296 THE GARDENER. [July 



consequently hold to the determination of being " of the same opinion 

 still." Before settling which is "to be or not to be," it would be 

 well to define what extension or restriction means. 



I presume every Vine is being extended under cultivation until it 

 fills the number of feet of glass allotted to it, be that space great or 

 small. Then restriction begins. The half of the natural life of a Vine 

 embraces a great number of years — it may be assumed to be 500 ; that 

 is, we know the Vine to be a very long-lived plant as compared to an 

 Elm, or as the life of an elephant compared to a Newfoundland dog. 

 Now it appears to me, that if either extension or restriction has very 

 much to do with the life of a Vine, it matters little whether the exten- 

 sion system goes on for five or fifty years ; both terms are but a fraction 

 of the life of a Vine, and this consideration is practically of very little 

 value as bearing on the health of Vines, every other circumstance being 

 favourable. I find Vines, in the hands of some gardeners, restricted to 

 one rafter for a given term of years, producing much finer Grapes and 

 more of them than one Vine filling a whole house in the hands of 

 others. The Cumberland Lodge Vine is by far the largest in this 

 country. It has been extended as no other Vine has ever before been, 

 and yet for very many years it has been subjected to a course of restric- 

 tion such as no other Vine has ever been submitted to. The whole 

 aspect of the Vine shows it is neither more nor less healthy than scores 

 of Vines I know which are twenty years old, and restricted to one 

 rafter. The whole thing seems to me to be merely a matter of culture. 

 Even the old veteran of Cumberland Lodge quickly responded last 

 year to the stimulus of forty loads of fresh loam, and the same of rot- 

 ten cow-dung, as a top-dressing to the roots, by the production of 400 

 lb. of extra Grapes, and this year promises to be even more boun- 

 tiful. All culture is artificial. Extension is a good thing for all fruit- 

 trees whatever, until they fill their prescribed space, after which restric- 

 tion is found to be an equally good thing, and productive of the most 

 beneficial results under the hands of the skilful cultivator. We are 

 accustomed to lift, replant, manure, and top-dress our hardy fruit-trees, 

 and find the fruit increased in quantity and improved in quality to an 

 immense degree. The very same treatment is applicable to Vines, and 

 the same effects are observable. 



I have been led into these remarks by a recent visit to Frogmore, 

 where everything in relation to gardening is done on a grand scale, 

 and necessarily on sure and safe principles. Never before has root- 

 pruning and branch-pruning been carried out to the same extent on 

 full-grown trees, and with such uniform success, as has been done at 

 Frogmore during the last two years, simply because the same could not 

 be possible at any other place in the kingdom ; and no ordinary amount 



