AMPEL1DEJE. IV. VITIS. 



709 



which in 5 years will be in a state to cover the wall itself. When 

 vines are planted in the intervals between other fruit-trees, or on 

 piers, then one plant to each is sufficient. 



Pruning of vines in the open air. Any of the modes described 

 above will do ; the spur method and the fruit-tree method seem 

 to deserve the preference ; but this must entirely depend upon 

 the pruner, for it is almost useless to describe methods of prun- 

 ing. Horizontal training is considered the preferable mode for 

 the vine. Training the shoots of vines along the ground like 

 those of melons and cucumbers has been proposed and practised 

 by Vispre (Dissert, on the growth of vine, Bath, 1786) and suc- 

 ceeded. Vines in .some places are allowed to grow like herbs, 

 spreading upon the ground, and the grapes of these vines are 

 very large. The Black Hamburgh is an excellent grape for a 

 wall. The only secret in ripening grapes in the open air is timely 

 summer pruning, this assists ripening the wood. By fixing the 

 bunches close to the wall by a thread they ripen a month earlier. 



Granting the cine as espaliers or as standards. The direction 

 given for walls is sufficient for espaliers ; but this practice is not to 

 be considered worth following. As standards they may be 

 grown in extensive plantations as in vineyards, and the plants may 

 be trained either like currants or raspberries ; in this case the 

 stems will require to be tied to stakes. The pruning is nearly the 

 same as that for raspberries. Switzer recommends the side or 

 declivity of a hill lying to the south or south-east, which is favored 

 with other hills somewhat higher, clothed with wood, on the north, 

 north-east and north-west, to break the severity of those perishing 

 quarters. Speechly observes that the hills in the counties bor- 

 dering the English Channel, have in general declivities tending 

 to the south, and are therefore highly favourable for vineyards. 

 Steeps of poor, gravelly, and rocky soils, in warm situations, 

 would produce more under vines than any other crop. 



Forming vineyards. They must be planted in rows at a dis- 

 tance from each other according to the height and mode of 

 training proposed, and according as the soil maybe rich or poor, 

 deep or shallow. A square yard may be considered a desirable 

 medium. Where vineyards are formed on the sides and steeps 

 of hills, it may be best to form them into terraces or horizontal 

 beds, rising one above another like steps of stairs, supported 

 each by a wall, if the declivity is very steep, against which the 

 vines may be trained ; but in vine countries the terraces are 

 usually wide and the walls so rude, that it is impossible to train 

 the vines against them ; in this case the standard or espalier 

 mode is adopted. At Thonning, near Fontainebleau, mud walls 

 are made, and the vines are trained to low trellises, at first hori- 

 zontal along the bottom of the trellis, then erect upon the trellis. 



Sorts proper for a vineyard. On the Continent vines used 

 for making wine are by no means agreeable to eat, and there is 

 always a distinction made between fruits to eat and fruits to 

 press by nurserymen. The names of vineyard grapes vary in 

 every district. In this country it would be best to select 

 such sorts as are already in the country, such as the Clus- 

 ters, Sweet-waters, Burgundy, Large Black Cluster, Miller's 

 Grape, &c. 



Making wine from grapes. This can hardly be considered as 

 coming under gardening. We shall only suggest that it requires 

 a person who has a knowledge of the general principles of fer- 

 mentation and chemistry, or who has been concerned in the 

 manufacture of British wines, to succeed properly. An excel- 

 lent paper on the processes of wine-making will be found in the 

 second volume of the memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural 

 Society, by Dr. Macculloch of Woolwich. H. S. Mathews 

 (Hort. trans, vol. 2.) has given a receipt for making a tolerable 

 sort of red wine from the leaves of the claret grape ; these 

 leaves, it is suggested, might be employed to give a colour to 

 wines made from white grapes or green gooseberries, &c. The 



numerous varieties of wine depend principally on the proportion 

 of sugar contained in the must, and the manner of its ferment- 

 ation. When the proportion of sugar is sufficient and the fer- 

 mentation complete, the wine is perfect and generous, if the 

 quantity of sugar be too large, part of it remains undecom- 

 posed, and the fermentation is languid, and the wine is sweet and 

 luscious ; if, on the contrary, it be too small, the wine is thin 

 and weak, and if it be bottled before the fermentation be com- 

 pleted, it will proceed slowly in the bottle, and, on drawing the 

 cork, the wine will sparkle in the glass, as for example Cham- 

 pagne. When the must is separated from the husk of the grape 

 before it is fermented, the wine has little or no colour ; these 

 are called white wines. If, on the contrary, the husks are al- 

 lowed to remain in the must while the fermentation is going on, 

 the alcohol dissolves the colouring matter of the husks, and the 

 wine is coloured ; such are called red wines. Besides in these 

 principal circumstances wines vary much in flavour. 



Qualities. Grapes, before they are ripe, are extremely harsh 

 and acid, and by expression furnish a liquor which is called 

 verjuice. It contains malic acid, super-tartrate of potass, and 

 may be made to furnish wine by addition of sugar. As 

 the grape advances to maturity, the quantity of sugar in it 

 increases, while that of the malic acid diminishes. It, however, 

 never disappears entirely. The grape, when ripe, is cooling, 

 antiseptic, and when eaten in considerable quantities is diuretic 

 and gently laxative. In inflammatory diseases, and all others 

 where acids are indicated, grapes form an excellent article of 

 diet. Dried grapes or raisins are more saccharine, mucilaginous, 

 and laxative than the recent grapes, but are less cooling. Wine, 

 when taken in moderate quantities, acts as a beneficial stimulant 

 to the whole system. It promotes digestion, increases the action 

 of the heart and arteries, raises the heat of the body, and exhi- 

 larates the spirits. Taken to excess, it produces inebriety, 

 which is often succeeded by headache, stupor, nausea, and diar- 

 rhoea, which last for several days. Habitual excess in wine 

 debilitates the stomach, produces inflammation of the liver, 

 weakens the nervous system, gives rise to dropsy, gout, apo- 

 plexy, tremors, and cutaneous affections. To convalescents and 

 in all diseases of general debility and deficiency of vital powers, 

 wine is the remedy on which medical men must place their chief 

 dependence. It is contraindicated in all inflammatory complaints, 

 and when it sours upon the stomach. 



Insects' and diseases are the same in the open air as in the 

 vinery, and the modes for their destruction and prevention the 

 same, which see under that head. 



Common Vine or Grape, or nine-bearing Vine. Fl. June, 

 July. Clt ? Shrub cl. 



2 V. LACINIOSA (Lin. spec. 293.) leaves 5-cut, with stalked, 

 multifid segments. Jj . ^,, S. Native of? This is perhaps 

 only a variety of the preceding. It is called in France Ciotat. 

 Corn. can. t. 183. Vitis vinifera, var. 24. Room, et Schult. 

 syst. 5. p. 314. Berries black. This is usually cultivated as 

 a curiosity, and is called Pursley-leaved vine. 



Jagged or Parsley-leaved Vine. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1648. 

 Shrub cl. 



3 V. DENTATA (Link, cnuni. 1. p. 236.) leaves cordate, 

 usually 5-lobed, unequally and mucronately serrated, roughish. 

 Tj . w . H. Native of? Flowers and fruit unknown. Petioles 



rough from indurated glands. 



Toothed-leaved Vine. Clt. 1820. Shrub cl. 



4 V. FLEXUOSA (Thunb. Lin. trans. 2. p. 332.) leaves cordate, 

 toothed, villous beneath ; stem flexuotis ; panicles elongated. 



Tj. y . H. Native of Japan. V. I'ndica, Thunb. fl. jap. 103. 

 Berries of a brownish-green with an austere, acid taste. 

 .FYezMous-branched Vine. Shrub cl. 



5 V. WALLI'CHII (D. C. prod. 1. p. C34.) leaves cordately 



