324 VILLA GARDENING tart iv 



season ; and the water will be an excellent medium for conveying 

 to the roots any stimulant the plants may need. It is possible to 

 over-feed, but vines -will take up a great deal of nourishment at the 

 time the Grapes are swelling without being surfeited. This is a 

 matter which each must discover for himself, for it is impossible to 

 gauge the capacity of vines for useful feeding without personal 

 knowledge. It may be safely conceded that large gouty-looking 

 berries which lack colom- have been overdone in the matter of 

 stimulants. This is where judgment should come in. Some 

 people can never leave well alone. They have been watering, say, 

 with guano, or some quickly-acting stimulant ; they can see the 

 rapidly-swelling berries, and fancy, as they are on the right track, 

 that they cannot go too flir. Moderation in the use of stimulants 

 should be insisted on, until the capacity of the plants for employ- 

 ing it profitably has been rightly estimated. The apjDlication of 

 fire-heat, for the purpose of giving the thick-skinned sorts a good 

 .start, is very desirable, and it should not be altogether discon- 

 tinued till the weather has settled down, in the end of June or 

 beginning of Jvdy. Regidarity and steadiness is better in every 

 case than working by fits and starts. A flue is not a bad 

 thing for warming a late vinery, even though it be old-fashioned. 

 It is possible, sometimes, to take the flue from some other building 

 through the late vinery. In such case there must be a damper in 

 the flue to shut off" the heat from the house when not required. 

 When in good condition the flue gives oft" a nice dry, genial warmth, 

 very suitable for a late vinery, and is very economical, for, if rightly 

 constructed, it will burn anything. The ventilation and the sup- 

 ply of atmosjiheric moisture are two of the most important items 

 in their summer management, for, no matter how the border may 

 be made, unless the interior management be right the result will 

 not be satisfactory. To give tables of temperatiu-e would not 

 exactly meet the case, because what is really needed is intelligent 

 supervision. For instance, in admitting air, we will say, on a 

 spring or summer morning, one man may keep the house shut up 

 and steaming with moisture till the thermometer reaches a par- 

 ticidar figure, and then, by letting down the lights too far, let in a 

 rush of chilling air, which does a lot of mischief. Ventilation 

 shoidd be gi-adual, and ought to begin early. The openings should 

 be small at first, but increased as the sun gains power upon the 

 glass. If taken in time, the air will gradually be changed without 

 creating any draught. In the afternoon the air should be reduced 

 in like manner by degi'ees, and whatever forcing is done with sun 

 heat should take place in the afternoon when the atmosphere in 

 the house is sweet and pure. If the thermometer in the afternoon. 



