324 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  20,  1899. 
GRAPE  GROWING  OUTDOORS  AND  IN  COOL 
HOT’SES. 
The  Romans  are  supposed  to  have  introduced  the  Grape  Vine  into 
Britain  about  a.d.  10,  and  Tacitus,  some  eighty  years  later,  declared 
That  “the  moist  cliTuate  was  unfavourable  to  the  Vine  maturing  its 
fruit.”  This  indicates  that  the  climate  was  not  materially  different 
1800  years  ago  from  what  it  is  at  the  present  time,  and  appears  to  have 
'had  little  deterrent  effect  on  the  cultivation  of  tlie  Vine  in  England, 
tor  the  battle  of  Hastings  was  fought  near  a  great  plantation  of  Vine.-j. 
Even  war  and  the  chase,  the  greatest  foes  of  agriculture  and  horticul¬ 
ture,  did  not  uproot  the  culture  of  Vines  in  England,  and  Domesday 
Book  contains  thirty-eight  entries  of  valuable  vineyards,  two  of  6  acres 
•each  in  the  Lea  Valley,  one  at  Ware,  and  one  in  Essex.  In  the  Great 
Duse  Valley,  the  Isle  of  Ely  was  called  the  “  Isle  of  Vines”  in  Norman 
times,  and  the  vine3'ard  of  Peterborough  was  planted  by  the  Abbot  in 
the  reign  of  Stephen,  about  1110.  Prior  John,  of  Spdding,  in  Lincoln- 
■bhire,  planted  vineyards,  as  did  the  Abbots  of  Denny  Abbey,  Cambridge¬ 
shire  ;  likewise  the  Abbey  of  Burv’  St,  Edmund’s,  in  Suffolk,  h^d  a 
vineyard  among  its  appurtenances,  and  the  Priory  at  Dunstable,  in 
Bedfordshire,  founded  by  Henry  I.,  had  a  vineyard  attached  to  it. 
Itlost  of  the  Barons  of  this  period  possessed  vineyards  and  made  their 
■own  wine.  The  hills  at  Gudalming,  in  Surrey,  and  the  Hampshire 
'Downs  were  clad  with  Vines.  Kent  had  vineyards — those  of  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  Priory  at  Canterbury.  The  valley  of 
itlie  Severn,  according  to  William  of  Malmesbury,  about  1148,  at 
VJloucester,  was  the  chief  wine-producing  district  in  England,  there 
being  “more  vineyards  and  better  Grapes  grown  in  that  county  than 
in  any  ether  part  of  the  country’.” 
After  the  time  just  mentioned  disputes  arcse  with  the  ecclesiastics, 
and  the  country  engaged  in  foreign  wars,  which  led  to  the  decline 
^uid  fall  of  Grape  Vine  culture  and  of  wine  making  in  England.  Still, 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  III ,  British  grown  Grapes  made  excellent 
native  wine,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  sent  Edward  II.  a  present 
•of  “both  wine  and  Grapes  of  his  own  growth  at  his  vineyard  at 
Hal  ling.”  Then,  for  about  300  years,  the  fashion  was  for  foreign 
wines — the  produce  of  English  provinces  in  F.''atce;  yet  home-made 
twine  must  have  lound  some  favour,  for  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven¬ 
teenth  centuries  vineyards  were  in  vogue.  The  first  Earl  of  Salisbury 
cnade  a  vineyard  at  Hatfield  House,  Plertfordshire,  about  the  year 
1G05,  and  Dr.  Ralf  Bathhurst  made  excellent  claret  from  Grapes  grown 
at  Oxford  in  1685.  On  the  slope  of  a  hill  at  Doikiug,  in  Surrey, 
Grape  Vines  were  grown  successlully  for  manv  J'cars,  but  Defoe  found 
“  the  vineyards  at  Deepdene  neglected”  in  1726.  Dr.  Shaw,  however, 
grew  Vines  at  Kensington  so  well  that  the  vintage  “equalled  the 
lighter  wines  of  France.”  At  Cohham,  in  Surrey,  on  the  warm, 
gravelly,  and  dry  soil  of  Pain’s  Hill,  Grapes  were  grown,  and  made 
an^to  “champagne,”  by  the  Hon.  Charles  Hamilton.  Colliuson,  in 
1748,  says,  “  a  considerable  quantity  of  wine  will  be  made  this  year 
in  England — my  vineyard  Grapes  are  very  ripe”  (October  3rd).  In 
1763  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  s  cellars  at  Arundel  Castle,  Sussex,  con- 
lairied  sixty  pipes  of  English  Burgundy,  “  better  than  imported,” 
which  was  made  from  the  Duke’s  vineyard  produce.  After  1790 
vineyard  Grapes  appear  to  have  again  fallen  into  disfavour — that  is, 
gone  out  of  fashion,  the  blame  being  cast  on  a  cycle  of  cold  wet 
summers,  when  “  vineyard  Grapes  ceased  to  yield  good  vinous  juice 
for  a  peiiod  of  twenty-five  years.” 
Thus  the  art  of  growing  Grapes  in  vineyards  and  that  of 
anaking  excellent  wine  in  England  appears  to  Lave  been  lost 
about  a  century  ago.  V  ine,  however,  was  still  made  from  English 
-outdoor-grown  Grapes  by  the  old-fashioned  utilitarian  viticulturists  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  they  ivere  the  exception  rather  than  the 
rule,  and  vineyards  were  only  mentioned  as  relics  of  the  past.  After 
the  middle  of  the  present  century  there  seems  to  have  been  a  re- 
aw^akening,  for  in  the  fifties, if  I  remember  rightly,  “Upwards  and 
Onwards”  detailed  his  experience  in  growing  outdoor  Grapes  and 
making  wine  from  them  in  the  Cottage  Gardener.  The  wine  was 
■“  better  than  imported.”  Was  this  fact  the  prompter  of  the  vineyard 
in  the  valley  of  the  Taff,  at  Castle  Coch,  in  Glamorganshire  ?  Did 
the  success  of  this  Welsh  vineyard  of  the  nineteenth  century  lead  to 
the  establishment  of  that  at  Swanbridge,  which  “  was  calculated  to 
produce  a  vintage  of  25  or  30  hogsheads  of  wine  ”  in  1897  (Journal  of 
Horticulture,  October  24th,  1897,  page  357)  ? 
hrom  the  facts  to  hand  it  appears  that  the  climate  of  England 
and  Wales  was  as  good  or  better  Irom  the  middle  of  the  present 
•century  as  in  ^  the  time  ot  the  Normans  and  Romans  for  growing 
Grape  Vines  in  the  open,  and  the  Grapes  from  them  for  making 
palatable  wine.  I  say  better,  for  at  the  Roman  period  immense 
tracts  of  country  were  fens,  marshes,  and  swamps,  and  though  the 
conqueror  of  the  world  did  much  to  improve  Britain  and  the  Britons, 
t’nere  remained  much  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  draining  and  reclaiming 
land  at  and  after  the  Norman  conquest.  Hence  the  whole  land  must 
•now,  Irom  the  great  improvements  that  have  been  carried  out,  be 
warmer  and  drier  than  in  Roman,  Anglo-Saxon,  Norman,  and  up  to 
the  reign  of  George  III.,  when  vineyards  in  England  fell  into  abeymici', 
and  the  wars  caused  by  the  French  revolution  (1795-1814)  led  to  an 
extraordinary  improvement  in  agriculture  all  over  the  country  through 
the  high  price  of  agricultural  produce.  Still  the  fact  remains  that  the 
alterations  would  improve  the  climate  of  this  country  rather  than 
make  it  colder  or  wetter,  hence  more  suitable  than  it  had  ever  been  in 
historical  times  for  the  outdoor  cultivation  of  the  Grape  Vme  and  the 
produce  thereof  capable  of  making  wine. 
Now  that  laud  cannot,  according  to  the  prevalent  ideas  and 
practices  of  agriculturists,  be  made  to  pay  under  ordinary  crops,  why 
not  fievote  a  portion  to  vineyards?  We  have  it  on  record  that  Sir 
Henry  Littleton  made  excellent  wine  from  Grapes  grown  in  a  warm 
nook  at  Over  Ashby,  in  Staffordshiie.  Begin  there,  or  at  the  Trent, 
in  the  southern  part  of  Derbyshire,  and  let  that  point  express  the 
northern  limit  of  vineyard  experiments  to  be  instituted.  L<  tsunnv 
slopes — such  as  are  too  steep  for  ordinary  agricultural  or  horticultur.d 
purposes — be  selected,  terrace  the  sites  so  as  to  facilitate  cultural 
operations  and  catch  or  hold  rains  in  summer,  with  grips  to  run  oil  the 
superfluous  water  in  winter,  and  on  these  demonstrate  that  the  climate 
of  England  has  not  declined  in  temireratui'e  or  the  soil  of  this  country 
deteriorated  in  respect  of  the  growth  of  Grajre  Vines  and  the  Grapes 
they  produce  for  making  wines  c  f  full  body  and  rich  boaa,uet.  Make 
choice  of  the  gravelly  or  sandy  and  dry  soils  that  now  grow  scarcely' 
anything  but  wtrthless  scrub,  anil  see  how  Grape  Vines  will  flourish. 
Itlake  no  question  about  sites — there  ate  thousands  awaiting 
the  husbandman  to  make  them  smile  with  plenteousness  of  Irinc 
and  wine.  The  Ni-vc,  the  Welland,  the  Grt’at  Ouse,  the  Severn  and 
iis  tributaries,  the  Lea,  the  Thames,  the  Medway,  the  Btour,  the- 
Arun,  and  many  other  rivers  (J  the  southetn  part  of  England  and 
Wales,  still  flow  on,  their  courses  deeper,  their  slopes  le.'S  slanting,  and 
the  hills  they'  drain  not  much  lower,  while  the  soil  of  the  valleys 
remains  as  rich,  or  richer,  as  in  bygone  times. — G.  Abbey. 
(To  be  continued.) 
WELL  RIPENED  ONIONS. 
I  AM  sending  you  a  sample  of  Ails'a  Craig  Onions,  grown  by^yfr. 
James  Riddell,  gardener  to  T.  G.  Gibson,  Esq.,  Lesbury  House.  Some 
little  time  ago,  when  at  Lesbury,  I  saw  a  lot  ot  splendid  Onions,  large  in 
size,  excellent  in  form,  and,  irom  the  way  they  were  keeping,  giving 
every  evidence  that  they  had  been  thoroughly  well  lipened.  Mr.  Hicbiell 
is  an  “exptrt”  in  Onion  growing,  and  not  only  carries  off  the  first  j.r'ze 
annually  for  Onions  at  the  Alnwick  llorticullural  Society’s  Show  m 
September,  but  never  fails  to  produce  a  crop  ot  tine  large  well-finisbeU 
specimens.  Manv  prefer  small  Onions  to  large  ones,  and  one  of  the 
reasons  often  given  is  that  they  keep  better  ;  but  you  will  see  from  the 
enclosed  that  even  in  Northumberland  bulbs  can  be  grown  to  a  good 
size  and  keep  well.  Mr.  Riddell’s  plan  is  to  sow  the  seed  under  glass  in 
January,  and  grow  the  plants  in  boxes  until  planting  out  time. — N.  N. 
[Th?  Onions  received  are  remarkably  hne,  true  to  name,  and  solid. 
Their  keeping  properties  shall  be  further  tested.  Large  Onions  are 
objected  to  by  economical  cooks,  because  when  they  only  want  an  ounce 
or  two  they  do  not  like  to  spoil  a  bulb  weighing  a  couple  of  pounds  bv 
taking  a  slice  off  it.  For  ordinary  culinary  purposes  they  prefer  to  have 
variously'  sized  Onions  to  pick  from.  Commercially  speaking.  Great 
Britain  pays  some  £750,000  a  year  for  imported  Onions,  many  of  which 
are  not  equal  to  the  samples  before  us  as  grown  in  Northumberland.] 
THE  SEASON  AND  THE  FLOWERS. 
Some  time  ago  a  friend  in  a  border  county  wrote,  “The  wood  is 
white  with  the  Snowdrops  I  planted.”  Later  he  said,  “  Crocuses  are  of 
no  use  ;  the  bloom  is  completely  spoiled.”  Considerably  farther  north 
the  Snowdrop  had  but  a  poor  time  of  it,  and  the  Crocus  was  blown, 
battered,  and  frozen  unmercifully  ;  the  yellows  made  some  appearance, 
although  often  peering  through  a  covering  of  snow  ;  the  latter  colours 
were  seen  and  little  more,  being  caught  in  a  spell  of  weather  com¬ 
pounded  of  samples  of  every  soit  except  the  mild  and  genial.  Scillas 
have  braved  it  fairly  well,  and  the  bright  eye  of  the  Chionodoxa  still 
sparkles  in  the  chilly  blast.  But  a  more  unfavourable  season  for  flowers 
could  scarcely  be  imagined  ;  the  biting  north  winds  and  Irosty  nights 
make  their  struggle  a  hard  one.  The  Tulip  stands  still,  and  even  the 
Auricula  under  protection  scarcely  advance.*,  the  truss  being  now  much 
where  it  was  three  weeks  ago.  At  the  present  rate  ot  progress  the 
general  bloom  of  this  flower  w  ill  be  in  June. 
Outside,  the  flower  of  the  Daffodil  seems  to  cower  among  the  foliage, 
which  is  yet  scanty  enough,  that  of  the  Barri  a  .d  Leedsi  section 
looking  especially  attenuated  both  in  Iho-ne  planted  last  autumn  and  of 
the  longer  established  beds.  With  a  change  to  more  favourable  weather 
the  later  Daffs  might  yet  do  fairly  well,  but  in  any  case  tbe  bloom  must 
now  be  a  light  one.  Is  it  to  tantalise,  or  ought  one  rather  thankfully  to 
accept  it  as  a  compensation,  that  the  colour  seems  richer  than  usual  ? 
Rarely  has  pallidus  prmcox  been  so  fair  ;  seldom  has  Sir  Henry  Irving 
donned  a  richer  robe,  or  Golden  Spur  been  so  worthy  of  its  name. — 
A  Northern  Amateur. 
