April 6, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



249 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



Day 



o{ 



Week. 











Snn 



Sun 







Moon's 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day 



of 



Yeai. 



Month 



APRIL 6—12, 1871. 





ture near London. 



43 years. 



Bises. 



Sets. 



Eises. 



Sets. 



Age. 











Day. 



NiKht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





6 



Th 



Meetinf! of Linnean Society, 8 p.h. 





67.0 



35.9 



47.2 



14 



27af5 



40af 6 



59af7 



37af6 



16 



2 31 



96 



7 



F 







57.7 



86.8 



47.3 



21 



24 5 



41 6 



25 9 



4 7 



17 



2 18 



97 



8 



S 







66.1 



35.8 



46.0 



23 



22 5 



43 6 



60 10 



86 7 



18 



1 56 98 1 



9 



Son 



Eastes StrNSAX. 





55.0 



85.3 



45.2 



22 



20 5 



44 6 



morn. 



17 8 



19 



1 89 



99 



10 



M 







55.9 



38.5 



44.7 



16 



18 5 



45 6 



12 



9 9 



20 



1 22 



100 



11 



Tu 







56.0 



85.2 



45.6 



20 



16 5 



46 6 



24 1 



14 10 



21 



1 6 



101 



12 



W 



Royal Botanic Society's Spring Show 





65.8 



86.4 



46.1 



27 



18 5 



48 6 



23 2 



24 11 



t 



60 



102 



From observations taken near London during 



forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 56.2°, and its night tem- 



perature 85.7'^. The greatest heat was 7y°, on 



the 7th, 1859 ; and the lowest cold 20°, on the 10th, 1860. The greatest fall of rain was 



0.73 inch. 







1 



THE CULTIVATION OF THE GKAPE VINE. 



F late years muoh has been written about 

 Vines and Vine-culture ; more able writers 

 and more experienced cultivators than I can 

 pretend to be, have recorded their matured 

 experience in these pages, and it seems need- 

 less to go over the same ground, if the nume- 

 rous questions which are contained in the 

 " Answers to Correspondents " did not show 

 that information is still required on this 

 subject. 



As a wall fruit in favourable seasons and positions, the 

 Grape is well worthy of cultivation out of doors in the 

 south of England. My experience with this method of 

 culture is rather limited, but it does not seem that many 

 varieties ought to be grown in this way. The Black Ham- 

 burgh and even the Muscat of Alexandria have ripened 

 out of doors when the season has been unusually favourable, 

 but under such circumstances the well-known variety Royal 

 Muscadine, when placed in competition with them, has 

 generally been placed first for flavour ; it is the variety 

 usually grown in this neighbourhood trained to the walls 

 of cottages, and sometimes carries unmense crops of fruit. 



It is not my intention to enter into all the details of 

 Vine-culture, but merely to make a few suggestive remarks. 

 In the first place, as regards varieties, there are so many 

 now in cultivation, and few growers require more than at 

 the most half a dozen, that it is a matter of much anxiety 

 to know what sorts to plant. It is best to plant the largest 

 proportion of black Grapes, and there is none so generally 

 useful as the Black Hamburgh. This variety succeeds in 

 positions and under circumstances where many highly- 

 lauded sorts would be comparative failures, and there is no 

 other Grape, black or white, which would so well of itself 

 keep up a supply all the year round. 



Koyal Ascot, sent out a few years ago, I would place 

 in a higher position than is sometimes accorded it, and 

 I am inclined to believe that this sort will yet be grown 

 to a large extent when it is better known, being robust in 

 growth and free-bearing, the berries setting as freely as 

 those of the Hamburgh, of the most intense black, covered 

 with a dense bloom, having a flavour to which no one can 

 take exception, and ripening in a cool house as early as 

 the Hamburgh. 



Alicante requires rather more heat to ripen it well ; it 

 does not hang in good condition so long as Lady Downe's, 

 but when in season is much to be preferred to that variety. 

 It was exhibited in good order at South Kensington on 

 March 1st, and gained the first prize against very excel- 

 lent examples of that variety. 



Lady Downe's is the variety generally grown along with 

 Black Hamburgh, but to do it justice it requires rather 

 more heat than the Hamburgh. It keeps better than any 

 other sort of Grape ; I have had it ripened in August, and 

 kept it in pretty good condition until June. To keep well, 

 the fruit must be thoroughly ripened ; it ought to be ripe 

 by the first week of September. A high night temperature 

 is not requu-ed in all the stages of its growth ; from 60° to 



Ho. 628.— Vol. XX. New Sekleb. 



65° is a good temperature until the first flowers are observed 

 to expand, when it should be increased to 70° by night, 

 with a proportionate rise by day, say 15° more from sun heat. 

 An atmosphere either too moist or too dry is to be avoided ; 

 I generally allow the evaporating troughs to become dry, 

 merely sprinkling the paths and syringing aU the waU 

 surface twice a-day. Under such treatment nearly all the 

 varieties of Grapes set well, and in the case of shy-setting 

 sorts the bunches should be gently shaken twice a-day— at 

 9 A.M. and 1 f.m., which will facilitate the process. After 

 the flowering period a lower temperature is advisable. 

 Another peculiarity of the Lady Downe's is the liability 

 of the berries to scalding. The time when most danger is 

 to be feared from this is after stoning, and immediately 

 before the Grapes show signs of colouring ; a rather dry 

 atmosphere, with abundant ventilation in the day, wiU 

 entirely prevent it. As the Lady Downe's Grape is gene- 

 rally required to keep late in the spring, the berries should 

 be well-thinned out, for if they are too close the bunches 

 will not keep well. It is injurious to the Vines to allow 

 the Grapes to hang tUl spring. I generally cut all the 

 bunches in January, removing as much young wood as 

 will allow the end of it to be inserted in a bottle of water; 

 if they are hung up in a frost-proof room, and the bottles 

 filled with water as often as it is required— about once or 

 twice a-week — the bunches draw up a large quantity of 

 water. A few pieces of charcoal should be kept in the 

 water to prevent its becoming oifenaive. Under such cir- 

 cumstances the fruit will keep sound, and the stalk fresh, 

 until May. I have had the bunches in tolerably good 

 condition in the middle of Jime, five months after they 

 were cut from the Vine. 



The Alicante is a very desirable variety. It is a mag- 

 nificent Grape, requiring a rather higher temperature than, 

 that recommended for Lady Downe's ; it keeps in good 

 condition until March, and is large in bunch and berry ; 

 its colour is the most intense black, and the berries are 

 covered with a dense bloom. If you ask for the Alicante 

 in the nursery it is just as likely as not that the Morocco 

 will be sent. The ' latter is a good Grape, but not to be 

 recommended for general culture. It does not acquire 

 such a fine colour as the Alicante ; the berries are of a 

 different shape, being long oval, and when the two varie- 

 ties have once been seen together there is no difficulty in 

 distinguishing them from each other. 



Of white Grapes adapted for a cool house there is none 

 as yet sent out so constantly good as the Black Hamburgh. 

 Of sorts not having a Muscat flavour Buokland Sweet- 

 water, when well grown, is a splendid Grape. It has been 

 stated that this variety succeeds in a house not artifloiaUy 

 heated, under such circumstances it has not done very 

 well with me ; the berries contain too much water, and 

 decay very soon after they are ripe, whereas when the 

 fruit is well ripened the berries are firm in the flesh, and . 

 will keep for tlu-ee months. I prefer to grow Buckland 

 Sweetwater grafted or inarched on the Black Hamburgh. 



White Frontignan is a very good Grape with a distinct 

 flavour much esteemed by some. The bunches are not 

 gsnerally of a large size, but the berries are rather above • 

 No. 1175.— Vol. XLV., Old Seeies. 



