. 
AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 
169 
Vine— continued. 
A Royal Museadine Vine should bear from ten to twelve 
bunches; but this is dependent upon the strength and 
health of the plant. 
The ordinary or utilitarian method is to train Pot Vines 
to a fixed trellis, the plants being placed abont 2ft. apart, 
so that when the side shoots with the fruit, &c., are trained 
out, the whole trellis may be covered. Another mode is to 
twist the canes coil fashion round two or three strong 
FIG. 184. FRUITING POT VINE. 
stakes placed in the pot (as in Fig. 184), thus giving the 
plants, when fully grown, the appearance of. columnar 
. bushes, Another mode is to train the shoots so as to form 
a sort of umbrella-shaped head, with the bunches hanging 
round. These latter are all more or less graceful and 
ornamental. 
Varieties. The varieties best suited for fruiting in pots 
are the free-bearing kinds, such as Alicante, Black 
Hamburgh, all the Chasselas group, Foster’s White Seed- 
ling, Madresfield Court, Royal Ascot, and Royal Mus- 
eadine. The Muscat of Alexandria is difficult to cultivate 
in Bote, and Gros Guillaume scarcely shows any fruit 
at all. 
CULTIVATION ON OPEN WALLS. Grapes were, at one 
time, much more extensively grown in the open air in 
this country than they are at present. This may princi- 
pally be ascribed to the following causes: (1) The in- 
troduction of cheap glass, whereby structures for the 
cultivation of the Grape Vine with a considerable degree 
of success, may be erected at a moderate cost. In 
olden times, the seasons were not always propitious 
and suitable for Vine-growing any more than they are 
at the present day, although we read accounts of some 
very fine fruits having been grown on open standards 
in 1818. (2) The Mildew, the intrusion of which scourge 
to the Vine, in the year 1847, has rendered its culti- 
-vation in the open air in this country extremely pre- 
carious. Although sulphur is well known a remedy, 
its application to Vines in the open WS is not so 
easy to accomplish, and, therefore, the results are not 
so effectual as conld be desired. It is very seldom 
now that outdoor grapes entirely escape this malady. 
(3) A series of cold, Sch 8 seasons, in which the outdoor 
Vol. IV, ` 
MISSOURI 
BOTANICA! 
rays of the sun. 
Vine—continued. 
grapes have seldom ripened, so that their cultivation has 
gradually come to be nearly abandoned. If a little more 
attention to the proper culture of the plant, and to the 
thinning and taking care of the fruit, were given, no 
doubt better results would follow; and it seems a pity we 
do not see Vines more frequently adorning the walls of our 
cottage homes in the more southern parts of the country. 
There the Grape Vine would be not only ornamental but 
useful. As a plant it is perfectly hardy, and it grows 
freely. In spring the young shoots are sometimes injured 
by late frosts, and in cold seasons the wood does not 
ripen thoroughly, but it is the fruit that is tender, and 
that only in so far as it generally requires more heat 
than our climate affords to ripen it. 
. Soil. “The Vine will grow in any good garden soil 
which is freely exposed to light and air, and well 
drained ; the more of a loamy character it has, and the 
fresher it is, the better. Before planting, the soil should 
be well dug or trenched to a fair depth, and some well- 
decayed manure, ground bones, &c., applied. 
Position. This must be warm and sheltered—a wall 
facing the south, or a roof sloping in the same direction. 
Any other aspect is useless. 
Planting should be done early in the autumn, so that 
the roots may get into action before winter. 
Pruning and Training must, to a certain extent, be ` 
very similar to the practice adopted under glass. Vines 
to be trained to single stems should be planted about 2ft. 
apart, and pruned on the spur system. It is preferable, 
however, to allow Vines on open walls to cover a 
greater space, and to have many stems or branches. 
These may be trained in an upright direction, at about 
lift. apart, and may be pruned on the spur system; 
another method is that of training the stems in a hori- 
zontal direction. Thus, at the first pruning, the Vine is 
cut down to a height of about lift, and three shoots or 
stems are trained up the first year. At the winter pruning, ` 
one of these stems is trained out horizontally to the right, 
the other to the left; these, being pruned according to 
their strength to 4ft. or 5ft. in length, form the first or 
lower tier of branches on which the fruiting shoots or 
spurs are to be produced. The third. shoot is trained 
upright; if strong, it may be pruned to 4ft. or 5ft. long, 
and the following season one or more side branches may 
be added in & similar manner, the distance apart being 
18in. or 20in. The fruit-bearing shoots may be about 
lft. apart, and should be nailed in on the upper side of 
the stems only. Vines so trained may be extended to 
any distance, and pruned in winter in the usual manner. 
Disbudding must be carefully attended to, and the bearing 
shoots regularly stopped at one leaf beyond the fruit; 
and all the lateral shoots subsequently produced must 
be carefully removed. 
To secure the best results, the bunches and berries 
should be carefully thinned, and, in the case of white 
grapes, fully exposed during the ripening period to the 
lf long, straggling bunches are pro- 
duced, it is better to shorten them, as short, compact 
bunches ripen best. 4 
Varieties. The greater portion of the Sweetwater 
section, with a few of the smaller Muscats, will be fonnd 
more or less suitable for cultivation in the open air. 
In France the variety met with is invariably the Chasselas 
de Fontainebleau, which in this country is known as the ` 
-Muscadine. As grown in France, with the beauti- 
i on-russet colour, it is very rich and pleasant. 
The oyal Museadine is, at the present time, the 
leading grape for outdoor culture. A much better 
variety, not yet sufficiently well known, is the Chasselas 
Vibert, which produces larger berries, and  ripens 
about a fortnight earlier, than the Royal Muscadine ; 
Ascot Citronelle, Black July, Espiran, and Grove End 
Sweetwater, may also be recommended. In some 
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