Uaroh 12, 1874. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOOIiTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER.' 



215 



GRAPE VINE CULTURE FOR SMALL GARDENS- 



No. 1. 



^^^=^^^ E SPITE all that lias been written upon the 

 '^ ' Grape Vine and its culture, and especially 

 as no extraordinary amount of skill or in- 

 telligence is required to enable anyone to 

 master every detail of the process, it is sur- 

 C'^^S^^ prising that failures are so frequent. It 

 \g]^3/^ may be that too much is attempted to be 



done : the Vines are cropped too soon or 

 too heavily ; red spider or thrips destroys 

 the tissue of the foliage long before the sap 

 is elaborated ; the roots are parclisd and destroyed by 

 drought ; or mildew has attacked the Vines with such 

 virulence as to destroy all hopes of a crop. "Whatever may 

 have been the cause, the reality of such failures is an 

 undoubted fact, and this has induced me to communicate 

 one or two papers on the subject. 



When the amateur's glass house, or the solitary vinery 

 of a small garden, is first of all built, it is often regarded 

 as a sort of horticultural cornucopia that is to yield a 

 bountiful supply of the choicest flowers and fruit. Visions 

 of huge bunches of Grapes and the gayest flowers dwell 

 BO forcibly and constantly upon the mind as even to 

 envelope the builder's account — always a little heavier 

 than was expected — with a sort of halo, and for once a 

 cheque is written out with a feeling of real pleasm-e ; 

 for does not the teeming future gild the investment with 

 the brightness of its promise '? The first slight twinge of 

 doubt, the first dash of shade that is imparted to what 

 was hitherto all coleiir de rose, usually occurs when the 

 Vines are received, the so-called "strong, well-ripened" 

 canes often presenting so straw-like an appearance as to 

 give rise to the supposition that the strength of a young 

 Grape Vine must surely be wonderfully concentrated, or 

 else how can such weak-looking objects ever be brought 

 to produce those immense clusters of fruit, the sight of 

 which, probably, created the wish to grow some'? Well, 

 the Vines are duly planted, and some growth follows, but 

 from some mysterious cause it is neither very long nor 

 strong. Well would it be if the alarm were then taken, 

 and the advice of some good Grape-grower sought ; but 

 it is not always so. I very well remember being taken 

 into a new vinery one autumn by a person holding the 

 position of head gardener to a nobleman, who actually 

 pointed with an air — not of mortification — but of evident 

 satisfaction, to some Vines planted the previous spring, 

 the growth of which was exceedingly weak, and of an 

 average length of not more than .5 or G feet, and what 

 made such ignorant and miserable practice appear all the 

 more remarkable was the fact of the neighbourhood being 

 rather famous for its fine Grapes. Vines so treated very 

 seldom die outright, they linger on from year to year, 

 yielding perchance an occasional bunch or two. some- 

 times at length becoming tolerably i-obust and fruitful; 

 but it is the exception rather than the rule. I once saw 

 a vinery which was really most interesting and curious in 

 this respect. The whole of the Vines had, by way of 

 yi>. 67C.— Vol. XXVI., New SEEma.! 



experiment, been planted some years previously in a very 

 poor stiff clayey soil, surrounded by rich loam, the roots 

 receiving no artificial nutriment whatever. I do not think 

 any of the Vines failed to make some growth— certainly 

 the majority were alive when I saw them, and the roots 

 of several had made their way into the good soil, as the 

 vigorous growth laden with a splendid crop of ripe fiuit 

 clearly showed, while the remainder were still struggling 

 in the clay for bare existence. Nor does this remarkable 

 instance of the innate vigour and wonderful vitality of 

 the Vine stand alone, many examples might be cited of 

 Vines that have been reclaimed by skilful culture from 

 mediocrity to a high condition of excellence. Enough 

 has been said, however, to prove to those who have had 

 failures, that while the Vine is very tenacious of life, fair 

 treatment and suitable soil are necessary to successful 

 cultivation ; and before proceeding to show what these 

 are, it will be first of all necessary to provide a suitable 

 structure. 



There are numerous cheap houses in which Grapes and 

 some pot plants may be grown very well. For instance, 

 I used a few years ago to obtain some good crops of 

 Grapes in one of those curious buildings termed "Paxton 

 Vineries ;" but I do not recommend cheap houses, for 

 they are not very durable. 



A, Floor line. 



The accompanying figure is a section of a hght, strong, 

 and durable vinery suitable for any garden, but peculiarly 

 adapted to the requirements of an amateur by the ar- 

 rangement of the interior. The roof is a fixture ; air 

 given as shown. Its dimensions are : — Height of back 

 wall from floor, 9 feet G inches ; apex of roof from floor 

 line, 12 feet ; height of the front wall from the bottom of 

 the Vine border, 2 feet 8 inches ; height of the glazed 

 part of the front, 4 feet G inches ; width, IG feet ; extreme 

 height of stage, 3 feet ; width of stage, 5 feet ; the in- 

 terior retaining wall is 4^ inches, or a single brick in 

 thickness. The ii'on pillars require to be placed about 

 10 feet apart, and an iron bar passing along under the 

 roof from pillar to pillar imparts great strength to it. 

 The whole surface of the floor should be paved or con. 



No. 1S23.— Vol. LL, Old SEEisa. 



