606 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



so that by the first of May they may have ex- 

 tended to the length of from 5 to 7 or 8 feet, 

 with their roots proportionally advanced. A 

 dull cloudy day should be chosen ; the plants, 

 still in their pots, set in the places intended for 

 them for a day or two, to accustom them to the 

 change from a close pit to an open airy vinery. 

 The same process of planting should be followed 

 as recommended for those planted outside. The 

 shoots should then be secured to the trellis or 

 rafter, a slight watering given to the roots with 

 tepid water ; and if the sun is likely to come out 

 strong, shade the glass over them for a few days, 

 until they have taken root in the fresh soil. 

 With vines to be planted in the external border 

 we would pursue the same course, only defer- 

 ring the planting out to the first week in June. 

 This, however, depends a good deal upon local- 

 ity, for a difference exists of at least a fortnight 

 or three weeks between the south of England 

 and that of Scotland, except in the case of 

 vaulted and heated borders, where they are 

 much nearer upon a par. Young vines planted 

 within the house will require great care during 

 their first season as to a sufficient supply of 

 water at the roots; in the open air, that must be 

 administered with greater caution, and that 

 always in a tepid state. Should heavy and cold 

 rains succeed the planting in the external bor- 

 ders, means must be used to prevent it from 

 saturating the soil or chilling the roots. 



Distance at which the vines should be placed. — 

 The usual distance is to place a vine to each 

 rafter, although some place them under the 

 middle of each sash. Either of these distances 

 is somewhere from 3 feet 9 inches to 4 feet apart. 

 Some advocate planting them much closer, 

 while a few think one or two vines sufficient for 

 a large house. From the natural fertility of the 

 vine, it is questionable if one plant will not pro- 

 duce as great a weight of fruit as twenty. The 

 chief objections to this would be want of variety, 

 and the impracticability of withdrawing them, 

 either in part or in whole, from the house 

 during their season of rest. 



Arrangement.— Experience has long taught us 

 the impropriety of planting strong-growing and 

 weak-growing sorts promiscuously in the same 

 border. The evil of this is, the strong-growing 

 kinds would rob the weaker sorts, and engross 

 the whole border to themselves. To remedy 

 this there are two ways. In large establish- 

 ments, different kinds may be grown in different 

 houses. Thus there may be a Muscat house, a 

 Hamburg house, a Frontignan house, &c. ; and 

 this is a very commendable arrangement, as 

 these not only differ in the luxuriance of their 

 roots, but at certain seasons require a some- 

 what different treatment within. For small 

 places, where there is not the accommodation 

 of separate houses, and where variety may be 

 required, it will be judicious to divide the bor- 

 ders by cross walls of masonry, setting apart a 

 division to each. By adopting this plan, a soil 

 may be prepared for each section more consist- 

 ent with its habits than were they all planted in 

 one, as some require a strong, while others pre- 

 fer a much lighter soil and shallower border. 

 It should not escape the attention of the planter, 



that where variety is required within a limited 

 space, the early-ripening sorts should be planted 

 at the end nearest to where the flues or hot- 

 water pipes enter, and the later-ripening sorts 

 at the opposite end. This is done with a view 

 to prolong the season of the fruit. There is 

 much less danger of not securing a crop in the 

 mixed style, unless the forcing be very early or 

 very late; but the great evil arises from the dif- 

 ference of time each requires to ripen in — the 

 Sweetwaters and Frontignans ripening early; 

 the St Peters, Tripoli, Syrian, White Nice, &c, 

 ripening later — indeed, being not nearly arrived 

 at maturity after the former have been cut, and 

 the wood is in a fit state for going into repose, 

 which implies a cool temperature, which could 

 not be afforded them if the ripening of the 

 others is at all a consideration. It would be 

 folly to force the late sorts of grapes early, and 

 as bad to attempt to retard the early sorts till 

 February or March. Some sorts, such as the 

 Chasselas musque, or St Albans, as it has been 

 called by some, require to ripen in a very dry 

 atmosphere, and, if kept in such, will hang on the 

 vines from their ripening in September to the 

 beginning of January. Such a sort planted 

 along with late-growing kinds, which require a 

 greater degree of atmospheric moisture to en- 

 able them to attain maturity, would crack and 

 rot before it had fully attained its utmost degree 

 of ripeness, without which it is little better than 

 a common Muscadine. 



Autumn or winter pruning. — It is often asked, 

 When is the proper season to prune the vine ? 

 To answer this in a general way, it may be said 

 that this depends entirely on circumstances. 

 Vines, to be forced early, must be pruned early ; 

 yet it does not follow that vines to be forced 

 late should be pruned late, for late pruning is 

 bad for the vine ; yet it is late before the fruit 

 is cut, and the vines cannot be pruned before, 

 excepting by one process, and that is the destruc- 

 tion of every bud not required for next season's 

 crop. It has been asserted by some writer, 

 whose name we do not at the moment recollect, 

 that in the case of vines growing in the open air, 

 early-pruned plants produced their fruit earlier 

 the following season than those near them that 

 were not pruned till much later in the season. 

 This may have been owing to excessive bleed- 

 ing, which is well known to retard growth. 

 As a general rule, we may say that vines should 

 be pruned at least six weeks before they are to 

 be put into 'a state of excitement. Whatever 

 effect this may have on the ripening of the crop 

 may be left for speculation ; but one certain ad- 

 vantage arises from the practice, that the wounds 

 have time to heal before the ascent of the sap, 

 and consequently bleeding is prevented. The 

 vine, like most other fruit -bearing trees, is 

 trained in a variety of forms, and consequently 

 the modes of pruning will vary accordingly. The 

 most usual modes, however, in hothouses are 

 the spur, long rod, and irregular forms. 



Spur-pruning. — The spur mode of pruning 

 will be understood by the following remarks, 

 commencing the first season after planting : 

 Train one shoot to each rafter, the plants, it 

 being presumed, being planted opposite to them. 



