As my friends and neighbours around me are now busily employed in shearing off the summer growth of Vines, it occurs to me that the present would be a fitting opportunity of saying a few words of general import upon the subject.

That the cultivation of the Grape-Vine might be made profitable in the south of England, if not in many other parts of the kingdom, there can hardly be a doubt. But if it is intended to go to the root of the question, and to instruct those who are most in want of information, the true position of affairs cannot be too plainly stated. There is no need of writing speculatively upon the subject; Grapes have been grown and Grapes can be grown under a proper system of cultivation. It would be a wonder if the Vine yielded much fruit under conditions infinitely worse than is enjoyed by the commonest wall-creeper, and under a system of treatment which cannot possibly be more at variance with the natural habit and requirements of the plant.

I happen to reside for the time being in a district where I am surrounded upon all sides by Vines, and I do not hesitate to say that there are few plants (certainly not fruit-trees) that would exist for half the time many of these Vines have lived under the same treatment. Before the Vine becomes a fruitful plant out of doors, its natural habit and requirements must be better understood by the masses. It is by nature a creeping plant, and those who cultivate it as a wall-creeper might just as well have the pleasure of enjoying a little fruit, if they only knew the way to obtain it. The majority of cottagers regard it as a troublesome, refractory plant in summer, and they frequently ascribe its barrenness to old age. They are not aware that its roots travel long distances in search of food, or that the disease that attacks it in summer (mildew) is the result of starvation at the root. Neither do they know that what they in their simple way call summer-pruning destroys the last chance of anything like a crop of fruit, because the fruit-bearing wood is cut away, and a stock of green unripe laterals takes its place, only to be cut down by the winter's frost.

If, therefore, we are to inculcate a spirit of thrift and emulation among those who have opportunities of cultivating the Vine upon the walls of their houses or gardens, we must, in order to consummate the scheme, endeavour to give some tangible proof of our faith in its practicability. And I see no possibility of accomplishing this end better than by the proprietors of large estates leading the way. With a very trifling outlay the walls of cottages could be furnished with a fresh set of Vines, and an intelligent man should be deputed to direct their management for the first couple of years, until the occupiers themselves took sufficient interest in looking after them.

The ordinary labourer is no believer in new ideas or new doctrines. He is too deeply imbued with the views of his class to give up old habits and customs; reason or logic has no charm for his ear; but once prove to him by results that your scheme is not only feasible but profitable, and your trouble is at an end.

Nearly all the Vines that have come under my notice in this district are in a state of semi-starvation, having little else to live upon than a small portion of impoverished earth, trodden so hard that no moisture can penetrate to the roots to nourish them. In many cases the roots have travelled underneath the cottages, where no artificial assistance can be rendered to them, even if it were so desired. In order, therefore, to make a promising start, it would be necessary in most cases to have a thorough clearance out, and to make new borders and plant new Vines.

When it is considered that a Vine can be purchased at from 3s. 6d. to 5s., that will cover the walls of a cottage in two or three years, and that the border need not be an expensive one, there are certainly not many obstacles standing in the way of initiating an improved system of open-air Vine-culture. The use of very rich soil would be a mistake, as it would also be expensive to many who could not well afford it. In any case it is not an absolute necessity; in most cases it might prove injurious, because of its tendency to promote spongy, sappy growth, which in our climate in most seasons would stand a bad chance of getting properly ripened. It would be better at the beginning to make only a narrow border, in order the better to establish moderate growth and early fertility. No variety is better adapted, generally speaking, for outdoor culture than Royal Muscadine, the Chasselas de Fontainebleau of the French, which is not fastidious as to climate. But it is no use living in a fool's Paradise. Until some better idea of the summer management of Vines is inculcated into the minds of the lower classes, much improvement need not be expected.

The young wood that is ruthlessly cut away at this season is the fruit-bearing wood of next year; and until cottagers and others learn to appreciate this, and only thin out to admit air and light among their Vines, nothing more than a crop of half-famished leaves will result from their labours. W. Hinds.