CULTURE OF THE FOREIGN GRAPE. 61 



To those who have limited grounds and cannot afford the room 

 necessary for a house and border, or to others who cannot afford 

 the expense necessary in the construction of a house, but who 

 still desire to cultivate foreign grapes, the ground vineries afford 

 an opportunity at an expense scarcely greater than that given to 

 more hardy kinds in ordinary garden culture. These vineries, in 

 substantially their present form, were introduced in England in 

 1860, by Thomas Rivers. They are miniature span-roof houses, 

 those first used by Mr. Rivers being seven feet long, thirty inches 

 wide, slope of roof twenty inches, and depth from centre of roof 

 sixteen inches. These were placed upon a row of bricks upon 

 each side for a foundation, and ventilation was given by leaving 

 open spaces between the bricks ; also by small openings in the ends 

 near the ridge of the roof. The roots of the vine were planted at 

 the end of the house and the top taken in between the bricks. 

 Mr. Rivers soon found, as the vines gained in size and strength, 

 that by leaving out the ends and connecting one house with an- 

 other he could extend his vines indefinitely. After five years' 

 experience he writes as follows, under date of September 8th, 

 1865 : " A fine vine here of the Trentham Black Grape, occupies 

 five seven feet lengths, and is of course thirty-five feet long. This 

 is bearing fifty nice sized bunches of grapes, now fully ripe. An- 

 other vine, the Black Hamburg, is also bearing a fine crop of sixty- 

 three medium sized bunches, the grapes full sized, finely colored, 

 and fast approaching to ripeness. There seems to be a most 

 agreeable and animating prospect of these neat looking and most 

 useful structures occupying thousands of small gardens, and giving 

 the luxury of fine, ripe grapes to many who are capable of appre- 

 ciating and enjoying them." 



These vineries have come into very general use in England, and 

 I believe are even better adapted to use here than they are there, 

 as the larger proportion of bright sunny days with us would be 

 especially favorable for ripening the fruit in this class of houses. 

 A neighbor of mine had some houses of this kind built in 1871. 

 They were of the following dimensions : six feet long, four feet 

 wide, slope of roof three feet, and depth in centre two feet four 

 inches. The order for these houses was given to a carpenter who 

 had had no experience in this work, and they were furnished at a 

 cost of six dollars and seventy-five cents each. If any considera- 

 ble number were wanted now they could probably be supplied for 



