October 26, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
379 
26th 
Tn 
27th 
F 
28 th 
S 
Sale of Bulbs at Mr. Stevens’s Booms, Covent Garden. 
29th 
Sun 
21st Sunday after Trinity. 
30th 
M 
[Morris. 
31st 
TU 
Sale of Nursery Stock at Tottenham by Messrs. Protheroe and 
1st 
W 
Sale of Trees and Shrubs at Godaiming by the same firm. 
VINES IN POTS. 
1.HERE Grapes are wanted very early in the 
season to maintain a supply no one will ques¬ 
tion the value of Vines in pots. Not only are 
they useful for supplying a few early Grapes, 
and thus save permanent Vines the sharp 
forcing required to produce ripe Grapes in 
April, but for a midseason or late supply they 
are equally valuable where Vines require replant- 
ing and the supply of Grapes must not fail. Well- 
* ripened canes allowed to start slowly and ripen their 
fruit from June onwards will produce some very serviceable 
Grapes if properly managed. Those ripened very early may 
not be quite equal in quality to those ripened later, still the 
produce may be very creditable indeed. Grapes produced 
from Vines in pots are generally regarded as of inferior quality, 
and on this account permanent Vines are forced onwards 
and fruited early for the purpose of maintaining the supply. 
This in time cannot fail to impair the health and energy of 
the Vines. 
To produce fruit of average quality early in the season from 
Vines in pots it is important that they be early and well ripened, 
and to accomplish this there can be no doubt that “ cut-backs ” 
are the best for this purpose. I am persuaded that many 
failures occur in the culture of Vines in pots through prema¬ 
ture ripening of the canes. Thousands of Vines annually that 
are raised in pots for forcing, when destitute of foliage and 
considered ready for forcing, should have been maturing their 
foliage, and thus developing their buds. I do not say that 
skilled gardeners who prepare a few Vines in pots for their 
own purpose tie them to some hedge or fence as soon as the 
wood is brown for the first wind to batter the foliage or early 
frost to clear it all off. Those who have to rely upon their Vines 
for fruit know the importance of preserving the foliage as long 
as possible and properly ripening the canes; but yet the 
barbarous system alluded to is largely practised. 
Considering, however, that the Vines to be forced are in the 
best possible condition in autumn, the crop of fruit very much 
depends afterwards upon the treatment during the forcing 
season, whether the Grapes are of good or inferior quality. 
Heavy cropping is one cause of Grapes being of poor quality, 
and this is as marked in the culture of Vines in pots as with 
those planted permanently, and in many instances more so. 
How can a Vine in a 10-inch pot bring to such perfection ten 
or fourteen bunches as it could half that number ? but even 
half that number are too many if the bunches are heavy. If 
the crop is too heavy, size of berry, quality, and general finish 
are inferior, and Grapes that give but poor satisfaction are the 
result. 
Many growers fruit Vines in the pots they were grown in ; 
but I have satisfied myself that this is not the best or most 
satisfactory system. However good and rich the soil may have 
been, the young Vine must have exhausted it by the end of 
the season. Rich top-dressings of soil and manure will cer¬ 
tainly help them, with a free use of stimulants, every time 
watering is done, but even this is not sufficient. When the fruit 
commences colouring liberal quantities of stimulants should 
be discontinued, or the fruit may possess but little flavour; 
but aid is actually discontinued under the above system at 
a time when the Vine requires liberal treatment, and the berries 
in consequence are comparatively small. I have failed at least 
to produce Grapes as good in berry and quality generally under 
the system described as I have by shifting the Vines into pots 
4 inches larger than those they were grown in after they were 
well started into growth. This system has been previously 
described in these pages, and the Vines require little or no 
assistance with liquid manure while growing. The fresh soil 
given them will be ample to sustain them until the fruit is ripe, 
which will be of a superior quality. 
I have read in reference to Vines in pots, “ Fruit once, and 
that heavily." Now the question arises whether it is wise to 
do this or retain them for a longer period than one year. If 
cropped heavily they are useless after the first season. If 
cropped fairly and retained a second year they will produce 
better Grapes than in the first instance ; but to accomplish 
this successfully they should be planted out in narrow borders 
of good soil instead of placing them in 14-iuch pots. By so 
doing only one house is occupied with the Vines, which would 
not be the case if young canes were prepared annually, fruited, 
and then thrown out. This is important in the majority of 
gardens, as house room is often limited. Another advantage 
is that the Vines would have a good hold of the soil, and by 
being forced early one season would readily start freely and 
vigorously into growth the second. 
Experience proves to me that this is by far the most satis¬ 
factory system. Some Vines transferred from 10 into 14-inch 
pots early last year carried an excellent crop of well-finished 
serviceable fruit. The Vines had six bunches each, the produce 
of one Vine weighing a few ounces less than 10 lbs. These 
Vines made fine wood, and were this season planted out in a 
narrow border of loam, to which was added a little fresh lime 
and a few small bones. The laterals were about 1 foot in 
length when the Vines were planted, and extra care was 
taken that they did not suffer by the want of water. The 
produce was again weighed from the same Vine, which this year 
carried the same number of bunches, weighing in all 11 lbs. 
Other Vines carried a greater weight of Grapes this year than 
the one alluded to, while none had less than 8 lbs., the num¬ 
ber of bunches throughout varying from five to seven, accord¬ 
ing to their size. The berries were larger than last year, and 
would have been finer still if we had thinned them more liber¬ 
ally ; but from the first swelling we concluded the berries 
would not be large, but were agreeably mistaken when the roots 
were fairly established in the new compost. The wood made 
this year is superior to that they produced last year, is well 
ripened, and the Vines will, I do not fear, produce 6ome 
excellent early Grapes again next year. 
This season we planted some small Vines amongst them that 
No. 122.—Von. V., THi'in skbii*. 
No. 1778.—Vol. LXYII1.. Old Series. 
