HORTICULTURE. 





but only such as are wanted tor the trellis are preser- 

 ved, perhaps three on each plant, and in general these 

 are trained straight towards the roof, ten or twelve 

 inches separate from each other. In September, if the 

 wood be not properly ripened, a little fire-heat is given 

 t'ur this purpose. Next year a good deal of fruit begins 

 to appear .- but only a few bunches are permitted to 

 come forward, in order to prove the kinds. In the third 

 year, if well managed, they fill the roof; and if the 

 wood be thoroughly ripened, they may be considered 

 as established plants. 



211. We shall here mention an incomparably more 

 speedy mode of storing a new grape-house, which may 

 be adopted wherever a vinery previously exists in the 

 garden, or where there is a friend's vinery in the neigh- 

 bourhood. This mode is frequently practised at the 

 gardens of Dalkeith House, by Mr James Macdonald, 

 and we hare witnessed its complete success. 



In the end of June or beginning of July, when the 



vines have made new ahoots from ten to twelve feet 



long, and about the time of the fruit setting; he ae 



lecta any supernumerary shoots, and, loosening them 



from the trtllis, bends them down so as to make 



them form a double or flexure in a pot filled with 



earth, generally a mixture of loam and vegetable 



mould ; taking care to make a portion of last year's 



1 containing a joint, pass into the soil in the pot. 



rth is kept in a wet state ; and at the same time 



moist warm air is maintained in the boose. In about 



week or ten days, roots are found to have proceeded 



, from the joint of lost year's wood, and these 

 may be seen by merely stirring the surface of the earth, 

 or sometimes they may be observed penetrating to its 

 surface. The layer may now be safely detached Very 

 frequently it contains one or two bunches of grapes, 

 which continue to grow and come to perfection. A 

 layer cut off in the beginning of July generally attains, 

 by the end of October, the length of fifteen or twenty 

 fct. A new grape-house, therefore, might in this 

 way be as completely furnislied with plants in three 

 months, as by the usual method, above described, in 

 three years. Supposing the layers to be made on the 

 1st of July, they might be cut, and removed to the 

 new house on the Sib: by the 9th of October, the roof 

 would be completely covered with shoots, and next sea- 

 son the houec would yield a full crop of grapes. It i> 

 not meant that they should be allowed to do so, if per. 

 manrntly bearing plants be wUbcJ fur : on the contra. 

 ry , they should be suffered to carry only a very mode. 

 rate crop, as it is pretty evident that the roots could not 

 sustain the demand of a fall one ; or at any rate, that 

 the plants would necesearily shew their exhausted 

 state, by bam MUM in the following season. ISy this 

 means the more delicate kinds, as the frontignac. may 

 y propagated : we have seen layers of the 

 f .ibraltar or red Hamburgh made in the beginning of 

 . reach the length of thirteen feet before the end 

 e month, yielding at the same time two or three 

 banchr* of grapes. The more hardy, such as the white 

 muscadine, form still stronger plant* in that space of 

 time. Little difficulty is experienced in removing the 

 plants from the pots into the holes prepared fur them : 

 if there be fears of preserving a ball of cartli to the new 

 roots, the pots may be sunk w <th tl.<: . .1 bro- 



ken and removed ; or the plants may be kept in the pots 

 till autumn, when they may very catily be-' taken out of 

 them without detriment. Mr Macdonald's experience 

 does not leati him to think that plants propagated in 

 this way are leas durable than those procured by slower 



VOL. XI. PART I. 



means, and where the roots and branches bear a relative Fruit- 

 proportion to each other. But supposing they were 0"den. ^ 

 i'ourul to be less durable, it is evident that one may thus ""V 

 very easily keep grape-houses constantly stored with Vinery. 

 healthy fruit-l>earing plants, and that the kinds may 

 be changed almost at pleasure. V.'hcn it happens that 

 too much bearing wood has been trained in, the plants 

 are relieved, and sufficient sun and air admitted, by thus 

 removing two or three shoots ; and supposing these 

 to contain each several bunches, of some fine sort of 

 grape, they are not lost, but may be ripened, by setting 

 the pots on the side-shelves, or flue . the pine, 



ry, or any hot- house. 



212. The proper management of the grape- house has 

 now become an important part of the duty of a gar. 

 dener. To lay down particular rules in this place is 

 impossible; a few general hints only can be given. A 

 great deal of useful information on this subject may be 

 found in the excellent Treatise on the Culture of the 

 Vine, by" Mr William Speechly, London, 1769; nd in 

 rcing Gardener, by Mr Walter Xicol, Edinburgh, 

 1809- These and similar books the gardener should 

 study, as containing the results of experience; but 

 many cases will occur, in which be must depend on 

 his own practical knowledge, and be guided solely by 

 his own judgment. 



The forcing of the earliest grape- house is often begun 

 in January. Till all the buds be broke, air is daily ad. 

 mitted by the sashes, and the heat is kept moderate, so 

 that the thermometer may indicate only 5Q' or 55" in the 

 mornings and evenings when the sun has no influence. 

 The temperature is then gradually raised, in the cour-r 

 of a fortnight or three weeks, to about ~(F. When thu 

 flowers appear, it is increased nearly to 7.".*. and the 

 house is frequently steamed, by sprinkling water on the 

 or on the walk when the sun shines, grapes be- 

 ing found to set best in a strong moist heat. 1 he gar- 

 dener now select* his bearing wood for next year, and 

 trains the shoots to an upper trellis, a foot above the 

 other, anil the wires of which are perhaps two feet 

 apart ; while be nipt off all lateral and superfluous 

 produce, and at the same time shortens the b< 

 shoots at an inch beyond the uppermost cluster. While 

 the berries are swelling, water is moderately given. 

 . indeed, recommend*, that it should be given li- 

 berally till they l>. _-in to ri|K-n ; but this lias been con- 

 sidered as likely to deprive the grapes of their proper 

 racinesa and flavour. 



The thinning of the bunches deserves attention. This 

 is sometimes neglected; but in many kinds, without 

 this attention, the berries in the middle ot the bunch 

 are apt to get mouldy and to rot ; and in all cases where 

 thinning is practised, the berries become larger and 

 more equal in sise. In the operation of thinning, par- 

 ticular care should be taken that the left hand, with 

 which the bunch is held, be kept cool, and also quite 

 free from perspired matter, l-'ur this purpose, the gar- 

 dener should have a vessel with pure cold water beside 

 him, into which be may now and then flip his hand, to 

 it cool and clean. Without this precaution the 

 berries often suffer from being handled, acquiring a 

 rusty diseased look, and not swelling freely. 



When the grape* approach maturity, all are agreed 

 that no more watering is proper. Air, however, is free- 

 ly admitted. In general, a proportion of the foliage, 

 especially on the stubs on which the clusters hang, is 

 removed. The fruit ought to remain till it be fully ripe ; 

 but this the impatience of the owners seldom permits. 

 When the fruit is all gathered, the stubs which bore it 



