378 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
October  25,  1900. 
Renovating  Vine  Borders. 
Fig.  104. — Grape  Black  Hamburgh. 
through  the  enmmer,  bat  they  have  been  supplied  with  liquid  mannre 
two  or  three  times  a  week.  A  very  heavy  crop  of  fruit  has  been  the 
result.  The  varieties  were  Challenger,  Frogmore  Selected,  Polegate, 
and  Veitoh’s  Golden  Jubilee.  Mr.  Sutton  speaks  very  highly  of  the 
latter.  The  Tomatoes  were  planted  in  a  slanting  position,  and  as 
they  strengthened  were  pegged  down,  so  that  the  stems  threw  roots  into 
the  soil,  at  the  same  time  bringing  the  first  trass  of  fruit  almost  down 
to  the  soil. — J.  S.  Upex. 
with  a  light  coating  of  cow  manure  and  leaves.  In  this  case  it 
was  not  necessary  to  get  to  the  drainage,  as  our  fruit  houses  are 
situated  at  the  top  of  a  sharp  slope  on  a  very  sandy  soil,  our 
borders,  excepting  a  late  house,  being  wholly  outside,  and  we  find 
a  mulching  absolutely  necessary  in  the  summer  months.  After  this 
treatment  the  Vines  made  very  strong  growth,  in  fact  it  was  much 
too  vigorous,  and  the  foliage  was  too  large.  However,  the  border 
has  now  become  filled  with  roots,  and  the  Vines  are  behaving 
themselves  better. 
The  old  spurs  continue  to  produce  some  finely  finished  but  very 
small  bunches,  but,  acting  on  past  experience  and  the  advice  of  one 
or  two  excellent  Grape  growers  and  most  capable  gardeners,  my 
policy  in  future  will  be  to  lay  in  new  wood  anywhere  that  there  is 
space  to  ripen  it.  Last 
year,  in  the  same  house, 
I  had  a  bunch  of  Black 
Hamburgh  weighing  nearly 
6  lbs.  produced  on  a  piece 
of  wood  3  feet  in  length 
at  the  top  of  the  vinery, 
and  yet  the  old  rod  did 
not  produce  a  bunch  more 
than  J  lb.  in  weight.  I  do 
not  wish  to  advocate  the 
production  of  large  bunches, 
but  the  lesson  I  have  learnt 
is  that  there  is  often  much 
pent  up  energy  in  what 
may  seem  exhausted  Vines 
if  we  will  only  increase  the 
food  supply  and  allow  the 
growths  to  extend.  Our 
requirements  demand 
medium-sized  bunches  of 
as  good  finish  as  possible. 
One  other  case  I  might 
mention.  In  our  late  house 
we  have  a  Mrs.  Pinoe, 
which  I  believe,  has  been 
planted  twenty  years,  and 
always  spur-pruned.  Well, 
this  season  the  old  rod 
has  three  not  very  good 
bunches  on  its  entire  length 
20  feet,  while  on  a  length 
of  3  feet  6  inches  of  last 
year’s  wood  are  three 
bunches,  which  weigh  at 
least  9  lbs. 
Mr.  Poole,  of  Hill  Grove, 
Kidderminster,  has  grown 
some  of  the  finest  examples 
of  this  excellent  late  Grape 
it  has  been  my  good  for¬ 
tune  to  see.  I  should  have 
stated  that  the  Hamburgh 
Vine,  first  noticed,  produced 
ten  bunches  on  the  old  rod,  which,  although  small,  were  of  a  good 
colour. — W.  H.  Wilson,  Moor  Hall  GarderiSy  Stourport. 
The  Gardens  at  Bnxton. 
The  practice  of  remaking  or  renovating  borders  in  which  Vines 
are  growing  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  gardening,  as  really 
remarkable  results  may 
follow  with  even  very  old 
Vines  when  the  best 
methods  of  procedure  are 
adopted.  The  article  by 
Mr.  H.  D unkin,  in  your 
issue  of  October  Ilth, proved 
particularly  interesting  to 
me,  as  I  have  of  late  had 
some  experience  of  the 
work,  and  I  am  sending  you 
a  photograph  of  a  bunch 
of  Black  Hamburgh  Grapes 
weighing  upwards  of  6  lbs., 
and  which  was  produced 
by  a  Vine  at  least  a  quarter 
of  a  century  old,  that  had 
been  subjected  to  a  process 
of  renovation.  I  also  send 
details  of  the  work  done, 
as  these  may  possibly  be 
of  value  to  readers  of  the 
J ournal  of  Horticulture  who 
have  similar  Vines  under 
their  control. 
The  bunch  represented 
fig.  104)  was  produced  on 
a  piece  of  the  previous 
year’s  wood,  3  feet  6  inches 
in  length,  and  now  inches 
in  circumference ;  three 
bunches  were  allowed  to 
remain  on  this  short  piece 
of  extension,  and  they  were 
within  a  space  of  1 6  in.  run. 
The  two  smaller  bunches 
weighed  respectively  2i  lbs. 
and  Ij  lb,,  thus  giving  a 
total  of  10  lbs.  of  Grapes ; 
aU  were  fairly  well  finished. 
The  Vine  is  in  our  midseason 
vinery,  in  which  Black 
Hamburgh  is  practically 
the  only  variety  grown. 
*  The  Vines,  I  believe,  years  ago  produced  heavy  crops  of  fine 
Grapes.  On  my  taking  charge  a  few  years  ago  my  employer 
s'^ggested  that  they  should  be  cut  out,  as  they  seemed  quite  exhausted. 
However,  I  thought  they  might  advantageously  be  given  another 
chance,  and  the  result  was  that  the  few  bunches  produced  contained 
many  shanked  berries. 
:  ■■■  ;  , 
We  then  determined  to  see  what  could  be  done  with  the  border. 
The  soil  near  the  surface  was  sour  and  almost  destitute  of  roots. 
Several  loads  of  rather  heavy  loam  were  procured,  and  with  this 
we  thoroughly  incorporated  in  various  proportions  lime  rubble, 
wood  ashes,  small  bones,  and  Thomson’s  manure.  The  old  soil  was 
taken  away  until  we  came  where  the  roots  were  a  little  more  abundant, 
but  even  these  were  very  short  of  feeders.  The  new  soil  was 
wheeled  in  and  carefully  placed  amongst  the  roots,  finishing  off 
A  rare  charm  do  these  beautiful  grounds  possess.  Situated  in  an 
undulating  valley  of  the  Peak  district,  sheltered  by  rising  ground  on 
all  sides,  with  the  distant  hills  of  varying  heights  ever  in  sight,  and 
watered  by  a  clear  rivulet — the  Wye— these  fine  natural  grounds  have 
been  utilised  to  their  utmost  extent,  and  made,  by  every  means  of  art 
and  science  and  the  energy  of  man,  into  what  may  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  a  park,  which,  of  its  kind,  is  second  to  none  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
Its  elevated  height,  over  1000  feet  above  sea  level,  insures  a  purity  of 
