GLEANINGS ON HORTICULTURE. 



11 



pan had better be kept in the shade, and after the eyes have 

 struck their small fibres, some bottom-heat will be required. 

 When well rooted, pot the eyes off, and place them in the hot- 

 house, taking care to protect the leading shoots by means of strong- 

 sticks. The autumn being the proper time to manure the vine 

 border, let it now be lightly forked up, and a good coating of 

 smashed or whole bones, not having been boiled, and old mortar 

 rubbish, be laid on, and (as I have already stated) this will make 

 the roots come to the surface, if the border be not disturbed 

 by cropping or digging; it is necessary therefore to put them 

 comfortably to bed for the winter, giving them no cordial in the 

 shape of liquid manure until the vernal equinox. For this 

 purpose, long stable manure, about half made, will keep the roots 

 warm; and to resist the frost, heavy rains, and other atmospheric 

 changes, the whole border should be covered with tarpaulins, 

 which may be procured at any of the railway stations, where the 

 goods or luggage trains are covered with them. When nailed on 

 a strong wooden skeleton frame, this useful protection will last 

 for years, particularly if taken off the frame in the spring, and 

 kept in a dry situation. 



The Vine is a coarse feeder, and can hardly be grown in 

 ground too rich in animal and vegetable manure ; if the border 

 be not deeper than three feet and a half, and well drained, the 

 compost being of a light consistency, it is sure to prosper, and 

 the berries will not become shrivelled or shanked before they 

 come to maturity. I like to select full plump eyes from well- 

 ripened one-year-old wood, and if potted off in No. 48 sized 

 pots, when taken out of the seed-pans, with plenty of crocks for 

 drainage, they may at the end of June be removed for the 

 season, and the pots be sunk close together under a south wall, 

 the vines being tacked loosely up to the wall. They must be 

 watched, and watered when they require it, and all the time the 

 side shoots must be stopped at the first joints. Plants grown 

 from cuttings or layers are not equal to those raised from eyes, 

 and will not (like the latter) be fit for fruiting in pots, or for 

 being planted in a border, for the purpose of being carried 

 through into the house to grow under glass, in one season. 



With tolerable growth, the cane will go the length of the 

 rafters; but if allowed to bear fruit, it will throw back the vine 

 two seasons. Three canes to a rafter are enough in the general 

 way, and each year they are fruiting, there must be fresh canes 

 growing, according to the scale introduced above. As soon as 



