In February or March greenhouse plants should be looked over, and repotted where necessary; those that are too tall should be cut in, and cuttings made of their shoots. The young plants raised from cuttings made in autumn should be repotted in larger pots for flowering; and where the plants do not require fresh potting, but have the surface of their mould become green and mossy, the moss should be taken off, and the ground slightly stirred with a flat stick, taking care, however, not to go so deep as to injure the roots. When trouble is not an object, all greenhouse plants are the better for repotting once a year, either in spring or autumn; and when the ball is taken out of the pot for this purpose, it should be carefully examined, and all the decayed parts of the roots should be cut off. Sometimes, when the ball of earth is turned out, nearly half ofit will fall off almost without touching it; and when this is the case, it will generally be found that there is a worm in the pot. Worms do a great deal of mischief to greenhouse plants in cutting through the roots, as their instinct teaches them to make their way through the earth straight across the pot and back again, and they cannot do this without tearing the roots asunder every time they pass.
Another point to be attended to in the management of a greenhouse is, keeping the plants as near as possible to the glass, as, unless this be done, the plants will become what gardeners call "drawn up," that is, they will be unnaturally tall and slender, from the efforts they make to reach the light.
As I have frequently mentionedrepotting, I may as well tell you here the best mode of performing the operation. The pot to which the plant is to be removed should always have been previously washed quite clean, and be perfectly dry. Some bits of broken pots, called potsherds, should then be put at the bottom of the pot, the quantity varying from three or four pieces (so as just to cover the hole) to a mass an inch in depth, depending upon the nature of the plant. If the plant has not been in a pot before, the roots are then placed just above the potsherds, and the earth is filled in, the plant being occasionallyshaken so as to allow the earth to get amongst its roots. The soil is next consolidated by shaking the pot, and then lifting it up and setting it down again with a jerk; and is rendered firm and neat round the rim by means of a broad smooth piece of stick shaped somewhat like a table-knife, and called a potting-stick. When a plant has been in a pot before, and is repotted or shifted, as it is called, into a pot a size larger, the plant is turned out of its old pot by putting the hand upon the earth and turning the pot upside down; or, if the ball of earth does not come out readily, striking the rim of the pot against the edge of the potting-table or shelf. The ball containing the plant will thus drop out into the left hand; and the potsherds that adhere to the bottom of the ball having been picked off, and any part of the root that appears decayed having been removed, a little mould is put on the drainage in the new pot; and the ball of earth, containing the plant having been placed in the centre, the space between it and the pot is filled in with light rich mould, and made firm with the potting-stick. The operation is concluded by shaking the pot, and then taking hold of the rim with both hands, and striking the bottom of the pot two or three times with a jerk against the potting-bench. The plant is then watered, and set in the shade for the remainder of the day.
Heathsare very difficult plants to manage; but a great improvement has taken place in their culture within the last few years. They are grown in what is called heath mould, that is, a mixture of peat and sand; and when this earth is put into the pot, it is mixed with good-sized entire pebbles, some of which are suffered to protrude through the surface of the soil. The roots of heaths are extremely fine and hair-like, and the shelter afforded by the pebbles is so congenial to them, that, if one of the stones be taken out, a cluster of fine, white, vigorous roots will be found below it. The plants are always potted high, so as to let the base of the stem be above the level of the rim of the pot, as the plants are very apt to damp off if the collar of the plant be buried in the ground. Heaths should never be suffered to become too dry, and never kept too wet. They require very little heat; and many experienced cultivators never apply fire-heat to their heatheries at all, but merely keep out the frost by having wooden shutters to the sashes, and covering them with mats. Heaths, when growing rapidly, should be repotted whenever the roots have filled the pot; but they should not be shifted too often; and, when they have attained their full growth, they may be suffered to remain in the same pots three or four years without injury.
As plants in theconservatoryare grown in thefree soil, they are in a much more natural state than any plants can be in pots, and consequently they require much less care in their culture. There is usually a walk all round the conservatory, next the glass, and one down the middle, on each side of which are the beds containing the plants, and under which are placed the hot-water pipes that warm the house. The consequence of this arrangement is, that the beds on each side the middle walk are so planted as to have their highest shrubs in the centre, shelving down to those of lower growth on each side; and hence the centre is generally planted with tall camellias, acacias, metrosideros, eucalyptus, &c.; while near the walk are placed oleanders, myrtles, fuchsias of different kinds, together with chorozemas, and many of the other most ornamental New Holland plants; and up the pillars that support the roof are trained kennedyas, bignonias, ipomœas, and passion-flowers in great variety. Cliánthus puníceus and Polýgala oppositifòlia ought to find a place in every conservatory; and a plant of Wistària sinénsis may be trained under the rafters so as to afford shade to the camellias; as, under shelter, the wistaria will flower twice in the year, and its flowers will yield a delightful, though very delicate, fragrance.
As it is of the greatest importance to the health of the plants to have the soil in a conservatorywell drained, many persons form the beds by excavating pits of the proper size, about two feet and a half deep, and put at the bottom a layer of brick-bats, stones, and other materials for drainage, about six inches thick. On this is deposited a thin layer of coarse rough gravel; and on the gravel a layer of rich mould, which should be about two feet thick in the centre of the bed, where the largest shrubs are to be planted, and shelving off to about sixteen or eighteen inches at the sides next the walks. All the sashes should be made to open, and there ought to be large glass doors in front, which should generally stand open during the day in summer, in order to admit as much air as possible.
In some places a movable frame is contrived for a conservatory, into which sashes fit in winter, and which, in severe weather, is covered with tarpauling, made to pull down, like a blind, from a roller along the ridge of the roof; the whole frame being so contrived as to be entirely removed in summer. The upright posts of this frame are let into holes in the ground, like the posts in a drying-ground, so that when the posts are taken out, the holes may be stopped up with wooden plugs with rings attached; and the roof and horizontal pieces fit into each other, and into the uprights, the whole being kept firm by bolts. When a conservatory of this kind is to be removed forthe summer, the side sashes and doors are taken away first, generally about the middle or end of April. A week or ten days after, the sashes of the roof are taken off, but the frame and tarpauling are left in case of spring frosts; and, when all danger from these is over, the whole of the framework is removed, and the orange trees, camellias, and other exotic trees that have been planted in the conservatory, appear to be growing in the open air.
Theorangeryis often contrived so as to be used as a kind of living-room during summer, as it is only intended for the reception of the orange trees, and other plants belonging to the genus Citrus, during winter. The trees are generally grown in large tubs and boxes, in a rich loamy soil, and are set out in the open air during summer, when they require but little care, provided they are frequently watered over the leaves, though they do not like much water to their roots. When young plants are raised from seed, they seldom flower till they have been budded or grafted from an old tree. Orange trees are generally put in the open air in May, and kept there till September or October; and they are very seldom shifted. They require scarcely any light or water during winter, and no heat beyond what is necessary to protect them from the frost.
Some of the varieties of Caméllia japónica aresufficiently hardy to grow in the open air in the neighbourhood of London, provided their roots and the lower part of their stems are mulched; that is, covered with straw or litter, and the main trunk wrapped round with a hay-band a few inches from the ground. The hardiest kind is the variegated red. Camellias seldom do well in pots, except when they are very small, as, when they attain a tolerable size, the flower-buds are very apt to fall off without expanding. The best mode of growing camellias is, therefore, to plant them in the free soil of a conservatory, taking care that some creeping plant is trained along the rafters over their heads, as they do not like to be exposed to too much sun, unless they have also a great deal of air, and are frequently and regularly watered. The soil for camellias should be peat mixed with a little sandy loam. The temperature of the camellia house should be from 50° to 60° during the whole of the growing season; but, when the flower-buds have formed, the glasses are generally taken off during the rest of the summer. Early in autumn, however, when the flower-buds begin to swell, the glasses should be put on and the house kept warm, the plants being regularly watered morning and evening, as, if the watering be neglected a single day, or if stagnant water be suffered to remain about the roots, the flower-buds will be sure to drop offwithout expanding. Camellias do not require frequent repotting. Small camellias are generally shifted only once in two years, and large ones, that is, those above five feet high, not oftener than once in three or four years. The time for shifting camellias is just when they have done flowering, before they are beginning to send out their young shoots. Great care must be taken when they are repotted not to bruise the roots, as they are very easily injured.
Both camellias and orange trees are very subject to the attacks of theblack fly, a kind of aphis. The best way of destroying these insects is to syringe the plants well, laying them down on their sides when they are in pots, or, if they are planted in the free soil, syringing them with a garden engine so as to throw the water in a powerful stream upwards, in order to get at the under surface of the leaves, where the insects are generally found. Some persons recommend fumigating with tobacco smoke; but I have never found it so efficacious as syringing, and washing the under surface of the leaves with a sponge, in case the insects should be very numerous.
I am very glad to find that you have procured some plants, and that you begin to feel an interest in the cultivation of your flowers. I do not at all agree with you, however, in thinking, that this is merely because gardening has with you, as yet, the charm of novelty; on the contrary, I am quite sure that as you become better acquainted with the subject, you will find your interest in your garden increase; as gardening is one of those happy arts in which there is always some not quite certain change to look forward to, and to be anxious about. Landscape-gardening is, however, the highest branch of the art, and it is the more necessary that you should study it, as, from the view you have sent me of your house, it appears to me that the general aspect of your park is at present very monotonous.
An ancient mansion embosomed in tall trees, with a fine broad terrace at the back, having a piece of still water lying like a liquid mirror below it, and a large park beyond, overgrown with majestic trees whose lower branches repose upon the turf beneath them, form a scene which sounds exceedingly well in description, but is very wearying to the eye which is destined continually to rest upon it. It is also not very healthy; as chilly vapours are sure to rise from the water, while the mass of trees beyond will obstruct the free current of air.
You must not, however, suppose from these remarks that I admire a house in an open exposed situation, as I think nothing can have a more bleak and naked appearance. Besides, a house entirely unsheltered by trees is sure to be a very uncomfortable residence, from its exposure to the heat in summer, and the cold in winter. It is, therefore, most desirable to have a sufficient quantity of trees near the house to shelter it, and yet to have numerous openings through those trees to admit distant prospects, and a free current of air. If a few openings could, therefore, be made in the plantations near your dwelling, I do not think there would be any danger in leaving the water in its present position; as, from your description, the house is elevated very much above it, and as, notwithstanding its appearance of stillness, thereis a current through it. The elevation at which the house is above the water will also prevent the unpleasant consequences which sometimes ensue, when water overflows its banks, and makes its way into the basement story of a house. As to your house being on the ridge of a hill, I do not think that is any objection, as the rise is not very great on either side, and it is a proof that the prospect would be good if you would only cut down a sufficient number of trees to show it. Houses quite in a valley are frequently damp, and if on the summit of a high hill they are apt to be bleak; so that the side of a hill or the ridge of a knoll is, in fact, the best situation that can be imagined. Our ancestors, indeed, rarely went wrong on this subject; and it is quite an extraordinary case to find an old house badly placed. In the old times the country gentry lived in their mansions all the year, and only visited London occasionally, so that they were more anxious to make their homes comfortable than persons of the same rank at the present day, who live in London, and only visit the seats of their ancestors as they would a watering-place.
You complain bitterly of your house not having an extensive view from it. You see nothing but trees, you say, in whichever direction you look; and you detest trees, because their foliage is monotonous, and so thick that you cannot see twohundred yards before you. This last is the real point of complaint.
Forest scenery is extremely beautiful in itself, and principally from the great variety it presents in the same objects. A fine tree, even when bare of leaves in winter, is beautiful, from the delicate tracery presented by its branches, which look like the masts and rigging of a large ship, intricate, yet without confusion. In snow, trees assume a new character; the weight sustained by the branches makes them droop, and a thousand graceful and elegant forms take the place of what was before a stern and rigid outline. In hoarfrost trees glisten with a thousand gems, reflecting the rays of light in so many different colours, that they remind one of the description of Aladdin's magic garden. In spring they present vivid ideas of youth and fertility, and all nature appears awakening into new and vigorous life; the buds swell, their coverings burst, and the young leaves display their tender and delicate green; at first only half-unfolding their beautiful forms, and reminding one of a young and timid girl half-wishing and half-fearing to make her first appearance in the busy world. Trees now begin to assume each a new and decided character of its own. The leaves of no two trees are alike: those of the beech are of clear dark green, and so thin that they are almost transparent, and yet they aredeeply marked with a strongly indented feather-like set of veins. The bark of the beech is clear and smooth, as though nature had intended it for the use to which it has so often been applied by lovers—to carve on it a fair one's name. The leaves of the elm are of a thick coarse texture, rugged and distorted, wrinkled, and of a dingy green; and the bark of the tree is cut into a thousand furrows. The leaves of the ash are light and pendulous, and cut into numerous leaflets; those of the oak are deeply indented, and generally grow in tufts. The palmate, drooping leaves of the horsechestnut contrast with the long, slender, and nearly erect leaves of the white willow; and those of the black poplar, which present a smooth outline, with those of the sweet chestnut, which are remarkable for their finely indented edges. In short, the leaves of every tree have beauties peculiar to themselves, in form as well as in colour. In autumn these colours become more decided; the lime trees take a yellowish tint, and the oak a reddish brown; the liquidambar becomes of a rich purplish crimson, and the maples and American oaks show a thousand varied dyes.
Yes, my dear Annie, I repeat, the fault is not in the trees, for they are beautiful; you dislike them only because they are so crowded that you cannot see their beauties. I allow it is a very difficult task to know how to proceed in a case like yours.Cutting down indiscriminately will never do; the trees must be thinned, not only with a view to make openings through the wood, but with care as to themselves. I think the first point will be, to find out the handsomest trees among those in the plantations near the house, in order to see which you would have left. Some will have been drawn up so much, and will have been forced into such awkward forms by their present crowded state, that they would be hideous if the trees that now surround them were removed. Others want room, but have grown so that they may easily be trained into a better form when space is given to them. One great point to be attended to is, to break the present formal outline; but, in doing so, it is scarcely possible to avoid destroying some trees that your husband might wish to spare, from local associations. I hope, however, he will allow a sufficient space to be cleared, not only to make your flower-garden, but to allow the plants in it to grow without being overshadowed by trees.
When the flower-garden is formed it will be necessary to have ashrubbery, so that the transition may not be too abrupt from the high state of culture in a flower-garden, to the wild nature of the forest trees. This shrubbery, indeed, will afford the only means of harmonising a newly laid out garden with the general scenery of the park, as it will contain, first, dwarf floweringshrubs next the garden; then shrubs of a larger growth, such as the laurustinus and arbutus; and, lastly, flowering trees, from the different kinds of Cratæ'gus to those of loftier growth, such as Pyrus spectábilis, Sophòra japónica, and the tulip tree, which last equals in height some of the loftiest forest trees in the park.
When a sufficient space for the flower-garden and the adjoining shrubbery has been cleared, and the most interesting trees marked, the next point is to ascertain what distant prospects will be admitted by cutting an opening through the wood, before it is finally decided in what direction the intended openings shall be made; as, for instance, if the view of a church or castle would be admitted by cutting an opening in a particular direction, that direction should be chosen in preference to any other, and a vista made in that line, even though an opening in another line would be preferable on other accounts. Should such an object be discovered, you must take care not to obscure it when planting your shrubbery; and should the object you wish to catch a view of be very distant, and not distinctly marked, the eye may be guided to it by planting some whitish-leaved low tree, such as Elæágnus angustifòlia, in the shrubbery, backed by dark-leaved shrubs, such as alaternus and phillyrea; and again, at a greater distance, planting an abele tree or whitepoplar in the same direction, where it will be backed by dark masses of Scotch pines or other similar trees. Before you make an opening, you must also ascertain whether any disagreeable objects will be exposed by your so doing; and, before cutting down even a single tree, you must consider what effect its removal will produce upon the trees around it. You have often told me of the exquisite taste your husband possesses, and his fondness for fine paintings: he must, therefore, be admirably qualified for improving the scenery round his house himself. Landscape-gardening is, in fact, but landscape-painting on the largest scale, and with the noblest materials; the same taste is required in both.
As the plantations near the house have been suffered to become so completely overgrown, I have no doubt those in theparkare in a similar state, and that the park itself will require considerable improvement. The same general observations with regard to thinning out plantations will apply in every case; but in the park I think you will find it advisable, whenever an opportunity occurs, to take advantage of any natural feature to introduce what landscape-gardeners call a scene; as, for instance, should your park contain a rocky glen, advantage may be taken of it by planting it with different kinds of pines and firs, to form an imitation of alpine scenery, as was done, in avery striking manner, by the late Mr. Beckford at Fonthill. Another part of the grounds might be planted in imitation of American scenery, with magnolias, American oaks, and maples, and tulip trees, as was done by the late Duke of Marlborough at White Knights. A pond, in a secluded part of the grounds might have a degree of interest given to it by planting its banks with alders and willows. A variety of similar scenes will no doubt suggest themselves to you, which do not occur to me, from my ignorance of the peculiar features of the place.
I suppose neither deer nor cattle are allowed to graze in your park, as you speak of several of the trees sweeping the grass with their foliage. Cows are particularly destructive to the beauty of park scenery, as they are very fond of tearing off the lower branches of the trees, and thus producing the hard line which looks as though the branches had been shaved off about five feet from the ground, and which is called by landscape-gardeners and painters the browsing line.
It is disagreeable to have even deer come close to the windows, and they are not only fond of the young shoots of trees, but they would be decidedly injurious to your flower-garden and the clumps of ornamental shrubs in the pleasure-ground. Should your husband have any deer, it will be necessary to have some fence or line ofdemarcation between the park and the pleasure-ground; and it is always considered a proof of skill in the landscape-gardener to conceal such a fence as skilfully as possible. When an iron fence is used it is generally extremely slight, and painted green, so as to be almost invisible; and when this fence is used, it is sometimes concealed by a plantation of trees thrown together indiscriminately, as in fig. 13., or planted artistically in groups. In other cases a sunk wall, forming a kind of ditch, is used, which is concealed by plantations; or iron hurdles are stuck in, and the line is varied occasionally. Any of these plans may be adopted in the front of your house, to protect your garden if necessary.
wood engravingFig. 13.Park Fence.
Fig. 13.Park Fence.
As I have already alluded to the improvement that will be effected by introducing a shrubbery to harmonise the intended flower-garden with the trees in the park, you will probably wishto know if any thing of the kind will be required on the back-front of the house; but in that case there will be less difficulty, as the terrace affords an admirable medium for uniting the architectural stiffness of a mansion with the beautiful wildness and grace of nature. There is always a degree of incongruity in passing abruptly from the stiff symmetrical forms of a building, to the unsymmetric, though graceful, forms of a tree left in a state of nature; and it was no doubt a feeling of this kind which induced our ancestors to surround their houses with formal architectural gardens and trees clipped into stiff and regular forms. In more modern times something of the same kind was done, by always adding to the house verandas, porticos, and terraces, which formed a connecting link between the building and its grounds. After a time these also were laid aside; and about the beginning of the last century, when Brown and his followers would admit nothing but what they called nature in garden scenery, the park was allowed to come close up to the windows of the house, and, as a writer in theGardener's Magazineobserves, the inhabitants of the mansion might "leap from their windows into jungles, and steppes, and wildernesses, where the lion and the panther would be more at home than the lady in her silken sheen."
You will see from these observations that there are styles marking different periods in gardening, as well as in architecture; and, in some cases, it is advisable to preserve a certain degree of similitude between the style of the garden and that of the house. Of course, however, this can only be done as far as is consistent with modern comforts; and the fact of your house being partly Elizabethan does not entail upon you the necessity of having a formal garden with high clipped hedges, and trees cut into a thousand fantastic forms, any more than it obliges you to sit in rooms darkened by stone mullions and small-paned casements, because the courtiers of Queen Elizabeth were obliged to submit to such inconveniences. With regard then to the back-front of your mansion, I would leave the terrace in its present form, with its stone alcoves at each end, as it corresponds so well with the style of that part of the house which appears to have been added in the reign of Anne or George I.; and I would preserve and repair the stone balustrade with urns at regular intervals, and the stone steps leading from the terrace, which are all in the same style as the house; I would also have them lead into an architectural garden below. The form of this garden should be quite regular, or, if you prefer the term, quite formal; and it should be ornamented with fountains, urns, and statues.The natural boundary of this garden is the piece of water before alluded to, the borders of which should be planted with a few tufts of shrubs to break, but not disguise, the regularity of the outline. On the other side of the water these tufts must be continued, but in a much wilder and more natural manner; and here and there the plantation must take the character of a clump, and consist of low trees, mingled with shrubs of the largest size. This will unite the house and garden with the park scenery as regards the view from the drawingroom windows, and on the side of the garden, gravel walks may be carried on through the various scenery of the park, a stone bridge being thrown over the water on the side nearest the entrance-front; and, farther on, a rustic bridge may be thrown over the stream in a situation where it is not seen from the house.
I think it very desirable that openings should be made in several places through the mass of wood, to admit views of the distant scenery from the drawingroom; as, for instance, if there is a church or a tower, or any other object that would form a suitable termination to a vista. In the reign of William and Mary, when the Dutch style of gardening was fashionable, nothing was more common than long vistas of the kind calledpatte d'oie, all springing in rays from one point, and each terminating in some ornamental object, suchas a temple, an obelisk, or a statue. Some slight approximation to this style, by cutting long vistas through your woods, might therefore be very consistently introduced wherever a suitable occasion for it may occur.
In planting yourarchitectural garden, you must observe that it should have rather a different character from the small garden in front of your sitting-room window. The architectural garden should contain standard rose trees, almond trees, double-blossomed peaches and cherries, the Chinese magnolia, or yulan tree, and other showy-flowering trees, planted in company with arbutus, phillyrea, Minorca box, and other evergreens of a similar character. In the shrubbery, at each end of the garden, but not forming part of it, these trees should be continued, and mixed with variegated hollies, the different kinds of Cratæ'gus, and other trees that are ornamental, and that never attain a large size.
I have already suggested that in various parts of the pleasure-grounds advantage should be taken of any natural inequalities that may exist, to form different scenes; and I have now only to add that advantage may be taken of singular peculiarities, should you wish to form in your grounds one of those arboretums which are now so fashionable.
Anarboretumis a collection of trees and shrubs,in which all the different species of natural order are planted together; and it does not necessarily imply that these orders should be arranged in any particular manner; as indeed botanists are not agreed as to how they should be placed, Jussieu having adopted one plan, De Candolle another, and Dr. Lindley another. The only essential point is, that all the plants which agree sufficiently to form an order should be placed together; as, for example, all the Coníferæ or cone-bearing trees, such as the pines and firs, the cedars, the cypresses, and the junipers; and all the Cupulíferæ or nut-bearing trees, such as the oak, the chestnut, the beech, and the hazel. Thus in your grounds, where there is a valley, it may be formed into what is called an American ground, consisting of the shrubs allied to the heath family, and planted with rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmias, and other similar plants. A glen may be planted with pines and firs, so as to form it into a kind of pinetum; and an open space among trees may be turned into a rose-garden or rosery. In this way most of the exotic trees and shrubs that will stand the air in English gardens may be planted in groups, without going to much expense, and with less formal appearance than that of a regular arboretum. Besides, the beautiful colours which some of the exotic trees will take in autumn give them a splendid appearance, whenthey are backed by other trees with verdant foliage.
Therose-gardenwill be a very beautiful object if skilfully arranged; and, by thus forming your park into a succession of scenes, you will not only increase its beauty in the eyes of strangers, but add very materially to your own enjoyments by increasing the objects of interest within your reach.
I do not suppose you will have any occasion to renovate theturfin any part of your park; but, if you should, the best way is to get a mixture of the seeds of several sorts of grasses, such as the fox-tail meadow grass (Alopecùrus praténsis), the sweet-scented vernal grass (Anthoxánthum odoràtum), the crested dog's-tail grass (Cynosùrus cristàtus), and other valuable kinds. If ever you find a patch of grass has become bare, have an iron rake drawn over the ground two or three times, so as to loosen it, and then sow a few seeds of the grasses I have mentioned, when the ground is in a tolerably moist state from rain. This will generally be sufficient; but if it should not, as the seed of the fox-tail meadow grass is very often bad, you have only to add a little seed of the common white clover, and the ground will appear green in a few days.
I had not intended saying any thing about the kitchen-garden, as it hardly comes within a lady's province; but as you tell me you are so much annoyed by your old gardener never having the things you want when you want them, that you think of forming a small kitchen-garden near the house, I shall be very happy to give you my advice as to what appears to me to be the best method of doing so.
Every kitchen-garden ought, if possible, to be either square or oblong, for the convenience of planting the beds, and you will find a garden of one acre in extent quite as much as you will be able to manage. I would advise you to have it surrounded by a wall about ten feet high for fruit trees; and in front of this wall there should be a border ten or twelve feet wide; beyond which should be a gravel walk four feet wide, leaving a square or oblong plot of ground in the centre for culinary vegetables. This central plot may either have a main walk up the centre,and two or three side walks, or be left all in one bed, which may be divided into compartments, with paths between, to suit the convenience of the gardener. The best situation for your kitchen-garden will be as near the stable as possible for the convenience of manure; and, of course, it will join the reserve-ground. The surface of the ground should be level, or gently sloping to the south, and there should be no high trees near it. The whole of the garden should be well drained, and you should contrive it so as to have easy access to either pond or river water. A valley or a hill is a bad situation for a kitchen-garden; as the valley is very liable to injury from frost on account of the damps that hang over it; and the hill is not only cold, but exposed to injury from high winds.
I have already mentioned that the form of a kitchen-garden should be either square or oblong; and I may add, that the walks should always be straight, as, if they were serpentine, it would be difficult to wheel a barrow of manure along them without overturning it. The square form of the garden, however, is not only on account of the walks, but in order that the compartment in the centre may be divided into oblong beds, as it is most convenient to sow vegetables in straight lines to allow of weeding and hoeing between them, earthing them up, &c. The best soil fora kitchen-garden is a sandy loam, and the surface soil should be from two to three feet deep. You will find it very convenient to have a vinery or forcing-house close to the kitchen-garden; and you can either have a small separate garden for melon and cucumber-beds, called a melon-ground, or this may form a part of your reserve-ground.
The first thing to be done when you have fixed upon your ground is to form thewalks, marking them out by two garden lines, and then digging out the space between in the shape of an inverted arch, which should be from one to two feet deep in the centre. The arch is then partly filled in with brick-bats, stones, or any other hard rubbish which can be procured, leaving a little hollow space exactly in the centre to serve as a drain. Care must be taken, when filling in the rubbish, to put the largest pieces in first, then pieces somewhat smaller, and then pieces broken very small, which are rammed down as hard as possible, so as to make a smooth surface immediately under the gravel. The gravel before laying it down should be sifted, and all pieces larger than a moderate-sized gooseberry should be thrown on one side. As soon as the small gravel is laid down and evenly spread it should be rolled, and this rolling should be repeated occasionally till the walk becomes quite hard and firm. If the gravel does not bind well, it may be improved by mixing withit powdered burnt clay, in the proportion of one wheelbarrow full of clay to a two-horse cart load of gravel. The clay may be burnt by making it into a heap, intermixed with, and surrounded by, faggot wood. Gravel walks should always be slightly raised in the middle, in order that the water may run off on each side. If you should have an old gravel walk that wants renovating, the gravel should be loosened with a pick, turned over, raked, and firmly rolled, adding a coating of fresh gravel if necessary. If weeds should appear on a gravel walk, they are best killed by watering them with salt and water, and this liquid will prevent any other weeds from appearing.
Box edgingsare the best for gravel walks, and March or April is a good season for planting them. The following is the mode of performing this operation, which requires some attention, as the beauty of the edging depends on its regularity. The margin of the bed for about a foot in breadth should be watered, and afterwards beaten firm and level with the back of a spade; a garden line should then be stretched along close to the walk, and a shallow trench opened, sloping towards it at an angle of rather less than 45°. Some dwarf box having been procured from the nurseryman, it should be divided into separate plants, and the branches and roots trimmed, so that the plants may be nearly of a size. These are laid alongthe sloping face as regularly as possible, with their tops rising about an inch above the soil, and the earth is drawn upon them, so as to fill up the trench and make them quite firm. The plants are then watered, and nothing further is required but to supply the place of any that may chance to die, and to keep the tips neatly trimmed.
The crops of culinary vegetables are of two kinds, those that are permanent, and those that are temporary. Of thepermanent crops, the most important are theasparagusbeds, on account of the great length of time they take in preparing. The ground must be first trenched three or four feet deep, and plenty of stable dung buried at the bottom of the trench. The beds are then marked out four feet wide, and paths left between them; and the plants, which must be procured from a nurseryman (as they should be two years old when they are first put into the bed), must be planted in rows nine inches apart, and deep enough to have the crown of the root two inches below the surface of the ground. The beds are covered with rotten manure during winter, which is forked into the ground in the spring. The asparagus stalks are not cut till the second or third year after planting; but after that the beds continue to produce for twelve or fourteen years, or even more. All the shoots that push up from April to Midsummer may be cut off and used for thetable; but those that spring after Midsummer should be suffered to expand their leaves, in order that they may elaborate their sap, and thus strengthen the roots.
Sea-kaleis planted in beds in the same manner as asparagus, when the plants are a year old. The first year the plants will require little care, except cutting down their flower stems whenever they appear; but the second year, each plant must be covered with river-sand, and then have a sea-kale pot turned over it, on which must be heaped stable dung fifteen or twenty inches high, in order that the heat may make the young shoots grow rapidly, and thus make them tender and succulent.
Artichokes, tart-rhubarb, andhorseradish, are other permanent crops found in kitchen-gardens, but they do not require any particular care in their culture.
Thetemporary cropsin kitchen-gardens require a constant change, as it is found from experience that the same crop cannot be grown on the same ground for two years in succession, without becoming of an inferior quality; and thus it is found necessary to fix what is called the rotation of crops, and to arrange that in each compartment a fresh crop shall be grown every year, as different as possible from the one that grew in it the year before. Thus, onions may besucceeded by lettuces, carrots by peas, potatoes by cabbages, and turnips by spinach. These plants may of course be varied according to circumstances; but the principle is never to have two fleshy-rooted plants like the carrot and the potato succeed each other; but always to let a plant cultivated for its leaves or seeds follow one cultivated for its root, and so on.
Thecabbage tribeis very much improved by cultivation, but the plants contained in it require a great deal of manure and frequent watering to make them succulent and good. It seems strange that such different plants as broccoli, cauliflowers, cabbages, Scotch greens, and savoys should all spring not only from one genus, but from one species (Brássica oleràcea), which is, in fact, a British plant, and which I have no doubt you have seen growing on the cliffs at Dover, though you would have no idea that a tall straggling plant, with alternate leaves and very pretty yellow flowers, could be the wild cabbage.
The first change from this loose-leaved plant appears to be to what are called Scotch Greens, Borecole, or Kale; and these plants accordingly require the least care in their cultivation. They are generally sown in April, and transplanted in rows into the kitchen-garden, where they only need to be occasionally hoed and earthed up. There are a great many sub-varieties of thesegreens, all of which generally come true from seed.—Cabbages properly so called have a fine head or ball formed of leaves folded closely over each other; and when eaten young, before the heads have formed, they are called coleworts. Cabbages are sown three times, for the spring, summer, and autumn crops. The spring cabbages are sown in the first week of the August of the previous year, and in October or November they will be ready for transplanting into rows twelve inches apart, where they will remain till they are wanted for use the following spring. The summer crop is sown in February, and transplanted in April, the plants being eighteen inches apart every way; and the autumn crop is sown in May, and planted out in July. All kinds of cabbage require a soil well enriched with animal manure, frequent hoeing-up, and abundance of water, or they will become dry and tasteless instead of being succulent. The stalks of the summer and autumn crops are generally left standing to produce what are called sprouts; and some gardeners only grow one crop of regular cabbages, leaving the stalks standing during the rest of the season for sprouts.—Savoys are large cabbages with wrinkled leaves, which are sown in March, and transplanted in May or June to a bed where they stand two feet apart every way. The crop is generally ready in November, but savoys are never considered goodtill they have had some frost.—Brussels Sprouts are a variety of the Savoy cabbage, and, as they are said to be very inferior in quality if raised from seed ripened in Britain, you must inquire if the seed you purchase has been procured from abroad.—Broccoli should be treated like cabbage, the soil should be deeply trenched and manured before the plants are transplanted.—Cauliflowers require too much care in their culture for me to advise you to have any thing to do with them.
Peasandbeansshould be grown in an open sunny situation, and in a light soil that is tolerably rich, but not freshly manured; and hence they are well adapted to succeed the cabbage tribe, the soil for which is always well manured.
Some sow their early peas in November and December, but very little is gained by this; and, if the winter should be severe, the crop is sometimes lost. The best time, therefore, for sowing early peas is in February, and the late ones in two or three sowings from April to July. Before sowing, the ground should be marked for drills, by stretching a garden line along the length of the bed, and then making a drill or furrow along it with a dibber, pressing the earth firm at the bottom of each drill. As soon as the drill is prepared, the peas are regularly dropped along it, two or three to an inch, if they are small, and an inch apart if large, and then they are covered with the soil,which is firmly pressed down over them with a spade or roller. The drills should be an inch and a half deep, and from two to three feet asunder, according to the size of the peas, the marrowfats and blue Prussians requiring more room than the early kinds. A pint of peas will sow from twenty to thirty yards of drills, according to the size of the peas. Dried furze is sometimes put over peas when they are sown, and before they are covered with earth, to save them from mice. If the weather should be dry, the drills may be occasionally watered; and when the young plants are two or three inches high they should be hoed up, the earth being carefully drawn up to their roots. When about six inches high, they should be stacked with two rows of sticks to each row of peas, care being taken to have the sticks higher than the expected height of the peas, and not to let them cross at top. Many persons do not grow any early peas (which are always inferior to the larger kinds), but sow a crop of dwarf marrowfats and green Prussians in March and April for the principal crop, sowing the tall marrowfats and blue Prussians in June and July for a late crop. In this manner a supply of fine-flavoured peas may be obtained all the summer, and in open seasons till the end of September or October.
Beans are sown at the same time as peas, but they should be grown in stronger soil; they donot require sticks, and they are generally topped, that is, the upper part of the leading shoot of each plant is cut off; an operation that would be fatal to peas.
Kidneybeansare of two quite distinct kinds. The dwarf kidneybeans are annuals, which should be sown in drills about two feet apart, the first or second week in May; but the scarlet runners are perennials, the seed of which should be sown two or three inches asunder, and very lightly covered; and the rows should at least be three feet apart. The plants will require sticks like peas. Kidneybeans are generally eaten in England only in an unripe state, the pods being eaten as well as the seeds; the ripe seeds are, however, commonly eaten in France under the name ofharicots blancs.
Potatoesare propagated by what are called sets, that is, pieces into which the tuber is cut, each of which contains a bud or eye. Before they are planted, the ground should be trenched and rotten dung dug into it. The early potatoes are planted in March, and the late ones in May or June. When the potatoes are to be planted, a garden line is stretched across the beds, and holes are made along it with a dibber, about six inches deep, and nine inches or a foot apart. The sets are then put into the ground, one in each hole, with the eye upwards, and the earth firmlypressed down on them. When the plants come up, they are frequently hoed and earthed up; and as soon as they come into blossom some cultivators cut off the tops, to prevent the formation of the seed.
TheJerusalem artichokeis propagated by sets, like the potato; and theturnip, thecarrot, and theparsnepare propagated by seed sown in drills about March.
Red beetis cultivated in the same manner, and plants that are sown in March will have roots ready for the table in September or October. Great care, however, must be used while taking them out of the ground, not to wound the outer skin; and in the kitchen they must be only washed and not scraped, as, if the outer skin should be removed, all the colouring matter will escape when the root is boiled, and the root, instead of its being of its usual bright red, will be of a dingy whitish pink.
Radishesare sown at different seasons; generally every fortnight, from January to July or August.
Spinachis of two kinds: the round-leaved variety, which is generally sown for the summer crop in January or February, and the roots of which may be pulled up and thrown away as soon as the leaves are gathered; and the Flanders spinach, which has triangular leaves, and which issown for the winter crop in August. This last kind should have only the outer leaves pinched or cut off; and, thus treated, it will continue producing fresh leaves all the winter, as it is quite hardy, and not injured by frost. The seeds of this plant will keep good four years.
I do not suppose you will attempt to growonions, as they will require a great deal of care; but you can sow a few in March for salads. If you wish to grow onions of an enormous size, you should raise the seed on a hotbed in February, and transplant them into the open ground in April or May. The soil into which they are transplanted should be very rich, and mixed with charcoal roughly powdered. The onions should be planted a foot apart every way, only the fibrous roots being buried in the soil, and they should be watered regularly every day. All the onion tribe require a very rich soil, which is very much improved for them by mixing charcoal with it. When it is wished to grow onions to a very large size, a hollow space or cup is made in the ground, in the middle of which the onion is placed when it is transplanted, the fibrous roots being buried in the ground at the bottom of the cup. The bulb of the onion, when thus treated, and well watered, swells to an enormous size, and becomes extremely delicate.
Lettucesare of two kinds: the cabbage lettuces, which may be sown broad-cast at any time fromFebruary to August, and require no after care, except thinning out and watering; and Cos lettuces, which are generally blanched by bending the tips of the leaves over the heart, and tying them in that position with a bit of bast mat. Endive and succory are blanched in the same manner, and mustard and cress only require sowing, as they are cut for salads while in their seed leaves. In France, lettuces are often cut for salads in their seed leaves like mustard and cress.
Celeryrequires a good deal of care in its culture. The seed must be sown in March or April, in a bed the soil of which is formed of equal parts of loam and rotten dung. When the young plants come up, they are transplanted into another bed of very rich soil, and when they are about a foot high they are removed into trenches for blanching. These trenches are made four feet apart, eighteen inches wide, and twelve inches deep, and they are filled nine inches high with a rich compost of strong fresh soil and rotten dung. The plants are taken up with as much earth as will adhere to their roots; and, their side shoots having been removed, they are set in the centre of the trench nine or ten inches apart. As they grow, the earth is drawn up to them, a little at a time, taking care never to let the earth rise above the heart of the plant; and this earthing up is repeated five or six times, at intervals of about ten days or a fortnight, till the plants are ready for use.
Thepotherbs, as they are continually wanted in cookery, are much better in a garden near the kitchen. One of the most important is parsley, which is generally sown in a drill in February or March, and the plants of which do not seed till the second year. Fennel is a perennial, which, when once introduced, requires no further care, except to prevent it from spreading too rapidly. Thyme, sage, pot-marjoram, and winter savory, are all dwarf shrubs, which require no care after they have been once planted. Mint, winter marjoram, and the common marjoram, are perennials; but the sweet or knotted marjoram, summer savory, and basil require sowing every year like parsley.
I would not advise you to growcucumbersormelons; but, should you feel inclined to try your skill, you have only to have a hotbed made like that for raising flower seeds; but with a two- or three-light frame, remembering that it will take a cart-load of stable dung for every light. The plants are raised in pots, and, when they are about five weeks old, they are planted three together in little ridges of earth made under each light. When the plants have produced two rough leaves, the ends of the shoots are generally pinched off, and this is called stopping the runners. When the plants come into flower, the pollen of the male flowers should be conveyed to the female ones, as otherwise the fruit very often drops off as soon asit is set. Seeds for the first crop of cucumbers are sown in December or January; but the principal crop is sown in March. The great difficulty is to grow the cucumbers long and straight, and to keep them green, and with a beautiful bloom. For the first purpose a brick may be placed under the fruit, and for the second, abundance of leaves should be left on the plant; and the ground in which it grows should be kept quite moist, as it is found that the plant succeeds best when it has abundance of heat and moisture, and has grown in the shade. Melons require the same treatment as cucumbers, with the exception of their beds being about 10° hotter; as, for example, the seed-bed should not be less than 65°, and the fruiting-bed should not be less than 75°.
Gourdsandtomatoesshould be sown in a hotbed in March, and planted out in May, the latter against a south wall.
Mushroomsare generally grown in the back shed of a vinery or forcing-house, in beds made of fresh horse-dung, which has lain in a heap under cover, and been turned over several times for about a fortnight or three weeks, till every part has thoroughly fermented. A bed is then marked out about twelve or fourteen feet long, and five feet broad; and, if it is on the earth, a pit is made of that size by taking out the soil about six inches deep. The bottom of the bed should be formedby a layer of long fresh stable manure about four inches thick. On this several other layers must be placed of the prepared dung, each being beaten flat with the fork, so as to make the bed as close and compact as possible, till it is about five feet high, when the top should be finished off like the ridge of a house. In this state the bed should remain about a fortnight, and then some bricks of mushroom spawn having been procured from a nurseryman, they should be broken into pieces about an inch or an inch and a half square, and strewed regularly over the bed, each piece of the spawn being buried by raising up a little of the dung and inserting it. After this, the surface of the bed must be beaten flat with the spade, and the whole covered with a loamy soil, and beaten quite smooth. The bed is then covered about a foot thick with oat straw, and again with mats, and it will require no further care for a month or six weeks, by which time the mushrooms will be ready for the table. Care should be taken in gathering them to twist them up by the roots, as, if they are cut off, the root, which is left in the ground, will decay, and be injurious to the young plants. Mushrooms may be made to grow in lawns, by procuring some bricks of mushroom spawn, and, after breaking them into pieces about an inch or two inches square, burying these pieces by raising a little of the turf wherever the mushroomsare wished to grow, and placing the spawn under it. This is sometimes done in April or May; but if the season should be dry, the spawn will not germinate. Others put the spawn into the ground in August, or in the first week in September; the lawn is afterwards rolled, and no other care will be requisite until the mushrooms are ready for gathering, which will be in a month or six weeks after the spawn is buried.
The fruit trees in a kitchen-garden should be all trained against the walls, and those trees which are grown as standards should be in a separate garden or orchard. The walls are best when about eight feet high, and they should have strong hooks or holdfasts built into them at the top, for the convenience of supporting a wooden coping, or of suspending mats or nets. Some persons recommend the walls to be built on arches; but this is a bad plan, as it is of importance to the gardener to confine the roots as much as possible to the border within the garden. The roots of fruit trees should never go deeply into the ground, as, if the roots are suffered to get so deep as to be out of the reach of the air, the trees will produce more leaves and branches than fruit. On this account care should be taken that the soil shouldnot be more than eighteen inches deep; and the easiest and most effectual mode of doing this is, to dig out the border to the depth of two feet, and put a layer of brick-bats and other rubbish covered with gravel well rammed down to the depth of six inches, and to fill up the remaining eighteen inches with a fine rich mould. When a fruit tree border is in its proper state, the gardener should always be able to show the fibrous roots of his trees by removing a little of the earth with his hand. When the trees are planted the roots should be carefully spread out to their full extent, and care should be taken always to keep the collar of the plant above the earth, as when it is buried the tree is very liable to become cankered. As the blossoms of peaches, apricots, and nectarines appear early, they are very liable to be injured by spring frosts, and many plans have been devised for protecting them. All, however, are liable, more or less, to objection, as it is extremely difficult to put up mats without knocking off the blossoms. The best way is to have a deep wooden coping placed on the holdfasts that were let into the wall, with hooks in front, from which a curtain of bunting may be suspended, which should be kept up night and day during frosty weather; as there is quite as much danger from the sun during frosty weather, as from the frost. In fact, in most cases where plants are injured byfrost, it is in consequence of a warm sunny day having succeeded a severely cold night.
Peachesandnectarinesare the most valuable of our wall fruit trees. They should be grown in tolerably rich soil, but which has been enriched with decayed leaves rather than animal manure; as, when they are manured with dung, they are very apt to produce what are called water shoots or gourmands, that is, strong vigorous shoots without any blossom buds. Peach trees are generally kept in the nursery till they are three or four years old, and they should be removed about the latter end of October, or the beginning of November. They are best trained in the fan manner, that is, with the branches spread out regularly against the wall in the shape of a fan; and, as they always bear their fruit on shoots of a year old, those shoots must be left on in pruning, and the old wood cut out. The pruning should be performed either in November or February; but the trees should never be cut during a severe frost. When the fruit has stoned it is thinned out, and never more than two should be left growing together.
Peaches and nectarines are generally grafted close to the ground, so as to make dwarf trees, and they are considered best planted about twenty feet apart, with some kind of plum or cherry, grafted standard high, placed between them.
Apricotsare trained somewhat horizontally, and they bear not only on the shoots of the last year, but on close spurs formed by the two years' old wood. Apricot trees are very apt to have large limbs die off without any apparent cause; but this may be prevented by covering all the principal limbs in October with hay-bands, and letting them remain on till all danger is over from frost. Apricot trees should be five and twenty feet apart on the wall, as they spread rapidly, and do not bear cutting in. The fruit should be thinned in May, or the beginning of June.
Plum treeswill bear a little manure being laid on the surface in autumn, and slightly forked in in spring. They are trained horizontally, and they bear on what are called spurs; that is, short rugged-looking little branches, jutting out from shoots two or three years old, and which will continue fruitful for several years. Plum trees, in consequence, require very little pruning; and, in fact, as they are apt to gum when they are wounded, they should be very seldom touched with a knife.
Cherry treesresemble plum trees in their culture, and, when grown against a wall, most of the kinds are trained horizontally, and their branches kept six or eight inches apart. The morello cherry is, however, an exception to this rule, as it requires pruning and training, like the peach.
Fig treesshould never be pruned, except to remove shoots that cannot be trained, as the fruit is produced on the young wood at the extremity of the branches. Fig trees should be planted thirty feet apart, and trained horizontally, their long branches being bent backwards and forwards, in order to make them throw out side shoots for bearing fruit, which they will generally do where the bend is made. Fig trees require to be well supplied with water, though they will not grow if any stagnant water be suffered to remain about the roots.
Thepomegranateresembles the fig tree in producing its flowers only on the points of its shoots, and on short twigs projecting from its trained branches. Pomegranates require a rich soil; and when it is wished to throw them into fruit, the blossoms should be shaded during the time of expansion, as otherwise the pollen will dry up without fertilising the stigma.
Grapesare frequently grown against a wall in the open air; and in some cases, as, for example, by Mr. Clement Hoare, near Southampton, with very great success. Grapes have been also produced of excellent quality against a flued wall; that is, a hollow wall heated by means of flues in it, as at Erskine, near Greenock; but as, in both cases, extraordinary care is required, I would advise you only to have a common sweet-water vineor two in your garden on the open wall, for the purpose of using its leaves in garnishing, and to grow vines in a vinery to produce the grapes you require for the table.
A vinery is a common hothouse or bark stove, heated with hot-water pipes or flues, and with a pit in the centre, which is generally filled with tan for pines. This appears a very simple and economical arrangement, but it has one great disadvantage; namely, that the pines require heat at a season when the vines should be in perfect repose, unless very early crops of grapes are desired. In other cases the centre of the vinery is planted with peach and nectarine trees for early forcing, the branches of the trees being trained over a curved trellis, and other peach and nectarine trees or vines, planted in the house, being trained against a trellis at the back. The vines for the main crop are, however, planted on the outside of the house, in a border prepared like that for the fruit trees, but richer; and their stems are brought into the vinery, through holes left for that purpose in the front wall. Several compositions have been recommended for making a compost for a vine border; but that most approved is, two parts of turfy loam mixed with one part of very rotten dung or decayed leaves, one part of lime rubbish, and one part of road drift. On the Continent they frequently bury the partscut off the vine in pruning, in the border, and this is said to make excellent manure.
Vines are generally not planted in the border till about a year old, and they are best struck from cuttings of one bud or eye each, with about half an inch of stem left above and below the eye; the cutting is then planted in a small pot (60), and covered with soil half an inch thick, after which the pot is plunged to the rim in a common hotbed, or into the tan-pit in the centre of the vinery, covering it in the latter case with a hand-glass; the object being to keep the young plant growing in a moist heat of 60°. The young plants should be afterwards shifted into larger and larger pots, as they require it; and their stems, which will grow rapidly, should be trained either to a single stick or to a framework of sticks tied together, according as the plant is wanted to be spreading or trained to a single stem. If the eye has been a large and healthy one, and the wood of the stem from which it was taken firm and well ripened, the cuttings will grow rapidly. Care must be taken to give the young plant a gentle sprinkling of water every four or five days, and to let it have plenty of air, and not too much heat from the bed. The water should be given at night, and the glasses of the frame should be shut close immediately, as the steam thus generated is found very beneficial tothe young plant. As when the plant is shifted the first time the stem, or cane as it is called, is generally six or eight inches long, great care must be taken not to injure either it or the spongioles of the roots in shifting; and, as the stem or cane is of course always longer every time the plants are shifted, additional care is required every time of performing the operation. While the plant is in the hotbed, the wires or tendrils, and also the weak lateral shoots, must be pinched off as fast as they are produced.
If the cutting was made in the first week of March, and has been properly treated, it will have a strong stem of ten or twelve feet long, and perhaps more, by the middle of June or the beginning of July. Many gardeners advise planting the vines out at this season, as they say they grow more vigorously, and form better wood, with only their stems in the hothouse, than when they are confined to the moist close heat of the bed. Other gardeners, however, keep their young vines in the pots till the following February, when the canes are generally five feet long, and as thick as the little finger.
When the plants are put into the ground there should be one vine to each hole; and, as every hole is made opposite a rafter, there is thus one vine allotted to every sash or light. A shallow pit is made in the ground for each vine, and,the pot being either broken with the spade or the plant carefully turned out of it, the ball of earth containing the roots is placed in the pit, in such a manner as to leave the cane as nearly as possible in the same position as it occupied when the plant was in the pot. The ball of earth is then covered with light rich mould about two inches thick, and the stem of the vine is brought through the hole in the wall into the house. This is an operation of some difficulty, particularly if the cane be long, and it is carefully wrapped up in matting or in hay-bands, to prevent it from receiving any injury. While the vines are in pots they are pruned, so as to leave only the main shoot, or at most two shoots, in case one should be broken off; and in the latter case, as soon as the main shoot has been safely introduced and attached to the rafter, the other is removed. The side shoots are also taken off as they appear till the main shoot has reached nearly to the end of the rafter, when its point is pinched off, and the strongest of the side shoots are allowed to develop themselves.
If the vine was planted in May or June the same year the cutting was struck, and nothing else is in the vinery, it should be allowed to remain all summer with the glasses off, and without fire heat; in September, however, the glasses should be put on, and enough heat applied to keep thetemperature of the house at 55° or 60°, but always giving air in the middle of the day, in order to ripen the wood. In December, when the leaves begin to fall, the vines should be pruned, and they should then have a season of rest, till the leaf-buds begin to swell in spring. When only vines, or vines and peaches, are grown in a vinery, it is easy to give this season of rest by leaving off all fire heat, except what is necessary to keep out the frost, till the middle of February; but, when pines are grown in the same house, the stems of the vines are generally drawn out of the house during part of December, January, and February, and kept on the outside carefully wrapped up in mats and hay-bands, or laid along the ground and covered thickly with dead leaves and straw. The vine border should always be covered in the same manner during frosty weather, as neither stems nor roots should ever be exposed to a greater degree of cold than 40°. When the vines are planted out in June, they should not be suffered to bear any fruit that year; but, when they are not planted out till the February following, they may be allowed to bear one or two bunches each the following summer.
In pruning the vine great care should be taken never to cut close to a bud or eye, but generally to cut through the stem just in the middle of the internode or space between the buds, or atleast half an inch from the bud left. The sap of the vine rises with great force; and if the pruning be delayed till spring, or if the cut be made too near the bud, the sap will flow profusely, and will very seriously weaken the plant. English gardeners call this overflowing of the sap bleeding; but on the Continent they call it the tears of the vine. There are three modes of pruning and training the vine; but the best for vineries is what is called the spurring-in system. This consists in training the plant with one long main shoot, which is always suffered to remain, and shortening the strongest of the side shoots to one or two eyes every winter, and removing those that are weakly, or that grow too closely together, as the shoots left, which are called the spurs, should always be about twelve inches apart.
The time of beginning to force grape vines depends upon the season at which the grapes are wanted, but the usual season is February. The cane of the vine is then taken into the house, if it has been wintered outside, and carefully trained to the rafter, the part next the ground being still kept wrapped round with hay-bands, and the hole stopped close round the stem, so as to prevent the vine receiving any check from the cold of the external air. Want of attention to this particular is very apt to produce a disease in the vines, which ends in what is called shanking,that is, a shriveling of the short stems of the grapes after they have set. The vine border has then its winter covering removed; and, after being forked over, a coating is laid on of rotten dung, two or three inches thick; or, what is better, a coating is laid on of turfy loam chopped up, and old lime mortar, about two inches deep, and on that a coating of rotten dung, two inches thick; over these may be replaced the coating of decayed leaves a foot thick, and straw or reed mat, which was laid on the bed during the severe frosts of winter. The grand point is, to keep the roots and part outside the house in the same temperature as that within, or even warmer.