CHAPTER X 
Favourite Fruits and How they are Grown. 
Growing Grapes in a Small Greenhouse.—Grapes may be 
had in a small greenhouse either from Vines in pots or planted out 
in a border. The easiest way to grow them is when the Vines are 
planted out. Vines in pots need careful and constant attention, 
otherwise they are never satisfactory, whereas Vines in a border 
are less likely to suffer from slight neglect, although it goes 
without saying that they will give only of their best if they receive 
the best cultivation. If Vines in pots are once allowed to get dry 
at the roots it is almost certain that the crop will be ruined, and 
when the pots are full of roots watering cannot be neglected even 
for.a day. If the roots are in a fairly large border of soil they need 
water far less often, and a day’s absence from home and consequent 
failure to water them would not atfect Vines planted out. 
An Explanation of Practical Details.—To judge from the 
miserable specimens we often see many amateurs fail to understand 
the way in which the Vine fruits. The bunches are produced on 
the current year’s growth, or in other words by the green shoots, 
and these shoots arise from buds that formed on the previous year’s 
growths. Thus the shoots that bear this year’s crop will provide 
buds that will produce next year’s growth and fruit. 
The easiest way to explain the intricacies of the subject will be 
to begin with the Vine in winter time when it is dormant, and to 
suppose it to have been planted in November. In January the 
Vine is cut down to within two or three buds of its base, that is, 
quite close to the ground. Probably all three of the buds will burst 
into growth in due time. If there is plenty of roof space for the 
Vine to cover, two shoots may be allowed to grow to form two main 
stems. If, however, several Vines are planted 3 feet 6 inches apart, 
as is usual, then only one bud must be allowed to grow, the other 
two being rubbed off. Care should be taken to select the best of the 
two or three young shoots, as the one retained will form the stem of 
the Vine. Ifa bunch of Grapes appears it must be pinched out. By 
the end of the summer this shoot should be quite 5 or 6 feet long. 
In the February following it is shortened to 3 feet, so as to lay the 
foundation of a vigorous Vine. The buds towards the top will 
break into growth first. The uppermost shoot is selected to train 
straight up the roof, continuing the Vine stem. Two other shoots 
(not opposite each other but occurring alternately on the stem) are 
retained to form side shoots which will subsequently develop into 
spurs. All growths that may arise below these three selected shoots 
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