MAY. 
103 
about half an inch deep. Place them in a gentle moist heat till they come through 
the soil, when they may be removed to a higher temperature, keeping them near 
the glass to prevent drawing. When the shoots are from 2 to 3 inches long, pot 
them off singly into 48-sized pots, in a mixture of loam and dung, which should 
be warmed before using. This is of great importance, as it very much injures 
them if cold soil is used, and this should be borne in mind at all future pottings. 
Encourage them to make as free a growth as possible, and when the roots 
reach the edge of the pots shift again into 24-sized pots, using similar soil. As 
soon as they have grown the length of about 2 feet they may receive their final 
shift into 13-inch pots. Drain well with broken potsherds and pounded bones, 
and use the soil in a rough state. Now they should receive every attention. 
Train them close to the glass, which should be free from lenses, that they may 
obtain as much light, heat, and air as possible, which will insure a short-jointed 
and vigorous habit of growth. Manure water may be given daily when the pots 
are tolerably full of roots, but not before. When the wood has become a nice 
brown colour, remove them to a south wall. The best kinds for pot culture are 
Black Hamburgh, lloyal Muscadine, and Canon Hall Muscat. 
We have now arrived at the ripening period; and, upon this being well and 
properly carried out the future success and well-being of the Vine depend. 
Now the lateral shoots may be removed; they should previously have been 
stopped-back to one leaf as they appeared on the parent stem, which may itself 
be stopped when it has attained the length of 8 or 9 feet. The laterals will 
prevent the main eyes from breaking, which otherwise would be the case, and 
which would spoil the Vine. The leaves should be allowed to remain on the Vine 
till they fall off naturally, when the rod may be shortened to 5 or 6 feet in length. 
This operation is generally performed about the first or second week in October. 
The cultivator should be especially careful that the Yine does not become too 
dry at the roots ; if this occurs, future success cannot be hoped for. When the 
time for fruiting arrives, the Yine may break well and grow for a little while, but 
as soon as it has exhausted the supply of food stored up in the stem, and makes a 
demand upon the root which it cannot supply, it then utterly fails—the bunches 
curl up, and the whole plant looks most miserable. To this cause more failures 
may be attributed than to any other. We do not say that they should receive as 
much water as when thoroughly growing, but when they are watered they should 
have a good soaking. Should severe frost occur while the Vines are yet upon the 
south wall, they may be removed to a sheltered place, where they can be amply 
protected. 
If ripe G-rapes are desired by the first week in May, which will probably be 
soon enough for the amateur, they should be introduced into the house intended 
for them the first week in December. Plunge the pots to the rims in a bed of 
decayed leaves, whose heat should not exceed 75° Fahrenheit. Give the pots a 
good soaking of tepid water, and let the internal temperature of the house range 
about 55° at night to 65 Q by day, increasing gradually as the season advances. 
The canes should be bent round, to equalise the flow of the sap, and cause them 
to break regularly. When the shoots are 4 or 5 inches long they should be tied 
to the trellis, and stopped one joint before the bunch, leaving ten or a dozen 
shoots on each Yine. Pinch out all laterals except the ones opposite the bunch, 
and the end of the shoot, which should be stopped to one leaf. They should be 
kept neatly trained to the trellis, and every attention paid them. When they 
come into bloom, give a little more fire heat, and all the air consistent with a 
temperature of from 80° to 85° by day, with a very considerable reduction at 
night. As soon as the berries are the size of small peas proceed to thin them. 
This operation requires caution, and to bear in mind the nature of the kind you are 
operating upon, and then thin accordingly. They will now demand great supplies 
of nourishment: give plenty of liquid manure, and earth-up the pots with turves 
of loam, to encourage root-action. Do not overcrop ; it is better to have half the 
quantity really fine than a double crop small and poor. Pay attention to them as 
they approach the colouring process, and gradually _ reduce the atmospheric 
moisture, to prevent injury to the bloom. When fully ripe give abundance of air, 
and keep the house cool. Muscats do best started later. 
