138 THE GRAPE. 



should be loosened a trifle, and in a week or two after- 

 wards they may be removed entirely. 



Seed. The preparation for seed, and the after manage- 

 ment, may be exactly the same as for eyes ; so there is 

 no occasion to give any directions on this head, further 

 than by stating that it should not be buried deeper than 

 half an inch. If there is not the convenience of a hot-bed 

 or hot-house, the hardy kinds may be sown in the begin- 

 ning of April, in a cold frame, or, where there is no glass 

 accommodation at all, they may be made, with care, to 

 vegetate in the open ground, but not with the same cer- 

 tainty. 



The Raising of' New Kinds. New or different varieties 

 of any plant are generally raised from seed ; in fact, it 

 may be said that all permanent ones are so. It occasion- 

 ally, though very rarely, so happens, that a plant will pro- 

 duce a sport in some particular branch, which, if budded 

 or grafted on to other stocks of the same genus, will con- 

 tinue to produce the like from which they were taken. 

 The Tottenham Park Muscat Grape, and Fern-leaved 

 Beech, are examples of this kind ; but such sports are not 

 always to be depended on, as they are apt to again pro- 

 duce offshoots like the original parent ; consequently we 

 cannot say that they are really permanent, although the 

 return backwards only occasionally occurs ; still it is pos- 

 sible, and sometimes is the case. 



In varieties raised from seed we very rarely find a change, 

 either in the original plant, or any buds or branches which 

 may be taken from it or from them in after years. Not- 

 withstanding which, there are some species so prone to 

 sport from the seed, that no two will be alike, or exactly 

 similar to the parent from which they were obtained, and 

 the grape-vine is among this class. Without stopping to 

 discuss the question of what is a species, it may be stated 



