i8o Commercial Gardening 



industry with a view to making Vines a special crop should do his very 

 best to get a really good soil and subsoil; and failing the best of soils 

 as far as fertility is concerned, to make the natural drainage of the site 

 the most vital point. Strict enquiries should be made as to the height 

 the water stands at in the wells in the district, and the place should 

 certainly be visited in the winter, and holes be dug on the proposed 

 site to see if water lies within a short distance from the surface. 



Having decided on the land, the first thing to be done is to drain 

 the ground most thoroughly. If the lie of the land admits, a main 

 drain should be carried along just outside the ends of the houses when 

 they are up. This arrangement serves a double purpose, for provision 

 is thus made for carrying off the waste water from the tanks and 

 gutters and the drainage from the borders at the same time. It is not 

 good practice in draining to take side drains into a main at right 

 angles; but in such a case it cannot be helped; the fault can be mini- 

 mized by having the last pipe of the branch drains curved. The main 

 drain should be put at a good depth to allow of the branch drains down 

 the site for each house being set at the depth of the border. Three feet 

 would be sufficient for most soils, but if the subsoil is at all stiff and 

 retentive, and lies nearer the surface than this, the pipes should be covered 

 with clinker to the beginning of the surface soil, thus allowing free 

 drainage without bringing the pipes too near the Vine roots. In the 

 case of a stiff retentive subsoil it is a good plan to build the walls of 

 the houses rather higher than usual, to allow of the borders being made 

 up 1 ft. or so with extra soil. Where early work is to be attempted 

 this is always an advantage, as the roots are much more under control. 

 The number of drains to lay will depend entirely upon the nature of 

 the soil and the width of the houses. The more retentive the soil the 

 closer must be the drains. One drain down each border should be 

 sufficient. 



The question as to what is the best size of house for grape growing 

 is the next to arise. Probably there are more vineries built 25 or 30 ft. 

 wide for market purposes than any other width, though houses of 15 or 

 16 ft. are common, and Vines do very well in them. Above 30 ft. wide 

 houses tend to become unwieldy, and the expense of building is con- 

 siderably increased. Most of our leading nurserymen have, at some time 

 or another, gone in for building giant houses, but in nearly every case 

 they have returned to the more workable sizes. In the same way, the 

 length of a house should not exceed 200 ft., as excessive length creates 

 difficulties in the keeping up of uniform temperatures in all parts of 

 the house, and also in the ventilation, and even the working of the 

 ventilators themselves. In Worthing the favourite size appears to be 

 160 ft. long by 25 or 30 ft. wide. In the north of London the houses 

 run somewhat longer, especially in the big nurseries, 200 ft. being com- 

 mon. From all points of view the most workable size is the Worthing 

 standard. Another important point is whether the houses should be 



