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■ome not more than a year old. Most of the older vines grew very in- 

 differently, many of the young ones were cut down to within a fo»t of 

 the ground, and some of these made as much as foity feet of growth 

 during the year. Most of these vines bore fruit this year and next year 

 should be capable of carrying a good crop. 



But the young vines which I have raised at Hope from cuttings since 

 we started our vinery, are I consider, likely to prove far more satisfac- 

 tory than any of the plants which had attained a large size and were 

 then removed to Hope. 



I need not trouble you with details as to the methods employed in 

 raising young grape vines as you can buy them at Hope for a penny. 

 But when you procure a young plant, be sure that it is very wet at the 

 roots before you attempt to remove it from the bamboo pot. Before 

 you send for your vine you will of course bave properly prepared the 

 place in which you intend it to grow. 



Be sure you do not attempt to shake it out of the bamboo joint, but 

 take one of those everlastingly useful cutlasses and split the bamboo 

 from bottom to top on both sides ; so that when you take it in your 

 hand, the young plant lies in one half of the bamboo and the other half 

 can be lifted off. Be careful you do not put the young plant too 

 deeply into the ground. If you bury the soil in which it was growing 

 in the bamboo pot half an inch below the surface of the 6oil that will 

 be quite sufficient. Put the soil lightly round the young plant, press- 

 ing it only a little with the hands, and then water it well, the action of 

 the water will cause the soil to settle down round the young plant. In 

 putting out any young plants it is necessary to be careful not to make 

 the soil too tight, for if the soil is pressed down too firmly, it hinders 

 the freedom of root action without which satisfactory growth cannot be 

 made. For the first year a good strong straight stick is all that is 

 needed in the way of arbour. To this stick the young vine can be kept 

 tied, taking great care not to break the young point. Try to make the 

 young vine grow as long as possible. Do not however allow the vines to 

 make long side shoots : these should be stopped at the second joint: 

 and every time they make new growths, as they will, from the end of the 

 pinched back growths, they should again be stopped. By this system 

 during last year we grew plants of Foster's Seedling and Muscat of 

 Alexandria from single eyes 20 feet in length. 



These plants at the end of February this year were cut down to the 

 gronnd, this being the plan always adopted by grape growers in Eng- 

 land, resulting there beyond doubt in the production of a stronger vine 

 than is produced by a plant which has not been cut back. When the 

 vines again commenced to grow they were treated exactly the same 

 with regard to the stopping, but on account of the much heavier and 

 longer canes which the vines alweys make the second year, provision 

 had to be made to train them horizontally. This was done by putting 

 two strong sticks five feet in length in the ground twelve feet apart, 

 and with pieces of wire fastening another stick to them at the top. 

 Along the rail thus constructed the vines were trained. As they 

 covered one rail, another was added and the vines grown as long as possi- 

 ble : nearly the whole of the plants so treated have already grown to a 

 length of 20 feet and over. The older vines have been provided with 

 an arbour which for simplicity and cheapness is, I think, hard to beat. 



