keep  them  near  the  surface.  After  the  trench  has 
been  filled  up,  and  the  soil  pressed  moderately  firm,  the  whole  of  the 
border  will  be  ready  for  top-dressing.  For  this  purpose  a  compost 
almost  identical  with  the  one  already  referred  to  will  answer  well,  the 
only  alteration  needed  being  to  substitute  bonemeal  for  half-inch 
bones.  I  like  to  have  the  soil  fairly  loose  upon  the  surface,  as  it 
usually  gets  pressed  down  when  attending  to  the  necessary  work 
among  the  Vines. 
Now  let  us  turn  to  the  consideration  of  Vines  growing  in  narrow 
borders.  I  have  grown  excellent  early  Grapes  from  Vines  in  a  border  only 
2j  feet  in  width.  Very  high  feeding  was  of  course  given,  and  as  the 
border  was  bounded  by  a  brick  wall,  which  stood  several  inches  above 
the  surface  of  the  soil,  it  was  always  an  easy  matter  to  soak  the  soil 
thoroughly  when  water  was  given.  The  great  point  to  attend  to  in 
connection  with  borders  of  this  description  is  never  to  allow  them  to 
become  really  dry  during  the  growing  season,  or  the  Vines  quickly 
receive  a  severe  check,  and  many  roots  are  killed.  Their  advantages 
are,  that  the  roots  being  under  complete  control,  it  is  easy  to  know 
exactly  how  to  treat  them. 
If  after  a  few  years  the  limited  quantity  of  soil  that  was  provided 
becomes  exhausted  renovation  is  an  easy  matter,  because  we  get  no 
long  straggling  roots,  but  a  mass  of  fibres  instead  similar  to  those  which 
pot  Vines  produce.  All  good  cultivators  know  that  Vines  of  this 
description  can  be  lifted  entirely  out  of  the  border,  and  after  the  old 
soil  has  been  removed  be  replanted  in  fresh  compost  without  receiving 
any  great  check.  At  the  annual  winter  dressing  the  surface  soil 
should  be  removed— it  usually  only  requires  to  be  scraped  off — and  a 
coating  of  very  rich  compost  given.  The  plan  I  adopt  is  to  sprinkle 
a  coating  of  granulated  bonemeal  over  the  roots  and  then  cover  with  a 
6-inch  top-dressing  of  the  following  compost : — Three  parts  loam,  one 
part  horse  droppings  or  cow  manure,  half  a  part  wood  ashes  with  a 
little  soot  added.  The  whole  surface  is  then  covered  with  a  aufficient 
thickness  of  leaves  or  rough  manure  to  prevent  frost  from  reaching 
the  Vine  roots,  if  the  border  is  an  outside  one,  if  inside  the  latter 
covering  is  omitted. 
Wide  Vine  borders  have,  I  ihink,  had  their  day,  for  although 
sometimes  they  prove  successful,  they  are  uncertain  as  a  rule,  and  it 
has  always  been  extremely  difficult  to  know  exactly  where  the  bulk 
of  the  roots  were  in  such  a  great  body  of  soil.  As  a  young  man  I 
remember  helping  to  top-dress  the  borders  in  a  long  range  of  vineries 
for  sevefial  years  in  succession,  but  very  few  roots  were  ever  noticed. 
The  Vines  in  one  house  were  lifted  the  next  season,  when  we  found 
that  nearly  all  the  roots  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  Vorder,  just  over 
the  drainage,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  top-dressings  could  have 
done  little,  if  any,  good  to  roots  so  far  from  the  surface.  Narrow 
borders  must  be  kept  packed  with  roots  if  the  Vines  are  to 
succeed,  and  when  such  conditions  prevail,  we  know  that  every 
particle  of  soil  and  manure  given  are  turned  to  good  account  by  the 
Vines. — ViTis. 
DEATH  OF  MR.  JAMES  BROWN  OF 
ABERCAIRNEY. 
It  is  with  deep  regret  that  we  record  the  death  of  Mr.  James  Brown, 
gardener  for  over  forty  years  at  Abercairney,  Perthshire  (the  splendid 
domain  of  Captain  Drum¬ 
mond  Moray),  on  December 
22nd.  Mr.  Brown  was  for 
many  years  a  keen  and  most 
successful  exhibitor  of 
vegetables  and  hardy  fruits. 
At  Perth,  Dundee,  Edin¬ 
burgh,  and  Glasgow  his 
skill  was  strikingly  ex¬ 
emplified  by  his  superior 
products.  His  services  as  a 
judge  were  much  sought 
after,  and  by  his  knowledge 
and  care  he  commanded  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of 
exhibitors.  Captain  Moray 
highly  appreciated  the  work 
of  Mr.  Brown,  who,  through 
a  long  course  of  active 
service  showed  much  de¬ 
votion  to  duty  and  his 
employer’s  interests.  Aber¬ 
cairney  was  the  home  of  the  Mackintoshes  of  Dalkeith  and  Drumlanrig, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  seats  in  Scotland. — M.  Temple,  Carron. 
[We  reproduce  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Brown,  who  was  one  of  the  best  of 
British  gardeners,  and  a  most  genial  and  excellent  man.] 
GRAPES  AT  TILEHURST. 
Having  been  asked  for  the  week’s  Journal  containing  my  reference 
to  this  subject,  commented  upon  by  Mr.  Bradley  last  week,  I  cannot 
refer  to  it,  but  I  do  not  think  I  threw  any  discredit  on  Mr.  Bradley’s 
statements.  So  far  from  that  I  took  them  as  they  were,  and  made 
my  own  deductions.  Now,  we  were  told  that  the  house  is  151  feet 
long,  that  it  had  Vines  planted  at  5  feet  apart,  each  Vine  carrying  two 
rods,  which  would  of  course  be  at  2^  feet  apart  only.  It  is  not  of  the 
least  importance  that  a  portion  of  the  roof  is  covered  with  supernumerary 
Vines,  because  we  all  know  that  if  the  rafters  be  15  feet  in  length,  and 
the  rods,  whether  from  permanent  or  temporary  Vines,  cover  the  roof, 
it  is  impossible  to  train  them  closer  together  than  2^  feet,  as  to  do  so 
would  be  reckless  culture  and  cropping. 
Anyone  can  see  that  on  each  side  of  the  house  there  could  not 
possibly  be  more  than  sixty  rods,  or  120  in  all,  each  of  the  length  of 
15  feet'at  the  least.  Now  if  anyone  will  take  the  trouble  to  divide  4635 
bunches  by  120  rods,  each  15  feet  long,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  average 
number  of  bunches  per  rod  was,  as  I  previously  said,  38^,  or  at  the  rate  of 
one  bunch  to  at  least  every  5  inches.  Then  if  these  were  so  good 
relatively  that  there  were  at  the  rate  of  1^  each  bunch,  the  total 
weight  per  rod  could  not  have  been  less  than  about  58  lbs.  As  I  have 
before  said,  it  is  immaterial  whether  these  15  feet  lengths  of  rod  be 
produced  by  one  or  two  Vines,  there  is  the  statement  as  to  the  quantity 
carried  ;  and  I  think  there  are  few  readers  but  will  agree  that  such  a  crop 
is  not  only  excessive,  but  astonishing.  No  wonder  I  said  that  it  could 
hardly  be  termed  cultivation,  but  it  certainly  is  production.  The  photo 
of  the  vinery  has  been  sent  to  me.  It  is  disfigured  by  three  men  in  the 
foreground,  which  “dwarf”  everything  else  in  comparison;  in  other 
respects  it  appears  to  differ  nothing  from  many  photos  of  similar  houses 
I  have  seen. — A.  D, 
EiG.  90.— Mr.  James  Brown. 
