24 Culture of Vines in Pots. 



placed in a hotbed frame, or plunged in tan in the hot-house 

 at about 70° of heat ; after they are well rooted, they require to 

 be shifted into No. 48 pots. When the shoots are from 2 ft. to 3 ft. 

 in length, I give them their final shifting into No. 6 pots. I give 

 a good drainage to the pot, and plant them low, so that, when 

 finished, the pot may not be above two thirds filled with compost. 

 The pots should now be placed where they are to remain, until 

 such time as the vines have made their full growth. The best 

 situation for them is in the front of a forcing-house for flowers 

 (or if a small house could be appropriated for this purpose, so 

 much the better) ; and if not placed too close together, the par- 

 tial shade of the foliage during the hot months of summer will 

 be rather beneficial than otherwise. 



It is most desirable that the pots should be raised about 15 in. 

 above the hot-water pipes, if the house is heated by that system ; 

 or, if by the common flue, large pans should be placed under the 

 pots, and kept full of water where the flue is hottest. The near- 

 ness of the roots to the heated medium will wonderfully accele- 

 rate their growth ; and, if proper attention is given to airing and 

 watering, short joints and strong canes will be the consequence. 

 Care should be taken to divest them of all laterals as soon as they 

 appear, as this gives a fulness and prominence to the buds, 

 which they would not otherwise obtain. 



When the vines have grown of sufficient length, say from 12ft. 

 to 18 ft., the supply of water should be gradually withheld until 

 the wood is comparatively ripe : they should then be removed 

 from the house, and trained against a south wall, laying the pots 

 upon their sides, to keep the roots dry, and covering the 

 pots with litter or muck. To prevent worms getting into the 

 pots, a layer of dry lime covered with coal-ashes should be 

 put under them. 



Having thus grown and ripened the wood of the vines, the 

 next thing to be attended to is the preparing and pruning 

 them for forcing, which ought to be done about four or five 

 weeks before they are put into. the forcing-house. Upon exami- 

 nation, it will be found that the largest and best buds are towards 

 the extremity of the shoot; it is therefore to be cut back to these 

 buds. It will be observed, that, in the final shifting, the pots 

 were only two thirds filled with compost, the reason for which 

 was, that space might be left for coiling the vine round the inside 

 of the pot, at the same time divesting it of all the buds except 

 8, 10, or 12, at the end which is to be left out of the pot, 

 fixing the coil down with pegs, and then filling up the pot with 

 compost. It will be apparent that a great advantage is gained 

 by coiling the vine round the pot, since by this we preserve the 

 elaborated sap, which would otherwise have been lost by cutting 

 back the vine to within 3 or 4 feet of the pot. We have also, by 



