CULTURE OF THE GRAPE VINE UNDER GLASS. 
cabbage plants between them in autumn to 
pal] as coleworts before the fruitcomes. They 
Bhould be pruned also this month. 
Raspberry Canes Bhould also be planted 
in rows, four feel by three, or thereabouts; 
and where they are already planted, dig be- 
tween them, and, if not done before, reduce 
the number of canes to three or four each 
plant by cutting away the weakest; shorten 
the others to four feet, and' tie the tops together. 
Some people stake each plant, but it ought 
not to be necessary; for the canes support one 
another. 
Espallier fruit trees should be pruned and 
fastened where, they are loose; all the branches 
which grow outwards from the trellis, and 
will not range well on it, should be cut away; 
branches in the way of each other should be, 
one or other, cut away; generally, the weakest 
should be removed, and the other branches 
should be neatly trained to the trellis. 
Wall Fruit Trees should be pruned and 
trained before this, but if not yet done, must 
be done directly. If there be a frost hard 
enough for the purpose, either now or next 
month, the syringing of a wall with a fine 
rose until it is all covered with ice, is one of 
the most effectual means of destroying the pests 
which harbour in all the crevices; for they are 
frozen up in solid ice, which does not injure 
the trees, while it makes clean work of all 
animal life. These opportunities do not often 
occur, but should never be lost where there 
are snails, earwigs, slugs, or other vermin in 
any quantity. This has been recommended in 
a recent work, and found since to be effective. 
Pruning generally, among standards as 
well as wall trees, should be done, if not al- 
ready performed. There are but few standard 
trees which may not be improved by removing 
the worst of two branches that are in each 
other's way, and cutting away all the weak 
inner shoots which choke up the tree- Sun 
and air are essential to the swelling and 
ripening of fruit; and where the heads of 
trees are allowed to grow into a complete 
thicket, as in nineteen cases out of twenty they 
really are, the fruit comes smaller and worse 
flavoured. This is nevertheless the case with 
many orchards; not a tree in a dozen will bear 
fruit half as good as it ought to be grown, 
and from no other cause than neglect in the 
pruning departments. The same kind of 
management that is awarded to the wall fruit 
should, in a general way, be observed towards 
standard trees, all except the taking away of 
foreright shoots, which are useless on wall 
trees, but are not to be distinguished in 
standards, inasmuch as it matters not which 
way a branch grows, so it be not in the way 
of other branches; but few trees of any age at 
all are without a quantity of small brush- 
wood, which requires to be all cleared away 
before any real good can be done. 
General Remarks. — Many gardeners 
wash the barks of trees with brine, or lotion 
of some kind, to clear, as it is alleged, the 
vermin from them. We are great advocates 
for cleanliness, and think there is great virtue 
in clear water, projected with force from a 
garden engine ; andw r ere this operation more 
general on wall trees, espalliers, and standards, 
they would all be the better for it. Much has 
been said and written about the impropriety 
of disturbing the earth under fruit trees; but 
the practice of the best market gardeners, and 
the result of it, is so opposed to the notion, 
and our own experience has proved so com- 
pletely that air is acceptable to roots, that we 
do not hesitate to dig beneath the trees, and 
to recommend all others to do so. Under 
crops may be the worse for the trees, but Ave 
do not believe the trees can well be the worse 
for the under crops; for the dressing of them 
is every way favourable to the roots beneath 
them, while the occasional damage to the roots 
of trees is only so much root pruning, which, 
unless carried to excess, is always beneficial. 
CULTURE OF THE GRAPE "VINE 
UNDER GLASS. 
" Science with practice" is the motto adopted 
by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 
and science with practice is an equally appro- 
priate motto for those who devote their ser- 
vices to horticulture. We may be slow to 
recommend new systems, and we may think 
lightly of theories that are not based upon 
practical experience, but we are not the less 
ready to adopt real improvements in any and 
every branch of horticulture. If our readers 
should fancy that we are too much in favour 
of old and tried systems, we must be excused 
for reminding them that in Grape growing 
nothing has yet been accomplished with the 
new systems that has not been better done 
by the old and tried ones; and while theorists 
have been speculating upon new plans, the old- 
fashioned growers have been producing finer 
fruits than have been grown by any of the 
numerous cultivators on what are called new 
and scientific principles. Men who have 
