THE CULTUKE OF THE GEAPE. 73 



snme to say, has surprised all, both gentlemen and prac- 

 tical gardeners, who have witnessed it." 



Mr. Roberts then goes on to say : " Still, an ijnprove- 

 inent might be made on this border, particularly where a 

 cool and humid atmosphere j)revails, as it does, to a 

 great extent, in the northern parts of these kingdoms. 



" To obviate this defect, I should recommend, instead 

 of a border two feet six inches deep, with one huge 

 stone every six or eight feet square, to put four or five in 

 the same space, allowing the border, when filled and 

 settled, to be from fifteen to eighteen inches deep, and to 

 plant the vines as near upon the surface as possible ; you 

 would then be better able to add a top dressing to your 

 border every autumn, so as to feed and keep the roots 

 of your vine near the surface." 



The second chapter treats of the kind of grapes for 

 the vinery, etc., and of the different methods of propa- 

 gating the vine ; his plan is by the single eye, as fol- 

 lows : — 



" Choose bold, prominent buds, taking two inches of 

 wood ; on each side cut a little sloping, opposite the eye ; 

 then pot singly, in thirty-two sized pots, using leaf 

 mould and sandy loam in equal parts," prepared fourteen 

 days before placing in the pit. "When your pit is 

 ready, having been filled with stable dung and tree 

 leaves, so as to command a bottom heat of 80° or 85°, 

 which you can easily ascertain by inserting a Fahren- 

 heit's thermometer to the depth of a foot, proceed to 

 plunge in your pots, which you may safely do, being 

 rather sparing of water the first fortnight or three 

 weeks, and never xising the water at a lower tempera- 



