THE VINE 249 



the leading growth should be treated as before, while the laterals upon the older 

 part of the vine-stem are cut back to two prominent basal buds. This method 

 of management gives sufficient space for the wood to become thoroughly ripened, 

 and should be followed until the allotted space is filled, after which time the 

 training and pruning will be wholly confined to the laterals. When vines have 

 more than one branch or " rod," each should be treated as if it were a separate vine. 

 Vines may be lightly cropped the third season after being planted, but at 

 no time should a lateral be permitted to carry more than one bunch, and the 

 weight of the fruit that established vines may carry must be governed by their 

 vigour and size ; overcropping, however, always has an enfeebling effect, and 

 impairs the quality of the fruit. There is no better stimulant than the drainage 

 from cow sheds and stables, which can be applied in a diluted form during the 

 growing season as well as in the autumn after the fruit is gathered. Top- 

 dressings of light soil, bone meal, or similar rich fertilisers used in the autumn, 

 are also of much value, while during seasons of drought, mulching the borders 

 with short litter is beneficial. The most virulent enemies that the vine on 

 walls outdoors is subject to, are red spider and mildew, but if the vines are kept 

 adequately supplied with nourishment, moisture at their roots, and properly 

 syringed with soft water in summer, attacks of red spider will be comparatively 

 rare. An efficient remedy for mildew, which is very injurious if permitted to 

 take its course, is the Bordeaux mixture ; this should be applied in a fine spray. 

 Flowers of sulphur, which should be distributed with a dredger, make a good 

 remedy also. As a winter dressing after the vines have been pruned, and the 

 loose bark removed, Gishurst's compound, used at the rate of 4 oz. to a 

 gallon of hot soft water, and well rubbed into the crevices, so that the whole 

 surface of the rods is thoroughly soaked, is a very effectual cleaner. Of varieties 

 " Sweet Water " is excellent for general purposes. Black Cluster and Royal 

 Muscadine are also useful. Reine Olga should be added ; it is a novelty of 

 great excellence, and recently obtained an award of merit from the Royal 

 Horticultural Society. Its colour is tawny red, the bunches are large, while the 

 flavour is rich. For ornamental uses Vitis purpurea, Vitis Coignetia, and the 

 Parsley-Leaved Vine are invaluable. 



VINE CULTURE IN THE OPEN 



By ANDREW PETTIGREW 



The subject of vine culture in the open would hardly have found a place 

 in a work of this description a few years ago, when the only examples of vines 

 outdoors in this country were those growing against cottage walls, and regarded 

 more as decorative plants than fruit producers. The experiment of the late 

 Marquess of Bute in planting vineyards on his estates in Glamorganshire, South 

 Wales, with which the readers of gardening periodicals are now familiar, has 

 quite proved the practicability of growing vines in the open as a more or less 

 remunerative undertaking, and it is on this account that the subject finds a 

 place in the present work. 



