338 On the Cultivation of the Vine. 
the work may be performed, and of the very triding expense that need 
be incurred. I shall not now stop to enumerate the details of the erecting, 
because I wish to pass without loss of time, to the object of the present 
letter, which is, chiefly, to invite the communications of the able Con- 
ductors of the Horticultural Register, or of some of its experienced 
contributors, on the readiest method of producing tke heaviest and test 
crops of grapes in small houses, whose internal dimensions shall range 
between 12 and 24 feet in length, and 8 and 12 feet in breadth; such 
houses, as in point of fact I can prove, may be constructed at an outlay 
of, from eight or ten, to fifteen or twenty pounds. 
While I earnestly invite you, Gentlemen, and any of your Horticultu- 
ral friends, to enter into a full detail of a subject so enticing, and indeed 
useful, I conceive that I shall afford to many of your uninitiated readers, 
a source of profitable entertainment, by extracting from accredited autho- 
rities, one or more of the modes of pruning the Vine, under glass, that 
have struck me as most likely to secure a good crop of fruit. Authorities, 
it may be remarked, differ materially; and many persons are perplexed 
by the multifarious directions which are to be found in books ; it is there- 
fore particularly desirable, that practical gardeners, who have by experi- 
ence, arrived at a certain method of producing excellent crops of grapes, 
should furnish a clear and intelligible detail of operations, by which their 
readers may be enabled to experimentize, with some prospect at least, 
of obtaining a successful result. 
That I may not needlessly trespass upon your indulgence, I shall con- 
fine myself to the two foUov/ing extracts, observing however, that I 
ought to mention the able directions of Mr. Charles Harrison ; but I am 
conscious that I could not thus do justice to a writer who may justly be- 
considered one of our first authorities ; it must suffice therefore, to refer 
your readers to his chapter on the Vine, commencing at page 256 of his 
*• Treatise on Fruit Trees." 1825. 
Mr. Lindley, in his late excellent work, "A Guide to the Orchard and 
Kitchen Garden," evidently gives the preference to Mr. Speechly's me- 
thod of training, for, he observes, at page 227, " I have been entirely 
indebted to the late Mr. Speechly, for this method of managing the 
Vine, which I believe was never practised previously by any other per-^ 
son in this country ; I have adopted it for several years, and I confess, I 
prefer it to that of any other method." — And again, " I visited Mr. 
Speechly, at Welbeck, some years before his death, and had an ample 
opportunity of witnessing the excellence of his management," &c. 
Mr. Lindley's avowed object is to obtain large berries upon large 
bunches, in preference to an increased number of clusters, at the expense 
of a deterioration in point of bulk and quality. He says, "Let the Muscat 
of Alexandria, Black Hamburgh, or indeed any other sort, be selected; 
and compare fifty single benies of the largest size, with a hundred others 
