Vine leaf

“ This little running vine, 4 to 10 inches in length, is smooth and slender, leafy and occasionally branching. In color, a pale green or dark bronze-green.
The leaf is small, round-oval, widest at the base, thin but tough of texture, with a smooth surface that shines when new-grown; the margin is entire, and the midrib important. The young leaves are a bright cool green, lighter underneath; the older growths become dark and bluish green, the ribs and veins marking them with a light tracery. ”

“ Late in the season, after most other plants are in "the sere and yellow leaf" it is literally covered with great panicles of starry white flowers which have a delightful fragrance. While this variety lacks the rich color of such varieties as Jackmani and others of the hybrid class, it is really far more beautiful. Indeed, I know of no flowering vine that can equal it in this respect. Its late-flowering habit adds greatly to its value. It is not only healthy, but hardy—a quality no one can afford to overlook when planting vines about the house. ”

“ The following notice of the principal varieties of vines cultivated in France, is preceded by a table of the characters by which they are described. These are drawn from the leaves and fruit, as being less liable to change than some others, such as the distance of the knots, the colour of the bark, &tc. The leaf is always understood to be perfect, and of the largest size. ”

“ It ought to be ascertained, that they produce large and well ripened fruit; that their wood is strong, sound, and without blemish or bruise. Their qualities should never be left to chance, but after the kinds of vines to be propagated are determined upon, the vineyards should be examined in autumn, just before the vintage, and those which are most healthy and vigorous, marked with a thread, or a twig of osier. From these only, the cuttings should be taken, when the wood is perfectly ripened, which it generally is, after the leaf has fallen. ”

“ This recent acquisition by conquest has learned, like the vine, to be reproduced by mallet590-shoots, and it covers declivities just like the vine, which supports its own weight without the aid of stays. When it puts forth branches it is pruned in a similar manner, and it thrives by being well raked at the roots, growing with remarkable rapidity, and bearing fruit at the end of three years. The leaf bears a very considerable resemblance to that of rue, and it is an evergreen. ”

“ Wherever we walk and ride, we see the wild vine growing luxuriantly amongst the trees (its long branches often covered with fruit) , making delicate green arches and canopies in the darker shade of the woods. The grapes are small, and not so sweet as when cultivated, but the slightly acid flavour is very agreeable in a hot climate. It is sad to see the bunches decaying on the vines, for the people never take the trouble of gathering them to dry for winter consumption. ”

“ One must recognize the mode of climbing before undertaking the cultivation of any vine.
Vines may also be grouped into annuals, both tender (as morning-glory) and hardy (as sweet pea) ; biennials, as adlumia, which are treated practically as annuals, being sown each year for bloom the next year; herbaceous perennials, the tops dying each fall down to a persisting root, as cinnamon vine and madeira vine; woody perennials (shrubs) , the tops remaining alive, as Virginia creeper, grape, and wistaria.
There is scarcely a garden in which climbing plants may not be used to advantage. ”

“ The ground in which a layer is placed should be very rich, and its surface round the young growing vines always kept moist and free from weeds. In the autumn, after the leaves have fallen and the wood is ripe and hard, cut off the layered branch close to the vine, and with a garden-fork gently and carefully lift it, with all its roots and young vines attached, out of the soil. First cut the young vines back to three or four buds, then separate them from the branch from which they grew, being sure to give each plant plenty of roots, and the roots BACK of the point from which it grew ”

“ Some are trained upon a low prop, as in France or Germany, others climb a staff and look like hops, while [171] many vines creep up the poplar trees and stretch their tendrils across to the next tree, so that the tree trunks are all connected and form a cool, vine-covered lane for hundreds of rods. The vines are thus trained to form cool drives for the owners, and they are especially seductive when the great bunches of ripe fruit hang just high enough out of reach to be tantalizing. ”

“ The probabilities are that only two or three new vines are wanted; therefore all the others should be rubbed off at the start, so that the strength of the parent plant and of the new roots that are forming may go into those few shoots designed to become eventually a part of our vineyard. If we wish only one vine, then but one bud should grow from the layer; if two vines, then two buds. The fewer buds that are permitted to grow, the stronger vines they make. ”

“ Only the youngest and most delicate tendrils of the wild vine have any leaves left. Before they fall, departing summer lavishes on them all the color it has left; like light sprays of red and yellow flowers, they hang yet a while to enrich the garden with autumn’s melancholy splendor. ”

“ When no vines are visible at the bottom, dangling vines may be seen sixty or eighty feet up in the green cloud above, growing out of what looks like a gigantic nest of parasitic growths, and frequently with arms as large as a fair-sized sapling. You can only tell what it is by felling the tree, and even then the trunk may refuse to fall, for it is so linked and intertwined with adjoining trees by the many vines. When thirsty the natives cut a rough looking vine, first above and then below, and from out 86of this section pour out a pint or more of pure cold water. ”

“ This method evidently is not adapted to our climate and species of grape, since in that case plenty of keen, practical fruit-growers would have adopted it. I am glad this is true, for the vine-clad hills of France do not present half so pleasing a spectacle as an American cornfield. The vine is beautiful when grown as a vine, and not as a stub; and well-trained, well-fed vines on the Home Acre can be developed to almost any length required, shading and hiding with greenery every unsightly object, and hanging their finest clusters far beyond the reach of the predatory small boy. ”

“ There are no better garden ornaments for foliage than Figs and Vines, and though the needful pruning of a Vine for fruit takes off somewhat of its pictorial value, which depends in some measure on the wide-flung, luscious summer growth and groping tendril, yet in any shape the Grape Vine is a thing of beauty. ”

“ During early spring much care and labour are devoted to the vineyards. The soil around each vine is drawn back with hoes and small adze-shaped spades, the blades of which are turned inwards, till the plant stands in the centre of a hollowed square, the heaped-up earth around serving to catch and direct the moisture towards its roots. For a time the vineyards resemble huge chess-boards, till in April the spreading tendrils and bright green leaves once more hide the face of the earth from view. ”

“ This plant climbs upon the trees without attaching itself to them; when it has reached the topmost branches, it descends perpendicularly, and as it continues to grow, extends from tree to tree, until its various stalks interlace the grove like the rigging of a ship. The stems or trunks of this vine are tougher and more flexible than willow, and are from fifty to one hundred fathoms in length. From the fibres, the Indians manufacture baskets of such close texture as to hold water. ”

“ It has neither tendril nor disc, and supports itself by twisting its new growth about trees over which it clambers, branches—anything that it can wind about. If no other support is to be found it will twist about itself in such a manner as to form a great rope of branches. It has attractive foliage, but the chief beauty of the vine is its clusters of pendant fruit, which hang to the plant well into winter. This fruit is a berry of bright crimson, enclosed in an orange shell which cracks open, in three pieces, and becomes reflexed, thus disclosing the berry within. ”

“ THE MOSS GROWS BETWEEN THE STONE WALK
The color scheme depends on garden planting. If lavender is chosen it should be reproduced all [Pg 29] through the line. Do not be so foolish as to choose one vine only but plant them in order to make a succession of bloom. One does not wish to view a spot of color now and a mass of green later on.
There are so many different kinds of vines that can be planted for this use, each one of which is admirable, that it is hard to choose. Commencing with the earliest why not take the American or the loose-cluster wisteria. ”

“ No other annual vine exceeds it in rapidity of growth. It will grow twenty or twenty-five feet in a season, if given something to support it to that height, therefore it is very useful about the second-story windows, which height few of our annual vines attain. It has very bright-green, pretty foliage, somewhat resembling that of the native Grape, though not so large. About midsummer it comes into bloom. ”

“ The French writers have never, therefore, referred to their propagation by seed, the numerous varieties of vines which at this day cover a portion of Europe; nor, indeed, does it appear to be necessary, for daily experience shows, that to effect a change in the physical appearance of the vine, and still more, in the qualities of its fruits; it is only necessary to change the circumstances in which it is placed, as regards climate, or soil and situation. ”

“ Not only on our neighbor's grounds, but also on our own we shall discover that some varieties are unusually vigorous, productive, and well-adapted to our locality; and we may very naturally wish to have more vines of the same sort, especially if the fruit is to our taste. We can either increase this kind by cuttings, as has been described, or we can layer part of the vine that has won our approval by well-doing. ”

“ They fall in graceful festoons from the trees; sometimes they reach across to the trees on the other side of the road, forming a complete arch of greenery. In the autumn the vine leaves turn to a glowing red, like the Virginian creeper, and then the effect of this mass of rich colouring is indeed glorious. ”

“ No apparently impossible twisting or bending of tree trunks or reaching out of stems of vines but is to be found in the inexorable struggle of stems to fulfill their task of giving the plant its chance to reach “a place in the sun.” Sometimes mere climbing or twining does not seem sure enough—it seems as though winds or the elements might break loose the vine from its support and thereby kill its chances. ”

“ THE TWO VINES. A MAN came out into his garden one spring morning to prune his grape-vine. Wherever its branches were growing too freely, or in a wrong direction, he cut them off. Then he bound them to a low wooden frame he had placed there, so that they might grow only in the direction he intended. Now, as the day was warm and the sap was beginning to flow, the branches bled, as the vine-dressers say, in the places where he had pruned them.
It happened that just outside of the garden wall a wild [196]
[197] vine was growing, having twined itself around a tall forest-tree that stood there. ”

“ Plant your seeds close to the pegs, and in a few weeks your vines will form a flower tent. For this purpose, you might use the climbing nasturtiums or the wild cucumber vine. Or, if you can save up the fifteen cents necessary, buy the new cardinal climber, which has clusters of five to seven blossoms each, of a beautiful cardinal red, from July until late fall. The vine grows rapidly, and often more than 20 ft. long, so that when it reaches the ridge-pole, you can let it run over the other side, and make a good thick roof. ”

“ The vines in this country are not planted in rows, and propped with sticks, as in France and the county of Nice, but twine around the hedge-row trees, which they almost quite cover with their foliage and fruit. The branches of the vine are extended from tree to tree, exhibiting beautiful festoons of real leaves, tendrils, and swelling clusters a foot long. By this oeconomy the ground of the inclosure is spared for corn, grass, or any other production. The trees commonly planted for the purpose of sustaining the vines, are maple, elm, and aller, with which last the banks of the Arno abound. ”

“ Some kinds of grapes do not root readily as cuttings, but there is little chance of failure in layering. This process is simply the laying down of a branch of a vine in early spring, and covering it lightly with soil, so that some buds will be beneath the surface, and others just at or a little above it. Those beneath will form roots, the others shoots which by fall should be good vines for planting. Every bud that can reach the air and light will start upward, and thus there may be a thick growth of incipient vines that will crowd and enfeeble each other. ”

“ The vine is a mysterious plant; it is so peculiarly sensitive that, like a musical instrument which produces harmony or discord at the hands of different performers, the produce of the same variety is affected by the soil upon which the plants are grown. Thus ten thousand young vines may be planted upon one mountain, all of the same stock; but various qualities of wine will be produced, each with a special peculiarity of flavour, according to the peculiarities of soil. ”