VINE CULTURE

Evening Star, Issue 17697, 25 June 1921, Page 12

VINE CULTURE

Mr Henry Clarke lectured to members of tho Gardening Club on ‘ Vino Culture ’ at their last meeting. After giving a short but interesting account of the discovery of the vine on the shores of the Caspian Sea and the gradual spread of its cultivation westward until it reached England, Mr Clarko proceeded to deni with tho propagation of tho vino by cuttings or from the eye. Propagation from the eyo is much the better method. The eyes are placed singly in small pots ami sunk just deep enough to bo above tho soil. They are then plunged into bottom heat. A callus forms, then a root, and finally shoots grow up from tho eye. Tnese eyes are grown on in pots until about 6ft in height.' The canes are allowed to ripen, cut back, and grown on. Tho aro now ready for the vine border. When transplanting to tho vine border be careful to remove all roots without breaking them. If it is desired to grow plants from tho green branch of tho vine, then knock the bottom out of a small pot, draw the branch through tho pot, nyiko a nick in the green stem, cover with damp moss, and after roots have formed remove and plant in usual way. Vines are sometimes grown from seed when new varieties aro desired. It is almost impossible to raise the same variety true from seed. For example, Black Hamburgh seed rarely produces a Black Hamburgh vino. IV hen a grower finds that he lias an unprofitable plant in his vinery it is best to supplant it by inarching with a more pioductivo variety. Mr Clarke then touched on the varieties that could profitably be grown in tho one house, and then proceeded to give a list of varieties which a supply from the earliest part of the season until well into tho winter. Tho lecturer then dealt with the preparation of the vino border. The border may be either outside or inside tho hothouse, or partly inside and partly outside. A border extended insido gave the best results, but inside treatment must not bo neglected. Ihe best turf to use in making a vine border is that obtained from a cattle paddock, with a proper proportion of bore meal, broken bones, and burnt soil. If -the vinery is on a. slopo it is not necessary to put in a concrete or built-in brick bottom. Sink the border two or three feet, slope to lower end of the border to encourage excess moisture to drain out at the lower end of the border. When completed the border should ho 16ft wide. However, it is best to carry out the forming of the border gradually. For tho first year or two a border of three to four feet would be ample, but in each_ succeeding year take in a littlo more until the full I6ffc is fully prepared. With care this should support vines for fifty years, IVben a parcel of vines arrives to be planted out soak them, open out the soil to 9in deep, spread out tho roots evenly, and plant from 3ft to Ott 6in apart. If planted more closely together the laterals and sub-laterals got mixed up together, and prevent the leaves expanding If the first rear’s growth reaches 6ft in height cut the plant down to Ift. Always train vines to the under side of the. wires, so that if necessary tho plant can bo let down. It is impossible to grow a young vine between old vines. In healthy voting vines tho eyes are generally about 6in apart. It is advisable to rub out surplus growth, as 12in from spur to spur will prove ample. Should there bo a risk of the roots penetrating to the subsoil, this may bo prevented by putting down a layer of'stones, broken bricks, mixed with a Tittle sand and cement, and well lammed down before putting in the ■ soil for the border. Should the roots enter_ tho subsoil or fail to gather sufficient moisture, especially when tho fruit is forming the stone 1 , then shanking wiil set in, the fruit will not set° well, and the berries will not swell out. Lack of moisture at the proper time means stonoless, small fruit. If tho vinery is built on wooden piles the timber should be of lasting nature, _ as decaying wood causes fungus. The inside border must be free from wood, and concrete should be used instead of timber. On fiat ground the roots of the vines must be prevented from getting down into tho cold, wet subsoil, or mildew, shanking, and non-ripening of the fruit will be the inevitable result. Mr Claife then dealt with the subject of pruning. There are two methods—viz., the spur and tho long rod systems. The spur system s the more popular one. It consists of cutting back the current year’s growth to within on eye or two of the br.so of last year’s irrowth. During tho season manage the vine in such a way that the leaf rearest the base of the yearling shoot is preserved intact during the growing season, lor on the proper ripening of the bud caused by the perfect development of the leaf depends the next year’s supply of fruit The long rod system consists in having two or more rods to a vine, one of which is cut off annually to make room for next year’s growth. No laterals are encouraged, growth being restricted to the leading shoot.

At any -time after the leaves fa 1 the vines may be pruned. If delayed too long the plants may “bleed” when pruned —that is, the sap exudes through the newly-cut surface—and this has a very weakening eifeeb on the vine. Be careful when pruning to make a smooth cut, rough cutting often lending to" bleeding ” in the spring time. Mr Clarke gave a practical demonstration of pruning, which was of great value to his audience. Mr Clarke then dealt whh the stopping, temperature, ventilation, sea ding, situation of vinery, damping down, and the diseases to which the vino is subjected. On the conclusion of his address after answering a number of questions, Mr Clarke was tendered a hearty vote of thanks for his helpful and instructive address.