THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 231 



The pruning is on tlie short-spur system.* 



It should be borne in mind, that the larger the crop a 

 vine is allowed to bear, the longer will be the time re- 

 quired to mature the fruit, and the quality of which will 

 'also be deteriorated in proportion to its amount. 



The native varieties of the grape, when planted in a 

 soil naturally dry and suitable, will do well without a 

 prepared border ; but, as a general rule, it must be re- 

 membered that the more care there is bestowed on the 

 preparation of this, the greater will be the chance of 

 success. 



The Black Hamburgh grape, when well cultivated, is 

 a richer fruit in this climate than in that of England, and 

 it is necessary to test the quality of the foreign kinds 

 here, as the experience of European cultivators does not 

 always coincide with our own.f 



* In the Journal of Horticultural Tour, Eclinburgli, 1823, is the follow- 

 ing: — " Grape vines are likewise commonly trained against the walls of the 

 house?, in the outskirts of the town, (Rotterdam,) and we were assured 

 that tliey often prove very productive. A long .shed, extending two 

 hundred feet, was thickly clotlied with vine branches, which were tolerably 

 well filled witli fruit. There were, m all, six plants, wliich grew in the 

 open area, next tlie street ; we observed botli Wliite and Black grapes; tlis 

 latter were more numerous, the Frankendale." 



f Dr. Lindley, after some remarks relative to fruits of American origin, 

 in which he states their " utter worthlessness in England," advising liia 

 readers not to try tliem, closes with this language : — " They can only bo 

 disappointed so long as the mean of tlie liottest montli is 64° 40' in London, 

 and 80° 70' in New York." — Gardnners' Chronids, 1848, p- 51. 



B.y tlie above remarks, it would seem tliat Di. Lindley attributes all tliig 

 difference in tlie quality of fruits, to tlie diminished quantity of heat; 

 doubtless, in this difference of heat, he means to include also the effect o( 

 the relative proportion of diminislied light from the sun, whicli is, in part, 

 the cause of this lower temperature. But these circumstances will not al- 

 ways explain the causes of these differences ia the goodness of fruits. For 



