148 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[October, 
which was anything but a propitious one. 
Its leaves are long, dark, and healthy, a state 
to which the leaves of all fruit-trees must be 
brought and maintained to enable them to 
produce good, clean, and well swelled fruit. 
Of the other trees planted on the same wall, 
at the same time, I have nothing to say. 
Although they have not fruited, they have at 
any rate grown to my satisfaction. I shall, 
notwithstanding their shyness to fruit, refrain 
from “ naming ” any one of them until another 
year has passed, during which time they will 
have an opportunity of showing whether they 
merit the indulgence, the place, and the care 
that is now being bestowed on their cultivation. 
If they do, then “ all’s well that ends well.” 
—We. Miller, Combe Abbey Gardens. 
VINES AND VINE CULTURE. 
Chap. XX.— Pot Culture. 
HE cultivation of Vines in pots does 
not seem to have been practised to any 
extent until about fifty or sixty years 
ago, as we read in The Transactions 
of the Horticultural Society of “ Pot vines 
bearing fruit one year old ” being exhibited in 
London in 1818, which were looked upon as 
wonderful. During the last twenty-five years, 
however, the cultivation of Vines in pots has 
been carried on to an extraordinary extent. 
In some gardens they are used for very early 
forcing to precede the permanent vines ; and in 
others they are used to supply the place of 
vines that may be undergoing some change, &c. 
The cultivation of the Grape Vine in pots 
has become therefore a very important section 
of vine culture, and requires special notice. 
The manufacture—if we might so term it—of 
“pot” vines in many of the leading nursery 
establishments is a very important matter. It 
would be interesting—were it possible of com¬ 
putation—to ascertain the numbers of young 
vines annually grown and disposed of, both as 
planting and fruiting vines. It amounts to 
many thousands ; we hear of as many as 5,000 
being produced annually at one establishment. 
What becomes of all this vast host it would be 
still more difficult to ascertain, but probably 
not a tenth part of the number ever become 
permanent vines. Suffice it thus far to illus¬ 
trate the importance of the trade. 
The growing of vines in pots is of a two¬ 
fold character, two distinct purposes being in 
view: firstly, that of producing plants for 
planting out, subsequently to be grown as 
permanent vines; and secondly, that of pro¬ 
ducing plants for fruiting in pots. 
Some first-class cultivators grow on the vines 
from eyes “struck” in early spring to their 
“fruiting state” the same season. Others strike 
the eyes the one season, and grow the plants 
on so far, and the following year cut down, 
repot, and grow on again, thus occupying two 
years in producing a similar result. The one- 
year old plants, if properly grown, are gene¬ 
rally considered the better, but as they are 
only produced under very favourable condi¬ 
tions, and require an excessive amount of care 
and attention, they cost possibly more than 
the two-year old plants, or “ cut-backs,” as 
they are familiarly called. In nursery estab¬ 
lishments those vines that may not arrive at 
the proper standard of fruiting strength may 
be utilised as “planters,” but in private estab¬ 
lishments the vine that is grown for fruiting, 
and is not sufficiently strong, is a useless in¬ 
cumbrance. Vines for fruiting in pots must 
be grown well or not at all. There is no plant 
that better repays proper attention, yet a very 
little neglect involves total failure. 
As a rule the great bulk of young vines for 
all purposes is reared in nurseries, and sold 
for planting or fruiting, as the case may be. 
There is no actual difference in their cultiva¬ 
tion in the nurseries from that followed in any 
other well-conducted garden, excepting that 
often a larger number has to be produced 
from a given space, and consequently must be 
grown closer together. The practice generally 
adopted is as follows :— 
Production of Fruiting Vines in One Year. 
1. As to Propagation. —Full instructions on 
this part of the subject are given at page 40 
(1873), to which the reader is referred. We 
commence herewith the “eye” rooted in a 
60-sized pot. 
2. As to Potting, Sc. —Liberal pot room must 
be provided so as to grow the vines quickly. 
Therefore as soon as it is found that the roots 
have reached the bottom or sides of the pot, 
repot into a 5-inch or 48-sized pot, and from 
this—immediately the roots have again reached 
the bottom—into an 8-inch, and from this into 
