1 8 THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE 



with two squares same size glass, a transom, one and a 

 half inches by three inches, being cut to fit in between 

 and flush with both the upper and lower surfaces of the 

 rafters, so as to enable the ventilators to shut down 

 quite close on them. 



The brickwork prepared in readiness for the erection 

 of the structure which is now, so to speak, ready for 

 fixing, should be back wall, fifteen feet by fourteen 

 inches ; front wall, three feet by nine inches, the latter 

 being built on arches, in order to afford the roots free 

 access to the outside border. Of course this only applies 

 to vineries having prepared borders inside and out, with 

 the vines planted in the inside border, both walls being 

 built on concrete footings. 



In constructing a span-roofed house, of course, a ridge 

 one and a half inches by seven inches will be necessary 

 (this being grooved in a line with the bed of the rafters 

 to receive the top square of glass) ; capping, one inch 

 by five inches, and an additional purline placed as re- 

 commended above. The width of spans, like " lean- 

 tos " and "three-quarter spans," varies according to the 

 requirements, as well as to the fancies and means of 

 garden proprietors. However, a suitable size may be 

 found in an erection twenty feet wide inside the walls, 

 with front ventilating sashes two feet deep and about 

 three feet wide, so as to correspond with the width of 

 the two bays immediately above them in the roof; the 

 rafters being fifteen feet long, the lower plate resting 

 on a nine-inch wall, rising one foot above the floor-line 

 of the house. This will give a clear space of thirteen 

 feet between pathway and bottom of ridge, and an angle 

 of about fifty degrees to the sun. A span ten feet 

 wider, with twenty feet rafters, will afford a clear space 

 of over seventeen feet between ridge and floor-line, and 

 give an angle of about forty-five degrees to the sun. 

 Span-houses, as a matter of course, should be provided 



