VINES. 



175 



houses ; but its treatment out of doors, on walls or roofs, 

 succeeds sufficiently when the cultui^e is judicious, the 

 kind appropriate, and the summer warm and favourable, 

 to deserve a short chapter. 



The vine, to give it a fair chance of producing sweet, 

 eatable fruit, must have a mellow, well-drained soil. 

 An ordinary sandy loam is the best foundation, but if 

 the bed be of any common garden soil, it should be one 

 wdiich will imbibe and transmit moisture easily. Vine 

 roots will go down very deep, but it is not desirable to 

 let them : it is, therefore, well to plant on stations. {See 

 Stations.) First see that the ground is sufficiently 

 drained, and then lay the foundation, or make the 

 station of some imperishable material — stone, brick, or 

 clinkers, rammed tight together. About eighteen inches 

 of earth above this will suffice. The soil must after- 

 wards be looked to and corrected as it may require. If 

 if wants richness, mix in fresh manure and plenty of 

 decayed leaves. Any decayed vegetable matter is good, 

 and a portion ,of it should be of an enduring character, 

 which w^ill give out its enriching qualities slowly and 

 lastingly. Coarse bone-manure, nubbly charcoal, burnt 

 wood, and brushwood are good. If the situation is cold 

 and damp, the bed may be raised several inches above 

 the path. 



Yines are now generally propagated from eyes or buds. 

 Pieces are saved after the autumn pruning, cut into 

 lengths, and imbedded in moist soil until winter. Choose 

 a nice eye, cut the wood off half an inch above the eye, 

 in a sloping direction from the eye, and cut it off 

 horizontally one inch below the eye. Insert each bud 

 in a five-inch pot, take care that no worms can get in, 

 and plunge the pots in bottom heat of from 70^ to 80^. 

 When the young plants are something like a foot high, 

 they should be shifted into seven-inch pots, well drained, 

 and filled in with rich, turfy soil. Some gardeners 

 reserve a bit of the two years' old wood at the base of 

 each eye. 



Eaising young vines from layers used formerly to be 

 more practised than it is now. Young wood may be 



