lord bute's vineyards in south wales. 



101 



and heeled in damp ground, until they are planted in nursery 

 rows a foot apart as soon as convenient, and never later than the 

 month of February. 



The permanent vines are — as previously stated — planted in 

 rows at the distance of three feet apart each way, and trained to 

 stakes four feet high. The vines are disbudded as soon as the 

 flower-buds are distinguished on the shoots, and from four to five 

 shoots left on a plant. As the canes grow they are securely tied 

 to the stake, and their points pinched off when they have reached 

 to within a few inches of the top of it. All lateral shoots, as 

 soon as they appear, are stopped at the first joint, and the 

 stopping of sub -laterals is continued throughout the growing 

 season, and the tendrils are pinched clean off from the time the 

 vines begin to grow. The ground between the rows is kept 

 clean and free from weeds by frequent hoeings during the 

 summer, and the vines are pruned as soon after the leaves have 

 fallen in the autumn as possible. Some of the weakest canes 

 are cut clean off, and the strongest and best ripened pruned back 

 to two or three buds from where they started. After the 

 pruning is finished the stakes are thoroughly examined, and all 

 the bad and doubtful ones replaced. The ground is then gently 

 forked on the surface, so as not to injure any of the roots, 

 and top-dressed with short manure from the collieries. This 

 manuring is done once perhaps in three years, according to 

 circumstances. 



The paper might appear incomplete without my saying a few 

 words about the vintage, and wine-making at Cardiff Castle gar- 

 dens. The vintage at Castle Coch commences in most seasons about 

 the middle of October, and lasts for a few days, according to the 

 crop of Grapes. But last year it was nearly a month earlier. We 

 began picking Grapes on September 26, and finished the vintage 

 by the end of the month. The ripest and best fruit is gathered 

 first, and placed in hogsheads with one of the ends out, and 

 carted to the Castle gardens at Cardiff, where the Grapes are 

 pulped by a machine with wooden rollers, and put into a large 

 vat to remain for twenty-four hours to get the tannin properties 

 out of the skins of the Grapes. The must is then run off, and 

 the residue pressed and put into barrels to ferment in an under- 

 ground cellar. The must is tested by the saccharometer as soon 

 as it leaves the press, and, if found deficient in saccharine matter, 



