Diary of the Vine Culture 



house the soil is prepared to the depth of 6 ft. ; and at the fur- 

 ther extremity of the border (16 ft. wide) there are 3^ ft. of soil, 

 composed of equal parts of the following earths : — Turfy loam 

 (the top spit of a very old undisturbed piece of pasture, occupied 

 as a rick yard), two parts; rotten dung, one part; lime rubbish, 

 one part ; gritty mud (the same as road-drift), one part. The 

 vines are planted inside, there are twelve plants, and they are 

 kept single-stemmed to the top of the house. When pruned, 

 the spurs are cut back to one bud. The sorts cultivated are, 

 Black Hamburgh and Dutch sweetwater. There is one vine 

 of the Old St. Peter's in the house, it having been planted as a 

 stock to be worked on for some kind more esteemed. I should 

 pointedly remark, that the management of the temperature, so 

 as to preserve it at the states registered in the diary, is here 

 deemed a condition essential to success in the culture. 



1833. 



Nov. 8. 



9. 

 12. 

 16. 

 19. 

 22. 



25. 



26. 

 27. 



30. 



Bee. 1. 



8. 



15. 



22. 

 29. 



Maxim, 

 by day. 



60 



60 



60 



65 



67 



69 



70 



72 



Minim, 

 at night, 



45 



45 



50 



55 



56 



57 



58 



59 



The vinery open. The wood ripe : not pruned. 

 We have had two slight frosts. 



The vines pruned. The vinery shut up. No ar- 

 tificial heat applied. 



Vines pared; the loose and rough bark only taken 

 off. 



Tan pit filled with new tan (twelve loads). Soil 5 

 pathway, &c, kept wet. 



Vines washed with soap-suds by means of a painter's 

 sash-brush, the suds being in a tepid state. 



Vines anointed with a mixture of soft soap and 

 black and white sulphur dissolved in warm soap- 

 suds ; the mixture applied to the vines at about 

 100° of heat. Vines laid down on the tan, and 

 moistened with a fine syringe twice a day. The 

 tan forked every other day. 



Forked the border about 3 in. deep ; laid on turfy 

 loam and old lime mortar, about 2 in. deep; then 

 old hotbed dung, well rotted, 2 in. ; the roots being 

 near the surface, having been planted as shallow 

 as possible. 



Walls whitewashed with lime and sulphur. 



Laid leaves on vine border, 1 ft. thick, and fresh hot 

 dung, 1 ft. : protected the above from rains, &c, 

 by reed covers used at other times for pine pits. 



The floor dressed with a coat of road-drift, for the 

 sake of sprinkling. 



Fire heat applied; and all the steam that can be 

 raised produced. 



Sprinkling of pipes and pathways performed at all 

 times, for the sake of steam and moisture. The 

 heat of dung on border, 70°. 



Weather favourable : the nights often 50° or 52° ; 

 seldom under 40°. We have had only four frosts ; 

 the most intense as low as 26°. 



Buds perceived to be swelling. Heat of dung on 

 border, 90°. 



Ceased to syringe vines. The sprinkling of soil, 

 pipes, and path continued. 



