THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 103 



It is unusual to see a bunch of Black Hamburgh grapes 

 weighing more than four pounds. At the exhibition of the 

 London Horticultural Society, at Chiswick, on the 9th of July, 

 1836, there was shown a very fine bunch of this variety which 

 weighed eight pounds and six ounces ; it is mentioned in Lou- 

 don's Magazine as " hitherto unrivalled ;" see vol. 12th, 

 page 444.* 



A simple furnace and flue, to run along the front of the 

 house, even when it is not intended to force, is desirable, as a 

 small fire can then be made in wet Aveather, and, after the 

 fruit is ripe, by keeping the air dry, you will be able to pre- 

 serve the grapes sound a great length of time. 



The fall pruning of the fourth year wiU leave the vine 

 estabhshed at the proper length at which it may ever remain ; 

 the fall trimming the fifth year, and ever after, will be the 

 same as that of the fourth, — cutting the leading cane back to 

 the dormant eyes. 



If, after a series of years, the cane should become too long, 

 it can then be cut back to the next spur from the top. 



REMARKS ON FORCING THE VINE. 



" The horticulturist, when he steps into this department, 

 aspires to the top and mastership of his art. A full acquaint- 

 ance with what his predecessors knew, as principle, — a vigi- 

 lant attention to what his contemporaries ofier as improve- 

 ments, with a capacity to estimate new practices, — a consid- 

 erable personal share of intelligence, experience, and inven- 

 tion, — will not more than qualify him for his profession. 



" The term hothouse, and that of forcing-house, are not 

 indiscriminately applied to the same description of place by 

 practical men in general ; nor is this a distinction without a 

 difierence. 



" A hothouse may be considered as constructed to sustain 



* I had the satisfaction of seeing this liunch of grapes ; it probably is the largest 

 hunch of this kind ever grown. 



