V I N 



V I O 



high, by means of melon-frame glasses, where 

 a small slanting roof is made proper to receive 

 them. But a small degree of fire-heat is of 

 great advantage, and might he applied either by 

 a fined wall, the flue running through the house, 

 or by cast-iron pipes for the purpose. 



" These houses," Mr. Nicol says, " vary ex- 

 ceedingly in construction; and although some 

 lay great stress on this article, and there are ex- 

 tremes which ought not to be followed ; he is 

 convinced the failure of success, in the production 

 of the grape, is much less a consequence of lad 

 construction in the house, than in the prepara- 

 tion of the border, the choice of the kinds, and 

 the general management. It has fallen to his 

 lot to have the construction and management of 

 three several and differently constructed grape 

 houses, in the same garden, under his care, for 

 years, which have equally and uniformly pro- 

 duced excellent crops. This, in his opinion, is 

 a proof of the necessity of a greater niceness in 

 the formation of the border being observed, 

 than in the construction of the house ; the fire- 

 place and flues excepted, which should always 

 be particularly attended to." 



He also thinks that the site of a vinery is an 

 object of such consequence to the welfare of the 

 plant, and successful cultivation and production 

 of well-flavoured fruit, that the greatest care 

 should be taken in the choice of it. " A gentle 

 hill, having a south aspect, and considerable 

 declivity that way, the soil a strong brown loam 

 of two feet, over a bottom of dry sand, gravel, 

 or soft clay, is, he says, the most desirable, and 

 would be the least expensive of all situations. 

 In this case, the border requires no paving or 

 draining ; and admits of a proper mixture of 

 sandy loam, vegetable mould, marie, and dung, 

 by the removal of two feet of the natural bot- 

 tom, with the natural soil, to form a border, 

 perfectly adapted to the growth of the vine, in 

 the following proportion, viz. One half strong 

 brown loam, a quarter light sandy loam, an 

 eighth vegetable mould of decaved tree leaves, 

 and an eighth stable dung; to which add about 

 a fiftieth part of shell niarle. This is the com- 

 position, he says, of the vine borders at Wemyss 

 Castle, none of which are less than four feet 

 deep, and one (owing; to the accidental situation 

 of the house) is six." See Forcing of Vines. 



In order to form borders against these hot- 

 walls in other cases, they should have the earth 

 taken out two feet deep where the ground is dry, 

 but in other cases one foot will be sufficient, as in 

 wet sills the borders should be raised at least 

 two feet above the level of the ground, to pre- 

 vent the roots of the vines from being inju- 

 red by the wet. The bottom of this trench 

 5 



should be filled with stones, lime rubbish, &c., 

 a foot and a half or two feet in thickness, which 

 should be levelled and beaten down pretty hard, 

 to prevent the roots from running downward. 

 The trenches should be made five feet wide at 

 least, otherwise the roots will in a few years 

 extend themselves beyond the rubbish, and, 

 finding an easy passage downwards, run into 

 the moist ground, and be thereby much injured 

 or destroyed; but before the rubbish is filled 

 into the trench, it is a better method to raise a 

 nine-inch wall, at that distance from the hot- 

 wall, which will keep the rubbish from inter- 

 mixing with the neighbouring earth, and also 

 confine the roots to the border in which they 

 are planted. This wall should be raised to the 

 height of the intended border, and may be use- 

 ful to lay the plate of timber of the frames upon, 

 which will be necessary to cover the vines with 

 when they are forced ; and where the borders 

 are raised to any considerable height above the 

 level of the ground, these walls may preserve the 

 earth of the borders from falling down into the 

 walks ; but in carrying them up it will be proper 

 to leave little openings about eight or ten feet 

 distant, to let the water pass off by. As soon as 

 the wails are finished and thoroughly dry, the 

 rubbish should be filled in, as directed above, 

 when there should be fresh light earth laid upon 

 it two feet thick, which will be a sufficient depth 

 of mould for the vines to root in. The borders 

 should be prepared in this manner at least a month 

 or six weeks before the vines are planted, in order 

 that they may have time to settle. See Vitis. 



VIOLA, a genus containing plants of the 

 herbaceous fibrous-rooted perennial kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Sy agenesia 

 Monogamia (Penta?id>ia Monogynia) , and ranks 

 in the natural order of Campanacece . 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 leaved perianth, short, permanent : leaflets 

 ovate-oblong, erect, more acute at the tip, ob- 

 tuse at the base, fastened above the base, equal, 

 but variously disposed : of which two support 

 the uppermost petal, two others each a second 

 and third lateral petals, and the remaining one, 

 the two lowest petals together : the corolla five- 

 petalled, irregular : petals unequal : the upper- 

 most petal straight, turned downwards, wider, 

 blunter, emarginate, finishing at the base in a 

 blunt horned nectary, prominent between the 

 leaflets of the calyx : the two lateral ones paired, 

 opposite, obtuse, straight : the two lowest 

 paired, bigger, reflexed upwards : the stamina 

 have five filaments, very small ; two of them, 

 which are nearest to the uppermost petal, enter 

 the nectary by annexed appendages : anthers 

 commonly connected, obtuse, increased by 



