FRUIT CULTURE. 



fortnight later being finally reduced to 5odeg. , with plenty 

 ol air both day and night if the weather be suitable. 



After Gathering the Fruit. — When the Grapes are 

 cut iiuin the N ines, part of the shoot is usually cut with the 

 bunch, thus shortening it considerably ; one may also semi- 

 prune — i.e. partially cut back — those shoots which have not 

 borne fruit, as by this practice the back buds are much 

 strengthened. Leave the N ines until finally pruned in 

 December, if possible. One will now be able to understand 

 the meaning of the fruit spurs alluded to earlier ; it will be 

 remembered that the side growths hum the two year old 

 Vine rod were thinned out to about lOin. apart. If these 

 are now examined buds will be seen to have formed in the 

 axils of the leaves, and it is to cue of these buds that the 

 shoots made during the summer must be pruned back ; 

 thus the beginning of the spur is formed. Much depends 

 upon which of the buds is chosen. Cut back the wood to a 

 good eye or bud as near to the base of the shoot as possible. 

 There will be no difficulty in finding a properly-developed 

 bud well back upon Vines that are allowed to break almost 

 naturally, though of early forced ones the same cannot be said. 

 The grow th from the bud that is left will in its turn produce 

 leaves and buds in the axils, and the following year also 

 requires to be pruned to the best back bud. It is not 

 always the largest bud that produces the best shoot ; rather 

 choose one that is firm, even though it is smaller. In 

 pruning, the cut should never begin lower than the bud, 

 always slighily in front of it, and commence on the opposite 

 side to the bud. 



Unless the buds are chosen as near the stem of the Vine 

 as possible, the spurs, in a few years' time, become very 

 long, thus taking up much valuable space, and also a 

 certain amount of the food supply. With regard to the 

 pruning of the third year's leading shoot, forming the Vine 

 stem, the point to bear in mind is that the portion lelt must 

 be able to produce good spurs from every bud. It is 

 useless to leave a long rod with the upper buds perhaps 

 alone developing, or it the lower ones do so at all the 

 growth will be weakly. If the Vine is thriving well 3 1 1 . 

 or 4ft. would be sufficient to leave annually until the top of 

 the house is reached. This method of pruning the growths 

 of the Vine hard back every year, spurring the Vine, as it 

 is called, is the most generally practised, and is by far the 

 most useful practice for ordinary purposes. Another, 

 known as " the Long Rod System," and practised largely 

 before the spur system became known, is also sometimes 

 useful. 



Spurs on some varieties frequently die away, so that 

 new wood must be frequently introduced to ensure a crop of 

 fruit ; this really explains the Long Rod method, which 

 simply consists of training and cropping a quantity of 

 young wood instead of pruning to produce spurs. 



In an early forced vinery, too, bring in as many young 

 rods as possible, as the spurs, when they become old, 

 frequently die away. A Vine, instead of being confined to 

 one or two rods, may be made to fill a whole house 

 by allowing the leading shoot to run along the front of the 

 house, and by training shoots, at right angles to this, up the 

 trellis, the same distance apart as would be allowed for 

 single rods. Treated in this way, the Vine continues in a 

 healthy I earing condition much longer than when its vigour 

 is restricted to one or two canes. 



Many cultivators object to their vinery remaining empty 

 for the considerable time that must necessarily elapse before 

 the single Vine is large enough to fill the house. This, 

 however, can be avoided by planting temporary Vines in 

 the centre of the vinery, allowing each to produce two rods. 

 Train these in opposite directions on the trellis, one 

 towards the back and the other towards the front, and crop 

 them as heavily as can be profitably done. 



As the permanent Vine makes headway the temporary 

 ones, of course, must be cut back, and must be finally cut 

 out. Instead of having only one permanent Vine, three 

 different varieties might be planted, each one being allowed 

 to fill one-third of the house. 



Watering. — Upon the proper application of water the 

 health of the Vine in a large measure depends, for if 

 the bolder is allowed to become dry the Vine has no means 



of obtaining its supply of food. On the other hand, if the 

 condition ol the soil be wet and cold, through an over- 

 abundance of water, it becomes unsuilal le as a rooting 

 medium, and the roots die away. The importance, then, 

 of careful watering cannot be over-estimated. Many think 

 that alter the foliage has fallen from the Vines no more 

 water is needed until growth begins again in the spring. 

 This is a great mistake, lor the roots are active during 

 autumn. Especially if a heavy crop ol Grapes is still 

 hanging must watering at this season lie attended to. It is 

 in the autumn thai the newly-formed buds become fully 

 developed and matured, so that it is reasonable to suppose 

 1 hat assistance to the N ine at this period is beneficial. 

 Make a practice, therefore, of watering well the border with 

 liquid manure every season after the Grapes have been cut. 

 If the application of water be periodically continued until, 

 say, December, probably no more will be necessary until 

 the Vines have started again in the spring, although this 

 can only be determined by examination, as the amount ol 

 water a Vine border requires depends upon the condition 

 of the Vines and the formation of the border. II the 

 former are healthy, and the latter contains plenty of brick 

 rubble, more water will be absorbed than in the case of. a 

 border containing fewer roots and less drainage. Supposing 

 the Vines to be capable of carrying a full crop of Grapes, 

 water would be needed, broadly speaking, every three 

 weeks after the first application (which, as a rule, is not 

 necessary for some weeks after the Vines have been started) 

 until the fruit is ripe. During the early and late months, 

 some warm water should be added to the cold, in order 

 to bring this to a suitable temperature — about 6odeg. Eahr 

 After the berries are set, at every alternate watering use 

 liquid manure until the Grapes are ripe, 



Use Of Fertilisers. — Before the vinery is closed in 

 the spring remove about 2in. ol the surface soil and top- 

 dress the border with some well-rotted manure and Iresh 

 soil. Alter the flowering period, sprinkle Thompson's Vine 

 Manure thinly over the border and fork it in before the latter 

 is watered. This is also repeated when the Grapes are 

 colouring. 



It lias been ascertained by analysis that one of the chief 

 constituents of the V ine is potash ; one therefore infers that 

 this substance must be in some way necessary to its suc- 

 cessful growth. Wood ashes, which contain a quantity of 

 potash, are valuable as a manure for Vines ; mix them with 

 the soil when forming the border or with material lor top- 

 dressing. Nitrate of potash, in powdered form, is beneficial 

 when applied directly to the soil, as, for instance, if sprinkled 

 on the border before watering. It may not be out of 

 place to now mention a lew important details connected 

 with the 



Early Forcing' of the Vine. Some growers cut the 



first Grapes in April. To do this close the vinery the first 

 week in November at a temperature of 55deg. This is 

 gradually raised as advised for a later house, until by the 

 New Year the night temperature has reached 6odeg. Rising 

 steadily, by the time the Grapes are read)' for thinning it 

 has reached 7odeg. , and a lew weeks later the maximum, 

 73cleg. , is attained. The temperature gradually decreases 

 as the Grapes approach maturity. 



Some cultivators tie all the Vines in an early house along 

 the front of the latter, contending that w hen in this position 

 the buds break more evenly the whole length of the rod. 

 The danger of twisting the stems and of rubbing off the 

 buds is greater than the advantage gained would justify. 

 It is better to tie the Vines at once to the trellis, simply 

 allowing the ends to hang loosely, and check the rush of 

 sap to the top buds alone. 



In pruning early forced Vines, one cannot keep the spurs 

 so neat and short as they usually arc on later ones. To 

 ensure a crop of fruit one must prune to the best bud, 

 whether that be the last one or not. Pass a soft brush over 

 the bunch when in flower to assist fertilisation, which does 

 not then take place so readily as in the summer. When 

 thinning, rememl er that the bunches and individual 

 berries will not attain their lull size when lipe, so it will be 

 unnecessary to remove so many berries as advised when 

 considering late Grapes. 



