November 14, 1867. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HORTIODLTORB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



XI 



i\r.\N.\r,K^rRNT of %aNES. 



OFTEN wonder what a per- 

 son anxious for information 

 about Vine culture, and 

 practically ignorant of the 

 .subject, must think after 

 reading the various articles 

 which from time to time appear in " cm- .Tournal." It must 

 appear to him about the most difficult problem of modern 

 times. I once tocjk a friend of mine into the Nottingham 

 Manufacturing Company's machine-rooms. After seeing 

 tho wonderful " roundabout" stocldng- frames at work, 

 making stockings almost as fast as a man can walk, I 

 could sec tho effect upon liis mind was simply that of 

 astonishment. One of tho principals took great pains to 

 explain the action of the machines, wlien the look of 

 astonishment gave place to one of hopeless bewilderment, 

 I afterwards hoard liim trying to describe what he had 

 seen to some of his friends, but ho soon finished with, " The 

 fact is, I felt when I came out to know less than when I 

 went in." Is not this something like the experience of 

 some of your readers ? 



We have had border-making described as if it were a 

 process similar to making a bread-and-butter pudding — 

 lirst, a layer of bread, then a illm of butter, then a good 

 layer of currants, then bread again, and .so on. If a reader 

 knows an3'thing of agriculture and a little of geology, can 

 you not imagine him saying, '" Why, surely this is not 

 Nature's mode of preparing fertile iields : her layers ore 

 mixtures, and hundreds of feet thick ; the richest soil I 

 know has been formed by tho intimate admixture of two 

 or more formations ? " Then, again, the expense ; if such 

 a bordm- be necessary, who can afl'ord it ? 



Mr. Thomson, of Dalkeith, really does grow Grapes — 

 nay. he is said to have iirst-rate ones all the year round ; 

 good ripe ones on the 1st of .fanuaiy in each year; but 

 there is one writer who appears to have inherited the 

 seven-league boots, for he knows every region intimately 

 in which a Vine is growing, cultivated or uncultivateii, and 

 he says Mr. Thomson is altogether wrong. Na}', he has 

 asked tho Vines, and they say the.y do not store up a drop 

 of sap, but. like the birds, trust to the future both for them- 

 selves and theii- oll'spring — that as to rest, tho idea of their 

 requiring it is absurd, and that Mr. Thomson's houses are a 

 kind of infernal regions where they get far too much heat 

 and too little water, to say notliing of a horrid smell of 

 sulphur. 



liut tho most startling thing we have been told lately is 

 tliat we cannot hope to grow Vines properly till they have 

 unlimited room — at least a good-sized house for each plant. 

 I fancy I hear a gardener saying to his master, who has just 

 bnilt a good-sized vinery. " If you will allow me. sir, I should 

 No. S46.— Vol. xm., Viw Semis. 



like to fill this house with one Vine." " Do yon snppose I 

 have bnUt this house for the benefit of mj' grandchildren ? " 

 would probably be the repl}- ; or, " Do you think I want 

 to eat but one variety of Grape '.'" The gardener may say, 

 " Oh, I can work as many kinds upon it as you lilie ; ' and 

 the master may answer, " I have seen two Rose.s worked 

 on a Briar, and two Pears on one stock, and the trees 

 generally ' look like a pig mth one ear,' the stronger kind 

 always appropriates more than its fair share of sap. I ex- 

 pect this house to yield me a little fndt in two years, and 

 a good crop in thi-ee. Don't tell me of your extension- 

 system." 



But why talk of the differences of opinion as to the best 

 modes of cultivation when it is not yet settled what we 

 want to produce ':' One «Titer appears to have a suspicion 

 that the bloom on a black Grape is sometliing uncanny ; 

 at any rate there is no ilavoui- in it, and many would pre- 

 fer sweet red Black Hamburghs to glorious-looking Grapes- 

 wliich are a fortnight .short of perfection. 



Well, if to the mere beginner this is rather bewildering, 

 we must admit that to the more instructed it is advan- 

 tageous. ■\Ve cannot help thinking over some of the papers 

 referred to, and if we are obliged to think, that is some- 

 thing gained. I cannot, as I have a scribbling fit upon 

 me, resist the temptation of adding my pinch of salt to 

 " tills pretty kettle of fish ' I have been describing, hoping 

 no one will quote the proverb. " Too many cooks," &c. 



I believe where Vines are in a bad state that nine times 

 out of ten the pnming has been in fault. If a Vine is in 

 good soil every one will admit that it ought to floui'ish a 

 long time — some say one hundred years or more. Now, 

 what is the history of most Vines '! 



As far as my obsen-ation extends it is generally some- 

 thing like this. The third year the gardener and his 

 master are very fussy, and delighted to show their fine 

 crop of Grapes : notliing can be more satisfactory than the 

 ci'op H'hich depends from the rafters for half, or perhaps 

 two-thirds, of their length. By the fourth or fifth 3-ear there 

 is a full crop still verj' good, but not, perhaps, quite equal 

 to what the Grapes were either in bunch or berry. When 

 the Vines have boon planted six or seven years there are a 

 good many shanked Grapes, and, perhaps, a good deal of 

 red spider. The gardener is not comfortable and the 

 master dissatisfied, and shortly a new man is in charge. 



It is found now tliat some great mistake was made in 

 the formation of the border. A new one is made at great 

 expense, fresh Vines are planted, and when they come into 

 bearing all goes on well for a time — but only for a time. 

 If this be true, and I know it is in many cases wliich have 

 come under my own observation, it requires explanation. 

 Now. is it sometliing like this '.' 



Whilst the Vines are young they are annually cut back 

 part of the way, and there is a young vigorous top which 

 carries no fruit, but makes strong and healthy foliage the 

 next season ; but a time comes in which the whole rod is 

 expected to bear fruit. Now, what takes place? Each 

 side shsot is stopped one leaf above the fruit, and. perhaps, 

 it is not allowed to make any more leaves during the season, 

 or. what is worse, the Vine is allowed to make a considcrabla 

 No. 998.— Vol. XXXVUL, 0u> Sssm. 



