304 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



the Touia at tlie base have pushed half an inch, and 

 there is no longer any fear of the point buds running 

 away -with all the sap, raise them to a horizontal 

 position, and when aU are growing freely, tie them 

 up to the wires. 



A little extra attention to this matter of break- 

 ing young canes is time well spent ; as buds that 

 do not start form unsightly gaps, which can- 

 not by any future management be filled up; or if 

 they break weakly, the first set of spurs is ever 

 afterwards weakly. In the management of tempo- 

 rary vines, like these now in question, a few dor- 

 mant buds do not make much difference, as six feet 

 of cane wiU always give as many grapes as super- 

 numeraries ought to carry; but when we come to 

 permanent vines, this taatter should receive most 

 diligent attention. 



After tying up the vines, raise the temperature 

 from 50° to 58° by night, and 10° to 15° higher 

 by day, until the foliage begins to expand and 

 the leaders are well on the move, then gradually 

 increase the day and night heats, in exactly the 

 same way as was advised for the management of the 

 first year's growth. It must, however, be borne in 

 mind that a night heat of 65'? for Hamburghs, and 5° 

 more for Muscats, is quite enough until summer heat 

 favours a higher range with a minimum of fire-heat. 

 Asa rule the temperature by day ranges from 10° to 

 15° higher ; but there is no rule so mischievous as a 

 hard and fast line in the regulation of heat, irrespec- 

 tive of the external condition of our uncertain climate. 

 Therefore, it is always safe to rest when days are 

 dark and nights are cold, and force with plenty of 

 bottled-up solar heat and brilliant sunlight when 

 favourable conditions prevail. The atmosphere of 

 the house should be kept sufficiently moist by 

 sprinkling the borders and paths, by turning the 

 fermenting leaves, and by keeping the evaporating 

 pans fuU of water ; but on no account must the 

 pipes be syringed when they are very hot, as steam 

 so raised is always injurious and sometimes fatal to 

 the tender foliage. 



As days increase in length, and the vines grow 

 very fast, give them plenty of water at the mean 

 temperature of the house. It is impossible for any 

 one to say how often vines should be watered ; but 

 there is not much danger of over-watering them 

 when growing in well-drained borders ; indeed, vines 

 having nearly all their roots in internal borders fre- 

 quently suffer from the opposite extreme. 



As growth proceeds, stop all the laterals that 

 form on the young canes at the second leaf, and 

 stop the leaders as soon as they reach half-way 

 up the south side of the house. As this stopping 

 of the leading shoots will cause the main buds on the 

 lower part of the stem that are to produce fruit next 



year to fill up, and the rods to become much stouter, 

 see that the latter have plenty of play in the early 

 ties, and give them more room where there is danger 

 of the sap being impeded in its descent to the base. 

 "When the top buds break, again allow them to con- 

 tinue their course to the top of the house, and en-, 

 courage a free growth of laterals, provided there is 

 plenty of room for the full development and expo- 

 sure of the foliage to the action of light ; but on no 

 account allow the laterals to become a tangled mass, 

 as they do not benefit the roots, and often become 

 the breeding-places of troublesome insects. 



As the temporary vines, from which some six 

 or eight bunches are to be taken during this — the 

 second year — will require precisely the treatment 

 that will be laid down for the permanent vines in 

 the next or fruiting year, it will not be necessary 

 to describe that here ; suffice it to say they must be 

 grown under restricted management, so as to pre- 

 vent their growths from interfering with the fullest 

 possible development of the permanent vines. 



By the middle of August vines shut up in Feb- 

 ruary will be fast taking on their ripening garb, » 

 condition which will justify the removal of all the 

 laterals from the base up to the pruning-bud. These 

 should be taken out close to the bud, at the base of 

 the main leaves, provided none of the latter have 

 been in any way injured or destroyed. Should this 

 be the case, these particular laterals may be short- 

 ened back to one leaf, as they will be of service in 

 storing up sap to perfect the buds from which next 

 year's crop of bunches wiU preceed. The house 

 must now have an abundance of air by night and 

 day, and the foliage may have an occasional wash 

 with the syringe, for keeping spider in check, tmtil 

 it becomes of a bright nankeen colour and falls 

 naturally. 



It is needless to say that the grapes from the 

 temporary vines should be used at the earliest con- 

 venience after they are fit for table, as late hanging 

 will interfere with the autumn management ; but if 

 they are not wanted they can be cut and bottled, 

 when they will keep for many weeks in an ordinary 

 grape-room. When all the bunches have been 

 cleared, these vines, hard as it may appear to the 

 amateur, must be taken out bodily, to make room 

 for the proper training of the laterals from the per- 

 manent vines in the fruiting year. 



As the next year's management of the vineries 

 will commence early in January, it may be well 

 to conclude our remarks on this stage by saying 

 that the vines intended for early starting, should 

 be pruned by the end of September or early 

 in October, the strongest rods to six feet, and 

 the weakest to five feet — lengths which will give 

 quite as many grapes as they should be allowed to 



