November 28, 1887. J 



JOUENAL OF HOETICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



397' 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Say 



of 

 Month 



30 

 1 

 2 



a 



4 



Day 



of 



Week. 



Th 

 F 



S 



Sun 



M 



To 



W 



NOV. 28-DEC. 4, 1867. 



Royal Horticnltural Society, Promena<le. 

 Advent Sunday. Pas. of Wales Boiin, 

 Winter commenced. rit<44. 



KoyalHorticoltnrttl Society.Fruit, Fior;U, 

 [iiud General Meeting. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Seta. 



m. h. I IB. h. I m. h. 

 »a{3 : 17af9 ! 4a{6 



5 10 

 46 10 

 20 11 

 SO 11 

 after. 

 44 



54 10 

 59 11 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 2 

 8 

 4 



u 

 6 



7 



5 



Clook 

 after 

 Snn. 



10 53 

 10 30 



Year. 



8.S2 



335 

 636 

 387 

 338 



Prom observations taken near London dnring the last forty yo,irg, tho avorace dav tomporatnro of the week is 47 

 temperatnre 48.9'. Tho greatest heat was 01-, on the 4th, 1857; and the lowest cold 11', on the SOth, 1856. The gri 

 vas 1.21 inch. 



9 - ; anil its night 

 greatest fall of ruin 



MANAGEMENT OF VINES. 



QUITE agree witli yoiu- 

 correspondent Jlr. Pearson 

 (page ••ilili, that the eu- 

 tircl}' inexperienced in Vine 

 culture must oftentimes be 

 lost in the mazes of be- 

 mlderment into wliicli the clasliing prescriptions, which 

 are tendered from time to time, are calculated to lead them. 

 No gi-eater service could be rendered to an increasing host 

 of amateurs, who would like to grow for tliemselves a few 

 Grapes, than to unravel the subject from mneh — though 

 good in its own place, perhaps — that is expensive, and 

 that tends to frighten many from attempting the culture of 

 a fruit to produce veiy fair samples of wliicli, and of excel- 

 lent quality, does not call for anything beyond very com- 

 mon means. To do tliis is to my mind one of the most 

 desirable horticultural obje(^ts of the present time. 



What has recently been said as to the restrictive system 

 ending in the destruction of Vines and in disappointed hopes, 

 is calculated to do great harm : and, to my mind, much 

 that has been said of tho extension system of training is 

 equally calculated to do harm. The same may be said of 

 the calcareous tm-fy loam, bone, charcoal, horse-droppings, 

 lime rubbish, &c., as the indispensable requisites of a border 

 to grow Grapes, whether mixed on the " bread-and-butter 

 pudding " system or on any other. The less butter and more 

 bread that is typilied in the Vine border of the inex- 

 perienced the better, if they are to steer clear of what I 

 way call bilious Vines. 



Not ha%-ing a word to say against the finest turfy 

 loam, bones, charcoal, ttc, that the greatest lord of the 

 manor can ('otnmand, at the same time let not tlie amateur 

 be deterred from cheering his more hiunblc bo.ard with 

 good Grapes because he cannot procure all or any of these 

 ingi'edients. Tlie sooner the idea is generally exploded, 

 that fair and good Grapes cannot be produced by much 

 more simple and inexpensive compost, the better will it be 

 for the spread of Grape-growing in this countiy. Nay, I 

 am confident that many for their Vines go hunting after 

 loam that can be termed turfy, when a fiir safer material 

 is lying in their own vegetable ground. Amateurs should 

 be led to understand, that thourrh turf is desirable— not 

 indispensable— to start young Vines in. yet if the loam 

 tliey procure is lilccly in the course of years to revert to 

 an adhesive mass of mould, they would in the long run bo 

 much better witli any friable ordinary garden soU well 

 <lraiaed, and having but little manure of any sort mixed 

 with it, applying tho manure, instead, to the surface in 

 the shape of mulching. 



I have lately renewed about 400 feet in length of Vine 

 borders, and used, in the lir.st instance, fine, light, turfy loam, 

 Mo. StS,— ToL Xin,, Mbw SsmaB. 



the very same as tliat in whicli we grow our Pine Apples. 

 As a walk runs along close to the front of the houses, 

 these borders were very narrow, and «nly served to start 

 the Vines. The most of the walk has been taken up and 

 added to tlie borders, and, in doing so, I have not used a 

 single spadeful of turf — nothing beyond the ordinary 

 kitchen garden soU iwliich is a light sandy loam}, and a 

 few bones mixed witli it, and the Vines have improved 

 very much by such an addition of soil. I have encouraged 

 amatciu's to begin Vine-culture without any turfy loam, 

 and their success has been far more than they expected. 



As to the extension system being looked upon as neces- 

 saiy to the longevity of Vines. I consider this a doctrine 

 calculated to raise imaginary diihcultics to the class I am 

 now attempting to encourage. Monster houses and big 

 Vines are not subjects to be condemned by any one. Foi- 

 my own part I tliink the plan excellent ; Imt I see nothing 

 that has been yet discovered in vegetable phj'siology that 

 can prove that a A'ine on the single-rod system is not able 

 to maintain its health for as long a time as one with three 

 or four rods. Some maj' say, " Oh, look at the numerous 

 instances of one-rod Vines perishing, and see those few 

 noble specunens in Perthshii-e, at Fiuchley, and Hampton. 

 Court." Suppose these large ^'ines were attempted as 

 numerously as the more limited in size, would they, too. not 

 call for a calendar of mortality, especially if about half of 

 tliem were forced to ripen their crops in April and May '? 



My idea has always been that the liealth and long life of 

 a Vine depended, all other things being favourable, on the 

 weight of crop carried in proportion to the amount of roots 

 and leaves kept in good health. We have a late \-inery 

 here five feet wide, and with a nine-feet rafter. It was- 

 planted nine years ago, and it has ripened eight heavy 

 crops of Grapes, wliich hung on the Vines for live or six 

 months after being ripe. These Vines are on the system 

 of a single rod to a rafter, and instead of yet showing 

 signs of death from restriction they are improving every 

 year by tlie addition of some common garden soil to their 

 roots, and allowing the summer growth to remain for three 

 or four joints beyond the bunch, instead of pincliing at 

 the first joint. 



Take courage, ye amateurs who cannot step into an old 

 pasture or deer park for soil, and who cannot build a. 

 liousc as big as a man-of-war for one or two Vines. I do 

 not advocate veiy small vineries, nor nine-feet Vines : but 

 good Grapes can be giown in such, as many an amateur 

 has proved. 



Another question which has been frequently put to me. 

 especially by people holding land on lease. " How many 

 years would it be before I had Grapes if I were to build 

 a vinery?" It is no stretch of ordinary practice to tcU 

 the amateur that lie can plant one year and have nearly 

 a full crop of Grapes in the year following, by planting- 

 the Vines ■■> feet apart, and cropping every alternate Vine 

 the next season, cutting down those that aie to be per- 

 manent for one or two seasons, if considered desirable. 

 I find many amateurs have the idea that a Mne must 

 be so many years old, and cut down so many times, 

 before tlicy can obtain Grapes, if tliey build a house. 



Ko. lOOO.-Voi,. XXSVUI., OiJ> SBBisa, 



