GARDEN CULTURE. 



167 



V 



the surface on which the vine is trained will soon become 

 defaced by the constant rubbing of the leaves against it, 

 while the accumulation of dust and moist- 

 ure will cause the rapid decay of the 

 boards ; and even a stone or brick wall will 

 be injured more or less by having vines 

 trained against it. If the trellis is sus- 

 pended by iron or wooden brackets, no ap- 

 parent injury will be done to the surface 

 behind it. 



Training to Stakes. There is sel- 

 dom a garden so small but there is room 

 for, at least, one grape vine, though it is 

 often the case that there is a place for a 

 vine but no room for a trellis ; when this 

 occurs, the vine may be trained to a stake, 

 or a number of them ; and when so trained 

 they may be planted among shrubbery, in 

 flower beds, or upon the lawn. There is 

 nothing that will add more to the beauty 

 of the garden, or produce a better effect, 

 than vines planted in groups or scattered 

 here and there, as is usual with ornamental 

 shrubs and plants. The vines, in such sit- 

 uations, should always be kept low, and 

 never permitted to produce long and naked 

 stems, which would become unsightly and 

 mar the beauty of the garden when they / 

 become old. Prepare the soil as for vines ^ 

 in other situations, and grow but one cane 

 the first season ; then prune it down to 

 eighteen or twenty-four inches from the 

 ground ; the next season allow but two 

 canes to grow ; pinch off the tops of these 

 when they have grown five or six feet, so 

 that they shall not only ripen their wood, 



FIG. 57. 



