312 HOTHOUSE CULTURE OP VINES. 



vines selected for the purpose of planting in this bed should 

 have each one shoot of vigorous well ripened wood three and 

 a half to four feet in length, the part above this length being 

 pruned off. In planting the vines, the same measures are to 

 be pursued as in other cases, always remembering that the 

 more carefully the operation is performed, and the more ap- 

 propriate the preparation of the ground, the more prompt and 

 satisfactory will be the results. The shoots are to be con- 

 ducted through small holes made or left for the purpose under 

 each rafter, and if the extreme end of the shoot will reach the 

 lower end of the rafter inside, it will be all that is necessary* 

 As the eyes or buds are liable to be injured in leading them 

 through these apertures, it is best to put a little moss around 

 the upper part of the stem, and to wrap over this two or three 

 folds of paper which can be tied round with bass matting, and 

 should be removed when it has attained its position, and the 

 end of the shoot can then be carefully fastened to the rafter. 



The summer clipping or trimming and other operations at 

 that season, are the same as prescribed in the general direc- 

 tions on that subject. The pruning is the operation which 

 here requires the most notice ; and Speechly remarks that the 

 period when the leaves of the vines begin to fall is the best 

 for its performance, which in a hothouse generally happens in 

 December, and in relation thereto he recommends the follow- 

 ing course : At the first year of pruning, if the vines are of 

 great vigour and have grown remarkably strong, one shoot 

 may be left the whole length of the rafter if not over twenty 

 feet, and the other pruned down to three, four, or five buds, 

 but where the vines are only of moderate growth, the principal 

 shoot should be only half the above length. The intent of 

 this mode of pruning is, that the former should produce fruit, 

 and the latter make wood for the ensuing season, and the rule 

 is to train each of the shoots to a separate rafter. At the se- 

 cond pruning the branch that has borne fruit is cut down to 

 three or four eyes, and the new formed branch is allowed the 

 length requisite for a bearing shoot. 



However, when any of the vines appear weak and have not 



