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XLI. An Account of the manner of Training the Vine upon 

 Open Walls, at Thomery, near Fontainebleau. In a Letter 

 to the Secretary, By Mr. John Robertson, F. II. S. 



Read March 4, 1828. 



Dear Sir, 



The Vine culture of Fontainebleau is, I believe, but little 

 known or understood in this country, although as applicable 

 to the open wall, it has much to recommend its adoption ; 

 in theory it appears rational, and in practice it has proved 

 successful. 



Under this impression, having drawn up such information, 

 any way essential, as I could collect from the best French 

 authorities on the subject,* I beg to lay it before the Horti- 

 cultural Society, that it may be the better enabled to judge 

 whether that practice be such as to merit attention in the 

 Gardens of Great Britain. 



The Grapes of Fontainebleau have long been proverbial for 

 their excellence, and continue to maintain a decided supe- 

 riority over all others in the markets of Paris. 



For this superiority, Fontainebleau, or rather the village of 

 Thomery, where these Grapes are chiefly produced, is not 

 indebted to the natural advantages of soil or situation, for the 

 soil is a poor strong clay, hard to work, and the situation a 

 northern aspect, sloping to the Seine, but it is to the judicious 

 culture of its Vignerons, grounded on long experience and 

 * Chiefly from the Pomone Frai^oise of Comte Lelieue, and the Bon J ardinier 

 for 1827. 



