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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



BORDER FOR OUTDOOR VINES. 



be entirely below the level, and a layer of rough stones or brickbats, 

 twelve or fifteen inches in thickness put in the bottom. The space 

 can then be filled with three parts turfy loam, one part horse 

 droppings, and one part lime rubbish. There is, of course, no 



objection to the use of bones, but they 

 are too expensive to be employed in 

 borders for outdoor vines. It is not, 

 of course, necessary to have the bor- 

 ders entirely below or above the sur- 

 face, but they may be partly above 

 and partly below, according to the 

 exigencies of the case. Even in dry, 

 warm situations no objection whatever 

 exists to their being elevated entirely 

 above the general level. The drain 

 at the lowest part of the border 

 should connect with the main drains, 

 to carry off the water which collects 

 in it. 



Grape vines in pots can be planted at almost any time, but the 

 two most suitable periods are July and October, and the last-men- 

 tioned is the best month in which to plant vines taken up from the 

 open border. The manner of planting when the vines are intended 

 to cover the walls of a dwelling-house is clearly portrayed in Fig. 2, 

 and when the vines are planted in the manner there indicated, the 

 whole of the wall space can be covered without interfering with the 

 windows or the light in the slightest degree. A slight alteration 

 may be made in the planting if it is considered at all desirable, and 

 four vines, two on each side of the door, may be planted instead of 

 having two on one side, and one on the other, as in the present 

 arrangement. 



The advantage of having two sets of vines — one set for the 

 top and the other set for the lower half of the wall — is very 

 considerable, for outdoor vines bear better when trained on the 

 long-rod system, and it is seldom that twenty feet of well-matured 

 rod is produced in our short summers. When the walls do not 

 exceed twelve feet in height, one set of vines will be quite sufficient, 

 and for ordinary walls they should be planted at a distance of four 

 feet apart, and each vine allowed to carry four rods, two fruit- 

 bearing canes and two young ones for bearing the following season. 

 In planting them out of pots, carefully loosen the roots round the 

 outside, and plant them deep enough to cover a few inches of the 

 stem, from which healthy roots will be emitted in a short time after 

 planting. 



The long-rod system of training, by which a constant succession 

 of young wood is maintained, is the most desirable for vines in the 

 open air. The first season after planting they should be cut back 

 to within about fifteen inches of the base. In the spring the two 

 top buds should be selected for training horizontally, one to the 

 right and the other to the left; and when the one on the right has 

 attained a length of eighteen inches, and the one on the left six 



