VARIOUS WAYS OF PLANTING VINES. 27 



roots can sometimes be disentangled and laid out suffi- 

 ciently, without reducing the ball entirely ; and when 

 this can be done, it is best to let it be so, as, by that 

 means, less of a check is given to the plant. In 1858 

 I planted a vinery on the 15th of May. This house is 

 110 feet long. I prepared 75 vines for it in the follow- 

 ing manner : I had as many pieces of thin turf cut as 

 there were vines. The turf was in pieces 2 feet long 

 and 18 inches broad. I laid five or six pieces of hazel 

 rods longitudinally under each turf, and across their 

 ends I tied another piece with bits of wire, thus forming 

 sort of turf-trays. On these I laid 2 inches of soil; and 

 after shaking out the vines, and pruning, and in some 

 instances washing their roots, I laid them out on the 

 surface of the soil, from one end of the turf, like the 

 extended fingers of the hand, covering up with a layer 

 of 3 inches of sharp soil. I placed them all, as close 

 as the trays would admit, in the pit of an intermediate 

 house, where they had a night temperature of 55°, and 

 65° to 70° during the day from sun-heat; tied each to 

 a stake, gave the whole a good watering, and covered 

 all the surface with moss. This was done in March, 

 and when they were planted in May the whole soil was 

 a mass of fine healthy roots. We removed one at a 

 time, and planted them with care. They gave no indi- 

 cations of having received the slightest check. Twenty- 

 four of these were Lady Downes and West's St Peter's. 

 They were put one to each rafter, to form the per- 

 manent vines for the house. The others were chiefly 

 Hamburgs, to be considered temporary, in as far as 

 they were to bear a crop the next year, and then to be 

 removed. One set of the latter was planted, one in 

 the centre of each light, close to the front ; the other 

 set along the centre of the house. Their progress was 



