11 



with much improved and more natural mode of man- 

 agement in regard to the atmosphere of hothouses, as 

 now practised by our best gardeners, augurs well for 

 vine forcing in future years. Indeed, we see no rea- 

 son why good grapes may not be obtained the whole 

 year round : for, as before stated, the imperfect admis- 

 sion of light through bad glass, the frequency of 

 laps, together with clumsy and heavy structures, 

 constituted the main obstacle under the old system, 

 more especially with regard to early forcing. 



With all deference to the opinion of the late 

 T. A. Knight, who recommends 34 clegs, for the angle 

 of the forcing-house, we are inclined to think that 

 what is termed by workmen the " mitre angle," or 

 4a deg., will be found quite as eligible for general 

 purposes. It will be found, we think, that the inter- 

 nal arrangements will in general be carried out with 

 greater ease. 



The next great point to secure is a permanency of 

 atmospheric moisture under a perfect control. So 

 many plans for this purpose are adopted that it is 

 somewhat difficult to recommend any particular mode 

 as superior to the rest. One mode, however, we 

 would protest against, which is, the producing a sud- 

 den cloud of steam by pouring water on hot flues or 

 pipes. This is by no means so congenial to vegetation 

 as is commonly supposed. Atmospheric moisture 

 thus produced, certainly cannot be considered a pro- 



