414 H O R T I C 
winter, remove the earth in the pits, place bricks on their 
edge, half-way up from the bottom, each row three feet 
afunder. On the bricks, place common plaftering-laths, 
on thrir edge; over which put fome long litter, taken 
from horfe-dung, and put upon it the earth which was 
removed. Doors being made in the walls of the earth- 
pits, at the front of each partition, or fix doors in each 
pit, as at G, in fig. 6, put into each as much fermented 
horfe-dung as it will hold ; flop it up clofe with a wooden 
ftopper, and let it remain fix or eight days ; then take it 
out, and repeat the fame during the winter, or any time 
you pleafe. The flavour of any fruit i'aifed in beds fo 
managed, isfuperior to what is raifed in a hot-houfe, and 
fire is laved. To prevent the heat from being too great 
in the fummer, put five fquares of glafs, leparately framed, 
with an axis for each to turn on, one in each light. The 
air, by being rarified, will lift up the fquares, and efcape; 
after which, each fquare will fhut again of itfelf, and 
maintain a regular heat without farther attention ; but, 
when the fun is very intenfe, cold air may be admitted by 
Hiding failles, one at each end of the grapery, as at E, in 
fig. 5; but this will require attention, lelt the grapeiy 
cool too frit. In frofty weather, it is neceflary that the 
glafs.part of the grapery fhould be covered with mats; 
and, as the buds of the vines break early in the Ipring, it 
is alfo neceflary to train the vines fo as not to touch the 
glafs, left the buds perifli. When the grapes are fet, 
break off all fuperfluous flioots every fecond or third day; 
by which means, you will have ripe grapes in July, and 
the following eight months. Lad year I left fome on the 
vine to dry, and in March following I found them equal 
to any jar-railins imported. If thele inftructions are at¬ 
tentively obferved, wine may be made in this country, as 
rich, and of as good quality, as any imported. It will an- 
iwer the purpofe of eveiy man, who has a fpot of ground, 
to build a grapery, fince no profit in horticulture will be 
f’uperior to it. The whole of the expence of building my 
grapery did not exceed 14I. and, when the vines came into 
bearing, one year's produce, if fold, would have more 
than cleared all expences; from which the profits may be 
eafily calculated.” 
For the further improvement and early maturation of 
grapes, the following lingular difeovery has been commu¬ 
nicated by John Williams, elq. which we fliall recite in 
his own words. “ It is a faft well known to gardeners, 
that vines, when expofed in this climate to the open air, 
although trained to walls with fouthern afpeefs, and hav¬ 
ing eveiy advantage of judicious culture, yet in the or¬ 
dinary courfe of our feafons ripen their fruit with diffi¬ 
culty. This remark, however, though true in general, 
admits of fome exceptions, for I have occafionally feen 
trees of the common white-mufeadine and black-clufter 
grapes, that have matured their fruit very well, and ear¬ 
lier by a fortnight or three weeks than others of the fame 
kinds, apparently poflefling fimilar advantages of foil and 
afpeft. 
The vines that ripened the fruit thus early, I have ge¬ 
nerally remarked, were old trees, having trunks eight or 
ten feet high, before their bearing-branches commenced. 
It occured to me, that this difpofition to ripen early, 
might be occafioned by the drynefs and rigidity of the 
velfels of the old trunk, obftrufting the circulation of that 
portion of the fap which is fuppofed to defeend from the 
leaf. And, to prove whether or not my conjectures were 
correCt, I made incifions through the bark on the trunks 
of feveral vines, removing a circle of bark from each, and 
thus leaving the naked alburnum above an inch in width 
completely expofed ; this was done in the months of June 
and July. The following autumn the fruit growing on 
thefe trees came to great perfection, having ripened from 
a fortnight to three weeks earlier than ufual; but in the 
fucceeding fpring the vines did not flioot with their ac- 
cndomed vigour, and I found that I had injured them by 
expofing the alburnum unneceflarily. 
In 1807, thefe experiments were repeated. At the end 
ULTU.EE, 
of July and beginning of Auguft/I took annular excifions 
of bark from the trunks of feveral of my vines; and, that 
the expofed alburnum might be again covered with new 
bark by the end of autumn, the removed circles were 
made rather lefs than a quarter of an inch in width. Two 
vines of the white frontiniac, in fimilar dates of growth, 
being trained near to each other on a fouth wall, were fe- 
leChed for trial; on one of thefe the experiment was. made; 
the other was left in its natural date, to form a dandard 
of comparifon. When the circle of bark had been re¬ 
moved about a fortnight, the berries on .the experimented 
tree began evidently to fwell falter than thofe on the 
other, and by the beginning of September fhowed indi¬ 
cations of approaching ripenefs, while the fruit of the un¬ 
experimented tree continued green and fmail. In the be¬ 
ginning of OCtober the fruit on the tree that had the bark 
removed from it, was quite ripe, the other only jud be¬ 
gan to fliow a difpofition to ripen ; and the bunches were- 
ihortly afterwards dedroyed by the autumnal frolts. In 
every cafe in which circles of bark were removed, I inva¬ 
riably found that the fruit not only ripened earlier, but 
the berries were coniiderabiy larger than ufual, and more 
highly flavoured. 
The eft'eCts thus produced, I can account for only by- 
adopting Mr. Knight’s theory of the downward circulation 
of the fap, the truth of which thefe experiments tend 
ftrongiy to confirm. I therefore imagine, by cutting 
through the cortex and liber, without- wounding the al¬ 
burnum, that the defeent of that portion of the fap which 
has undergone preparation in the leaf is obfiruCted, and 
confined in the branches fituated above the incifion ; con- 
fequently the fruit is better nourifhed, and its maturation 
hadened. It is certainly a confiderable point gained in 
the culture of the vine, to be able to bring the fruit to 
perfection, by a procefs fo fimple, and fo eafily performed. 
But, .led there lhould be any mifconception in the forego¬ 
ing datement, I will briefly deferibe the exaCt method to 
be followed by any perfon who may be defirous of try¬ 
ing this mode of ripening grapes. The bed time for per¬ 
forming the operation on vines growing in the open air,, 
is towards the end of July, or beginning of Augud; and 
it is a material point, not to let the removed circle of bark 
be too wide; from one to two eighths of an inch will be a. 
fpace of fufficient width; the expofed alburnum will then, 
be covered again with new bark before the following 
winter, fo that there will be no danger of injuring the fu¬ 
ture health of the tree. 
It is not of much confequence in what part of the tree 
the incifion is made ; but, in cafe the trunk is very large, 
I lhould then recommend, that the circles be made in the 
fmaller branches. It is to be obferved, that all ffioots 
which come out from the root of the vine, or from the 
front of the trunk fituated below the incifion, mud be re¬ 
moved as often as they appear, unlefs bearing-wood is 
particularly wanted to fill up the lower part of the wall, 
in which cafe one or two flioots may be left. 
Vines growing in hot-houfes are equally improved in 
point of fize and flavour, as well as made to ripen earlier, 
by taking away circles of bark ; the time for doing this, 
is when the fruit is fet, and the berries are about the fize 
of fmail fliot. The removed circles may here be made 
wider than on vines growing in the open air, as the bark 
is fooner renewed by the warmth and moidure of the hot- 
.houfe. Half an inch will not be too great a width to take 
off in a circle from a vigorous growing vine; but I do not 
recommend the operation to be performed at all in weak 
trees. 
I think that this praftice may be extended to other 
fruits, fo as to haften their maturity, efpecially figs, in. 
which there is a mod: abundant flow of returning lap; and 
it demonftrates to us, why old trees are more difpofed to 
bear fruit than young ones. Miller informs 11$, that the 
vineyards in Italy are thought to improve every year by 
age, till they are fifty years old.. It therefore appears to 
me, that nature, in the courfe of time, produces eftefts 
fimilar 
