^ Culture of the Vine in Pots. 



mon hot-bed is all the bottom heat that will be required ; secondly, 

 they will require but little care, compared with the above method ; 

 thirdly, they will make as strong vines as can be wished, the first 

 season — some of ours being half an inch in diameter ; fourthly, they 

 have produced, with us, more grapes than has been obtained (as 

 has been stated), by the coiling system ; and lastly, they require much 

 less expense, and by judicious management, grapes may be produced 

 almost every month in the year. 



The conductor of the Gardener's Magazine (J. C, Loudon, Esq.), 

 in a late visit through the northern parts of England, has noticed, 

 among other things, the cultivation of the grape in pots, as practised 

 at the Earl of Caernarvon's. The vines were raised fi-om eyes, and 

 treated precisely in the same manner we have adopted ; and from 

 seventy pots were produced four hundred and fifty pounds of grapes ; 

 the vines were only eighteen months from the eye. " This," says 

 the conductor, " may be considered as the extraordinary result of ex- 

 traordinary skill, attention and perseverance." We merely mention 

 this to show that we have been as successful in our practice as some 

 of the English gardeners; having raised from twenty-five to thirty 

 bunches of grapes, which would average nearly half a pound each, 

 on one vine. 



The particulars of cultivation, which we have pursued, are made 

 from memoranda taken during the time of their growth, from the 

 first insertion of the eye in the soil, to the ripening of the fruit. 



March 9th, 1833. — Shoots of the Black Hamburgh and White 

 Chasselas grapes were selected, and formed into cuttings of single 

 eyes or buds ; this operation was performed by cutting off the wood 

 in a sloping direction, one inch above the eye or bud, and two inches 

 below. By this method of raising vines from single eyes, they pro- 

 duce a greater number of fibrous roots, which enables them to absorb 

 an abundant supply of nourishment from the soil, and their growth 

 becomes proportionably vigorous and strong. It is of importance, in 

 selecting shoots for the purpose of forming the cuttings, to make 

 choice of wood that is well ripened, short-jointed, sound, and with 

 very little pith; such w'ood is more likely to be obtained from the 

 middle or lower parts of branches of healthy vines, than near the ex- 

 tremities. 



After the cuttings were prepared, pots of three or four inches di- 

 ameter were filled with a mixture of one third light sandy loam, 

 and two thirds leaf soil, in which the cuttings were inserted in a 

 slanting position, and each eye covered about half an inch in depth, 

 finishing off with a gentle watering, and the pots plunged to their 

 rims in a moderate hot-bed. 



At the commencement, strict attention was paid to the heat of the 

 bed, as it frequently happens, if the heat is too powerful, the eyes 

 will shoot up before any roots have protruded, and are very liable to 



