= 
1843,] 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
411 
OYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY OF LONDON.— 
~ The next PROMENADE of this Society will take place at 
their Gardens in the Reorny’s Park, on Wer 
from 4 to 7 o’clock, if the weather prove fair, Fellows, Members, 
their Friends, and the Bearers of Ivory Tickets alone can be 
admitted, Ample provision is made against sudden showers of 
tain. By Order of the Council, J. D. C. Sowersy, Secretary. 
Che Gardeners’ Chrontele, 
August no perceptible increase of size in the berries had 
taken place, and the Vine began to show strong symp- 
toms of exhaustion. About the middle of that month 
the foliage assumed a withering appearance, and on 
the Ist of September the vegetation of the plant was 
almost at a stand; the shoots ceased to grow, the 
fruit and foliage were in a prostrate condition, and the 
vital energies of the Vine appeared quite unable to 
ably the dajly increasing demand for nourishment. 
r } 
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1848. 
MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEERS. 
Linnean 5 + +... 8 PM 
Tuesday, June 20 . . .+Floricultural . 
(Crown & Anc 
Wednesday, June 21 os set 
Saturday, June 24 
Tuesday, June 27 
Zoological 
Wednesday, June 28 
See fe B5 
yal Botanic, Garden Exhibition. 
* *LMedico-Botanical - . . 8p. 
Countay Snows, Friday, June 23, . {Elyerpoo 
isby- 
ae Crement Hoarr, in his excellent treatise on 
ry {Cultivation of the Vine on open walls, remarks 
Vin 4 prevailing idea, that the more wood there is in a 
ine the more Grapes it will produce, is precisely the 
Teverse of the fact ; that to permit a Vine to make a 
Breat Quantity of wood under the idea of thereby 
ed a great quantity of Grapes, is grasping at the 
Stance and catching the shadow ; that in order to 
ini 4 plant in good bearing condition the pruning- 
os should be used toa far greater extent than on 
ae other kind of fruit-tree ; and finally, that the 
a i Severe manner in which that instrument is 
wih led to other trees is as nothing when compared 
oe that required by the Vine. These statements 
Vi Ot confined to winter pruning, but applied to the 
Ne at all seasons ; and upon the assumption that they 
ar s 
Rage Mr. Hoare founds his mode of * long-rod” 
di hing. It has always occurred to us that a little 
Iscuss 
~ sion would be advantageously applied to this 
Grice and we therefore invite ee of 
fe powers to the following considerations: — 
briea; Toare’s theory, as we understand it, may be 
io, expressed thus: T he quantity of Grapes which 
ihe mais capable of producing is not in proportion to 
foliat ey of its foliage, therefore an abundance of 
Temored* disadvantageous to the Vine, and should be 
refers ¢ 3 ‘as support of this proposition Mr. Hoare 
own a me practice in vineyard countries, and to his 
Vineyarie iments. It is stated that the proprietors of 
the pa rant in their leases covenants to regulate 
Mmber - of shoots to be left on each stool, and the 
because of eyes to which a branch is to be shortened, | 
Pak: in'the absence of such covenants, the wing- 
is would exhaust the Vines, and gradually ruin 
ay of the wine, Upon turning to Chaptal’s 
We at work on the cultivation of the Vine in France 
indigr, this idea confirmed. He attributes the 
Vines nat quality of the Grapes obtained from the 
hang 4.2 are allowed to scramble over trees and to 
0 Tom them in festoons, as is the case in Provence, 
Sup, Wtlery quality of the sap consequent upon the 
othe ance of leaves (vol. i. p. 293); and in 
French Place (vol. i. p. 296) he says that in the 
Vineyards Wines are pruned in order “to 
the dispersion of the sap, and the formation of 
le Ke nite quantity of shoots, branches, twigs, and 
Wouly which would push “in crowds from the buds, 
deraty Xtend the surface of the stool in an immo- 
Powers gree, and increase beyond all bounds its 
ut in of Sucking up fluids from the soil (aspiration). 
Wood th €priving it of what is called superfluous 
ich ..~ °*P is concentrated in a part of those shoots 
"he fruig > considered best suited to produce fine, good, 
we a Hoare’s own experiment is stated to be this :— 
Were thocribe the results, which, with little variation, 
Seleota, i Same in all, one Vine may be advantageously 
ear of 4 This was a White Muscadine, in the eighth 
eating “8 age, and, like all the rest, in the highest 
lowing Condition possible. It produced in the fol- 
Shoots Pring an abundant supply of vigorous bearing 
Produce Shewed 78 bunches of fine Grapes, the 
and leg . 29 buds, retained on two horizontal right 
EXten se loots. As the season advanced the shoots 
Mereag, d themselves rapidly, the bunches of fruit 
UY c ih size, and the Vine thrived as well as 
shortly jomingly quite unconscious of the task it 
the fruit ad to perform. Blossoming being over, and 
the Ist ee? the trial of strength commenced. On 
Neches f uly many of the bunches measured 1] 
When eo the shoulders to the extremities, and 
hale ea atured would have weighed a pound and a 
as they = They hung close together, forming, as far 
Mass of tended on the wall, an entire and compact 
Would have Tapes, the weight of which, if ripened, 
Month arrip nected 60 pounds. The middle of that 
Size of hi ved and the berries had only reached the 
‘Ubjecteg all Peas, while those on other Vines, not 
ommen, Y such trial, were full grown, and had 
to an 
ced the stoning process, On the Ist of 
g) hat month it continued in a pitiable 
condition, and though a valuable plant, it was never- 
theless suffered to take its course as well as all the 
others, in order that the trial might be decisive. About 
the Ist of October, the greater part of the berries having 
grown as large as middling-sized Peas, those on the 
shoulders of some of the bunches began to show symp- 
toms of ripening by becoming a little transparent, and 
at the same time the berries at the extremities of the 
bunches began to shrivel. As the month advanced, 
the ripening process proceeded slowly, but the shrivel- 
ling increased rapidly. Towards the latter end of 
October the trial was over, and the experiment com- 
plete; on many entire bunches every berry had 
shrivelled, andin no bunch had the process of matura- 
tion proceeded farther down than the shoulders. The 
whole crop was gathered about the Ist of November, 
and the ripened portions being put together, weighed 
93 pounds. Not one of these ripened berries, how- 
ever, was more than half the usual size, and in point 
of flavour not to be compared to others of the same 
sort ripened at least six weeks previously.” - 
This is, uo doubt, a very instructive experiment 
in some respects, and well worth the attentive consi- 
deration of Gardeners; but there is a somewhat 
important omission in the circumstances relating to 
it, so far as the question now before us is concerned— 
namely, how this Vine had been treated previously, 
and in what manner it was pruned during the pro- 
gress of the experiment. All that we learn is, that 
in the previous years the Vine had been remarkably 
vigorous, and had been closely pruned. 
It may perhaps appear that, at all events, this sort 
of evidence is conclusive as to the correctness of Mr. 
Hoare’s theory, and shows that close pruning is 
advantageous to Vines. We must, however, confess 
that it does not carry conviction to our mind, Mr. 
Hoare’s experiment seems to us to amount merely to 
.—that if you {leave on a Vine more bunches than 
it can support, those bunches will shrivel and not 
ripen, But there still remains behind the question, 
why it cannot support its own produce? and thatis 
not answered by the experiment. Mr. Hoare, indeed, 
may say the bunches did not swell “ because the quan- 
tity of Grapes which a Vine is capable of producing is 
notin proportion ta ite falioga? Rat anight it nas 
with equal justice be inferred that they did not swell 
because the quantity of leaves to nourish the branches 
was insufficient ?—insufficient both during the year of 
“the experiment and in the previous season. We think 
the language which the Vine spoke on this occasion 
not only might, bitt should be thus interpreted : 
Mr. Knight long since showed that the Melon, 
when young, and before its organizable matter is 
formed in sufficient abundance, is incapable of sup- 
porting its fruit ; that if fruit is seton very young 
Melon-plants, it either turns yellow and drops off, or 
remains small and of bad quality ; and that the true 
principle of obtaining finely-grown and _richly- 
flavoured Melons is to prevent their bearing till their 
organizable matter is abundantly stored up. Now 
this appears to us explanatory of the shrivelling of 
Mr. Hoare’s Grapes. In the first place, the Vine had 
been previously close-pruned, which would diminish 
the amount of organizable matter prepared in 
its branches during the season previous to the expe- 
riment ; for it is the constant rule that the quantity 
of organizable matter in a plant is in proportion to 
the quantity of its healthy leaves ; and secondly, it is 
to be inferred that the same system of close-pruning 
was observed during the experiment, which in that 
case would further deprive the bunches of matter 
whereon to feed. 
With regard to the evidence afforded by the French 
Vineyard practice, it has not necessarily that connexion 
with close pruning which it at first sight appears to 
have. The French landlord limits the quantity of 
bunches to be borne ‘by his Vine-stools, and directs 
the removal of branches, in order to insure the perfect 
ripening of the fruit; for, as Chaptal observes in 
another place (vol. i., p. 294), “ the nearer the Grapes 
are to the surface of the ground (provided they do 
not touch it, which ruins them) the more they are 
exposed to the heat reverberated from the soil ;” but 
of course that reverberation would not take place at 
all if the ground were covered over with an entangled 
mass of branches and leaves. In this country Grapes 
are not placed in such circumstances as they are in 
the French Vineyards, where the Vines cover the 
ground from a foot-and-a-half to two yards apart, like 
the plants in our Gooseberry-grounds, 
It is true that Chaptal mentions repeatedly the 
watery quality of sap q upon a i 
S 
dance of leaves, but this sort of physiological reasoning 
isinadmissible. Sap is not watery because of a super- 
abundance of foliage, but because of an undue supply 
of water by the roots, or an insufficient exposure of leaves 
to the influence of lijht ; indeed, Chaptal’s own 
instances in support of his interpretation may be 
used against it ; for, while he refers the bad quality 
of the Tree-Grapes of Provence and of the rampant 
Vineyards of Poitou to a superabundance of leaves, 
he admits that the higher temperature of Italy, where 
the Vines are also allowed to scramble among trees, 
will occasionally produce good Grapes; although he 
adds, this is only in some places, for the wines of 
Italy are of poor quality, and will not keep. We should 
rather say that the bad quality of the Tree-Grapes, 
&c. is owing to their leaves being shaded by the 
branches among which they grow, and that the indif- 
ferent quality of Italian wine is due partly to the 
same cause, and partly to the careless way in which 
it is made. 
Upon the whole, we cannot say that the system of 
close pruning and frequent abstraction of leaves is 
satisfactory to us; and we would in particular express 
our doubt whether it does not materially retard the 
ripening of Grapes out of doors. But as this is a 
matter of very considerable importance, and there are 
many points connected with it which we have no 
room to enter upon to-day, we must reserve our fur- 
ther observations. In the meanwhile, we shall be 
extremely glad of the experience and opinion of 
practical Grape-growers upon the subject, observing 
only, in addition, that all the foregoing remarks apply 
to summer pruning only. 
Keeprine in view the principles we laid down in 
our last Number respecting the letting small portions 
of land for garden cultivation, and distinguishing such 
garden-farms from the allotments or gardens let to 
the labourers working on a farm, we will endeavour 
to explain our meaning by a reference to such occu- 
pations in other countries which we have had an 
opportunity of visiting, principally in Flanders, France, 
and Switzerland. Although the general state of 
agriculture, on a large scale, is very different in these 
countries, being most perfect in ‘Flanders, next in 
Switzerland, and the least so in France, there is much 
less difference in the management of the very small 
occupations cultivated principally by the spade. 
Except in a small orchard—a most useful appendage 
to a cottage garden—no part of the ground is in per- 
manent grass ; and the stock, of whatever kind it ma: 
be, is kept in the stalls or sties all the year round. 
This may be considered as the foundation of the whole 
system, without which so small portions of land could 
wet he pee Re-1d,. wt \iThora there ig no stock 
there is no manure ; the land, instead of improving ia 
fertility, is soon exhausted, and no labour can restore 
it. Where there is a cow, andacalf to succeed 
her, food must be raised for them—artificial grasses 
and other green food in summer, and roots and straw 
in winter, Experience soon shows what quantity of 
land must be devoted to this purpose. Those who 
are not acquainted with this system will scarcely 
believe that two acres of arable land will feed two small 
cows anda heifer, and two or three acres more suffice 
to raise corn and pulse to feed a family and carry 
some to market ; that poultry and pigs are kept on 
the refuse, and a sheep is often fatted in the same 
shed or stall with the cows. It is not so much by the 
abundance of each crop, as by the rapid succession in 
which they are raised, that thisis done. But as facts 
are always more convincing than arguments, we will 
here extract a short account of a small farm in Bel- 
gium from the Outlines of Flemish Husbandry, p. 90, 
which we haye every reason to believe is correctly 
stated. 
“Near Alost we met with one of the smallest farms 
which will maintain a family without other work—it 
was barely five acres. The house was much larger 
than such’an occupation warranted ; but it wasan old 
farm-house, and the land had{been divided into small 
holdings, leaving only five acres to go with the house. 
There was a small orchard of about a quarter of an 
acre, in which there were some thriving Apple and Plum 
trees. The grass under these was good, and the onl 
cow which the man had was led by the wife in a halter 
to graze there for a short time every day—apparently 
more to give her exercise than for the food she could 
pick up. The grass seemed to have been cut for her 
in another part. This cow had cost eight pounds, and 
the man regretted that he had not had the means to 
purchase a second, as he could have mairitained two 
very well. Half of the land was in Wheat, the other 
half in Elover, Flax, and Potatoes ; so that the Clover 
did not recur sooner than every sixth year, the Flax 
and Potatoes in nine. As soon as the Wheat was reaped 
he began to hac? the stubble about four inches deep 
with a heavy lic, and as fast as he got a piece done 
it was sown with Turnips, after having had some of 
the contents of his urine tank poured over it—for, 
small as the farmiwas, it had its reservoir for this pre- 
cious manure. Thus a considerable portion of the 
