S48 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



acquaintance who understood the management of Vines in 

 France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, &c. from whom I learned, 

 that the roots of the Vines should not be more than two feet 

 six inches asunder, nor let to run high, and but little wood 

 suffered to grow from each root. Observing these rules, I 

 tried several experiments ; and found the following method 

 to be attended with singular success. Fill the two beds with 

 rotten dung and garden earth ; water the same when the sun 

 appears the whole day, morning and evening, and so in pro- 

 portion. The exhalation will supply every part of the Vine 

 with nourishing warm water, as may be seen by examining 

 the Vine ; which appears to be one of the causes of pro- 

 ducing the effect. In the beds, or earth-pits, Pine-apples, 

 or any thing else, may be raised, to remain, or to be trans- 

 planted. In winter, remove the earth in the pits, place bricks 

 on their edge, half way up from the bottom, each row three 

 feet asunder ; on the bricks place common plastering-laths on 

 their edge ; over which put some long litter taken from horse- 

 dung, and put upon it the earth which was removed. Doors 

 being made in the walls of tlie earth-pits, at the front of each 

 partition, or six doors in each pit, put into each as much fer- 

 mented horse-dung as it will hold ; stop it up close with a 

 wooden stopper, and let it remain six or eight days ; then 

 take it out, and repeat the same during the winter, or any 



, time you please. The flavour of any fruit raised in beds so 

 managed, is superior to what is raised in a hot-house, and 

 fire is saved. To prevent the heat from being too great in 

 the summer, put five squares of glass, separately framed, with 

 an axis for each to turn on, one in each light. The air, by 

 being rarined, will lift up the squares, and escape; after 

 which, each square will shut again of itself, and maintain a 

 regular heat without farther attention ; but, when the sun is 

 very intense, cold air may be admitted by sliding sashes, one 

 at each end of the Grapery; but this will require attention, 

 lest the grapery cool too fast. In frosty weather, it is neces- 

 sary that the glass part of the Grapery should be covered 

 with mats ; and, as the buds of the Vines break early in the 

 spring, it is also necessary to train the Vines so as not to 

 touch the glass, lest the buds perish. When the Grapes are 

 set, break off all superfluous shoots every second or third 

 day ; by which means you will have ripe Grapes in July, and 

 the following eight months. One year I left some on the 

 Vine to dry, and in March following I fund them equal to 

 any jar-raisins imported. If these instructions are attentively 

 observed, wine may be made in this country as rich, and of 

 as good quality, as any imported. It will answer the purpose 

 of every man who has a spot of ground, to build a Grapery, 

 since no profit in horticulture will be superior to it. The 



.whole of the expense of building ray Grapery did not exceed 

 141. and, when the Vines came into bearing, one year's pro- 

 duce, if sold, would have more than cleared all expenses ; 

 from which the profits may be easily calculated," 



The following singular discovery has been communicated 

 by J. Williams, Esq. "It is a fact well known to gardeners, 

 that Vines, when exposed in this climate to the open air, 

 although trained to walls with southern aspects, and having 

 every advantage of judicious culture, yet in the ordinary 

 course of our seasons, ripen their fruit with difficulty. This 

 remark, however, though true in general, admits of some 

 exceptions, for I have occasionally seen trees of the common 

 White Muscadine and Black-cluster Grapes, that have ma- 

 tured their fruit very well, and earlier by a fortnight or three 

 weeks, than others of the same kinds apparently possessing 

 similar advantages of soil and aspect. The Vines that ripened 

 their fruit thus early, I have generally remarked were old 

 trees, having trunks eight or ten feet high, before their bearing 



branches commenced. It occurred to me, that this disposi- 

 tion to ripen early, might be occasioned by the dryness and 

 rigidity of the vessels of the old trunk, obstructing the circu- 

 lation of that portion of the sap which is supposed to descend 

 from the leaf. And, to prove whether or not my conjectures 

 were correct, I made incisions through the bark on the 

 trunks of several Vines, removing a circle of bark from each, 

 and thus leaving the naked alburnum above an inch in width 

 completely exposed ; this was done in the months of June 

 and July. The following autumn, the fruitgrowing on those 

 trees came to great perfection, having ripened from a fortnight 

 to three weeks earlier than usual ; but in the succeeding 

 spring the Vines did not shoot with their accustomed vigour, 

 and I found that I had injured them by exposing the albur- 

 num unnecessarily. In 1807 these experiments were repeated. 

 At the end of July and beginning of August, I took annular 

 excisions of bark from the trunks of several of my Vines ; 

 and, that the exposed alburnum might be again covered with 

 new bark by the end of autumn, the removed circles were 

 made rather less than a quarter of an inch in width. Two 

 Vines of the White Frontiniac, in similar states of growth, 

 being trained near to each other on a south wall, were selected 

 for trial ; on one of these the experiment was made ; the 

 other was left in its natural state, to form a standard of com- 

 parison. When the circle of bark had been removed about 

 a fortnight, the berries on the experimented tree began evi- 

 dently to swell faster than those on the other, and by the 

 beginning of September shewed indications of approaching 

 ripeness, while the fruit on the unexperimented tree remained 

 green and small. In the beginning of October, the fruit on 

 the tree that had the bark removed from it, was quite ripe, 

 the other only beginning to shew a disposition to ripen, and 

 the bunches were shortly afterwaids destroyed by the autum- 

 nal frosts. In every case in which circles of bark were 

 removed, I invariably found that the fruit not only ripened 

 earlier, but the berries were considerably larger than usual, 

 and more highly flavoured. The effect thus produced, I can 

 account for only by adopting Mr. Knight's theory of the 

 downward circulation of the sap, the truth of which these 

 experiments tend strongly to confirm. I therefore imagine, 

 by cutting through the cortex and liber, without wounding 

 the alburnum, that the descent of that portion of the sap 

 which has undergone preparation in the leaf, is obstructed, 

 and confined in the branches situated above the incision; 

 consequently the fiuit is better nourished, and its maturation 

 hastened. It is certainly a considerable point gained in the 

 culture of the Vine, to be able to bring the fruit to perfection 

 by a process so simple, and so easily performed. But, lest 

 there should be any misconception in the foregoing statement, 

 I will briefly describe the exact method to be followed by any 

 person who may be desirous of trying this mode of ripening 

 Grapes. The best time for performing the operation on 

 Vines growing in the open air, is towards the end of July or 

 beginning of Augusr ; and it is a material point, not to let the 

 removed circle of bark be too wide ; from one to two eighths 

 of an inch will be a space of sufficient width ; the exposed 

 alburnum will then be covered again with new bark before 

 the following winter, so that there will be no danger of injur- 

 ing the future health of the tree. It is not of much conse- 

 quence in what part of the tree the excision is made; but, 

 in case the trunk is very large, I should then recommend, 

 that the circles be made in the smaller branches. It is to be 

 observed, that all shoots which come out from the root of 

 the Vine, or from the front of the trunk situated below the 

 incision, must be removed as often as they appear; unless 

 bearing-wood is particularly wanted to fill up the lower part 



