466 



GROWING THE GRAPE ON OPEN WALLS, 



uncertain both for the ripening of the grapes and of the wood. E. by N. 

 Mr. Hoare finds a very good aspect. On a wall facing this point the sun 

 shines till about eleven o'clock in the morning, and Mr. Hoare has for many 

 years past brought several sorts of grapes, including the Black Hamburgh, 

 to great perfection in this aspect. It would thus appear that if a cottage, 

 the general outline of the ground-plan of which is a square or a parallelo- 

 gram, is placed so that a south and north line shall form a diagonal to it, 

 vines may be planted against every part of the walls and trained over the 

 Avhole of the roof. We have shown in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia 

 of Cottage Architecture (§ 2237) the immense importance of placing every 

 cottage so as to have the diagonal a south and north line, without reference 

 to the front or any of the sides being parallel to the adjoining road or street. 

 - ' We wish it to be distinctl}'^ understood, that it forms no part of our plan 

 to have either the front or the back of the cottage next to, and parallel 

 with, the road ; on the contrary, we prefer, in almost every case of single 

 cottages, to have next the road an angle of the building, by which the views 

 across the road will be oblique, instead of being direct ; as the former, in 

 every case, exhibits a longer perspective, which must consequently contain 

 a greater number of objects." — (^Supp. Cott. Arch., p. 1138). The walls 

 and roofs of cottages so placed, north of London, may be covered with the 

 apple, pear, cherry, plum, and, in some cases, the apricot ; and those south 

 of London may be covered with the grape vine. 



978. Soil. — Light, rich, sandy loam, not more than eighteen inches in 

 depth, on a dry bottom of gravel, stone, or rock, forms the most desirable 

 soil and subsoil for the vine. Mr. Hoare truly observes, that " one of the 

 principal causes of grapes not ripening well on the open wall in this country 

 is the great depth of mould in which the roots of vines are suffered to run, 

 which, enticing them to penetrate in search of food below the influence of 

 the sun's rays, supplies them with too great a quantity of moisture ; vegeta- 

 tion is thereby carried on until late in summer, in consequence of which the 

 ripening process does not commence till the declination of the sun becomes 

 too rapid to afford a sufficiency of solar heat to perfect the fruit," (p. 47.) 

 It is hardly possible, Mr. Hoare observes, to form the vine border of 

 materials too dry or porous. Stones, brickbats broken moderately small, 

 lumps of old mortar, broken pottery, oyster-shells, and other materials 

 which retain air and heat, and permit heavy rains to pass quickly through, 

 should be mixed up with two-thirds of light rich soil, such as the sweepings 

 of roads, or the top spit of a field of good arable land. The border should 

 never be cropped or digged, and only stirred occasionally with a fork to the 

 depth of two inches, to admit the sun and air. Where borders cannot be 

 prepared for vines, they may be planted in pits eighteen inches square, and 

 eighteen inches deep, filled up with suitable soil ; and if the situation is dry, 

 the roots will soon push themselves into some suitable place ; for, as Mr. 

 Hoare observes, the roots of the vine possess an extraordinary power of 

 adapting themselves to any situation in which they may be planted, pro- 

 vided it be a dry one. 



979. Manure. — As the vine border once properly made ought never to 

 be disturbed, it foUows that the manure incorporated with the soil at making 

 should be of a permanent nature, decomposing from time to time to supply 

 the nutriment extracted by the plants. Top-dressings and liquid manure 

 may also be added when the border is made, or at any subsequent period. 



