TO RAISE VINES FROM EYES. 
and bring fruit, nevertheless, very nearly to 
the same standard, this only proves, that pro- 
\ ided one or two principal conditions are 
attended to, the vine will flourish under many 
different modes of treatment. It becomes 
chiefly necessary to set out with these leading 
conditions, properly secured, without reference 
to the detail, ami then to mention the various 
methods adopted for after treatment, which 
must depend a little upon the circumstances at- 
tending the place in which they are to be grown. 
Much has been said and written of late 
about the soil in which the vine flourishes 
most, and we are gravely told that the com- 
monly received notion that it requires rich 
compost is erroneous — that it will grow best 
in brick rubbish. It must be obvious to all 
who have noticed the vine growers of this 
country, that the commonly received notion has 
been acted upon for centuries, where a finer 
produce than ordinary has been required, and 
that the more fashionable or more modern 
notions cannot have been proved much. How 
far these starving plans may be successful in 
producing certain results, we are not prepared 
to say; but the most perfect fruit we ever saw, 
or even hope to see, were grown according to 
the commonly received notions, that the vine 
is a coarse feeder,. and can hardly be grown or 
cultivated in ground too rich in animal and 
vegetable manure. It must not, however, be 
denied that rich soil is not the only condition 
required; that where some others have been 
neglected, failure has been the result ; and 
there is one point which, if lost sight of, leads 
to the worst result, the want of proper 
drainage; and many a good old vine, in a good 
old house, and that has done good service, has 
at length gone off" so much that the fruit 
would not ripen, but on the contrary has 
become small, or has shrivelled or shanked off 
before it came to maturity. The borders 
have been dug, the soil removed in a sour un- 
wholesome state, the roots found half rotted, 
and all manner of mischief has been discovered; 
a drainage has been provided, a sound bottom 
made, the roots pruned, and eighteen inches 
of rich soil placed among them to form a new 
border; the vine cut in to compensate for the 
loss of roots, and the vinery completely re- 
stored in two seasons: while other vines, old 
beyond the means of tracing the age, continue 
to this day, bearing fruit in perfection, al- 
though the only thing done to the borders in 
the memory of man, has been to supply them 
with quantities of the richest manure, animal 
and vegetable. 
TO RAISE VINES FROM EYES. 
There is very little difficulty about the 
raising of vines from eyes. If they were cut 
with half an inch of the stem on each side. 
and were planted on the open ground in rich 
soil like scarlet beans, we verily believe they 
would grow and do well; but the object of all 
cultivators is despatch. It is not enough to 
find a well-rooted vine plant with a foot or 
two of stem at the end of a season, when by 
using other means they can be grown many 
times as strong. The preparation of the eyes 
consists merely of choosing full plump ones, in 
well ripened wood, and cutting the wood up 
pretty close to each side of them; these may 
be placed in what are called large sixty-sized 
pots, of tolerably rich loam and decayed dung, 
well mixed and laid together for a time. 
These may be plunged in a moderate hot-bed, 
and grown fast; air and water must be given 
at proper seasons, and as soon as the pots are 
filled with roots, the plants may be removed 
to forty-eight-sized pots without disturbing 
the balls of earth. There must be some crocks, 
or broken pieces of pot, put at the bottom to 
secure a drainage; and soil of the same de- 
scription as that used at first is to be put 
round the ball of earth, and gently pressed 
down without bruising the fibres; these should 
be placed in the stove, if there be one, and 
must not want water, as if they were once too 
dry it would check them. If the eyes are put 
in during the latter months of the year, they 
will have made some progress by the spring; 
and by the time the second pots are filled with 
roots, the plants may be transferred to twenty- 
sized pots, in the same way they were put 
from the sixtys to the forty-eights: and after 
they have been in the house a few days, dur- 
ing which time they should be supported 
against the wall, or tied loosely to a trellis or 
some other place, that they may not be broken 
or bruised by their own weight, they will be 
ready for final removal for the season, which, 
however, should not be till the end of June, 
when the pots may be sunk close together, 
under a south wall, and the vines tacked loosely 
up the wall; and there they may be watched 
and watered when they require it, until the 
leaves turn colour, soon after which they will 
drop, (all this time side shoots must be stop- 
ped at the first joint,) and the wood will 
thoroughly ripen. Some cut these down and 
grow them another season, even if intended to 
plant out in a border; others use the first 
year's cane to carry through into the house; 
but here we have, at all events, plants fit to do 
anything with, raised from eyes in one season; 
and whether these be required for growing 
and fruiting in pots, or for planting on a 
border, to be carried through into a house to 
grow under glass, or to be planted inside a 
house, they are equally fit for their work. 
Many prefer raising plants from cuttings or 
layers, and although we do not think them 
equal in general to those raised from eyes, 
