596 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



These dimensions are as nothing when com- 

 pared to the vine trees of antiquity. That 

 enthusiastic author, Evelyn, in his "Sylva," 

 speaks of the vine attaining a size from which a 

 statue of Jupiter and columns in Juno's temple 

 were made. In his day it was discovered that 

 the great doors of the cathedral at Eavenna 

 were made of vine planks, some of which were 

 12 feet long and 15 inches broad. Strabo speaks 

 of a vine that was 12 feet in circumference; 

 Pliny the historian mentions one that was six 

 hundred years old in his time, and remarks that 

 the ancients classed vines amongst trees on 

 account of their magnitude, and various extra- 

 ordinary dimensions are given in Lib. xiv., 

 chap. 1. The name vine is indicative of its 

 arborescent growth, being derived from Gwyd, 

 pronounced Vid, a tree ; Celtic, the best of trees. 



The size to which bunches of grapes have 

 been grown, especially in countries favourable 

 to the natural culture of the vine, is still more 

 extraordinary than the size of the vines them- 

 selves. Strabo, who lived in the reign of 

 Augustus, testifies " that the vines in Margiana 

 and other places were so big that two men could 

 scarcely compass them with their arms, and 

 that they produced bunches of grapes 2 cubits 

 or a yard long." Huetius asserts that in his 

 time Crete, Chios, and other islands in the 

 Archipelago, afforded bunches of grapes, some- 

 times thirty-six and forty pounds in weight. 

 The large bunch produced by Mr Speechley, at 

 Welbeck, of the Syrian grape, and which was 

 considered the wonder of the age, weighed nine- 

 teen pounds and a half. If we are to believe 

 iEgidius, Van Egmont, and John Heyman, who 

 travelled through, and published their observa- 

 tions on the then state of Asia Minor, they speak 

 of grapes being produced near Damascus, the 

 berries of which were as large as a pigeon's egg, 

 and of very exquisite taste. Cultivators of the 

 present day desire more to have large berries 

 than very large bunches. 



Propagation. — The vine is propagated by 

 seeds, layers, cuttings of 9 or 1 0 inches in length, 

 by coiling, sometimes, but rarely, by budding, 

 and also by single eyes or buds. Established 

 plants are often grafted when it becomes desir- 

 able to substitute one sort for another. Propa- 

 gation by seed is chiefly called into use when 

 the object is to originate new or improved 

 varieties ; and to effect this with the greater cer- 

 tainty, the pistils of one sort should be impreg- 

 nated by the pollen of another. The conditions 

 necessary for this have been explained, (vide 

 Crossing and hybridising). In former times lay- 

 ering was a popular method of increasing the 

 vine amongst nurserymen ; it is, however, a 

 practice now nearly obsolete, and we may almost 

 say the same of propagating by cuttings of con- 

 siderable length. Coiling is a mode brought 

 into considerable notoriety by Mr Mearns, the 

 rationale of which will be given below. 



Propagating by single eyes. — A mode discover- 

 ed by the Rev. Mr Mitchell, about 1777, is 

 that approved of by all good cultivators, as 

 affording better-rooted plants, and those very 

 short-jointed in the wood. The practice of Mr 

 Errington is excellent, and is to the following 



effect : "Well- ripened wood from healthy estab- 

 lished vines is the best, and that with very large 

 joints or buds, removed, with a small portion of 

 the last year's old wood, grows the strongest. 

 About 1 inch of the shoot above, and 1* below 

 the bud will suffice ; the cutting will thus be 2 

 inches in length. Some persons cut the shoot 

 through longitudinally, removing three-fourths 

 of the wood on the bud side and most of the 

 pith ; we, however, never found any decided 

 advantage in the practice. Single eyes may be 

 put in pots about 4 or 5 inches in diameter ; 

 soil a rich and mellow loam, or a very good gar- 

 den-mould. Care must be taken to secure ex- 

 cellent drainage, and the eye must be placed 

 an inch at least below the surface of the soil. 

 And now a bottom heat, although by no means 

 indispensable, will be of immense service ; it 

 will, indeed, rear them in half the time other- 

 wise required. From 70° to 80° will be proper; 

 and if it can be secured, an atmospheric warmth 

 of 50° to 60° will soon produce shoots. If 

 they are plunged, means must be taken to pre- 

 vent worms getting into the pots ; 3 inches 

 of coal-ashes under the pots will secure this. 

 After potting, they will require little attention 

 till they have made shoots above the soil ; a 

 little water will be requisite occasionally. In a 

 month they will be nice plants about 6 or 8 

 inches in height, and their pots will be full of 

 roots ; and those who wish to obtain large 

 plants must give them a shift, and such may be 

 a final one for the season. Seven or eight inch 

 pots will now be necessary, and a more generous 

 soil still. Nothing can exceed old turf which 

 has lain in the compost- yard for a twelvemonth, 

 with one-third its bulk of old leaf-soil and good 

 manure, adding a little sand and charcoal to the 

 mixture, which must not be too fine. They 

 should again receive bottom warmth until the 

 pots are nearly full of roots ; and if the eyes 

 were started in the beginning of February, such 

 will be the case about midsummer, when, if 

 necessary, the pots may be removed from the 

 plunging medium : caution must be exercised in 

 so doing. It must be understood that there is 

 no absolute necessity for taking them out of the 

 plunging medium ; we merely removed it in 

 order to get them as near to the light as possible, 

 this being an all-important affair." Many set 

 the eyes at planting closely together in large 

 pots, and as soon as they have made some pro- 

 gress they transplant them singly into other 

 pots, but this is both unnecessary and detri- 

 mental to the young roots, many of which will 

 be broken during the operation, let it be ever so 

 carefully performed. Others set the eyes in 

 sixty sized pots to start them in, but in such 

 small pots the roots are liable to suffer from 

 drought, and if not early repotted, will also 

 suffer from want of room. Exciting the eyes 

 so early in the season as recommended above, is 

 applicable rather to vines to be afterwards 

 grown and fruited in pots ; for ordinary supply 

 they need not be planted earlier than the begin- 

 ning of March. The cuttings from which the eyes 

 are to be taken should be selected at the season 

 of pruning, choosing the best ripened wood with 

 bold plump eyes. These cuttings should be 



