Vine

Cultivation Under Glass.

When the plant is grown under glass, the vine border should occupy the interior of the house and also extend outwards in the front, but it is best made by instal ments of 5 or 6 ft. as fast as the previous portions become well filled with roots, which may readily be done by packing up a turf wall at the extremity of the portion to be newly made ; an exterior width of 15 ft. will be sufficient. Inside borders require frequent and thorough waterings. In well-drained localities the border may be partially below the ground level, but in damp situations it should be made on the surface; in either case the firm solid bottom should slope outwards towards an efficient drain. A good bottom may be formed by chalk rammed down close. On this should be laid at least a foot thick of coarse, hard, rubbly material, a layer of rough turf, grass side downwards, being spread over it to prevent the compost from working down. The soil itself, which should be 21 or 3 ft. deep, never less than 2 ft., should consist of five parts rich turfy loam, one part old lime rubbish or broken bricks, including a little wood ashes or burnt earth (ballast), one part broken charcoal, and about one part of half-inch bones, the whole being thoroughly mixed, and kept dryish till used.

Young vines raised from eyes, i.e., buds having about a in. wood above and I in. below, are generally preferred for planting. The eyes being selected from well-ripened shoots of the previous year are planted about the end of January, singly, in small pots of light loamy compost, and after standing in a warm place for a few days should be plunged in a propagating bed, having a bottom heat of 75°, which should be increased to 85° when they have produced several leaves, the atmosphere being kept at about the same tem perature or higher by sun heat during the day, and at about 75° at night. As soon as roots are freely formed the plants must be shifted into 6-inch pots, and later on into 12-inch ones. The shoots are trained up near the glass, and, with plenty of heat (top and bottom) and of water, with air and light, and manure water occasionally, will form firm, strong, well-ripened canes in the course of the season. To prepare the vine for planting, it should be cut back to within 2 ft. of the pot early in the season, and only three or four of the eyes at the base should be allowed to grow on. The best time for planting is in spring, when the young shoots have just started. The vines should be planted inside the house, from I to 2 ft. from the front wall, and from 6 ft. to 8 ft. apart, the roots being placed an inch deeper in the soil than before.

When the shoots are fairly developed, the two strongest are to be selected and trained in. When forcing is commenced, the vinery is shut up for two or three weeks without fire heat, the mean temperature ranging about 5o°. Fire heat must be at first applied very gently, and may range about 55° at night, and from 65° to 7o° by day, but a few degrees more may be given them as the buds break and the new shoots appear. When they are in flower, and onwards during the swelling of the berries, 85° may be taken as a maximum, running up to 90° with sun heat and the temperature may be lowered somewhat when the fruit is ripe. As much ventilation as the state of the weather will permit should be given. A due amount of moisture may be kept up by the use of evaporating troughs and by syringing the walls and pathways two or three times a day, but the leaves should not be syringed.

Pruning.

There are three principal systems of pruning vines,

termed the long-rod, the short-rod and the spur systems, and good crops have been obtained by each of them. The spur system has, however, become the most general. In this case the vines are usually planted so that one can be trained up under each rafter, or up the middle of the sash, the latter method being preferable. The shoots are cut back to buds close to the stem, which should be encouraged to form alternately at equal distances right and left, by removing those buds from the original shoot which are not conveniently placed. The young shoots from these buds are to be gently brought to a horizontal position, by bending them a little at a time, and tied in, and usually opposite about the fourth leaf the rudiments of a bunch will be developed. The leaf directly opposite the bunch must in all cases be preserved, and the young shoot is to be topped at one or two joints beyond the incipient fruit, the latter distance being preferable if there is plenty of room for the foliage to expand. If the bunches are too numerous they must be thinned before the flowers expand, and the berries also must be properly thinned out and regulated as soon as they are well set.

Cultivation in Pots.

This is very commonly practised with good results. and pot-vines are very useful to force for the earliest crop. The plants should be raised from eyes, and grown as strong as possible in the way already noted, in rich turfy loam mixed with about one-third of horse dung and a little bone dust. The temperature should be gradually increased from 6o° to 8o°, or 90° by sun heat, and a bottom heat a few degrees higher must be maintained during their growth. As the roots require more room, the plants should be shifted from 3-inch pots into those of 6, 12 or 15 in. in diameter, in any of which larger sizes they may be fruited in the following season, but, to be successful in this, the young rod produced must be thoroughly matured after it has reached its limit of growth. The periodical thorough cleansing of the vine stems and every part of the houses is of the utmost importance to keep down insect pests. (X.) Grape Diseases.—All cultivated, as well as wild grapes, are subject to diseases. These diseases are due either to plant parasites, viruses, or physiological disturbances caused by abnormal or un favourable environment. The causative factors involve nutrition, soil and climate.

The principal fungus diseases are black rot, caused by Gui gnardia bidwellii; downy mildew, caused by Plasmopara viticola; powdery mildew, caused by Uncinula necator ; anthracnose, caused by Elsinoe ampelina; ripe rot, caused by Glomerella cingulata; dead arm, caused by Cryptosporella viticola; bitter rot, caused by Melanconium fuligineum; white rot, caused by Coniothyrium diplodiella; crown gall, caused by Bacterium tumefaciens, and rougeot, caused by Pseudopeziza tracheiphila. Most of these dis eases are found wherever grapes are cultivated, except in irri gated, arid regions, where powdery mildew is the principal trouble. The so-called physiological or non-parasitic diseases are most frequently found in such regions also. The principal non-parasitic diseases are known as California vine disease, Spanish measles and Little-leaf. Their exact cause has not yet been determined and satisfactory methods of prevention are not known. The prin cipal means of control of the fungus diseases is the application of Bordeaux mixture. Sulphur dust is used for powdery mildew in arid regions.