GRAPE-GROWING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 10

GRAPE-GROWING.

The idea of going to Scotland to learn the secret of successful vine culture does not occur to the mind naturally, but some facts are available which cannot but arrest the attention of those interested in horticulture. Fifty years ago the proposal to supply the great British public with sound, healthful grapes, grown in the cold regions north of the Tweed, would have been considered chimerical. The opinion of the celebrated Dr Johnston was generally held that the soil And climate A the northern country were only fitted foi growing oats, the proper feed for horses. Previously the supply was derived from the Mediterranean, imported m Email barrel* packed with cork sawdu-t, mostly white varieties, and retailed at a shilling a pound. * Wonders repeat themselves, however. Was at not a Scot who established that secure •pivot round which the financial tystcm of ithe world revolves, the Bank of England? Sidney Smith predicted that, if e\er the frforth Pole were discovered, a Scot would be found astride it, and he might have added /the South Pole also, for it is recorded that a Scot has penetrated nearest ■both ! In imagination the distance from Pole to Pole, great as it is, may be travelled j in less than a second. More material mat- I ter is, however, our present object No fruit is more delicious or exhilarating, either as a berry or in its fermented juice, than the grape Now, a man can, if he ko .wills it, tit under the shadow of hi* own fig tree, and the day is not far di-tant when by evolution, by practical experiment, the vine may be b<> acclimatised that e\ciy cot tage may have it> fiont garnished by the spreading vine, with its tin-tors of grapeh depending fiom it, almost fit tc challenge Ihose of the ci-lebiated Eslicol. The first practical and profitable experiment made in Britain to i-upply the goneial public with ho no-grown grappa was made by Kir .7. Thoni.-ou, t'lov enfolds A'nipries. {Tweedside. It i> true the late Marquis of Bute on his estate at Cardiff, Wales, planted O/ores of vines^vith the view <>f a commercial enterprise 'in wine-making, and on their maturing hundreds of dozen-, of bottlei of . nine were sold in London at hand-ome price 1 ' on account of the name of the illu»tnou^ vintner, but the end was a failure. Why? Because the beginning was on too elevated a scale. From men of lower decree tho practical benefits to humanity generally spring. Quite different has been the result of Clovcnfords. Week of'er wee-, for months, together, carlv. l-.cdiuni, and I'ite \ivii<re= arj forwarded w i/yftileu and olket laiae

towns, and so deftly are they placed in the package that they arrive at their destination with the bloom full on them, ju-t a a if freshly cut ; and so eager is the demand that Covcnt Garden Market does not get the chance of a sale. The=e vmenes cover manj- aer<?s, and are extending. A more recent and equally profitable experiment has been made at Kippen, a village about eight miles along the lailway line, north of Stirling. To the passing observer the site chosen would not be considered the most advantageous for embarking on such an enterprise, situate a- it is on an eminence 500 ft above sea level, at a spot where prolonged and severe frosts abound, and where facilities for transit are not of the most satisfactor}- nature. Here, however, Messrs Buchanan judiciously pitched their tent, and, according to latest advices, have 50,000 square feet of glass under tribute. They do not go so far afield for a market as the Thomsons, as Glasgow willingly absoibs all their produce, at a capital price. We have no such markets here, as tlu last report from their Gla«gow salesmen proves: — "We have great pleasure in sending you account sales of your consignment of Diamond Jubilee grapes, which for the season of the year (August) have realised a record price — viz., 4-s per lb. In all our experience we have never seen anything to equal this grape." It may be mentioned that this i^ a new variety raised by Messrs Buchanan themselves, and from other sources of information it appear- already to occupy a front place in public estimation. Another new feature they have introduced is their autumn-tinted vine leaf, which leceived the patronage of the late Queen Yictoiia. and alao of the Empress of Russia. As my remarks are more designed for assisting in the profitable prosecution of the industry than to merely describe the result-, the bc-,t course to adopt will be to explain fie principles followed so successfully at the Foith Vineries. Kippen. The position of the ground hat, already been mentioned. As regards the soil, to be a right-rooting medium it must ha^e three essentials — warmth, nvoistiu-e, and a degree of firmness, without which wood roots and not fibres will be produced. In every fiuit-bcaring tree, fioni the gooseberry to tho vine, the fibrous root* are the prime promoters of success. N*aily all the failures, or partial failure?, in growing grape and many hardy fruit trees may be traced to loose or too rich a root run, or to both. Roots over a yard long on a pear or apple tree aie only fit foi boys to whittle al. The ground around fruit trees should not be trodden down like a macadam road, neither should it be frequently stnred and thus rendered too free A moderatelyfirm surface will not suffer from drought: it will not hold tho wot. and is therefore warmer than a loose surface. In reference to the many mixtures and fertilisers recommended to be added to the soil, provided it is good ordinary, fresh loam the less given the better, and never except under the most extraordinary circumstance should farmyard manure be mixed with the soil for fruit tree 1 ;. By loam is not meant the few inches of turf ground. The soil should be thoroughly pounded and mixed together. There is not only a mysterious something in fresh loam which Miitd the requirements of the fruit-bearing tieos better than any artificial compound which can be added, but the natural state of .solidity and firmness forms the best medium for the j^roduction of root- to make fruitful growth, and better results might be obtained if, so to speak, the tree- were brought to the soil rather than the soil to them. Of late, opportunities have been afforded of noticing the beneficial effects of vino roots finding their way into frc-li, onginal soil; and now when a vine* border ha- to bo made we do it simply by deepening the soil. After the fcub.-oil, which is very hard, is deepened to the required depth, the soil is put back, with more added on the top. This should be clone at lea't one year before the roots are expected to enter it This gives it time to get firm by natural agencies. As this subject, the right finning medium, i- the foundation of all success it should have the greatest attention. Tf the foundation i- wrong the whole struc ture will bo faulty A few additional details will be given next week -I M. I.