THE FLORAL WORLD 



AND 



GAEDEN GUIDE. 



FEBRUARY, 18G6. 



GEAPES FOR THE MILLION.— NO. I. 



iFEAT grapes should be esteemed above all other fruits, 

 and yet be less grown in this country than any other 

 fruits, is one of the anomalies of modern horticulture. 

 The grape is reputed the most healthy of fruits ; it is 

 certainly the most elegant ; some may consider it the 

 most delicious, but as tastes differ, it is not worth while to press that 

 point. Now, taking a thousand gardens at random in the suburbs 

 of any great town, in how many shall we see grapes grown well and 

 grown in. plenty ? In great gardens there are great vineries, and 

 the managers thereof are not in need of help from horticultural 

 journals. But in small gardens the grape vine is not so fully appre- 

 ciated as it might be — not so extensively or skilfully grown as it 

 might be ; and it may be seasonable and reasonable at this dull 

 time of year to offer a few remarks on methods of grape culture 

 eminently adapted to the wants and circumstances of those whose 

 gardens are not of princely dimensions, and whose purses are not so 

 well filled as was that of Midas. It is not my intention, however, 

 to write an essay on the cultivation of the grape vine on the ordinary 

 model; I shall not now attempt to describe how to propagate, how 

 to plant, how to prune, and all the rest of it, but rather endeavour 

 to indicate ways and means not generally thought of by amateur 

 gardeners, and perhaps offer a few encouragements to the appro- 

 priation of them. I shall deal only with the most simple modes that 

 occur to my mind, and I shall place a sufficiency of facts before the 

 reader to make this paper in a certain way complete in itself. 



WALL GEAPES. 



As to generalities, it may be right first to remark that the grape 

 vine is rarely injured by the winters in this climate, but the summers 

 are not hot enough to ripen all the varieties out of doors. A certain 

 few kinds, however, ripen their fruit well in good seasons in this 

 country, and the most certain method of growing grapes where glass 

 is not employed is on a good wall facing the south. The farther 

 north we proceed, the less and less chance is there of good returns 

 •(from out-door vines; but it maybe stated in general terms that 



VOL. I. — ^"o. II. 3 



