258 THE GARDENER. [June 



occupying a given area, so mucli depends on tlie vigour of the Vines, 

 the state of the border, and the supplies of liquid manure that 

 can with safety be given to the roots. As a general rule, one bunch 

 on every alternate lateral is a sufficient crop. Those who grow Grapes 

 for exhibition frequently reduce the bunches to half-a-dozen, and even 

 a smaller number than that, to a 20-feet rod ; but this is a sacrifice 

 made for a special purpose, and has no bearing on the question in 

 hand. 



We superintended the erection and planting of a couple of small 

 vineries for an amateur neighbour some few years ago. In 1867 one of 

 these houses, 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, had ninety-nine bunches of 

 Grapes on it, none of them under 2 lb., many of them 4 lb. weight, 

 thus giving a crop of at least 300 lb., or something like 1 lb. to the 

 foot superficial of the glass roof. We protested that the Vines would 

 be ruined, but they finished their crop weU. Last year the crop was 

 equally heavy, but they did not colour. This year the crop is very 

 meagre, and the Vines show that they are thoroughly exhausted; and 

 we have no doubt it will take them a couple of years to recover their 

 strength, if ever they do so, to their original point. We have given 

 these examples as being better than precept — we could give many 

 such. 



Another and a very common error in Grape cultivation is the 

 crowding of the wood and foliage. Many seem to prefer having 

 three unripe and unfruitful laterals to one that would be certain to 

 bear fruit. 



We saw the most aggravated case of this description that ever 

 came under our notice in Holland in 1861. We were anxious to see 

 Dutch gardening as practised in one of the best private gardens of the 

 country ; and, under the guidance of M. Van Velson of Haarlem, we 

 made our way to one that had the reputation we required. There we 

 found, amongst numerous other glass erections, a range of three well- 

 built vineries; the extreme ends of the range were built of brick, the 

 roofs alone being of glass; and so dense was the mass of foliage 

 against the glass, that it was with difficulty we could see the few 

 small bunches of Grapes that hung on long foot-stalks like the pend- 

 ulums of Dutch clocks. They did not make up the fourth of the crop 

 such houses ought to produce. The gardener — who, by the way, had on 

 a clean white apron, as had all his assistants — asked us through M. 

 Van Velson what we thought of his Vines. We replied that if they 

 were under our care we should that afternoon cut out three-fourths of 

 the wood, and spread the remainder out so as to expose its foliage 

 properly to light and air. With a shrug of his shoulders he replied, " And 

 where would you get your fruit from next year V We explained that 



