RIVAL SYSTEMS OF VINE-CULTURE. 47 



the great importance of what he called "carrying a 

 large amount of foliage on the vine " as the only sure 

 way of keeping up its stamina, and acted on this him- 

 self. I used to reply, that practically it was not ex- 

 pedient to allow more than two leaves to grow beyond 

 the bunch. This, with the sub-laterals stopped at one 

 leaf, I considered sufficient, and pointed to the example 

 of the houses at Oakhill, near Barnet, then and for 

 twenty years so ably managed by Mr Davis, who pro- 

 duced splendid crops of grapes, ripe in March and 

 April, for many years in succession from the same vines, 

 and which he pruned to one eye, and left only one leaf 

 beyond the bunch. I thought the system I adopted, of 

 leaving two leaves, sufficient ; Mr Kay thought other- 

 wise, and left from four to five. Carrying his ideas still 

 farther, he said he believed that better still would be 

 the plan of planting only one vine in a large house. 

 This I urged him to do, and in 1855 he built a span- 

 roofed house 89 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 9 feet 6 

 inches in height to the apex. In this house he planted 

 a single black Hamburg vine in March 1856, the 

 roots all outside, and the border prepared 89 feet in 

 length by 15 broad. Beyond this border are the borders 

 of other houses, giving it scope for its roots little if at 

 all under a quarter of an acre. The vine is trained 

 with a leading stem from the centre of the north side 

 wall up to the apex, and down to the south wall, for 

 the house runs east and west. From this main stem 

 five laterals are trained towards each end of the house 

 one at the apex, the others equidistant between the 

 apex and the walls. The last time I saw it in com- 

 pany with Mr Kay was in 1862. I saw it again in 



