336 Account of the Vines at Valentines House. 



not amounted to less than three hundred pounds. This 

 does not contradict Mr. Edens' account, who said that 

 the utmost he ever made of it (that is, I suppose, when the 

 Grapes sold at four shillings a pound in June) was £84. 

 At the lowest calculation, the profits were prodigious. The 

 stem of this Vine, was, in the year 1789, thirteen inches in 

 circumference." 



On the above account I may remark, that no part of the 

 Vine is now trained on the outside of the house. The tree 

 is planted in the centre, and spreads to the right and left. 

 However excellent the management of the tree might have 

 been in Mr. Gilpin's time, it had been extremely ill treated 

 for some years before it came under my care ; large branches 

 had been cut off at improper seasons, and no attempt made 

 to prevent the wounds from bleeding : in consequence of 

 which, the tree has been generally injured, and there is 

 one branch, twelve inches in circumference, nearly dead. 

 The Vine at present extends under 1330 square feet of 

 glass. Last year it ripened 2000 bunches of grapes, the 

 forcing of the Vine having commenced on the seventh of 

 January. 



The second Vine, which was planted about thirty-five 

 years ago, a cutting from the first, extended in the year 

 1816 under a surface of 960 square feet of glass. At that 

 time the plant was ill furnished with wood, but by careful 

 pruning I brought it into an improved state, and in the last 

 year it yielded above 1200 bunches, of superior quality. 



The third Vine is a healthy young tree, under the same 

 glass as the preceding, but separated from it by a glass 

 partition. 



