212 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



wall, 11 in. deep, the whole plant is buried in it, except the three buds on 

 the young wood. This is the first step in the journey of the plant to the 

 wall, and the operation, which is nearly the same as that called provigner 

 in some districts, is repeated every spring-, till the plant reaches the wall ; 

 which at Thomery it generally does in three years. 



In some of the gardens at Montreuil, and in that of Decouffle, in Paris, 

 the cuttings are planted at the bottom of the wall, where they remain two 

 years, and the third spring they are taken up and planted 4 or 5 ft. distant 

 from the wall, and their stems laid down at full length so as to reach the 

 wall at once, much in the manner employed by Mr. Judd (Encyc. ofGard., 

 &2861.), but without cutting, instead of which, stones or brickbats' are laid 

 here and there on the shoots, which stimulate them to throw out roots. It 

 must be observed that in Mr. Judd's case, and also at Montreuil and other 

 gardens at Paris, the soil is, or is supposed to be, much richer than it 

 Thomery. 



" At Thomery," Mr. Robertson observes, "the vines being planted closer 

 have a more limited range for food, and the numerous roots produced by 

 the frequent laying in of the stems, occupy the border so fully as to prevent 

 any redundancy of moisture or excess of nutriment ; and instead ot a rank 

 luxuriant growth, they are furnished with short, well ripened shoots, 

 closely set with bearing eyes, which, when the ground is well manured, 

 seldom fail to afford abundant crops. 



The sort of grape most in repute at Thomery, is the Fontainebleau or 

 Royal Muscadine. 



Training and Winter pruning.— " During the formation of the cordons, 

 the spurs on their arms will successively come into bearing, and each when 

 pruned down at the season to two or three eyes, will produce as many shoots 

 with fruit. Of these, at the next winter's pruning, only the lowest shoot is 

 to be suffered to remain, and that at. the same time is to be cut back to one, 

 two, or three eyes, according to its strength. The eyes at the bottom of the 

 spurs are very small and much crowded, there are at least six within the 

 space of one sixth part of an inch; when the spurs are cut to the length of 

 one or two inches, these small eyes are robbed by those above them; but 

 when the spurs are cut short immediately above these eyes, they then break, 

 develope themselves, and produce good bunches. Of this the vignerons ot 

 Thomery are well aware; they never leave their spurs more than one inch 

 long, and sometimes less : by which means they always keep the bearing 

 od at home; and, extraordinary as it may appear, spurs that have borne 

 tor twenty years are no more than one inch long. Should more than two 

 shoots break from a spur, all above that number are suppressed, and Dot 

 mure than two bunches are left on each of these, for a moderate crop of good 

 grapes proves of greater value than a more abundant crop of inferior 

 quality. When the space of walling allotted to the rive cordons is com- 

 pletely occupied, about 8 ft. square .or 64 square feet are filled, and the pro- 

 duce calculated on is 320 bunches; for each arm being 4 ft. long, and 

 furnished with spurs 6 in. apart, the two arms will carry lb' spurs of two 

 eyes each; and allowing two bunches to every eye, each tier or cordon 

 should bear 64 bunches, the number on five cordons will consequently 

 amount to 320. 



" This precise length of 4 ft. to each arm has been determined by expe- 

 rience to be the fittest; the vignerons found that when the arms were left of 

 a greater length, the spurs in the centre gradually declined, and good 

 bunches were produced only at the extremities of the cordon; but when 

 reduced to 4 ft , the spurs on the whole length were perfect, their eyes well 

 tilled, and the bunches of fruit fine and well swelled. 



"Training in cordons after this manner affords these additional advan- 

 tages; every portion of the wall is, equally furnished with bearing wood, 

 and when once the cordons are completed, the pruning and training be- 

 comes so uniform and simple that it may be intrusted to any intelligent 

 workman. But what renders this practice of still greater value in this coun- 

 trv is, that the fruit on these small spurs always ripen* earlier than on (he 

 trr n-nod. 



"When vines arc trained with more than one cordon, it is evident from 

 what has already been said, that the lower tiers will eventually hei ome en 

 feebled by the mote powerful vegetation and shade of those above themi 



