i873] LATE GRAPES. 185 



present ? Or if they must be retained, why not employ means to prevent their 

 being an eyesore? Two modes present themselves to my mind for obviating 

 the difficulty ; one is by having pits sunk in the walk, deep enough to admit 

 the tub or box out of sight. These pits would require a drain, and to be bricked 

 round the sides, say a foot wider all round than the tub or box to be put in : 

 this would admit the action of air, beneficial alike to the tub and the roots and 

 soil it contained. One great gain would be the saving in watering, the direct 

 action of the sun being j) re vented ; but the primary object would be the more 

 natural appearance of the trees when seen growing as it were from mother 

 earth, instead of something propped up about it. The great objection to 

 this plan is the present mode of training such trees — they are too short in the 

 stem ; but were the idea taken up, long stems would soon be supplied by our en- 

 terprising nurserymen. 



Another mode of hiding the tubs and boxes ; instead of standards, let the trees 

 be grown as cones or pyramids, the lower boughs neatly trained down so as to 

 cover the tub entirely. Why should these trees invariably be standards ? From 

 the simple fact that we have derived the idea, and the association in our minds, 

 from the Orange, which was first used for this purpose, being generally grown as 

 a standard ; but that is no reason why the pyramidal form might not be used 

 with advantage in training Portugal Laurels, and other substitutes for decora- 

 tive purposes. S. X. 



LATE GRAPES VERSUS LATE HOUSES. 



Your correspondent, A. Henderson, Thoresby Gardens, has brought the 

 above subject to the front in a very practical manner ; and being backed by 

 the leading article in the February number of ' The Gardener,' cannot fail to 

 produce good results respecting late Grapes versus late houses, when the 

 system is now more or less adopted in relieving the Vines of their load 

 of Grapes, by cutting them off and inserting them in bottles of water, with a bit 

 of the branch or spur attached, as is generally understood, and placing them in 

 rooms with a dry atmosphere. But whether the Grapes keep or not, the Vines 

 can now be pruned, dressed, and the house cleaned, ready for a fresh start 

 according to the time the Grapes have been cut and bottled off. The house will 

 now in an ordinary way be ready to begin with the season, which will be at 

 least a month or six weeks sooner than if the Grapes had remained on the Vines 

 until used up, at the same time preventing a good deal of unnecessary bleeding, 

 although it can be greatly prevented by styptics : and, better still, when the 

 cultivator is anxious to bridge over the season, by leaving as short a gap as 

 possible between his old and new Grapes, by clearing off a few bunches, or 

 even a whole house. The consideration appears to be of small importance, con- 

 sidering what is done upon the Continent with late Grapes. From reports, thi*? 

 whole late cutting and bottling of Grapes has not been attended with all the 

 desired results in several places in this country. In many cases, the system being 

 new, the accommodation may be questionable ; but whether or not, it brings me 

 to the gist of the matter so ably propounded by Mr Henderson, to begin late- 

 keeping Grapes early, so that they will be thoroughly ripened by the end of 

 September. Late houses should be planted with early sorts, to be used up 

 with the season, as it is utterly impossible to keep badly-ripened Grapes during 

 winter, either in bottles of water or in the houses where they have been grown. 

 Now, to steal a march on the season, a house of late bad-keeping Grapes would 



