ac. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



So long ago as the year 1873 we were induced to commence a series 

 of short papers on VINES AND VINE CULTURE for the pages of TJie 

 Florist and Pomologist. Although appearing at distant and irregular 

 intervals, these papers have, in the course of time, extended to some 

 length ; and inasmuch as they embrace certain matters pertaining to 

 Grape-growing that had not before been introduced into any work 

 specially devoted to the Vine, they have met with a considerable 

 amount of notice and approval. 



Thus encouraged, and having been repeatedly urged to have the 

 whole re-published in such a form as to make it a comprehensive 

 Guide or Text Book on Vine culture^-primarily for the use of amateurs 

 and young gardeners we have at length consented to do .so, in the 

 hope that, despite its many imperfections and omissions, it may be 

 the means of affording some useful aid to those who are interested in 

 the growth of Grapes. 



VINES AND VINE CULTURE, as it is now submitted to the public, 

 much exceeds in extent and variety the papers originally published in 

 The Florist and Pomologist, many new chapters having been added, 

 together with numerous plates and other illustrations. The portraits 

 of the varieties of Grapes have been photographed from Nature 

 directly on to the wood block by Mr. A E. Smith, and engraved with 

 much skill by Mr. Worthington G. Smith. 



The Vine has not hitherto been without its records, for many 

 treatises, from the pens of the most experienced cultivators of the day, 

 have from time to time appeared. These are entitled to the very 

 greatest respect, as being records of successful practice in the manage- 

 ment of the Vine, and the production of its fruit. Indeed, scarcely 

 any gardening subject has been more ably or more copiously dealt 

 with. It has been our endeavour to go a little beyond our prede- 

 cessors in the same walk, and to treat of Vines and Grapes in all their 

 various phases and characters ; in a word, to provide a work on Vines 

 that may at times prove useful to the skilled practitioner, as well as 

 to the inexperienced amateur or the student. 



In our official capacity as Superintendent of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's Garden establishments, we have enjoyed special facilities 

 for becoming acquainted with, and ascertaining the characters and 



