151 THE GARDENER. [April 



My advice is, to avoid the one- or two-Vine system in a vinery where 

 the border is strictly artificial, the soil and subsoil unfavourable, and 

 where circumstances do not admit of a border extension to the front, 

 so as to keep pace with the onward route of the roots consequent on a 

 large top-development. Under such circumstances a greater number 

 of smaller Vines will take more equable possession of the nutriment 

 afforded by a limited area, and are not so likely to go beyond it into 

 the deleterious surroundings, as one large Vine or two would be likely 

 to do. Under different circumstances, nothing can be said against the 

 extension system. 



The magnesian-limestone question is one regarding which I cannot 

 say I have any settled conviction. This much I can say, from experi- 

 ence in Vine-border making in different parts of the country, that some 

 soils which, to appearance, are much alike, have very different effects 

 on the growth of the Vine. On the chalk of Buckinghamshire I found 

 Vines make splendid growths, and yield equally fine Grapes. In Wales 

 I have seen w r onderf ul crops of Grapes where the water was so impreg- 

 nated with lime that the Grapes, if syringed with it, became as if white- 

 washed. In that soil the Vines and bunches were altogether splendid, 

 grown in Pine-pits, a rod to each rafter. I have had Vines thrive 

 remarkably well, and yield Grapes of unsurpassed quality (by this I do 

 not mean mere size), in soil where the Rhododendron and the Heath 

 died out because of the presence of lime in the soil. Moreover, the 

 water with which the Vines were constantly watered was so full of lime 

 that it ate through lead cisterns in a very short time, and literally 

 killed Azaleas, Camellias, &c. ; but I never could detect that it in- 

 jured the Vines, except whitening the foliage and fruit if syringed with 

 it. The strongest pot- Vines I ever grew were in this lime-impregnated 

 soil and water, and Muscats especially seemed to colour to a very high 

 degree. The crops produced were not of the sensational but family 

 character — moderate, compact bunches in large quantities. 



Since coming here, I have observed that on the red soil, or the red 

 sandstone (much the same as the soil about Dunbar in East Lothian), 

 the Vine grows with w r onderful vigour. The Muscat Hambro', on its 

 own roots, grows with great vigour in a small vinery at Eccles ; and so 

 do Muscats and other Vines, all bearing wonderful bunches in this red 

 soil. I planted some Golden Champion and Tynningham Muscats last 

 year in a low house (very unsuitable for Grapes), which made growths 

 that astonished me for vigour and solidity. One Vine, struck from an 

 eye and planted in April, was left to grow unrestricted, and it made 

 36 feet of main stem, strong wood; and the others would have done 

 the same, had they not been handled with an object. The loam is 

 rather of a reddish colour, and somewhat strong. The influence of 



