54 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to deceive tlie more careless and negligent grower as to the abuse 

 it will endure, any injury not being readily perceived. 



The grape is indigenous to this country, and in its wild state 

 grows vigorously, often covering the tops of large trees and pro- 

 ducing fruit abundantly ; yet it is keenly sensitive to cold, and 

 the wild fruit is not unfrequently destroyed by the September 

 frosts. Except in peculiarl}' favored locations we are situated 

 upon the northern limit where the grape can be successfully grown 

 without protection, and here the earlier and hardier varieties, 

 grown in vineyards selected with especial view to every advantage 

 which location and soil can give, frequently prove, as last year, 

 almost a total loss. 



The frequent failures and disappointments with the grape in 

 open culture during the past few j'cars have led to a very general 

 inquiry, " How can we protect and grow successfully the better 

 varieties of grapes with the least care and expense ?" 



The object of this paper will be to answer this inquiry by in- 

 viting discussion to the construction of cheaper houses, and to 

 less expensive management than is generally given to growing the 

 foreign or exotic grape. The cultivation of grapes under glass is 

 generally considered a work of much care and uncertainty, re- 

 quiring the services of a skilful gardener ; but I believe that from 

 the amount of labor and skill often given to out-door culture, 

 larger returns in both quantity and quality might reasonably be 

 expected under glass. The roots of the Hamburg vine will grow 

 in any place where those of the Concord will grow, and experience 

 proves that, for cold house culture, the roots of one require no more 

 protection during winter than those of the other. The tops only 

 require protection, and as it is necessary to retain the light and to 

 be able to increase and control the heat, houses constructed mostly 

 of glass must be used. Grapes may be grown under glass with an 

 aspect anywhere between east and west towards the south, but the 

 form of house and aspect most favorable, is the common lean-to, 

 facing south or southeast. As the heat in the house will be in- 

 creased from ten to twentj' degrees above that in the open air, it 

 is desirable that the temperature of the ground in which the roots 

 are growing should have a corresponding increase, and with a 

 house facing due south, the border will receive the rays of the sun 

 more directly and for a longer time, than in any other situation ; 

 while for the vines inside the house, the morning sun being more 



