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Page 16
Nor does he lose much; for if the borders on each side of the path
are planted with grape-vines, peach and plum trees, flowers and
shrubs, the very ground he walks on becomes part of their root
pasturage. At the same time it must be admitted that the roots
will also extend with depleting appetites into the land devoted to
vegetables. The trees and vines above will, to some extent, cast
an unwholesome shade. He who has set his heart on the biggest
cabbages and best potatoes in town must cultivate them in ground
open to the sky, and unpervaded by any roots except their own. If
the general fruitfulness of the garden rather than perfection in a
few vegetables is desired, the borders, with their trees, vines,
and flowers, will prove no objection. Moreover, when it comes to
competing in cabbages, potatoes, etc., the proprietor of the Home
Acre will find that some Irishman, by the aid of his redolent pig-
pen, will surpass him. The roots and shade extending from his
borders will not prevent him from growing good vegetables, if not
the largest.
We will therefore suppose that, as the simplest and most
economical arrangement, he has adopted the plan of a walk six feet
wide extending through the centre of his garden. As was the case
with the other paths, it will be greatly to his advantage to stake
it out and remove about four inches of the surface-soil, piling it
near the stable to be used for composting purposes or in the
earth-closet. The excavation thus made should be filled with small
stones or cinders, and then covered with fine gravel. A walk that
shall be dry at all times is thus secured, and it will be almost
wholly free from weeds. In these advantages alone one is repaid
for the extra first cost, and in addition the rich surface soil
obtained will double the bulk and value of the fertilizers with
which it is mixed.
Having made the walk, borders five feet wide can be laid out on
each side of it, and the soil in these should be as rich and deep
as any other parts of the garden. What shall be planted in these
borders will depend largely on the tastes of the gardener; but, as
has been suggested, there will assuredly be one or more shadowy
grape-arbors under which the proprietor can retire to provide
horticultural strategy. This brings us to that chef-d'oeuvre of
Nature--
The vine. It climbs by its tendrils, and they appear to have
clasped the heart of humanity. Among the best of Heaven's gifts,
it has sustained the worst perversions. But we will refrain from a
temperance lecture; also from sacred and classical reminiscences.
The world is not composed of monks who thought to escape
temptation--and vainly too--in stony cells. To some the purple
cluster suggests Bacchanal revelry; to others, sitting under one's
own vine and fig-tree--in brief, a home. The vine is like woman,
the inspiration of the best and the worst.
It may well become one of the dreams of our life to own land, if
for no other reason than that of obtaining the privilege of
planting vines. As they take root, so will we, and after we have
eaten their delicious fruit, the very thought of leaving our acre
will be repugnant. The literature of the vine would fill a
library; the literature of love would crowd many libraries. It is
not essential to read everything before we start a little vineyard
or go a-courting.
It is said that about two thousand known and named varieties of
grapes have been and are being grown in Europe; and all these are
supposed to have been developed from one species (Vitis vinifera),
which originally was the wild product of Nature, like those
growing in our thickets and forests. One can scarcely suppose this
possible when contemplating a cluster of Tokay or some other
highly developed variety of the hot-house. Yet the native vine,
which began to "yield fruit after his kind, the third day"
(whatever may have been the length of that day), may have been,
after all, a good starting-point in the process of development.
One can hardly believe that the "one cluster of grapes" which the
burdened spies, returning from Palestine, bore "between two of
them upon a staff," was the result of high scientific culture. In
that clime, and when the world was young, Nature must have been
more beneficent than now. It is certain that no such cluster ever
hung from the native vines of this land; yet it is from our wild
species, whose fruit the Indians shared with the birds and foxes
(when not hanging so high as to be sour), that we have developed
the delicious varieties of our out-door vineyards. For about two
centuries our forefathers kept on planting vines imported from
Europe, only to meet with failure. Nature, that had so abundantly
rewarded their efforts abroad, quietly checkmated them here. At
last American fruit-growers took the hint, and began developing
our native species. Then Nature smiled; and as a lure along this
correct path of progress, gave such incentives as the Isabella,
the Catawba, and Concord. We are now bewildered by almost as great
a choice of varieties from native species as they have abroad; and
as an aid to selection I will again give the verdict of some of
the authorities.
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