THE VINE AND ITS FRUIT. 



535 



the borders are ready in February, and the buds 

 show signs of swelling, turn out the vine, soak the 

 ball in tepid water, wash away all the soil, and 

 place it in position on the surface ; secure it at the 

 base witb a strong peg, and after cutting away all 

 damaged roots, co\'er lightly and give a little water 

 ^t a temperatui-e of 90«?. Place a neat stick to each 

 vine for future use, as the young canes will have to 

 be trained up to the trellis from the very lowest 

 buds at the base, provided they are 

 fully exposed to the influence of light ; 

 but if they are likely to be shaded, 

 then buds higher up the stem must be 

 selected for making the new canes. 



After the vines are planted, the 

 house should be kept at temperate, to 

 give the buds time to swell and break 

 strongly, and when those nearest the 

 top are ready to come into leaf, rub 

 them oif, one or two at a time, gradu- 

 ally working downwards until the 



ttwo selected buds are reached. These 

 must be carefully guarded and pro- 

 tected from accident, as, under good 

 management, they will make two 

 vigorous canes during the following 

 season, quite capable of bearing fruit ; 

 but as they are intended to make per- 

 manent vines, they will be 

 cut down at next pruning 

 time. 



Planting Eyes 

 of Current Year. 



— When planting 

 young grow- 

 ing vines 

 fi'om eyes of the 

 current year, it 

 is not necessary 

 to break the 



balls, provided they can be carefully turned out of 

 the pots and placed in the warm compost before the 

 roots begin to coil round the insides. This, it is 

 hardly necessary to say, can only be practised by 

 those who have convenience for propagating their 

 own vines, and where the fronts of the houses are 

 placed upon piers or arches to admit of internal 

 planting. 



Neither is it advisable to plant until the sun has 

 gained sufficient power to produce a genial day tem- 

 perature, without having recourse to much fire-heat. 

 If propagated in February, nice young vines will be 

 ready for planting out in May or June, with every 

 prospect of their filling the house with stout, short- 

 jointed canes by September, when fire-heat will be 



Fig. 13.— Young Vine from an Eye cut 

 , back leady for Planting. 



necessary to ripen up the buds. Some plant as late 

 as July, but May is perhaps the best month. 



It is much to be regretted that all private grape- 

 growers have not the convenience to propagate and 

 gTow on their young vines from proved varieties. 

 The introduction of that most terrible pest, the Phyl- 

 loxera, would then be avoided. Xone but the best 

 eyes would be used in the manufacture of their stock, 

 which could be kept steadily progressing until the 

 new borders, in a state of fermentation, were ready 

 for them. Planting, either from pots, or better still 

 from the square sods of turf, could be accomplished 

 at pleasure. There would be no looking back, and 

 the feat in which only the favoured few now succeed 

 would soon become more common. It is quite true 

 the trade growers would supx^ly spring-struck plants 

 in a growing state ; but where long distances sepa- 

 rate the raiser from the planter, their removal would 

 be attended with great risk, and very often the sudden 

 check would end in failure. 



Distance at which to Plant. — Assuming that 



the house presents eighteen feet of rafter, and grapes 

 are wanted as speedily as may be consistent with the 

 future well-being of the Aines, those intended to re- 

 main for a number of years should be planted five 

 feet apart in positions favourable to leading the rods 

 under the centre of each light, in preference to train- 

 ing them under the hea^y rafters of old, sash-roofed 

 houses, as the pruning-buds on every spur then get 

 the benefit of light and heat, so essential to theii- 

 perfect matirration. Supernumerary \-ines may then 

 be introduced, one in each opening, to give a few 

 grapes the following year. If planted inside and 

 well managed, every rod will fill its allotted space, 

 the permanent Tines will be cut down to the lowest 

 wire in the trellis in December, and the supernu- 

 meraries will be left six to eight feet in length to 

 carry a crop of fruit, when they will be destroyed to 

 give full scope to the permanent "vines. 



If rigidly carried out, this theory answers very 

 well in practice ; but, unfortunately, experience 

 justifies the asF'^rtion that many good grape-growers 

 have broken away from their good resolutions, and 

 have become faint-hearted when the time has arrived 

 for taking every alternate vine away. To all such 

 cultivators and planters, as a strong adherent to the 

 extension principle, my advice is, enter not into 

 temptation by planting surplus \'ines, as overcrowd- 

 ing leads to disappointment and premature ex- 

 haustion. 



Varieties of G-rapes.— The varieties of grapes 

 now under cultivation being so numerous, a descrip- 

 tion of all of them would extend these pages far 

 beyond the limits placed at our disposal ; and not- 



