394 THE GARDENER. [Sept. 



ness and warmth, it is hopeless to expect fruit-bearing plants to 

 ripen their wood and buds, so that we can look to next season as one 

 of promise. 



Amidst the many failures of this year, the Grape crop is — so far as 

 we have observed — about the most satisfactory of any, even under 

 glass. As a rule, all the Vines and Grapes that we have seen are look- 

 ing well as regards the extent and quality of the crops they are carrying. 

 This may sound anomalous in the ears of the inexperienced. There 

 can be no doubt that much of this success depends on the splendid 

 weather of the latter part of last summer and autumn, which, as has 

 already been referred to, resulted in the thorough maturation of the 

 wood and fruit-buds. Indeed, we have been cognisant of cases where 

 last year's Grapes shanked badly, and did not colour well, notwith- 

 standing the warm sunshine. The year 1877 was not at all a favour- 

 able season for the Vine, in so far as the following year's crop was 

 concerned, and in many cases the bunches were loose, the footstalks 

 of the berries weak and long, and the heat of 1878 hurried the crops 

 to maturity — and all these are calculated to precipitate shanking 

 where there is a predisposition to that evil. The same Vines have this 

 year brought heavy crops of large but compact bunches to maturity 

 without any shanking, in spite of the want of sun and excessive rain- 

 fall. The often reiterated lesson of well-ripened wood is, to our mind, 

 not the only lesson which such an occurrence enforces. It points also 

 to the fact that, as a rule, strong Vines in well-prepared borders do 

 not get nearly enough of water in summers that are dry and hot. The 

 better and more carefully borders are prepared — as to drainage, &c. — 

 the more forcibly does this apply ; and if this exceptional season teaches 

 one lesson more emphatically than another, it is that Vines under other 

 conditions the most favourable rarely get as much water as is good for 

 them in dry, hot summers — of course, always provided there is no 

 chance of stagnant water about the borders. These hints are thrown 

 out by the way, and we think our experienced readers will endorse 

 them. 



The important task then for this autumn is for cultivators to do 

 everything that lies in their power to ripen the wood of not only Vines 

 but Peaches, Figs, and all fruit-bearing plants, as well as possible. 

 Outdoor fruits are comparatively beyond the pale of artificial appliances 

 to forward this end. Much, however, can be done to ripen the wood 

 of Vines, Peaches, &c, that are under glass. As a rule, the greatest 

 danger of immaturity is in the case of vigorous Vines and other trees 

 from which the crops are all gathered this month. Earlier trees get a 

 longer season, and usually ripen more completely. On the other hand, 

 later Vines, on which Grapes hang through the winter months, have so 

 much fire-heat applied for the preservation of the crop, that the wood 

 also reaps the benefit of a circulation of dry, warm air. Strong Vines, 

 from which the Grapes are cut this and next month, are more frequently 



