Aiipiii-t  23,  l&OO. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
171 
Culture  of  Pot  Vines. 
We  grow  some  thirty  pot  Vines  here  every  year,  and  fruit  them  the 
■following  season.  The  buds  are  started  in  3-inch  flower  pots  the  latter 
■end  of  January  or  beginning  of  February,  in  a  compost  of  half  loam 
and  half  leaf  mould,  sifted  through  a  ^-inch  sieve,  with  a  little  river 
sand  added  to  give  it  porosity.  In  preparing  the  buds  the  plumpest 
and  best  are  selected,  and  about  half  an  inch  of  wood  left  on  either 
-side  of  the  bud.  A 
thin  shaving  of  wood 
and  bark  is  taken  off 
the  under  side  to 
induce  a  freer  pro¬ 
duction  of  roots. 
The  pot  s  receive 
one  crock  in  the 
bottom  to  cover  the 
hole,  and  are  then 
filled  to  the  top  with 
earth,  and  the  buds 
pressed  firmly  down 
in  it,  and  covered  to 
the  depth  of  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  and  the 
soil  made  firm  all 
round  it.  After  the 
buds  are  potted  the 
pots  are  placed  close 
together  on  the  sur- 
face  of  a  border  in 
one  of  the  plant 
stoves,  and  attended 
to  in  the  way  of 
watering  till  roots 
and  buds  have  started 
into  growth.  When 
they  have  made  shoots 
from  4  to  6  inches 
long,  they  are  then 
shifted  into  5  -  inch 
pots,  and  put  back 
in  the  same  place 
they  were  in  before. 
More  loam  and  less 
leaf  mould  is  used 
when  giving  this  shift, 
and  a  little  old  mortar 
added  to  it  instead 
of  sand.  When  pot¬ 
ting  the  plant  is 
placed  a  little  deeper 
in  the  pot  than  it 
was  before,  and  the 
soil  preset  d  mode¬ 
rately  firm  all  over, 
after  which,  neat 
little  stakes  are  put  4(5.-For  Vines 
■to  each  plant  to 
train  them. 
The  Vines  are  never  allowed  to  suffer  for  the  want  of  water  from 
the  start  to  the  finish  of  their  growth.  In  hot  weather  they  are 
sometimes  lightly  sprinkled  two  or  three  times  a  day  with  a  fine 
rose  wa'ering  pot  at  this  stage.  When  the  plants  have  grown  to 
the  height  of  16  inches,  and  have  filled  the  pots  with  roots,  they 
are  shifted  into  8-inch  pots.  The  pots  are  well  drained,  and  a  little 
wood  ashes  and  Thomson’s  manure  are  added  to  the  soil  mentioned 
for  the  previous  shift.  In  giving  this  shift  two  of  the  lower  leaves 
of  the  plant  are  cut  off  close  to  the  stem  to  allow  of  the  plant  being 
put  a  little  lower  in  the  pot  than  it  was  before,  and  to  indues  the 
stem  to  root  up  to  the  surface.  And  the  same  thing  is  done  when 
giving  them  the  final  shift  into  12-inch  pots. 
The  plants  are  now  set  out  thinly  close  to  the  front  lights  of  the 
(house,  where  they  make  short  sturdy  growth.  The  tendrils  are 
removed  as  soon  as  they  appear,  and  the  laterals  and  sub-laterals 
stopped  at  the  first  leaf  all  through  the  growing  season.  The  tempe¬ 
rature  of  the  house  is  kept  up  to  70°  by  fire  heat,  and  allowed  to  rise 
10°  or  15  higher  with  sun  heat,  and  the  Vines  are  gently  syringed 
every  evening  when  the  house  is  closed  for  the  night. 
With  liberal  treatment  the  plants  make  rapid  growth,  and  in  a 
short  time  they  are  transferred  into  their  fruiting  pots.  ^  The  pots 
must  be  clean  and  well  drained,  and  the  soil  rammed  down  firmly 
between  the  sides  of  the  pot  and  ball  of  the  plant,  leaving  sutficienb 
room  at  the  top  of  the  pot  to  give  the  plants  copious  waterings. 
The  pots  after  the 
final  shift  are  placed 
close  to  the  front 
wall  of  the  house,  and 
the  Vines  are  trained 
on  a  trellis  close  to 
the  roof,  and  allowed 
to  grow  10  feet  in 
length  before  they 
are  stopped.  The 
work  after  this  is 
chiefly  removing  ten- 
<lrils, stopping  laterals 
watering,  syringing, 
and  keeping  the 
plants  clean  and 
healthy  till  they  have 
finished  growing, 
when  they  are  re¬ 
moved  some  time  in 
Septemberand  placed 
on  a  trellis  outside, 
where  they  ripen  their 
wood  thoroughly.  As 
soon  as  the  leaves 
have  fallen  the  canes 
are  pruned,  leaving 
them  as  near  9  feet 
in  length  as  possible. 
They  are  then  stored 
away  till  required  for 
forcing  the  following 
spring. 
The  Vines  are 
fruited  in  a  span- 
roofed  house  (fig.  46) 
some  12  feet  wide 
and  13  feet  high,  with 
a  bed  of  earth  round 
the  sides.  The  pots 
are  plunged  in  the 
bed  to  the  rim,  and 
the  canes  tied  down 
horizontally  until  the 
buds  have  broken, 
after  which  they  are 
tied  to  the  trellis,  and 
the  lateral  branches 
bearing  the  fruit  are 
trained  to  cover  it. 
The  Vines  receive  the 
same  treatment  as’ permanent  Vines,  and  are  frequently  watered  with 
liquid  manure  during  the  time  the  Grapes  are  swelling.  Bach  Vine 
bears  on  an  average  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  medium-sized  bunches, 
which  finish  (ff  well,  but  I  have  had  canes  of  Black  Hamburgh 
ripen  twenty  bunches,  and  as  fine  bunches  and  berries  as  those  on 
the  permanent  Vines.  Some  varieties  are  better  adapted  for  pot 
culture  than  others.  I  find  that  Black  Ha'nburgh,  Black  Alicante, 
Alnwick  and  Foster’s'Seedlings  are  amongst  the  beat  for  pot  culture. 
— A.  Pettigbew,  Caatle  Gardens,  Cardiff. 
AT  CABDIEK  CaSI'IiE. 
Allotment  Cardens  for  Sheffield  Workers. — The  Sheflfield 
Corporation  Allotments  Committee  has  been  presented  with  eight  acres 
of  land  on  the  Ne  a  field  Green  estate  for  use  as  allotments,  which  are 
in  much  request  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sheffield. 
