rniMtaitoriM, wefcl ■ JOIISM£n:^OP HdaTIOULTUIffi AND OOTTAGBi GAJIDBNBR^) 



6?& 



in wiJtk. These were both dri'ssnil witli totttn miuiuroand 

 half-incli bonpB. and tlion ttenclird 2 ieet in diptli, iiiii\in« tlio 

 <lTu.<<Hiui; vith the miil. Wishiiiff for uumoihutu e)X««t, »ad 

 having [ilfntj- of young \ ineH, I plantod twenty on cftili hidi' — 

 forty in nil. In a few yearn tliey will, pmbftlily, ho tot) uiuiOi 

 cniwdcil, I sluill then remove some of them. I'or those noti 

 vifhin^ to do this, fifteen Vines in eoeh border wonld be 

 enouRli. The ureat recoinniandation of this mode of |jlunlini{ 

 Vines in a liouso is the plwlsiuo derived from boiuK able to 

 \r(dk amonp them to pcnno, pinch, and direct their Bhoots, iwd. 

 gather their fruit. 



In the house of a friend, whieh Tvas deToted to the oalture of 

 Mnacnt <Trnpf«, and forced. 1 once saw some Vinon trained to 

 perpendicular iron rods which reached t<> the lop of the hoUKC 

 ^abont 12 feet. Tliev were full of luio bunelun from bottom 

 to top. H<' mentioned the ureiit pleasure lii^ derived from thoir 

 culture, and on my in(iiiirinj4 if tlie lower spurs broke kindly, 

 he snid that they never failed, but that he took the precaution 

 of detacJiinfj the Vines from the rods and placing them in a 

 horiisontal position till their Fhoot."! wore 2 inches lonn. \\'ith 

 this sypfcern of Rrowin^ Cinipes it is necessary; it is also re- 

 ODDimendud by some authors to be practised with Vines trained 

 to tho roof. 



■ I have been tempted to advert to tliis method of growinf? 

 (irapos to introduce a new {'!) method of plantiu;; Vinos, recently 

 c«mmunicatoil to me by a very old French cultivator and 

 friend. It in based on such sound principles, that although it 

 may be so old as to be almost ridicnlous in me to publish it, 

 still I will risk it. ., - ,,| . n , ... ..n ! ' 



Prosiiminc that your Vine, as usual in this country, has a 

 single rod of a length of from B to 7 feet, you must cut oat all 

 the buds from thu bottom to 2! feat up the stem ; then, after 

 plantinR your Vine in the nsual way, make a eirciUar furrow 

 2 inches deep to receive the coil, as in the armexod fiijare, 

 fasten the coil to the bottom of the furrow with two hooked 

 pegs, a «, cover it with soil well pressed down, fasten the upri?»ht 

 shoot to tho stake, and the work is done. Tlio surface of the 

 soil over the enii should bo covcrod with some rotten manure, 

 lOjnches iu depth, to enoourafje the buried part of the stem 

 to emit roots rapidlyan ,A A ,'■ 



t aa;iod 9ill 



■i ^ 



A coil 9 inches in diameter will take 2 J feet of stem to make 

 it. A coil 10 inches, and one 12 inches iu diameter, will take 

 resjiectively 3 feet, and about 3^ feet of stem. So that in 

 )>lanting a line cane from (j to 7 feet in length you nuiy coil 

 and bury half its length instead of " cutting it down," ami thus 

 throwing away that part of it ou which the buds are most 

 highly developed. In the pot culture of Vines, a coil iu.<*t in- 

 side the rim of the pot covered with a rich compost, would 

 give much vigour to the plant and enable it to carry auore 

 bunches. 11 



Tho mtioimlt: of this simple method of planting a Vine is, 

 that by merely giving it a large rooting surface a vastly in- 

 creased vigour of growth is pronjoted ; the coiling, as is found iu 

 twisting a layer in nm'series, inducing rooting very rapidly, so 

 that a Vine in a very early stage of its growth liuds abuudauce 

 of f,iod. It is not only to Vines planted in pots, and ii /« 

 "vineyard under glass," tliat this mode of planting maybe 

 applied, there is no doubt that it will give increased vigour to 

 Vines planted iu the nsual way to be trained under the roof. 

 My friend was very eloquent when telling me the effects of this 



coil-planting in h'w garden iu' France, and I feci (piitc assured 

 thaf. pobn/.uj:d,>v^U.)Jsjflcyflr(>d,by fMf,1^"l'MnP't "^ England, 

 -rlHW-iiUvKKfifi/it (i)mii.'T(') <)c(t ••) vr-iioi •■■.i o 



How many persons there are who would liKC to know the 

 ]irolial)le weather, perhaps only for one day, it may be for a 

 lew hours, is a statement which I think will be conceded by 

 all to be true; but how few there rtro who try to attain that 

 objcot by' tho means which liave beon plaijed within, their reach 

 bv the. a'tea<ly advance of mon^e-. Mspji many years elapsed 

 before the. sailor would plwa ■ tjic slightest reliance uu the 

 lluctuations of the barometer; even now there arc foiuid many 

 )>ersuns who cavil at that instrument, deny its utility, and 

 totally disregard its movomeuts, solely,! believe, because when 

 rain han;des(iouded theii; barvmetei; indicated " s(!t fair " or ri(>e, 

 nr^i'i. Now, not only to the mariner ouglit, tl"' barometer tg 

 become a familiar instrument, but also to the gardener. Does 

 not the latter depend on fine and wet w eather for the various 

 crops and flowers which cover and adorn the fields and gardens 

 of Kngland? Are not his plaps CHjiBtanlly deleat<ul, his calcu- 

 lations thrown into disorder, by a'Jong continuance of rain, 

 and his anticipation.s of beautiful cropsStQ^ a severe drought? 

 Can this state of things^ei' reversed ? In o-mt sense, certainly 

 not ; but it is possible foiJ every intelligent ga'rdpner to have 

 at his command an instrument which will tuU him from its 

 fluctuations the probable weather fqi- a few suc('eeding days, 

 and such-ft^ instrument would, I, am, sure, be placed ^vitbin the 

 reach of evfery gardener by all masters if thy latter 'only kanew 

 the benefit^ indirectly derived from (uich a-pnice(Jii:tg.; 



Now, to !use the insitruipeiit correctly, thfc gardener must 

 entirely ,lay aside the notion that because the hand in a 

 barometer points towards " fair," therefore llie coming weather 

 must necessarily be fair. "U'eather cannot be forec-ast in that 

 way. How ought it to be done ? I will tell you. 'Ton must 

 study the fluctuations of the barometer, the teinperature, and 

 the changes of tVe -wi«Ar«iv<tr;y4ayi a t . Ro m e^x.ed time, say 

 !) A.M., and note tjicse, changes dowi^ on .a chart. : A chart is 

 indispensable, fori the memory is very tlofuctive, and-syithout 

 such an artificial aid-it.ttou|d be imDoggibie.JO remetnher from 

 day to day the ditTereut heights of the column of mercury, the 

 various temper.atqres, or the successive changes of: the wind. 

 A steady rising gliiss is as .1 rule an indication of fiiie_weather, 

 and a falling one of the revoVse. Constant oscillations^--;, c, the 

 mercury rising and fallinfj in the tube, foretell stormy and 

 unsettled wcatherJ Any oho can see whether a barometer has 

 been risibg or faljing during the past days by reference to his 

 chart. There is no expense attending such bbservations, and 

 the gain; is immense.' Now, how does the gardener, benefit 

 himself* ' I will suppose he is waiting for I'ain previously to 

 planting.; He looks at his, chart ; he finds that the mercury 

 has been- rising for some days past, and still continues to rise. 

 In all probability i he knows there will be no rain-r(I use the 

 word probability, because lam suro as long as this world lasts 

 no one w^ll be able to tell with absolute certsiinty the coming 

 weatherir^and he i defers his planting until tlie steady descent 

 of the baiomcter gives him hojie of rainy weather. 



It seems to me] that, hy'thf! means placed within tho reach 

 of most persons, ; yjrai(e''iV weather can bc'reckoued upon, 

 and with that knowledge the world must rest content. By 

 degrees, as the observer gains experience,' he will note how 

 the barometerlias-beeti- affected by previous gales, frost, or 

 Buow. I admit that without a barometer many arc exceedingly 

 weathcrwise. Persons who are constantly in the open air form 

 an estimate of the future weather with rare ability, each iu 

 his own way. One observes certain atmospheric appearances 

 which lead him to (^upjiose there will he a fine day ; while 

 another lays great stress Oft a change of weather coming with 

 the new moon. Some foretell cold weather from the appear- 

 ance of particular birds before winter; and others, again, pro- 

 lihesy bad weather from rainbows, halos round tlie sun and 

 moon, the " hacking " of the wind, or the twinkling of stars. 

 Home note the peculiar habits of different aniiuals before rain; 

 whilst meteors aud comet.s are supposed by others to affect our 

 climate for the time. Now thesu weather .predicting peraoiis 



shonbl not he despised, but,I,,wo}44!P<VJi 'i9,!^?fflv' A-'^'^f'^^^^f^^r-- 

 will make you all-powerful." . ■ / ,,,.,,;',,-, , ■. . . ■ 



Those few remarks wonld not be complete unless, in con- 

 cluding, I made mention of the dry-aud-wet-bulb thermometer 

 as a great and necessary aid to tho haioiueter . iti estimating 

 probable weather. By its help a knowledge of ;the njoisture jn 



