636 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



and tlie same quantity of turfy maiden loam substituted in its place. Every 

 bit of trellis and wood -work should also be thoroughly washed with soap and 

 water, unless the house has just been painted, the walls whitewashed, coloured, 

 or painted, and the hot-water pipes painted over with a mixture of equal parts 

 lime and sulphur. Perhaps it will be as well to omit the painting from the 

 first 12 feet fi-om the boiler on the flow-pipe. If the roots are at all dry, 

 water with manure-water at a temperature of 60°, which will not only moisten, 

 but gently excite the roots, by considerably raising the temperature of the 

 soil. Having thus laid the foundation of success in cleanliness and suitable 

 food, place the lights on, and, if the weather is mild, leave them half-down 

 night and day for the first week. If the roof is a fixture, give all the air- 

 possible at front and back, and leave the door open. Sprinkle the trees over- 

 head several times a day ; sprinkle paths, &c., and maintain an atmosphere- 

 like a cool April morning. Proceed thus during the entire month, varying^ 

 of course, your treatment, the quantity of air, &c., by the nature of the 

 external atmosphere. A tempei-ature of 50°, however, should never be 

 exceeded by fire-heat, if fire becomes necessary, which is not often the case, 

 during this month. 



1984. Vinery. — All preliminary matters may proceed here exactly on the 

 same principle as for the peach-house. In all forcing, either of flowers or 

 fruit, let cleanliness, both present and prospective, be your first care. Hence, 

 before the painting, kc, let every bit of loose bark that will rub off witli j-our 

 hand be removed. I don't approve of severe barking,— scraping it off with 

 knives, &c. ; as, although vines have endogenous stems,— that is, increase 

 from the inside, and not from the out, and their bark is consequently not 

 essential to their healthy existence, — still it is useful in retaining moisture on 

 their stems ; and I am quite sure that nature never intended that they should 

 present the appearance of so many peeled sticJcs. Both tidiness of appearance 

 and the destruction of insects require the removal of that which is loose and 

 easily removed ; to go beyond this, if not certainly injurious, is obviously 

 unnecessary, and a tedious loss of time. The varieties best for early forcing 

 are the Dutch White-water, Pvoyal Muscadine, Joslin's St. Albans, and Black 

 Hambro. Give them the same general treatment as that recommended for 

 peaches during the month. 



1985. Prune other vineries as soon as the fruit is cut, if the leaves are tho- 

 roughly matured, the wood almost as hard as bone, and they are required ta 

 •start afresh in January. If neither of these conditions, nor all of them, are 

 present, defer the pruning for another month. Carefully look over grapes twice 

 a week, removing every dead berry or leaf that may have fallen on a bunch. 



1986. If late grapes, such as Muscats and West St. Peter's, are not ripe, 

 they must be ripened off with a brisk fire as speedily as possible. If not 

 ripened forthwith, they will not only be deficient in flavour, but will not keep- 

 well. When a bunch of grapes has to be cut at once, either to make room or 

 prune the vines, nine inches or a foot of the branch should be cut with them, 

 and the bunches be suspended in a cool dry room : they will often keep better ia 



