200 THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



The pruning is on the short-spur system.* 



It should be borne in mind, that the larger the crop a vine 

 is allowed to bear, the longer will be the time required to ma- 

 ture the fruit, and the quality of which will also be deterio- 

 rated in proportion to its amount. 



The native varieties of the grape, when planted in a soil 

 naturally dry and suitable, will do well without a prepared 

 border ; but, as a general rule, it must be remembered that 

 the more care there is bestowed on the preparation of this, 

 the greater will be the chance of success. 



The Black Hamburgh grape, when well cultivated, is a richer 

 fruit in this climate than in that of England, and it is necessary 

 to test the quality of the foreign kinds here, as the experience 

 of European cultivators does not always coincide with our own.f 



*In the Journal of Horticultural Tour, Edinburgh, 1823, is the following: — 

 " Grape vines are likewise, commonly trained against the walls of the houses, in the 

 outskirts of the town, (Rotterdam,) and we were assured, that they often prove very 

 productive. A long shed, extending two hundred feet, was thickly clothed with vine 

 branches, which were tolerably well filled with fruit. There were, in all, six plants, 

 which grew in the open area, next the street ; we observed both White and Black 

 grapes ; the latter were the more numerous, the Frankendale." 



t Dr. Lindiey, after some remarks relative to fruits of American origin, in which 

 he states their '' utter worthlessness in England," advising his readers not to try them, 

 closes with this language :— " They can only be disappointed so long as the mean of 

 the hottest month is G4° 40' in London, and 80° 70' in New York." — Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, 1848, p. 3L 



By the abo\e remarks, it would seem that Dr. Lindiey attributes all this differ- 

 ence in the quality of fruits, to the diminished quantity of heat ; doubtless, in this 

 difference of heat, he means to include also the effect of the relative proportion of 

 diminished light from the sun, which is, in part, the cause of this lower temperature. 

 But these circumstances will not always explain the causes of these differences in 

 the goodness of fruits. For instance, the Black Hamburgh grape cannot well be 

 surpassed in richness of cjuality, when well grown, in this country. It is generally 

 spoken of as a very desirable kind to cultivate, on account of its hardiness and 

 good bearing qualities, and not of its being any thing more than a good grape, 

 " though not of the very first quality," is the term often used respecting it, in Eng- 

 land. The Esperione is there spoken of as but little inferior to the Hamburgh. Li 

 Massachusetts, it is very inferior, and not worthy of a place in the front border of the 

 house, but on the back wall, where its roots can be kept quite dry, the quality is 

 better ; in a position where its roots are situated in a soil, as regards moisture, more 

 unlike that of England, it approaches more nearly to the quality of the fmit there. 

 If heat caused the difference in the Hamburgh, why does it not in the Esperione ? I 

 presume that the soil of a country has some effect, as well as the sun and heat, in 

 effecting these changes. It is not confined to any one fruit, but the change is no- 

 ticed in apples, pears, grapes, peaches, cherries, and other kinds. 



