THE 
HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 
February \st, 183*2. 
PART I. - HORTICULTURE^ &c. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Article I .—On the Cultivation of the Vine, By Elec- 
TRICUS. 
Gentlemen, 
The culture of that most grateful tree, the Vine, is an object 
of deep and increasing interest. The tree has, in all probability, been 
known in this country, for upwards of 1500 years; but it does not ap¬ 
pear to have been scientifically attended to, till about the middle of the 
seventeenth century. Mr. Loudon, at No. 4795, of his Encyclopaedia 
of Gardening, mentions the fact—on the authority of “The Fruit Ga¬ 
therer,” by Lawrence, that, “the Duke of Rutland, at Belvoir-Castle, 
has done so much justice to the Vine, as to have fires constantly burning 
behind his slope-walls, from Lady-day to Michaelmas; whereby he is re¬ 
warded by the largest grapes; and even the best Frontignacs, in July,” 
he adds, “These sloped walls were afterwards centered with glass.*^ 
The origin then of fvineries—or grape forcing-houses, is to be traced 
to the act of placing a glass screen in front of a wall, at Belvoir-Castle, 
in Leicestershire, in the year 1718. 
The chief object that I have in view, in presenting this paper, is to 
excite an enquiry concerning the best and most obvious method of train¬ 
ing and pruning the Vine, either in the open ground, against walls and 
fences, or—and particularly, in houses of one description or other, co¬ 
vered with glass. Many persons would start an objection to the general ' 
adoption of the latter mode of culture, on the ground of the difficulties 
and expenses attending the construction of forcing-houses; but, as I 
have recently witnessed the erection of a small house, by the junior 
members of a family, without the assistance of either bricklayer, carpen¬ 
ter, or plumber, I can speak with confidence of the facility with which 
VOL. I, No. 8. vv 
