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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  18,  1839. 
The  practice  I  find  successful  in  keeping  Vines  in  a  vigorous 
condition,  notwithstanding  the  heavy  crops  they  carry,  is  the  following. 
At  the  winter  dressing  we  remove  a  little  of  the  surface  soil — and  it  is 
often  only  a  very  little,  because  of  the  network  of  roots;  a  surfacing 
of  bone  meal  or  Thomson’s  phosphate  powder  is  then  applied  at  the  rate 
of  2  ozs.  to  the  square  yard.  Over  this  is  placed  an  inch  layer  of  fresh 
loam,  this  in  turn  being  covered  with  a  layer  of  blood  and  slaughter¬ 
house  refuse,  A  thorough  watering  is  then  given,  and  the  surface 
is  just  covered  with  fresh  loam.  These  materials  form  a  substantial 
and  varied  fare,  and  perhaps  some  cultivators  will  think  that  so  many 
layers  would  bury  the  roots  too  deeply.  In  reality,  however,  the 
depth  of  the  combined  layers  is  not  more  than  3  or  4  inches,  and 
during  the  summer  I  find  roots  come  to  the  surface  and  work  freely 
through  the  mass. 
During  the  early  stages  of  the  Vine’s  growth,  plants  such  as  Spirmas 
and  Ferns  are  grown  under  the  ^dnes.  These  are  cleared  out  by  the  time 
the  Grapes  require  thinning  ;  the  border  then  receives  a  “  dusting  ”  of 
lime,  is  slightly  stirred  upon  the  surface,  and  soon  becomes  sweet  and 
permeated  with  active  roots.  When  the  thinning  is  completed  a  layer 
of  well  decayed  town  manure  is  given,  and  the  border  copiously 
watered.  By  closing  the  houses  early  with  plenty  of  moisture  at 
this  stage  the  berries  se.m  to  swell  as  if  under  the  influence  'of  a 
magician’s  hand,  but  the  only  magic  about  the  matter  is  the  work  of 
the  glorious  heat  of  the  sun,  and  the  plentiful  supply  of  plant  food 
brought  within  the  reach  of  healthy  Vine  roots. 
It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  greatest  problems  to  be  solved 
during  the  twentieth  century  is  the  gigantic  one  of  how  we  can  best 
turn  to  account  the  vast  amount  of  sewage  and  refuse  of  our  towns, 
which  at  the  present  time  is  wasted  instead  of  being  used  to 
“  replenish  the  earth.”  Let  me,  however,  hasten  to  add  that  I  am 
fully  aware  that  nothing  in  the  world  is  really  wasted,  it  simply 
changes  its  form,  and  much  of  the  sewage  which  now  pollutes  our 
rivers  in  time  finds  its  way  to  the  sea  bottom,  where,  after  future 
upheavals  of  the  earth’s  crust,  it  may  form  rich  alluvial  soil  upon 
which  crops  will  flourish  in  the  ages  yet  to  come.  Such  refuse, 
then,  is  only  “  wasted”  as  far  as  the  present  age  is  concerned. 
But  I  have  wandered  from  the  comparatively  prosaic  details  of 
gardening  of  to-day  into  visions  of  the  future ;  let  us  return  to  the 
Vines.  After  feeding  to  the  extent  already  indicated  some  persons 
would  be  inclined  to  rest  satisfied,  but  when  there  are  heavy  crops  I 
feed  with  liquid  manure  up  to  the  time  the  Grapes  are  fully  coloured, 
then  clear  water  only  is  given  till  the  bunches  are  cut.  With  early 
and  midseason  houses  I  often  apply  liquid  manure  after  the  fruit  is 
cut,  unless  the  woed  appears  to  be  unduly  strong,  but  such  is  seldom 
the  case,  it  is  more  generally  noted  for  its  hard  wiry  appearance.  It 
is  only  when  natural  manures  alone  are  used  that  we  get  strong  soft 
wood — or,  perhaps  I  should  write,  “only  when  manures  which  contain 
too  much  nitrogen  are  exclusively  used.”  In  the  case  of  Vines  grown 
for  the  production  of  late  Grapes,  I  discontinue  feeding  after  the 
berries  begin  to  show  colour,  unless  at  that  time  the  weather  happen 
to  be  exceptionally  bright,  as  it  is  always  an  important  matter  to  get 
the  wood  thoroughly  ripe,  or  the  Vines  will  fail  to  be  satisfactory  the 
following  year. — II.  Dunkin. 
BRITISH  VINEYARDS. 
Mr.  G.  Abbey’s  letter  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture,  20th  April 
(page  324),  is  in  my  opinion  highly  interesting.  The  list  of  English 
vineyards  there  given  could  easily  be  extended ;  Walham  Green, 
Rotherhithe,  Abingdon,  and  Lawrence  Cottage,  Isle  of  Wight,  occur  to 
me.  The  latter,  along  with  Pain’s  Hill,  Surrey,  were  still  making 
wine  in  the  present  century. 
The  Swanbridge  vineyard  belongs  to  the  Marquis  of  Bute,  and  so 
also  the  St.  Quintin  (I  think  that  was  the  name),  but  this  third  one 
was  abandoned  on  account  of  its  exposure  to  rough  winds  from  the 
Bristol  Channel.  I  do  not  like  to  say  anything  unkind  of  the 
principality,  but  let  those  who  know  it  best  say  if  I  am  right  or 
wrong  in  pointing  out  that  it  has  more  cloud,  rain,  and  damp  air  from 
the  Gulf  stream  than  Gloucestershire,  the  south  Midlands,  and  the 
south  and  south-eastern  counties. 
Notwithstanding  this,  I  do  not  see  why  cuttings  from  the  Castle 
Coch  V  neyards  should  not  furnish  u  hundred  or  two  little  plantations, 
on  suitable  soils  on  hillsides  facing  south  to  east.  The  idea  of  south 
in  the  compound  south-west  is  misleiding,  this  aspect  getting  the 
worst  of  the  weather,  and  east  is  better  than  south-west  unless  this 
last  has  unusual  and  efficient  shelter  without  shadow'.  I  imagine  the 
Gamay  Noir  Grape  of  Castle  Coch  is  the  most  suitable,  being  the 
poor  man's  Grape  of  Burgundy,  and  would  yield  an  encouraging 
quantity  of  wine  to  small  Welsh  grow'ers. 
Re'erring  to  M^  G.  Abbey’s  second  letter  in  your  issue  of  27th 
April,  pa^e  336,  1  must  repeat  what  I  have  said  elsewhere,  that  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk’s  wine  was  fa  riy  described  as  “excellent  Burgundy,” 
but  that  Lord  Bute’s  wine  at  Castle  Coch  and  elsewhere  is  by  no  means 
a  moiel  of  what  this  country  could  produce,  because,  as  aforesaid,  the 
climate  of  Glamorganshire  is  too  humid,  and  because  red  wine  there 
has  been  the  exception  from  the  Camay  Noir  Grape,  in  consequence  of 
the  want  of  a  profer  wine  house  in  which  to  make  the  wine  at  a-  proper 
temperature. 
We  now  want  model  experimental  vineyards  in  the  southern  and 
south-eastern  counties,  in  situations  that  are  chosen  for  their  position 
as  regards  drainage  and  exposure  to  the  sun,  without  being  swept  by 
rough  wind,  rather  than  rich  or  valuable  land.  I  suggest  that  landed 
proprietors  should  offer  such  sites,  or  express  themselves  as  willing  to 
further  the  matter.  It  must  be  remembered  that  if  anything  is  done 
in  this  way,  it  has  to  compete  with  a  very  different  state  of  matters 
aeftss  the  channel.  What  we  know  as  peasant  proprietorship  accounts 
for  a  great  deal  of  the  wine  growing  in  France.  Fortunately  for  the 
argument,  Vine  land  is  naturally  cheap  land,  and  whoever  is  willing  to 
help  the  resuscitation  of  British  vineyards  should  consider  this. 
The  three  red  Grapes  mentioned  by  your  correspondent — namely, 
the  Black  Cluster,  Miller’s  Burgundy,  and  Gamay  Noir,  are  three  of 
the  beat  for  making  wines  similar  to  claret  and  Burgundy.  Sir  Joseph 
Banks  found  the  Miller’s  Burgundy  Vine  growing  wild  in  an  ancient 
vineyard  in  Gloucestershire.  It  is  a  reliable  red  wine  Grape.  The  Royal 
Muscadine  made  pleasant  light  white  wine  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century.  The  Vines  were  planted  too  near  each  other, 
but  whether  this  was  a  cause  of  the  produce  failing,  and  so  helping 
the  abandonment  of  the  venture,  I  do  not  know. 
Open  air  Vines  should  not  fruit  before  their  fifth  year.  They 
ought  to  be  so  treated  as  to  justify  Clement  Hoare’s  assertion  that  their 
crop  can  always  increase,  and  the  Vine  be  the  only  fruit  tree  which  in 
South  Britain  never  loses  its  crop  by  frost.  Lately  I  had  to  estimate 
for  some  friends  what  the  return  would  be  commencing  the  fifth  year, 
and  remembering  that  the  fifth  year  might  possibly  be  such  as  1879 
was,  I  replied  only  half  a  pound  per  Vine,  though  convinced,  as  I 
explained  to  them,  that  it  would  be  1|-  lb.  The  crop  permitted  on 
Vines  should  always  have  respect  to  what  the  Vine  should  do  the 
following  year.  It  would  take  an  old,  well  kept  English  vineyard  to 
produce  6  lbs.  per  Vine.  It  is  not  impossible,  but  the  approach  to 
such  a  crop  must  be  very  gradual.  I  have  seeu  vintages  in 
Champagne  and  other  districts  where  the  weight  per  Vine  was  not 
over  2  lbs. ;  while  in  years  like  1875  and  1893  the  Vines  ran  from 
6  to  10  lbs.,  and  often  more.  The  best  years  in  France  are  our  best 
years.  .1  have  occasionally  had  6  lbs.  on  standard  Vines. — H.  M.  Tod, 
239,  GoldhawJc  Boad,  W. 
DOUBLE  DAISIES  FROM  SEED. 
In  answer  to  an  inquiry  for  the  method  of  raising  these  attractive  flowers 
in  the  Royal  Gardens,  Windsor,  referred  to  last  week,  we  have  been 
favoured  with  the  following  notes. 
The  Daisy  seed  is  sown  about  the  end  of  April,  usually  in  shallow 
boxes  out  of  doors  in  a  shady  position,  and  when  large  enough  to  handle, 
the  seedlings  are  pricked  into  ordinary  garden  soil  in  our  reserve  garden 
in  beds  5  feet  wide  (this  width  being  a  c  mvenient  one  for  hoeng  and  clean¬ 
ing)  in  row  10  inches  asunder,  and  the  plants  inserted  5  inches  apart  in 
the  rows.  Under  this  treatment  by  the  end  of  the  summer  they  make 
good  strong  plants,  fit  to  plant  out  in  the  flower  garden  at  the  end  of 
September  or  any  time  in  October. 
The  Welsh  name  tor  this  bright  and  cheerful  “  wee  ”  gem  of  a  plant 
is  more  appropriate  and  expressive,!  think,  than  the  English  one,  although 
at  some  time  or  other,  I  should  imagine,  the  latter  has  been  taken  from 
the  former,  but,  unlike  the  Welsh  name,  still  retained.  The  English  term 
has  slightly  lost  its  force  in  the  name  Da  sy.  In  Welsh,  the  Daisy  is 
called  “  Llygaid  y  dydd,”  whiih  inPrp  e!ed,  means  the  “Eye  of  Day.”  or 
Day’s  Eye,  now  corrupted  into  Daisy.  Why  not  revert  again  to  the  old 
name  ?  It  is  much  prettier,  and  expresses  more  truthfully  one  of  the  most 
charming  attributes  of  these  most  cheerful  plants,  inasmuch,  that  the  sun 
scarcely  ever  rises  but  is  welcome  1  by  the  eye  of  one  of  its  pretty  open 
blooms. — 0.  Thomas. 
[In  the  notes  on  Windsor,  on  page  378,  last  week,  the  Mount  Atlas 
Cedar  was  inadvertently  printed  “  Cupressus”  instead  of  Cedrus  atlantica 
glauca.] 
