April 12, 1377. ) 



JOUKXiL 0? KOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



VINE CULTUKE. 



V^Sf^^NOWING tliat your space is valuable I do 

 M '!r>*y&^ liot propose writing a long history of where 



the Vine comes from, under what conditions 

 ™^^'' it thrives best naturally, how it has been 



treated in this country in past ages, or the 



f[^i^^^ position it is likely to occupy in time to 

 j^*' come ; but I particularly wish to give a few 

 practical suggestions on Vine-growing which 

 may be of service to those who are desh-ous 

 of secm'ing a good crop of Grapes. To make 

 what I have to say as easily understood as possible I will 

 aiTange my remarks under separate headings, beginning 

 with 



Thinsixg the Shoots. — It is said that a prevailing 

 error amongst amateur gardeners is an aversion to pruning 

 trees and plants so closely as they should be pruned, 

 and if this be true in cutting-in the dormant wood it is 

 none the less so in thinning growing shoots. In pruning 

 Vines it is a common practice to leave two and sometimes 

 thi-ee eyes to each spur. Good Grape-gi-ower.s do this, 

 but they are very particular in removing all the buds 

 when they do start excepting one — the strongest and 

 most fruitfal. Many, however, allow every bitd to grow 

 into a shoot for the season, as may often be seen by two 

 or three shoots clustering together. I can attribute this 

 to nothing else but fear of doing harm by removing any 

 of them, whereas the greatest harm occurs in allowing 

 them to remain. It is a simple matter to prove this, and 

 I would advise those who think diiferently to try it. One 

 good shoot from each spur will produce more and better 

 fruit than three or four shoots from the same base. It 

 is well known that the greatest harm that can be done 

 to any fruit tree is crowding the wood, and it is quite 

 impossible to gi-ow three or four shoots from one Vine 

 bud without injuriously crowding them. Fine crops can 

 only be secured by thoroughly ripening the wood ; and 

 although Vine wood may become brown in colour it will 

 not ripen thoroughly under a mass of leaves. I have a 

 houseful of old Black Hamburghs which I intend to make 

 youthfully vigorous this season. They are showing from 

 two to sis bnds from each spur. As soon as I can see 

 which bud has the finest promise of a bunch all the others 

 will be removed, and if the single shoot does not become 

 very thick this year it vnW be sure to ripen well, and that 

 will be worth a great deal next season. 



Stopping the Shoots. — -This is another matter which 

 should never be neglected. It is a bad plan even when 

 the shoots are well thinned to allow many of them to ran 

 many f.^et before they are stopped. This is just another 

 way of overcrowding ; but it is worse than that, because 

 the shoots must be stopped some time, and when yards in 

 length are removed from them at a time the consequence 

 in loss of sap is serious. My plan — and one I find 

 answers well — is to pinch every shoot two joints beyond 

 the bunch, and this is done as soon as the shoot is suflS- 

 ciently long to admit of doing this. The point thus early 

 taken away is no thicker than a small o in the Journal, 



Ko. 837.— Vol. JLXXU., New Series. 



and it is impossible for this to have any checking ten- 

 dency. Those shoots bearing no fruit are stopped three 

 or four joints from the main rod, and they are not allowed 

 to grow further than this the whole season, as it serves no 

 good purpose to let them do so. 



Tying the Shoots. — I have seen many shoots not 

 tied until they were breaking their points against the 

 glass, and others again are in too great haste to train 

 them into their permanent places, and break them in 

 consequence. There is no difhculty in tying shoots which 

 grow in a right direction from the first, but those which 

 go the opposite way from the wires have to be carefully 

 dealt with, such shoots must be tied two or three times. 

 At the first tying only incHne them out of the direction 

 they are going, next time bring them half-way to the 

 wires, and finally at the third time fix them in the 

 position they are to occupy. 



Thinning the Bunches. — All Vines in a healthy con- 

 dition always produce many more bunches than are suffi- 

 cient for a crop. Many shoots produce two bunches ; the 

 larger one is generally next the rod and the smaller one 

 nearer the point. This small one should always be 

 removed first, and this must be done all over the house, 

 and if there are still too many cut away the poorest of 

 those which remain. Vines of different strength will bear 

 different crops in weight, but in the generality of cases 

 it is safe to leave a bunch to every alternate shoot. 

 Amateurs, as a rule, err in allowing too many bunches 

 to remain on, and in nine cases out of ten this is the 

 sole cause of the Grapes failing to come to perfection. 



Syringing. — This is an operation which most amateurs 

 like to try their hand at ; but squirting morning, noon, 

 and night keeps the leaves and surface of the border in 

 an overdamp state, and nothing will produce mUdew 

 quicker than this. Syringe thoroughly, and have done 

 with it for days or weeks together if no insects appear. _ 



Watering the Koots. — Without abundance of mois- 

 ture at the root no good will ever result from any amount 

 of attention to every other particular. Some recommend 

 about three waterings in the season where the border is 

 well drained, but this is not nearly suflioient. Once 

 a-fortnight is not too often to saturate the roots when 

 the Grapes are green, and watering should not be discon- 

 tiaued until the fruit is more than half ripe.— A Kitchen 

 Gardener. 



FLOBIST FLOWERS RAISED FROM SEED. 



Carn.\tion and Picotee. — These are among the sweetest 

 and most beautiful of flowers for cutting. Raised from 

 seed the plants are more robust in habit, and very much 

 more floriferous than from layers. In a good strain of seed 

 as many as 75 per cent, of the seedlings will afford double 

 flowers, many of them very novel and distinct in colour; 

 for though seed may be had in collections as self, flake, 

 bizarre, fancy with white ground, and the last three in 

 yellow gi-ound— viz., yellow flake, yellow bizan'e, yellow 

 fancy and self, yet it is not desirahle to rely upon the colours 

 specified being produced. Picotees in collections] have 

 white and yellow grounds both variously margined.ljWhere 

 No. 11S3.— Vol. LVU., Old Series. 



