604 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



iug filled with those particles in the soil which 

 may find their way into them, either by exces- 

 sive rains, heavy waterings, or other causes; 

 and hence the border becomes waterlogged, and 

 quite impervious to heat or air. The fourth 

 evil, and a certain concomitant of a border 

 made over-rich, is that the whole body becomes 

 a mass of black fatty humus, containing in itself 

 neither sufficient food for the roots nor a suffi- 

 ciency of sand to insure a proper transmission 

 of moisture or permeability to the atmosphere. 

 When any of these cases occur, and they are of 

 daily occurrence, it is of no use to stand still 

 and look on; a complete renovation must take 

 place, either of the whole border at once or in 

 part, as the supply of fruit may be excused for 

 a season. In either case the border must be 

 opened from back to front, beginning at one 

 end, and carefully taking up the vines one by 

 one, as early in the season as the fruit is cut. 

 When one trench is cleared out to the bottom, 

 arrange the floor and drainage, and fill up the 

 trench again with new soil, replanting the vines 

 as the process goes on — that is to say, if they are 

 worth the trouble; if not, young ones can be 

 planted next summer, as already recommended 

 (vide Planting vines). Where one season's fruit 

 can be dispensed with, no doubt the better way 

 is to remake the border entirely in autumn, and 

 to replant as above suggested. Where it is desir- 

 able to continue the old vines, they may be 

 taken up, if carefully done, and replanted with 

 every chance of success. A full crop, however, 

 must not be expected the following year. 



For further on the formation of vinery bor- 

 ders, vide vol. i. p. 320, &c. 



Planting vines. — The season at which vines, 

 whether for growing against walls in the open 

 air or to be kept under glass, are most advan- 

 tageously planted, is a point in culture by no 

 means settled; some advocate planting while 

 the vine is in a dormant state, either in autumn 

 or spring; while others, and ourselves amongst 

 the rest, prefer planting after the sap is up, and 

 indeed after the young wood has made several 

 feet in length, should the season even be as far 

 advanced as the middle of J une. Our reason 

 for preferring this mode is, that the plants may 

 have the advantage of a much longer season of 

 growth, being excited slowly in a mild heat 

 under glass, and stimulated to the fullest extent 

 by frequent repotting, rich soil, abundance of 

 light and air. By the season we have named, 

 the soil in the border they are to be planted in 

 will have acquired a considerable amount of 

 heat from the sun, the roots will be in full 

 vigour of growth, and the shoot (we prefer 

 leaving one only) will have made considerable 

 progress. If carefully turned out of the pot, 

 and the roots arranged so that none of the 

 spongiolets are injured, the plant will scarcely 

 sustain any check, but will commence growing 

 with increased vigour, care being taken that the 

 operation be performed in a dull cloudy day, or 

 that the foliage be partially shaded for several 

 days after planting. The shoot will reach the 

 top of the house early in autumn, and in suffi- 

 cient time to ripen its buds and wood before 

 winter sets in. Others prefer planting in 



autumn and spring, and some cut down the 

 young vine to a single eye at the time ; while 

 others— and that excellent cultivator, Mr Saun- 

 ders of Tedworth, is one— plant in autumn with- 

 out heading down at all : in this they may be 

 correct with strong-grown plants, but we doubt 

 the propriety of the practice when the plants 

 are weak. — (Vide Saunders' mode of Pruning, 

 afterwards to be noticed, and also our fig. 425, 

 p. 313, vol. i., from which it will be seen that, 

 instead of his vines breaking at the first or 

 second bud above the surface of the border, as 

 is generally practised, they, from the construction 

 of the double wall in front of his vinery, break 

 immediately under the rafter.) 



Mr Appleby, like us, approves of summer 

 planting; he says, " The young vines should be 

 placed in a forcing-house early in spring, planted 

 in baskets lined with thin turf, and filled up 

 round the balls with leaf-mould. The two top- 

 buds only are to be allowed to push, one of 

 which is to be removed when the chances of 

 accident are over. As soon as the warm weather 

 of May or June sets in is the best season for 

 planting, when the vines are removed still 

 in the baskets, which are allowed to rot away by 

 degrees. By this process the roots are secured 

 against accidents, and the plant sustains no check. 



" When it is thus placed, and whilst the stem 

 is bare, let a slit be made below each bud, 

 beginning about an inch from them, and making 

 it up to the buds : the buds which are to be 

 treated thus are those three that are at the 

 lower side of the stem, but the two remaining 

 ones at the upper side must not be meddled 

 with. In making the slit, cut into the shoot 

 about one-third of its thickness. When the 

 three tongues are cut, let a little of the soil be 

 put between them and the other part of the 

 wood, so that the tongue will form an angle of 

 45° with the stem. The advantage of slitting 

 the stem in the manner described is, that a 

 great number of roots will be produced from 

 each tongue, which consequently increases the 

 number of feeders to the plant, and will contri- 

 bute in a great measure to promote the vigour of 

 the vine." After the vines are planted, the tem- 

 perature should be kept at about 55° during the 

 night, ventilating freely during the day. When 

 they have struck root in the border, increase 

 the temperature to 68° during the night, with a 

 rise of 7° or 8° during the day. Continue the fire- 

 heat till about the beginning of July, after which it 

 may be discontinued. Vines so managed should 

 be allowed to extend until they reach the top of 

 the house, and a few feet in a horizontal direc- 

 tion, after which they should be cut back, but 

 so as to leave four or five buds upon the horizon- 

 tally-trained part, which will tend to strengthen 

 the upright shoot considerably. All laterals 

 that are produced should be taken off when they 

 have grown about 6 inches. In doing this, Mr 

 Harrison recommends to " pull them off back- 

 wards from the bud. The reason for taking 

 away the laterals is, that the natural fruit-bear- 

 ing buds are frequently injured by their being 

 left, and pinched back once or twice during 

 summer. The reason of laterals being retained 

 and pinched back, as alluded to, is to prevent 



