112 



THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN POTS- 



had the next buds remained, might easily 

 have been supplied. 



The number of bunches that may be left 

 on each vine will depend on the soil, size 

 of the pot, &c. When the vines are strong, 

 and No. 2 pots are used, I usually leave six 

 or seven bunches on the Hamburgh, the 

 same on the Sweetwater, and one or two 

 more on the Muscadine. If the vines are 

 not &o strong, four or five bunches on the 

 Hamburgh will be sufficient. It is much 

 better to have rather fewer bunches and 

 the berries fine and well coloured, than ill- 

 coloured puny bunches, which always is 

 the case when too many are left on the 

 vine. The vines from being placed in the 

 house, presuming their buds to be swelled, 

 must have their temperature raised from 

 55° fire-heat to G5^ when in bloom, and it 

 will be better if this heat by night is never 

 exceeded ; of course, on all days when 

 there is no likelihood of sun-heat, the heat 

 of the house should be raised 5° or 10^ by 

 artificial means. Air should be admitted 

 by some means or other every day early; 

 this is of consequence, or the leaves are apt 

 to get damp, and their texture being so 

 extremely thin, when the hot sun and dry- 

 ing winds of March act on the foliage, they 

 often burn and shrivel, and consequently 

 are unable to swell off" the fruit or give it 

 colour. During all the time the vines are 

 in a fruiting state, manure water in some 

 shape or other must be frequently given. 

 Dung water is made of various ingredients, 

 but in whatever way it is made, it ought to 

 ferment before using and should b^ applied 

 in a pure state, and at a temperature equal, 

 at least, to that of the house. The drain- 

 ing from farm-j^ards is always good and 

 safe. I use manure water, made by pour- 

 ing nearly boiling water on equal parts of 

 sheep or deer dung and fresh horse-drop- 

 pings ; this is fined by a lump of fresh 

 lime, is drawn off clear, and when used is 

 diluted with equal parts of rain water. A 

 very weak solution of guano is beneficial, 

 but great caution is required in using it. 

 It is astonishing during the period of active 

 growth, what an immense quantity of dung 

 water vines will take. I have frequently 

 watered them twice a day with it, and this 

 I prefer to placing bottom-pans or feeders 

 under the pots, as is often done. If the 



dung water is properly cleared and diluted^ 

 it may be given twice for fresh water once ', 

 when the grapes are fully swelled, and be- 

 ginning to colour, water must be more 

 sparingly applied, using clean water only. 

 The fl.ivor of grapes is often spoiled by 

 being over-watered when ripening their 

 fruit, by the proper proportion of carbon and 

 water, which constitxites the saccharine mat- 

 ter in grapes, being destroyed and water 

 formed in excess. 



When the fruit is ripe, if the house is 

 wanted for other purposes, the plants may 

 be removed to any dry house or room, 

 where the grapes will keep until wanted. 



The varieties I have found best for early 

 forcing are, the Hamburgh, Dutch Sweet- 

 water, and Muscadine. The small-berried 

 varieties, as the Esperione and others, are 

 hardly worth growing, compared with the 

 above. Muscats, and all the delicate sorts, 

 as the Frontignan, answer admirably later 

 in the season, and thus the amateur and 

 those who possess hut a small extent of 

 glass may cultivate all the varieties of 

 grapes procurable in British nurseries, at 

 but a trifling additional expense. 



Although I have given directions how to 

 render fruitful vines in one season, yet, 

 when a stock is once acquired they may be 

 kept for years in a fruitful state, by resting 

 them at alternate seasons. Thus those 

 plants which have fruited in spring may be 

 turned out of their pots into a border, where 

 they will require no farther trouble until 

 the following spring, when they may be 

 taken up, their roots reduced in some de- 

 gree, and placed in pots again, planting 

 them deeper than they previously were; 

 they may then have the same management 

 as young plants, and will make very strong 

 canes in the course of the summer. I have 

 vines in pots now in fruit that have borne 

 three or four previous crops. When the 

 cultivator prefers boxes to pots, they may 

 be used, from 14 to 16 inches square, which 

 will be quite large enough ; they can be 

 packed on shelves more closely together 

 than pots, and are more handy to move 

 about. 



By the above process grapes maybe pro- 

 cured by the end of March and April, with- 

 out interfering with those planted outside, 

 and I would particularly recommend its 



