THE 



GARDENER. 



DECEMBER 1871. 



EXTHEMES IN GRAPE - GROWING. 



HEN four months since we called attention to the fact 

 that some of the finest Grapes ever exhibited were pro- 

 duced in districts where the rainfall is very much above 

 the average, and put the question, " Have the premier 

 Grape -growers of England appeared from the driest counties, such 

 as Kent and Surrey, or from counties where the rainfall is above the 

 average, &cJ" we scarcely expected such a reply as that furnished 

 by the magnificent exhibition of Muscats and other tender Grapes 

 by the Messrs Lane of Berkhampstead at London on 4th October, 

 which, according to the 'Gardeners' Chronicle,' were produced by 

 Vines growing in a border "close to and almost on a level with 

 perpetually-running water, which must necessarily percolate among 

 their roots and keep them constantly damp." Whether this constant 

 percolation of water about the roots of the Vines in question is an 

 absolute fact, or merely a deduction of our contemporary from the 

 proximity of water to the roots or border, does not appear to us very 

 clear. An absolute fact, beyond all doubt, it ought certainly to be, 

 before issuing it to the horticultural world, to add another storey 

 to the already huge and conflicting Babel of theories propounded 

 about Grape-growing. It need not now be a matter of surprise to 

 hear that the large Vine at Hampton Court owes its long-.sustained 

 energy and productiveness to its roots having — instead of merely 

 drawing supplies from a sewer or two — carried on a spirited com- 

 petition with the Lilies for possession of the running water close by ; 

 or that the still more gigantic Vine at Cumberland Lodge owes its 

 success to its having sent its roots three-quarters of a mile to Virginia 



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