THE GRAPE VINE. 



619 



of water over the foliage, are very liable to 

 be seriously infested with thrip, red - spider, 

 and other insect enemies, and if precautions 

 are not taken in time, these are productive 

 of the worst consequences. (For remedies, &c, 

 vide Diseases and insects). A liberal supply 

 of tepid water by the syringe tends to soften 

 the bark, and causes the buds to burst more 

 freely. Indeed, the water, during early for- 

 cing, should not be applied under 70° or 80° of 

 heat. 



During this period — that is to say, November, 

 December, and January, and more especially 

 during the two former months — forcing must 

 be carried on with great caution, as at this sea- 

 son natural circumstances are adverse; and at 

 this period the term forcing should only pro- 

 perly be employed, — at all other times accelera- 

 tion would be a far more appropriate term. 

 Every advantage should be taken of admitting 

 air on all fine days; and where ventilation is 

 placed in the front of vineries in the usual 

 manner, the opening parts should be covered 

 with thin canvass blinds, or Haythern's octagon 

 netting, through which the cold air will be 

 admitted, but so broken in force that its dis- 

 persion through the house will be regular and 

 uniform. At this season the advantages of the 

 various methods of ventilation described and 

 figured in vol. i. (vide articles Vineries, Venti- 

 lation, &c.) will become practically manifest. 

 Nocturnal ventilation in mild weather will also 

 be of great advantage. On fine days allow the 

 internal temperature to rise to from 15° to 20° 

 above that at which the house is kept during 

 the night. This matter is seldom thought of, nay, 

 too often reversed ; consequently, where such a 

 violation of natural laws is allowed to exist, 

 the highest expectations of the cultivator can- 

 not be expected to be realised. Until the buds 

 have all fully broken, the vines should be sy- 

 ringed three times a-day in clear weather, and 

 once only in dull cloudy days, using water at 

 from 70° to 80° of temperature. After the buds 

 have fairly broken, administer the water 10° 

 warmer. We have already alluded to the mat- 

 ter of heated borders, and also to the advantage 

 of covered or concreted surfaces. Where neither 

 of these has been provided, the laborious pro- 

 cess of covering and uncovering the external bor- 

 ders must be submitted to, and it is at this sea- 

 son that sceptics in such matters are most likely 

 to become converts. Be this as it may, the ex- 

 ternal borders must now be kept dry, and frost 

 must be excluded : if the soil around the roots 

 be slightly warmed, so much the better, that 

 the action of the roots may be put in advance 

 of that of the buds. Roots of vines in unpro- 

 tected borders, and as near the surface as they 

 ought to be, with the thermometer in the open 

 air at zero, while the atmosphere around the 

 plants within is at from 60° to 70°, and often 

 higher, cannot be expected to be in a condition 

 for supplying the foliage and fruit with that 

 share of food which they require. 



Maintain a humid atmosphere, either regulated 

 by the hygrometer, or, as is more usual, by what 

 may be called practical sensation. In dry bright 

 days give plenty of water, but lessen this in 



cloudy, and more especially in rainy or snowy 

 weather. When the vines begin to open their 

 flowers a drier atmosphere is required; but this 

 transition must not be effected abruptly, as 

 all sudden changes are extremely dangerous. 

 Syringing over the plants should be abandoned 

 during the time the vines are in flower, but as 

 soon as they have set their fruit the process 

 should be resumed. Some excellent vine-growers 

 doubt the propriety of lessening the hygrometric 

 condition of the vinery at this stage, and some 

 continue to syringe, using the finest cap, even 

 while the flowers are fully expanded. Were it 

 not that we have seen excellent crops of even 

 Muscats, which are considered shy setters, 

 follow this course, and that in the practice of 

 first-rate grape-growers, we would hesitate to 

 countenance the process, as it appears contrary 

 to the laws of vegetable physiology. Our earliest 

 crops we set in a drier atmosphere ; but as re- 

 gards those setting at a later period of the season, 

 when the sun is more powerful, we sometimes 

 use the syringe to a moderate extent. 



An excess of heat after the buds have all 

 fairly broken, and during the early formation of 

 the young shoots, will have the effect of giving 

 undue excitement to the trees, without a cor- 

 responding excitement at the roots ; weak 

 shoots and small malformed bunches will be 

 the consequence. Every bud that does not 

 show fruit should be displaced, unless where a 

 shoot is wanted for the formation of the vine. 

 Vines in a high state of vigour will likely break 

 at every bud, and each of these may show one 

 and many of them two bunches. Now, as this 

 is much more than any vine can bring to matu- 

 rity, an early selection should be made not only 

 of the buds showing the finest bunches, but 

 even these should be reduced in number in pro- 

 portion to the present strength of the vine and 

 its future condition. In no case should two 

 bunches be allowed to remain on one spur, nor 

 should more spurs be left on than is requisite 

 for the present and future crop. Without due 

 regard to this, a superfluity of spurs would be 

 produced, and in consequence a superfluity of 

 leaves also, which, however useful they are in 

 their own proper proportion, would be so 

 crowded as to prevent their being all fully ex- 

 posed to the influence of the sun's rays, with- 

 out which exposure their functions would be 

 greatly lessened. 



/Summary of practice as regards Hamburgs 

 and other ordinary vines upon the spur principle. 

 — The vines being started, as already noticed, 

 syringing with warm water should be continued, 

 although some excellent growers say no, and 

 depend for a sufficiency of humidity, after all 

 the buds have started, upon the evaporation 

 which rises from the paths, which they keep 

 moderately moist by repeated waterings, and in 

 houses having no stone paths by judicious water- 

 ing the surface of the border within. This, 

 however, must be done with sufficient caution 

 to prevent the soil in the borders becoming at 

 any time saturated with water, and no water 

 should be employed under 70° of temperature. 

 As soon as the young shoots proceeding from 

 the spurs have attained the length of about 2 



