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may be constructed very cheaply. The simplest and cheapest kind of 

 Grape house is what is known as the Lean to. A useful house of this 

 kind may be constructed as follows : Dimensions, thirty feet in length, 

 fifteen in width, with a back wall ten feet high, and the front one two 

 feet. These walls may be simply composed of boards fixed to posts, 

 but, if convenient, it will be better to make them of brick or stone. 

 A wooden plate or cap is fixed on the top of the walls to receive the 

 rafters, and upon these fixed sashes rest. Ventilation is provided by- 

 openings at the top of the back and front walls fitted with wooden 

 shutters upon hinges which open outward, as shown by the illustrationT 



A Span-roof Grape house has the front and back walls of equal 

 height, as shown by the illustration, and may be constructed as 

 simply as the Lean-to, with the exception of the ridge, to receive the 

 roof. In a house of this class it is also necessary to have openings in 

 the ridge filled with shutters to afford the necessary ventilation. 



Forcing Houses. These are structures which can be heated 

 artificially to hasten growth and bring Grapes to maturity earlier in 

 the season than they can be obtained in the ordinary way. Houses 

 of this description may be constructed on the same lines as recom- 

 mended for cold structures, but it is necessary that the walls and 

 other parts should be more solid as a protection against the external 

 cold air and to enable the internal temperature to be easily kept up 

 to the proper standard. Heat is applied by means of hot water pipes 

 fixed low down on the inside of the walls, and supplied from a boiler 

 placed outside the building. Very cheap and effective boilers of 

 various forms are now available, and the cost of heating a Grape 

 house need not be a very expensive item. 



TREATMENT OP VINES UNDER GLASS. 



Vines under glass, either in cold or forcing houses, should in the 

 first place be trained so that the branches will cover the whole of the 

 roof surface. The methods best adapted for the purpose are the 

 "Thomery" and the "Extended Long Bod," both of which have 

 been fully described in the section upon Training, page 38. A wire 

 trellis or rods should be fixed six or eight inches below the rafters 

 for the support of the branches, taking care that they are securely 

 tied from time to time as growth progresses. In order to prevent 

 scorching, the inside of the glass should be thinly smeared with 

 whitening or some similar material shortly after growth has started. 

 Air must be admitted freely, and more especially after the fruit has 

 set. While the plants are in blossom the houses ought to be kept 

 somewhat closer and warmer than usual, and at this time it is not 

 advisable to wet or sprinkle the foliage. At all other times the 

 syringe may be used freely with advantage, and more especially on 

 harsh drying days. In heated houses growth should be started at a 

 temperature of from 60 to 65 Fah., and this must be kept up till 

 the bunches are well developed. As a matter of course, as the 

 weather increases in warmth the fire heat may be reduced in 



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