472 GROWING THE GRAPE ON OPEN WALLS, 



Growing the Grape on open Walls, and on Cottages. South of Lon- 

 don this may be practised to a great extent, and the grapes brought to 

 a high degree of perfection. In the southern counties of England, 

 where vines are grown on cottages, Mr. Hoare was of opinion that five 

 times the quantity of grapes of superior flavour might be annually pro- 

 duced on the same extent of surface ; and that for every square foot of 

 cottage wall on which vines are now trained, there are twenty that 

 are either entirely vacant, or occupied in a useless manner. As a 

 general result of his calculations, he says, that for every pound of grapes 

 now grown, one hundred pounds might be annually produced on the 

 existing surface of walling. " Every moderate- sized dwelling-house 

 having a garden and a little walling attached to it, may, with ease, be 

 made to produce yearly, a quarter of a ton weight of grapes, leaving a 

 sufficient portion of its surface for the production of other fruit." The 

 grand error which prevails in the culture of the vine on walls and cottages 

 consists in the mode of pruning, which is far from being sufficiently 

 severe. Nine parts out of ten of the current year's shoots, and all 

 those of the preceding year, should if possible be cut off ; and this is 

 so different from what is required for other fruit trees, that few persons 

 have the courage to attempt it. 



Warmth and shelter are the grand requisites. The perspiration of 

 the foliage of the vine is so great that it is carried to an injurious 

 extent by the slightest wind. Mr. Hoare has found that, during the 

 space of twenty-four hours, when the wind has blown briskly, the 

 shoots exposed to its influence have not perceptibly grown at all, while, 

 shortly afterwards, the wind having entirely sunk away, the same shoots 

 have grown upwards of three inches in the same space of time, the 

 temperature of the air in a sheltered situation being alike during each 

 period. The best aspects for vines on the open wall in the south of 

 England are those which range from E. to the S.E., both inclusive; 

 and the next best from S.E. to S. Those which range from S. to W. 

 are good, provided they are sheltered ; but N. or W., though they may 

 sometimes produce tolerable grapes, yet are very uncertain both for 

 the ripening of the grapes and of the wood. E. by N. Mr. Hoare 

 found a very good aspect. On a wall facing this point the sun shines 

 till about eleven o'clock in the morning, and Mr. Hoare for many years 

 past brought several sorts of grapes, including the Black Hamburgh^ 

 to great perfection in this aspect. It would thus appear that if a 

 cottage, the general outline of the ground-plan of which is a square or 

 a parallelogram, is placed so that a south and north line shall form a 

 diagonal to it, vines may be planted against every part of the walls 

 and trained over the whole of the roof. We have shown in the 

 Supplement to the Encyclopaedia of Cottage Architecture the immense 

 importance of placing every cottage so as to have the diagonal a south 

 and north line, without reference to the front or any of the sides being 

 parallel to the adjoining road or street. " We wish it to be distinctly 

 understood, that it forms no part of our plan to have either the front 

 or the back of the cottage next to, and parallel with, the road ; on the 

 contrary, we prefer, in almost every case of single cottages, to have 



