By Mr. George Lowe. 



337 



I have heard the extraordinary fertility of the Hampton 

 Court Vine attributed to its roots having forced their way 

 into the great drain or sewer which carries off the water from 

 the Palace, into the Thames, and I am disposed to believe 

 that a similar cause has contributed to the luxuriant growth 

 of the Vines at Valentines. About twenty feet from the ends 

 of the houses, is an artificial piece of water of considerable 

 depth, into which, I have little doubt, the roots have ex- 

 tended themselves ; indeed I have spoken with persons here, 

 who assert, that they have seen them in the bottom of the 

 pond, in the summer season, when the water was low and 

 undisturbed. 



I will close this communication with a brief account of the 

 method I have adopted of stopping the bleeding of Vines, 

 after the amputation of a branch. In December, 1817, I 

 took off a limb eight inches in circumference, from the old 

 Vine ; as soon as the cut was made, I seared the wound with 

 a hot iron, and covered it with sealing wax ; upon this I laid 

 a thick coat of pitch, and secured it with a piece of bladder 

 well fastened on with a wax end, and over the whole I laid a 

 considerable body of plaster of Paris. This completely an- 

 swered the purpose, not the least moisture having ever ex- 

 uded from the wound, and I have no doubt, that it would be 

 equally effectual if a Vine were cut at any season. So per- 

 fect was the cure of the wound in this instance, that a shoot 

 which put forth three inches beneath it, reached the length 

 of eighteen feet the first season. For the external coating 

 of the wounds of Vines planted in the open air, Roman ce- 

 ment would probably answer better than the plaster of Paris. 



