mature fruit, and consequently resembling wines of foreign growth."

Here, then, is a most important advantage resulting from the culture of the vine, and one, indeed, that is little inferior to that which is derived from the production of the ripened fruit itself. And in order that it may be properly estimated, it must be borne in mind, that throughout the growing season, the superabundant foliage of a vine, which consists chiefly of the extremities of the shoots, and the tendrils, is so great, as to require to be plucked off once in every seven days, if not oftener. It is further stated in the above-mentioned work, that from forty to fifty pounds' weight of leaves, &c. will produce about ten gallons of wine.

Now, every hundred square feet of the surface of a wall when covered with the foliage of vines in vigorous growth, will yield on an average, every week from the middle of May, to the first of August, two pounds' weight of excess of foliage. Allowing, therefore, the surface of the walls of a common-sized cottage to contain five hundred square feet, on which vines could be trained, it appears, that during the eleven weeks above-mentioned, they would yield a sufficient quantity of foliage to produce upwards of twenty gallons of wine, which could be made for the mere cost of the sugar!

Again, there would be a considerable quantity of foliage to spare, during the remaining months of August and September, to which must be added the excess in the number of bunches of green fruit, which require cutting off after the berries are set, in order to avoid overcropping the vines, and which sometimes amount to a great number; and also the berries that are cut out in the thinning of the bunches, the weight of which is always considerable; and these being added to the former, would, at the most moderate calculation, yield in the whole, thirty gallons of wine, thus produced from the superabundant foliage and green fruit of vines trained on the surface of a cottage! Bearing in mind, therefore, these important facts which cannot be controverted, it will, I think, be readily acknowledged, that too great a degree of importance can scarcely be attached to the cultivation of the vine.

The management of this plant is in itself, also, one of the most pleasing, and most interesting branches of Horticultural practice. And, it may with truth be asserted, that of all the occupations that can be resorted to for the purposes of recreation, those connected with the garden are the most delightful. From these, indeed, spring many of the most elegant enjoyments of life, and the exercise of them is at once a source of health, of contentment, and of unalloyed, and tran

quillizing pleasure. So congenial to our ideas of happiness, is the recreation afforded by a garden, that there is scarcely any one to whom the possession of it, is not an object of strong desire.

Yet, to a very numerous class of persons, the inhabitants of towns, this source of enjoyment is in a great measure cut off.

The Vine, however, can be cultivated equally as well in a town as in the country, and, in very many instances, the means for that purpose are possessed in a much greater degree than in the country. The immense accumulation of buildings in towns, and their suburban districts, and also those of the metropolis itself, present an astonishing extent of surface of walling, well calculated to ripen the fruit of the vine. The only obstacle to the growth of that plant in towns, is the impurity of the atmosphere, but though this impediment is sufficiently formidable, certainly, it exists only in the heart of London, and its dense and crowded districts, and in those of other large towns.

I am persuaded, therefore, that, if the method of cultivating the vine on correct principles, and the certainty which under proper management, never fails to attend the production of its fruit, were more generally known, its propagation and culture would increase both in town and country, to an extent that at present can scarcely be conceived.

It is for the purpose of diffusing a mode of cultivating this valuable plant, which is more definite and simple in its nature than any that has hitherto been promulgated, and by which the quantity of its fruit may be prodigiously increased, and the flavour greatly improved, that the following pages have been written. It is hoped that the whole management of the vine is therein made sufficiently clear, to enable every person who possesses facilities for the growing of grapes, to employ them in the most advantageous manner, in the production of this highly esteemed fruit.

CHAPTER II.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT METHOD OF CULTIVATING GRAPE VINES ON OPEN WALLS.

THERE is, I believe, no branch of practical horticulture, which the possessors of gardens are so deficient in the knowledge of, as in that which embraces the culture of the grape vine; and, yet, singular as it may appear, there is no fruittree of any description that grows in this country, that can be depended upon with such certainty for a full crop, or that will yield so ample a return, as a vine judiciously cultivated on an open wall.

Let any person in the month of September, make a tour of inspection through the southern counties of England, in which nearly every cottage may be seen with a grape vine trained on its walls. Let him stop at intervals in his journey, and select any number of vines for examination, and carefully estimate the weight of fruit growing on each, and the extent of walling occupied in producing that fruit; and having calculated the average weight grown on every square foot of walling, let him then be told, which he may be with truth, that, at least, five times the quantity of grapes of superior flavour might be annually pro