CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS. 



461 



the necessary excavation is in the spring 

 filled with manure. 



As filberts are several years in coming to 

 perfection, it is usual to plant hops, standard 

 apples, and cherries, among them, and when 

 they come to a bearing state, the hops are 

 destroyed, and the fruit trees suffered to 

 remain. The ground is then planted with 



gooseberries, currants, &c., and an under 

 crop of vegetables is likewise frequently 

 obtained. If this were not practiced, the 

 crop of filberts alone, except in particular 

 years, would not defray the expense. The 

 distance at which filberts are planted must 

 depend upon their being mixed with other 

 fruit. 



CULTURE OF VINES IN POTS. 



BY JAjMES DOUGALL, CANADA WEST. 



In the Horticultural Eegister for 1831, '32 

 and '33, conducted by Messrs. Paxton and 

 Harrison, I find a number of articles on the 

 culture of vines in pots, by George Staf- 

 ford, gardener at Willersley Castle, Der- 

 byshire, who appears to be the first person 

 who brought this mode of culture to perfec- 

 tion. 



As I have not seen any articles on this 

 subject in the Horticulturist, and as few of 

 your readers, probably, have seen the ori- 

 ginal ones, I have thought that it might be 

 interesting to them, to have the several 

 communications condensed into one short 

 article. 



1 think this mode of culture deserving of 

 a fair trial in this country, as many persons, 

 who would not feel able to build a vinery, 

 might, in my opinion, grow vines in pots to 

 great perfection, under common hot-bed 

 sashes. 



Mr. Paxton (an authority none will 

 doubt,) says — " Mr. Stafford is a practical 

 gardener of the first order, and one of the 

 best grape growers we are acquainted with ; 

 he furnishes Mr. Arkwright's table with 

 grapes nearly all the year round, and that, 

 in superabundance. His plan of treating 

 them in pots, is deserving the attention of 

 every person who has a hot-house, or is like- 



ly to erect one ; for it is an astonishing fact, 

 that he can produce nearly as great a weight 

 of fruit as the weight of the soil in which 

 the plant grows ; this has repeatedly come 

 under our own observation ; we can, there- 

 fore, speak of the surprising crops he pro- 

 duces in this way, equally as well swelled, 

 and much better flavored, than when trained 

 up the rafters. Indeed, the best swelled 

 and best coloured bunches of the Grizley 

 Frontignac, we ever saw, were grown in a 

 pot by Mr. StaflJbrd. Although he recom- 

 mends the smaller and more delicate sorts, 

 he sometimes cultivates the larger; and 

 these are equally well grown and beautiful. 

 We saw on one of his plants in pots, two 

 years old, 37 bunches, all well swelled and 

 ripe ; and he has, at this present time, some 

 of his plants nearly as prolific." 



Mr. Stafford used pots 13 inches wide 

 at top, half that width at bottom, and 15 

 inches deep. The compost was merely a 

 light vegetable soil, composed of decayed 

 refuse of the garden. He advises growing 

 the kinds naturally prolific, such as Black 

 and White Cluster, Black and White Mus- 

 cadine, While Sweetwater, White, Red, and 

 Grizley Frontignac, Black Hamburgh, and 

 Black Const antia. 



He examined the vines as often as twice 



