218 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



f March 21, 1867. 



the disuse of the "curate's vinery ;" and in 1859 I pointed out I 

 the valuable uses they might be employed for, such as " Pears | 

 on Quince stocks. Peaches and Nectarines, early Peas, Dwarf ! 

 Kidney Beans, Cauliflower plants, and many other early vege- 

 tables." I mention these trifles only in justice to myself, as ; 

 Mr. Broome seems not to have been aware of the origin of the [ 

 ideas he gives. 



2. It is bad practice to remove the glass ridge from the Vine 

 in winter ; the fruit-spurs often suffer from severe frosts and 

 frozen snow. Here they are never removed except for a short ; 

 time when the Vines are pruned. If used for bedding plants 

 or other purposes separate structures are necessary — they are 

 cheap enough. All that Mr. Broome says as to the various 

 uses ground vineries can be applied to is correct, although he 

 is rather figurative in saying " a thousand ;" still it is on the 

 right side. 



3. There is no occasion to give air by lifting the roof or any 

 part of it. The ventilation by bricks placed on the ground , 

 lengthwise to support the ground ^anery, leaving apertures of 

 4 or Cinches (the latter if the garden is warm and confined), j 

 between each, was the original idea, and has never been de- 

 parted from, the success being perfect. 



4. The laying down and pegging Peaches, Nectarines, and 

 other trees to perforated slates has not answered well here ; j 

 red spider, in spite 



of the slates being Fig. 



strewed with sul- 

 phur, constantly in- 

 jured the trees, and 

 the fruit was not 

 good. A better mode 

 of cultivating fruit 

 trees under these 

 glass ridges is on the 

 double-lateral cor- 

 don principle, as in 

 ffl. 1. 



The two branches may be fastened to a horizontal wire, or 

 supported by slight iron uprights standing 9 inches out of the 

 ground. A grouad vinery {Jig. 2), 3 feet wide at base will hold 



^^g 



The double lateral Cordon Tree. 



of frost while in blossom, or protecting bedding plants from 

 severe frost, I have elsewhere said that they may be made per- 

 fectly frost-proof by layers of straw. To make ground vineries 

 perfectly frost-proof for bedding plants they should be taken 

 from their brick supports as soon as severe frosts commence, 

 and placed on the ground, the two ends closed, so that they 

 are for a time almost hermetically sealed. For two seven-feet 

 lengths, forming a structure 14 feet in length, two or three 

 trusses of straw at a cost of Is. each will keep out the most 

 severe frost known in England. .\3 soon as an interval of mild 

 weather occurs in winter the bricks should be replaced for ven- 

 tilation, or if the roof is hinged it should be opened. The 

 most convenient size for protecting bedding plants during 

 winter should be of the following dimensions : — Width at 

 base, 42 inches ; slope of roof. 28 inches ; depth in centre, 

 20 inches. The cost is of course increased by increase of size, 

 but the large size will be found more economical for bedding 

 plants. Four seven-feet lengths placed so as to form a shelter 

 28 feet by 3J, closed at each end, will hold a nice Uttle cottage- 

 garden selection. These large glass ridges are also on the 

 whole more economical for Vine culture, as two Vines may be, 

 as they are here, cultivated imder one ground vinery, so that 

 there is a saving of something considerable. 

 In the usual single-vine ground vinery the cjuestion is, Which 



is the better mode 

 1. of training — pegging 



down to the slates or 

 training the Vine to 

 a stout iron wire, 

 supported by perfo- 

 rated iron rods about 

 9 inches from the 

 slate- formed surface, 

 so that the bunches 

 of tirapes are sus- 

 pended, their tips 

 merely resting on the 

 slates ? In 1865 I strictly watched the ripening of my ground- 

 vinery Grapes, and I found that the earliest to ripen were the 

 suspended bunches with their ends resting on the slates. 



/ 



^mMSBm^^^^A^^^&^^^^^^, 



o. The top bar with a groove half an inch deep. 

 6. The bottom bar with a rebate. 

 c and d. The end bars, each grooved half an inch deep. 



Straininfj-posts 4 inches square. 20 yards asunder, less or more as required. 

 Upright iron rods flattened and perforated at top to pass the wire through. 

 The wire the thickness of whipcord. 



two rows of these cordons, which are kept in order by summer 

 pinching. Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines, and Pears all do 

 equally well. The Peaches and Pears were in 18G(J, in spite of 

 the cloudy moist season, remarkably fine. These double lateral 

 cordons should be 21 feet apart in the rows, so that three 

 seven-feet lengths are required for two trees, planted opposite 

 to each other in the central seven-feet length. 



6. There is no occasion to admit air at 10 a.m. and shut it off 

 at 2 r.M. From the long experience gained here it is useless 

 trouble, as the ventilation from below is perfect, and no red 

 spider has ever done any injury to the Vines ; the evaporation 

 at night is so abundant that the under surfaces of the Vine 

 leaves are drenched with moisture, and red spiders suffocated. 



6. The Vines here in ground vineries are never syringed 

 unless dust accumulates on the leaves ; they are then tho- 

 roughly syringed once just before the fruit begins to colour. 

 The slates are never watered with tepid water ; the tepid eva- 

 poration at night amply suffices to keep the Vines in health. 



Mr. Broome has given some useful hints, for which we owe 

 him thanks ; but he seems to have confined himself to one 

 kind of ground vinery, and that the most expensive. He has 

 not given the early history of these most useful structures, 

 and, as it appears to me, has lessened the simplicity of Vine 

 culture in them. 



With respect to prere-ving trees under them from the effeits 



With regard to the culture of Strawberries under ground 

 vineries, but few amateurs have yet realised its advantages. 

 The fruit are of the finest possible flavour, they are kept from 

 injury by storms and birds, and all the ills they are liable to. 

 The ground vinery best adapted to Strawberry culture is my 

 favourite the barless kind, 3 feet wide at base. This will hold 

 three rows of Strawberries, which may be 4 inches plant from 

 plant to plant in the rows. To cany out this mode of culture 

 thoroughly a fresh plantation should be made every year in 

 August ; and if the plants are taken from pots which have 

 borne a crop in the forcing-house, all the better, otherwise they 

 may be strong runners that have been potted in small pots ii> 

 June and July. A plantation may be suft'ered to bear two an- 

 nual crops ; but the second year's crop has been found here to 

 be not so abundant as the first. 



In gathering Strawberries from ground vineries, one side of 

 the roof on hinges, so as to be easily opened, is, doubtless, a 

 luxury — the mode of giving air first suggested by the inventor ; 

 it would be curious to bring forward one of these original one- 

 side-hinged ground vineries. Whether or no Mr. Wells's pa- 

 tent would be infringed by making one like it, I am not able to 

 say ; I should hope not. The method here is, when pruning or 

 gathering Grapes, Strawberries, &c., to have a stout stick, 

 2 feet long, with a cross piece at top ; the ridge is lifted and 

 rests upon this crutch till the work is done. The barlesa ridges 



