ON VINERIES. 



setting in before morning. If vines are subjected to this 

 treatment, the grapes are certain to shank and be of a 

 bad colour. The fires should be carefully made up at 

 night before retiring to rest. It may be the gardener 

 makes up his fire all right, as he thinks, about nine, 

 ten, or eleven o'clock at night, as the case may be, the 

 weather being then mild, with no sign of frost or cold 

 winds, He bids good-bye to his vines until next morn- 

 ing, when, as is generally his custom, he looks at the 

 thermometer, and to his surprise he finds Mr. Frost in 

 the vinery, — I do not mean Mr. Frost at Dropmore. 1 

 Excessive sulphuring of the hot-water pipes and flues, 

 and harsh firing afterwards, will prevent the grapes from 

 colouring, and will materially assist in bringing about 

 shanking. All this will be readily understood by those 

 who study nature as far as practicable. I wish particularly 

 to impress upon the minds of all who take an interest in 

 the subject, the necessity of strict attention to the above 

 precautions. If they do, I have no hesitation in saying 

 that they will produce grapes which will be an orna- 

 ment to the dessert-table, and meet with the approbation 

 of every one interested in their cultivation. 



1 Mr. Frost of Dropmore is a first-class grape -grower, and is 

 head gardener to the Earl of Fortescue near Windsor Castle. This 

 place is celebrated for the finest Auricaria Irnlirkata in Great 

 Britain and Ireland ; also for splendid Pinuses, which have been 

 more than fifty years under Mr. Frost's management. 



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