i88i.] VIiN"t:-GROWING IN THE OPEN AIR. 363 



are few plants (certainly not fruit-trees) that would exist for half the 

 time many of these Vines have lived under the same treatment. 

 Before the Vine becomes a fruitful plant out of doors, its natural habit 

 and requirements must be better understood by the masses. It is by 

 nature a creeping plant, and those who cultivate it as a wall-creeper 

 might just as well have the pleasure of enjoying a little fruit, if they 

 only knew the way to obtain it. The majority of cottagers regard it as 

 a troublesome, refractory plant in summer, and they frequently ascribe 

 its barrenness to old age. They are not aware that its roots travel long 

 distances in search of food, or that the disease that attacks it in sum- 

 mer (mildew) is the result of starvation at the root. Neither do they 

 know that what they in their simple way call summer-pruning destroys 

 the last chance of anything like a crop of fruit, because the fruit-bear- 

 ing wood is cut away, and a stock of green unripe laterals takes its 

 place, only to be cut down by the winter's frost. If, therefore, we are 

 to inculcate a spirit of thrift and emulation among those who have 

 opportunities of cultivating the Vine upon the walls of their houses or 

 gardens, we must, in order to consummate the scheme, endeavour to 

 give some tangible proof of our faith in its practicability. And I see 

 no possibility of accomplishing this end better than by the proprietors 

 of large estates leading the way. With a very trifling outlay the walls 

 of cottages could be furnished with a fresh set of A'^ines, and an intel- 

 ligent man should be deputed to direct their management for the 

 first couple of years, until the occupiers themselves took sufficient 

 interest in looking after them. 



The ordinary labourer is no believer in new ideas or new doctrines. 

 He is too deeply imbued with the views of his class to give up 

 old habits and customs ; reason or logic has no charm for his ear ; 

 but once prove to him by results that your scheme is not only feasible 

 but profitable, and your trouble is at an end. 



Nearly all the Vines that have come under my notice in this district 

 are in a state of semi-starvation, having little else to live upon than a 

 small portion of impoverished earth, trodden so hard that no moisture 

 can penetrate to the roots to nourish them. In many cases the roots 

 have travelled underneath the cottages, where no artificial assistance 

 can be rendered to them, even if it were so desired. In order, therefore, 

 to make a promising start, it would be necessary in most cases to have 

 a thorough clearance out, and to make new borders and plant new 

 Vines. 



When it is considered that a Vine can be purchased at from 3s. 6d. 

 to 5s., that will cover the walls of a cottage in two or three years, and 

 that the border need not be an expensive one, there are certainly not 

 many obstacles standing in the way of initiating an improved system 

 of open-air Vine- culture. The use of very rich soil would be a 

 mistake, as it would also be expensive to many who could not well 

 afi'ord it. In any case it is not an absolute necessity ; in most cases it 



