GRAPE HYACINTH 



395 



GRAPE VINE 



Stove evergreen tree. Cuttings of ripe shoots in sandy 

 soil, in heat, under a glass ; peat and loam. Summer 

 temp., 60 to 85 ; winter, 55 to 60. 

 G. borbo'nica (Bourbon). 40. White. Bourbon. 1823. 



GRAPE HYACINTH. Musca'ri. 

 GRAPE PEAR. Amela'nchier canade'nsis. 



GRAPE VINE. Vi'tis vini'fera. 



Varieties for Walls. i. August Muscat. 2. Early Black 

 July. 3. Miller's Burgundy. 4. Esperione. 5. Hatif di 

 Genes. 6. Royal Muscadine, White. 7. Royal Mus- 

 cadine, Black. 8. Sweet Water, White Dutch. 9. Sweet 

 Water, Black. 10. Black Hamburgh, n. Black Prince. 

 12. Claret. 13. Verdelho. 14. Pitmaston White Cluster. 

 15. Reine Olga. 



As superior kinds for a pretty good climate and aspect, 

 we recommend Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, n, 15 ; as kinds for 

 inferior aspects, Nos. 2, 6, 10, 14. 



For Greenhouse. i. Black Hamburgh. 2. Foster's 

 Seedling. 3. Black Prince. 4. West's St. Peter's. 

 5. Royal Muscadine. 6. Dutch Sweet Water. 7. Chas- 

 selas Musqu6. 8. Esperione. Of these, Nos. i, 2, 3, 5, 6 

 are the most to be relied on. 



For Stove. i. Muscat of Alexandria. 2. Cannon Hall 

 Muscat. 3. White Frontignan. 4. Black Frontignan. 



5. Alicante. 6. Gros Colmar. 7. Appley Towers. 8. 

 Lady Downe's Seedling. 9. Black Hamburgh. 10. 

 Foster's Seedling, n. Madresfield Court. 12. Royal 

 Muscadine. Of these, Nos. i to 8 inclusive are varieties 

 of superior merit and require much heat. Nos. i, 2, 5, 



6, 7, 8 are late grapes that hang long and keep well. 

 Nos. 9, 10, n, 12 are early grapes, and well adapted for 

 forcing. 



Propagation. Layering has almost fallen into disuse, 

 their culture from eyes or single buds having superseded 

 it. Layers will root either from the growing shoot, or 

 from young wood layered in a state of rest. The latter 

 operation is performed any time from November to the 

 beginning of March, and no tongue or slit is requisite. 

 Most of the Vines, in former days, were raised in this 

 way ; the nurserymen having old plants, or stocks for 

 the purpose, around which the shoots were layered in 

 pots, generally in February, and they made saleable 

 plants by the autumn. Layering of the growing shoot 

 is a more delicate procedure, and it is well to introduce 

 a portion of the previous year's wood where possible. 



Cuttings are best made from shoots in the rest state, 

 and may either be made short or long. Speechly recom- 

 mends two inches of the two year old, and one bud or 

 eye of the new. These were inserted perpendicularly in 

 pots, the bud just level with the surface. They will, 

 however, strike root from thick shoots, of three or four 

 years old, of a greater length, and these may, if necessary, 

 be planted at once in the border ; or if in pots, deep 

 ones must be used, and the cutting may be sloped or 

 bent. In all these cases, the cuttings must be buried 

 nearly their whole length beneath the surface. Bottom- 

 heat will facilitate speedy rooting. 



Eyes. This is the most approved plan, for the plant 

 thus approaches nearest to a seedling state. These are 

 generally planted in pots, a single eye in each, at the end 

 of January, and plunged in a bottom-heat of from 70 

 to 80. Prunings are reserved for this purpose in the 

 autumn, and these being cut in convenient lengths, are 

 imbedded in moist soil until winter. About half an inch 

 of wood may be reserved above the eye, cutting it 

 sloping away from the bud, and about an inch or so below 

 the bud ; the latter section made horizontally. These, 

 inserted singly in five-inch pots, may be plunged in a 

 bottom-heat of from 70 to 80, and care must be taken 

 that the worms do not get into the soil. When grown 

 nearly a foot in height, they should be re-potted into 

 pots of about seven inches diameter, using a rich, turfy 

 soil, and draining thoroughly. Many good gardeners 

 reserve a portion of the two years old wood at the base 

 of each eye, and there can be little doubt that it is good 

 practice. 



Coils. Obtain prunings from healthy and fruitful 

 vines on the rod system ; these prunings should be from 

 two to four feet in length. Such being plunged in a 

 bottom-heat of from 70 to 80, and in an atmosphere 

 ranging from 50 to 60, have a tendency to produce 

 roots before shoots; and this is the object sought. 

 Fruiting-pots of twelve to fifteen inches in diameter 



should be used, and a compost of turfy loam and half- 

 rotten manure, with the addition of charred material, 

 lime-rubbish, or sand ; any or all of them added in the 

 proportion of a sixth of the mass, in order to insure the 

 free passage of moisture. Thorough drainage being 

 secured, the end of the shoot is pressed down against 

 the bottom of the pot, and the shoot bent round, until 

 as many coils or turns as possible are made ; leaving, 

 at last, four or five stout eyes above the level of the pot 

 rim. The pot is then filled with the compost, and careful 

 watering, a judicious control of heat, augmenting the 

 amount of atmospheric warmth as the leaves unfold, 

 together with the usual routine of stopping, thinning 

 the berries, &c., as applied to established vines, must be 

 carried out. The turfy compost is filled in as the coiling 

 proceeds. 



Grafting is not often practised. As in most other 

 cases of grafting, the stock should be slightly in advance 

 of the scion. Perhaps the stock should have unfolded 

 a few large leaves before the operation is practised. 

 Then the usual whip grafting is the best plan. A couple 

 of eyes on the graft are sufficient. It is good practice 

 to bind moss round the whole at last, even shading the 

 buds of the scion for awhile. The moss may be moistened 

 daily. 



Inarching. This may be performed with either the 

 growing shoot, or with that in a rest state. A plant 

 established in a pot of the kind to be introduced must be 

 procured. With regard to inarching in a rest state, it 

 is proper that the sap should be in motion at the period 

 of operating, and that the stock, if possible, should, as 

 in grafting, be slightly in advance of the scion. Vines 

 which are breaking are in an eligible state, and the kind 

 to be inarched may be just emerging from a rest state. 

 The point of junction being determined, the pot must be 

 so fixed as that no slipping can occur, and that the shoot 

 may be readily bent to meet the parent plant. Nothing 

 is necessary but to pare a thin slice of bark with a little 

 of the wood from the facings of the scion and stock, 

 which are to be fitted, and then to bind them carefully 

 together close, but not too tight, just as in ordinary 

 grafting. A little moss may be fastened round the 

 point of junction, and this frequently moistened. In- 

 arching of the growing shoot is, however, the best prac- 

 tice ; but it is an operation that requires nice handling. 

 The shoot of the stock is best at about the middle of 

 its annual growth, when it has begun to acquire some 

 solidity and toughness. The scion may be somewhat 

 younger, and everything being adjusted, a section must 

 be made in each, as before, cutting through the bark 

 and a little into the cambium, and fitting them nicely 

 together. It may be observed, that the ligature must 

 not be so tight as in the old wood. The whole may be 

 covered with moss, and in six weeks the junction will 

 be complete. In the meantime a progressive stopping 

 of the spray on the stock must take place, in order, by 

 degrees, to transfer a portion of the luxuriance of the 

 stock to the scion. When the pruning season arrives, 

 the stock may be cut back in part or wholly. Thus, a 

 vinery possessing inferior kinds may be renovated in a 

 very short period. 



Seed. Perfectly ripe grapes of the kinds intended to 

 be propagated from should be pressed, the seeds washed 

 and thoroughly dried, and then secured, like other seeds, 

 until the following February. They may then be sown 

 in well-drained pots, in a light, rich soil, rather sandy, 

 and plunged in a bottom-heat of from 70 to 80. In 

 about a month they will vegetate ; the seedlings may be 

 potted off, and henceforward reared as plants from eyes, 

 continuing bottom-warmth until Midsummer, and train- 

 ing the shoot (unstopped) fully to the light in a warm 

 situation. They may, in the autumn, be cut back to 

 two or three eyes, and grown through the following 

 summer as before, again pruning back in the autumn. 

 In about four years they will fruit on then- own roots ; 

 but, perhaps, a year will be gained by inarching them 

 near the extremity of a sound and fruitful old vine. 



Wall Culture. The first essential is a mellow and 

 thoroughly drained soil. An ordinary sandy loam is the 

 best staple ; but almost any common garden-soil will 

 suit, if it is capable of receiving and transmitting moisture 

 with facility. Vine roots will descend to a considerable 

 depth if the soil be mellow ; but we would rather grant 

 them extra width, especially if the situation is not 

 particularly favourable. Whether borders, or, what are 



