120 



JOUBNAL OF HOETlCULTUllE AND COTTAGE GAllDEKEB. 



I Navuii,Ur 2£, lbC9. 



of sweeties, the hard clay path wonld stop them the following 

 season, and that, to carry on my simile, they would ho like a 

 hoy with only dry hread to eat after a pleasant gorge of sweet 

 things. In this I was, however, agreeably disappointed, for 

 the following season they bore numerous Cue bunches of fruit, 

 and made shoots from 15 to 20 feet long, and so they have 

 continued to grow, covering the arches ; and being carried longi- 

 tudinally under the ridge and within 1 foot of the glass, thoy 

 have formed, as may be seen in the engraving, a nice lout 

 fnscmble : in fact, I have never seen anything more beautiful in 

 Vine culture. 



The Peach and Apricot trees were removed from the house 

 about the end of August, so that the Vines ripened their fruit 

 in a large, warm, dry, airy space ; and towards the end of last 

 month, after having gathered a great many, we cleared the 

 Vines of their fruit, amounting to about four bushels, every 

 bunch perfect in bloom and flavour, aud weighing from 1 It), to 

 •2 lbs. each. It is strange to say, that although at the crests of 

 arches, and on the longitudinal wires, the leaves in many cases 

 touch the glass, yet no leaves are ever scorched ; not even in 



the hot summer of l^ifiS were they touched. Thif, 1 believe, 

 is entirely owing to the glass being taken out at each end 

 under the gables, to an extent of about 3 square feet. These 

 apertures are open ninht and day, winter and summer, and in 

 hot sunny weather the thermometer then standing at luo' 

 among the leaves within a foot of the ape:i of the roof, a move- 

 ment of the leaves is always perceptible, as if the comparatively 

 cool outer air were gently hut constantly pouring in. I have 

 never witnessed this elsewhere in vineries, but I fttl assured 

 it is the perfection of Vino culture. Many good gardeners haM- 

 seen my combined orchard house and vinery, and have looked 

 in wonder at the barn-floor-like surface of my Vine borders — a 

 misnomer. 



Ana DOW comes the question. How have such means pro- 

 duced such results, for it seems scarcely credible that a liard 

 unstirred floor of calcareous clay should give such healthy 

 growth and such fruit, bo fine in flavour, and so thin-^kinntd, 

 us in the bunches sent. On digging some holes in the floor of 

 the house to ascertain what the roots were doing In their 

 aii|iarently unfavourable habitat, thry were found spreading 



over the whole floor of the house a few inches under the surface, 

 some of them having made their way to the outside under the 

 boards forming the lower part of its sides. 



The question now arises how the healthy state of the Vine.") 

 has been promoted in such a soil, so different from the prepared 

 borders so much in fashion ; and first, it seems to me that, 

 owing to the surface of the house being nearly covered with 

 Peach trees in pots, all surface-dressed with the stimulating 

 compost used here — saturated horse droppings and kiln dust — 

 and the trees being watered once a-day, the roots of the Vines 

 received a large quantity of liquid manure which would filter 

 through the pots; and the surface being warm, moist, and 

 shaded by the trees, wonld encourage the Vine roots to it, 

 thus giving them a favourable pabulum in which they seem to 

 luxuriate. 



I lu.i.t .tate. tLat in additiou to constant currents of air 

 through the apertures under the gables, the low side ventilators 



I were open night and day in hot weather, as were the folding- 

 doors at each end of the house. 



In common with the orchard-house trees nnder them, the 

 Vinos were syringed, sometimes twice a-day in hot weather, 

 till the first week in August. I trust I may be allowed to say, 

 that Mr. Kivett, of Stratford, built this house at a cost of from 

 £150 to £160. A house of the same dimensions as to length 

 and width, with a height in the centre of 1.5 feet, and at the sides 

 of 7 feet, can now be built for £lt<0. It is gratifying to know, 

 that a combination of orchard house and vinery giving so much 

 beauty and profit, can be built at so reasonable a sum, quite 



j equal as regards produce to those fancy orchard houses often 

 costing £500 and upwards. — Thos. Rivebs. 



KITCHEN OABDEN. 



Asparagus haulm may now be cleared cff, cleaning the ground 

 and giving a good dressing of rotten manure ; and in the case 



WORK FOE THE WEEK. 



of young plants which are only very lightly covered, the man tire 

 might be mixed with a quantity of leaf soil. Apply a good 

 solid coat 2 or 3 inchesjthick, if the mantire and leaf scil.can 



