NOTES ON CELEBRATED VINES.

I AM indebted to my friend Mr Rose,1 gardener to her Majesty the Queen, at the Royal Gardens, Frogmore, for the following information about two famous vines-the one at Hampton Court, the other at Cumberland Lodge. Of the former, Mr Rose writes: "As far as I can learn, the vine at Hampton Court was planted in a small house in the year 1768, and the house has been enlarged from time to time till it has attained its present size. The stem of this vine at the surface of the soil is 2 feet 10 inches in circumference. At 3 feet from the surface, where it branches into three principal stems, it is 3 feet in circumference. These three leading stems run along the whole length of the house, branching off right and left, and covering with foliage an area of 1950 feet, yielding from 600 lb. to 800 lb. of grapes annually, which are ripened in the autumn. The vine is a black Hamburg, and the system of pruning is the close-spur one.

"That at Cumberland Lodge was planted about 70 years ago in a small pit by a foreman of the name of Tidy, who managed the place at that date. The vine, which is also a black Hamburg, made such rapid progress, that a house was erected over it, which has been repeatedly enlarged to its present size-the last addition having been made some fifteen years ago. At the surface of the soil this vine is 3 feet in circumference; at 2 feet from the soil it is 2 feet 10 inches; here it branches into two main stems, which at 4 feet branch each into two rods, and 1 Mr Rose is now dead.

run the whole length of the house, branching in all directions, covering an area of 2553 feet, and producing from 600 to 1200 lb. weight of good grapes annually, ripened late in autumn. It is pruned on the close-spur system. The border is 60 feet wide, and is not cropped. The house is 138 feet long, and, like that at Hampton Court, is heated by flues; but little fire-heat is applied, as the vines are not forced.

"On receipt of your letter, I went and examined another large vine at Sillwood Park, Sunningdale, near Ascot. It was planted about fifty years ago. The house it is in is 123 feet long, with a rafter 12 feet long. The vine is planted in the centre of the house; its girth at the surface of the soil is 2 feet 4 inches. It branches into eight laterals on each side, right and left, which run the whole length of the house, occupying an area of nearly 1500 feet. It produces annually about 800 lb. of grapes. The border is the length of the house, and 29 yards wide, and has not been cropped of recent years."

From my knowledge of the habits of the vine, I am certain that the feeding roots of these celebrated vines have gone in search of food far beyond the bounds of the borders assigned to them; and I have little doubt that if they could be traced, they would be found running in drains and sewers, absorbing the fluids therein contained.

In a letter I recently received from Mr John Watson,1 gardener to Sir Robert Peel, Bart., at his seat, the Campagna, Lammemun, near Geneva, he refers to three very large old vines in his neighbourhood. He writes: "I have ascertained from family documents that they were fine large vines a hundred years ago. The diameters of their stems near the ground is an average of 1 foot 6 inches, equal to a girth of 4 feet 6 inches. The finest of them grows on the slope of Mount Salne; the other two on the flat plain that at one time probably formed part of the Lake of Geneva. The soil they are growing in is pan chalk, which, when dug up in autumn, looks more like a turnpike-road than a vine-border; yet these vines are in great vigour, and last autumn, owing to the hot summer,

I regret to say that Mr Watson is now dead.

The

yielded more wine, and of higher quality, than usual. Lake of Geneva is forty miles long: on both sides it is planted with vines; and during the autumn hundreds of invalids come from all parts of the world to undergo what is termed the 'Grape cure' here. They begin by eating lb. of grapes a-day, and increase the quantity till it reaches 13 lb., when they as gradually diminish it. By this means I have known many remarkable cures effected, even of cancer, which had baffled the best medical skill."

The soil of

There is a famous old Muscat vine at Harewood, near Leeds. Mr Fowler, in reply to questions I addressed to him about it, writes: "It was planted in the year 1783; the girth of the stem 1 foot from the ground is 20 inches. It branches into two leaders, each of which is 17 inches in girth. In October 1857, I lifted its roots and laid them in fresh soil, the ripe grapes still hanging on it. I found the soil it was growing in in a very bad state, and without drainage. I covered the roots carefully with. mats; I gave the border plenty of drainage underneath, and placed turf fresh from the field with the grass side downwards over the brickbats and tiles used for this purpose. which I made the border was composed of fresh turf, chopped up and mixed with a fair proportion of charcoal and ground bones. For a week the leaves drooped very much, after which they recovered, and the vine made some fresh growths before its leaves dropped. The soil being fresh turf, it heated up to about 70°, and thus facilitated its recovery and the formation of fresh roots. I covered the border with glazed sashes, which threw off the autumn rains, and prevented the destruction of the recentlyformed roots during the winter. In the spring it started very weak, but gradually gained strength during the season, since which date it has yielded an average of 400 bunches yearly, of about 1 lb. weight each. The system of pruning adopted for this vine is what is termed the long-spur-i.e., I leave from three to four eyes of the young wood annually. Last year (1868) the wood of the old vine was as strong as that of our young vines, and I have no doubt it will improve for years to come. grapes colour well, hang on the vine till March, and are of firstrate flavour."

The

The oldest vines in Scotland are, in all probability, those in the garden of David Anderson, Esq. of Moredun, near Edinburgh. They are about a hundred years of age. At one time they must have been grown as single rods over pines, as there is still a large pine-pit in the house. They are planted in an outside border, and their roots have gone out about 130 feet, passing under a garden-wall in their progress. They are in good health and vigour still.

I learn from Mr Osborne that the Finchley vine referred to in the body of this work is progressing as well as can be desired, bearing immense crops of fine grapes, and that the stem is now 17 inches in girth. For its age this is perhaps the most extraordinary vine in the country, seeing it is only fifteen years since it was struck from an eye.

There is another famous black Hamburg vine growing in the Scottish Highlands in Kinnell, near the confluence of Loch Tay and the Dochart. This place was once the seat of "The M'Nabs," but is now the property of the Marquess of Breadalbane. I am indebted to Mr William Gorrie, landscape-gardener, Edinburgh, for the following particulars about this vine, which, he informs me, were derived from his own observation, and from Mr Murray, late gardener at Taymouth Castle, who once had the charge of it. It was planted in 1832 by Mr Robert Gardener -who was then gardener at the place-in a small vinery. It now occupies a house 89 feet by 231 feet, covering with its wood and foliage an area of 229 superficial yards. Its stem is 16 inches in girth, and rises 6 feet before it branches off. It produces 600 bunches of grapes annually, and of excellent quality, never showing a shanked berry. Mr Murray attributes its great vigour to its roots having got into an asparagus plantation, where the soil was made up artificially to a depth of 4 feet. Mr John Christie, the present gardener at Kinnell, took leading prizes at some of the Perthshire horticultural exhibitions last year with grapes cut from his vine.

THE PHYLLOXERA VASTATRIX.

THIS most formidable of all the diseases that afflict the vine having made its way to both Britain and Ireland, I have thought it as well to insert here a description of the insect from the pages of The Gardener,' for which periodical it was translated from the French language in 1869. In two instances where it has made its appearence in force, it has been extirpated by taking up the vine-roots and thoroughly scrubbing them with soap and water and a hard brush, and removing all the soil of the borders. At Powerscourt, in Ireland, I recently saw four vineries in which the vines were in excellent health and vigour, bearing fine crops of grapes, that two years ago were attacked by the Phylloxera vastatrix; and to Mr Dun, who was gardener there at the time, and is now my successor at Dalkeith, is due the credit of having, by the means named, got rid of the pest. The other case was in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells; and I have reason to believe that it exists in several other gardens in the country. It must have been introduced from the Continent, either on vine cuttings or plants, or perhaps amongst raisins or other packages. Be that as it may, it is in Britain, and it would be well if all who have it would at once make an effort to "stamp it out," by the destruction of their vines, and the charring of the earth of their borders; for, after all, the labour of cleaning affected vines is so great, that it would be more economical to plant new ones in new borders, after washing and painting all woodwork, and lime-whiting all stonework.