750 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Pajit III. 



4794. Vineyards have also been planted in modem times, and wine produced, nearly, 

 if not entirely equal, to that of France. In the Museum Rustieum, it is stated, that at 

 Arundel Castle in Sussex, the Duke of Norfolk had a vineyard, of which there were in 

 his Grace's cellar, in 1763, above sixty pipes of excellent Burgundy. Bradley informs 

 us, that Warner, a gentleman of Rotherhithe, made good wine from his own vineyards. 

 Switzer mentions several instances, and among others, that of Rocque, of Walham 

 Green, who made wine for thirty years from a vineyard he had planted in a common Jield- 

 garden. Hanburyand Hales confirm these accounts, and cite others; and Barry, in his 

 History of Wines, gives an account of a very productive vineyard, formed by the Hon. 

 Charles Hamilton, at Painshill, in Miller's time, which succeeded for many years, and 

 produced excellent champagne. It is not yet twenty years since this vineyard was ne- 

 glected or destroyed. There can be no hesitation, therefore, in agreeing with these 

 authors, and with Miller, Martyn, and Speechly, that vineyards would succeed in various 

 parts of England, and produce wine equal to much of that imported from France. 

 But, in a national point of view, we may conclude with equal safety, that the culture of 

 the vine, as a branch of rural economy, would not be a profitable concern here, on the 

 broad general principle, that it cannot be long wortli while to grow any thing at home 

 which we can get cheaper from abroad. The high duties on imported wines may seera 

 to bear against this opinion ; but this is merely a temporary cause ; for, in the progress 

 of international comiiierce, governments gradually discover the advantage of leaving trade 

 comparatively free ; and in proportion as this becomes the case, each country will feel its 

 advantage in pursuing those branches of industry in which nature or habit has ren- 

 dered it pre-eminent. It may, however, afford much rational satisfaction for indi- 

 viduals, in favorable situations, to form vineyards, and drink their own wine. 



4795. Grapes for the table appear to have been in demand as early as the beginning of 

 the 16th century; for Tusser includes "grapes white and red," in his list of fruits^ pub- 

 lished about the year 1560 ; but as far as appears from horticultural literature, the 

 vine had only been grown as dwarf standards, or trained against walls or buildings, till 

 the beginning of the 18th century. Stoves for preserving curious exotics had been in- 

 troduced soon after the middle of the 17th century ; but we find no mention of the ap- 

 plication of artificial heat to the vine, till 1718, when Lawrence informs us, in his 

 Fruit- Gardener, published that year, " that the Duke of Rutland, at Belvoir Castle, has 

 done so much justice to the vine as to have fires constantly burning beljind his slope 

 walls, from Lady-day to Michaelmas ; whereby he is rewarded by the largest grapes, 

 and even the best Frontignacs, in July." These sloped walls, we are informed, were 

 afterwards covered with glass. Switzer {Pract. Fruit. G. 2 edit. 1763.) appears to be 

 the first author who gives a regular plan of a vinery, with directions for forcing the 

 grape. He advises making fires as early as the middle of December, so as to make the 

 vines push by tlie middle of January. Since his time, the art of forcing has made such 

 rapid progress that no kitchen-garden worth notice is now without a vinery : the fruit is 

 produced in some vineries during every month of the year ; and in the London markets 

 is to be had in the highest degree of perfection from March to January. Vines are at 

 the same time still grown on walls unaided by fire-heat, and in favorable seasons, the 

 more hardy early sorts attain a tolerable degree of maturity. In the nursery -gardens of 

 Joseph Kirke at Brompton, a wall upwards of two hundred and twenty yards long, and 

 ten feet high, is covered with plants of the white muscadine, which have produced regu- 

 lar crops for many years. On the border to this wall are standard vines of the same 

 sort, trained to stakes about four feet high, which also bear in proportion, though the 

 fruit does not ripen quite so early, nor attain an equal degree of flavor with that on the 

 wall. In propitious seasons these grapes attain a tolerable degree of flavor ; but even 

 then they are of little value, compared to those grown in vineries and hot-houses. 



4796. Use. The uses of the grape in Britain are well known ; in the dessert it ranks 

 next the pine, and is by some preferred to it. The berries, when green or not likely to 

 ripen, may be used in tarts or pies ; and the leaves form an elegant garnish to other 

 table-fruits. Wine is sometimes made in England, by expressing and fermenting the 

 juice, either alone or with that of other fruits ; and it has even been made from decoc- 

 tions of the leaves of some sorts. In warmer climates, the grape is not only used in the 

 dessert, but eaten with bread, either newly gathered or dried as raisins ; and in these 

 countries, from the fermented juice, a wine or liquor is made superior to all others for 

 stimulating the stomach, and exhilarating the spirits of man. Some of the most im- 

 portant consequences in the mythological history of man, are referred to its last-men- 

 tioned qualities. (See the Histories of Lot, Noah, and Bacchus.) The medical products 

 of the vine are verjuice, formerly used, as the juice of lemons : tartar, a gentle cathartic : 

 vinegar, used as a condiment ; for extracting the virtues of other medicines ; and for 

 counteracting the eflPects of vegetable poisons. Even wine itself is given as a medicine, 

 in typhus fevers ; in nervous disorders ; in putrid sore throats ; and even in the plague. 



In almost all cases of languor, and great prostration of strength," Martyn observes, 



