196 Cultivation and Management of Grape Vines in Pots. 



them from the frost. Here they remain until January, by 

 which time they will begin to form a callosity, preparatory to 

 the production of roots : they are then put separately into three- 

 inch pots, using a little loam with the leaf-mould and road- 

 sand, and are placed in a temperature of from fifty to sixty 

 degrees, where they remain until they produce two or three 

 leaves, by which time the pots will be found full of roots. At 

 this time, they are shifted into six-inch, or larger, pots, being 

 guided by the strength of the plants, and state of their roots, 

 adding more loam to the compost, with a portion of charred 

 cow-dung, and charred bones. After this shift, the heat is 

 increased to sixty or eighty degrees, placing the plants as near 

 the glass as possible, giving abundance of air at every favor- 

 able opportunity, and keeping the atmosphere of the house as 

 moist as possible. About the beginning of May, they are re- 

 moved into ten-inch pots, still adding more loam ; and, as 

 soon as I find the roots have reached the side of the pots, I 

 stop each plant back to within two feet of the pot. This stop- 

 ping of the vine I consider a very essential point, as it strength- 

 ens them very much at the lower part, and fills up the lower 

 buds for fruit : by adopting this practice, 1 have had vines 

 fruitful to within six inches of the pots. When a leading shoot 

 is fairly started, all lateral shoots are taken out, and, about 

 the middle of June, the plants receive their final shift, using 

 pots thirteen inches wide at the top, and twelve inches deep, 

 and the same compost as before, but adding rather more of 

 the charred bones and cow-dung. When the pots begin to 

 fill with roots, the vigorous growth of the vines is commenced 

 — giving abundance of air throughout the day, shutting up 

 in the afternoon, at ninety degrees, and plying the syringe 

 pretty freely, never allowing the foliage to become dry so long 

 as the sun shines upon the border. By this treatment, it is 

 astonishing how much growth the plants make during the 

 night, and, by giving plenty of air during the day, the wood 

 is short-jointed, hard, and well-ripened. In this manner, 

 shoots of from fifteen to twenty feet long, and two inches 

 round, near the pot, have frequently been produced ; each 

 plant showing from forty to fifty bunches. This year, a rod 

 seven feet long showed thirty-three bunches, but, of course, 

 the plant could not bring any thing like this number to per- 



