182 ON PLANTING AND MANAGING 



floor might, indeed, be laid in this manner, without 

 any of the joints of the bricks being cemented, but this 

 plan would be very injurious to the roots, for the fol- 

 lowing reason : soon after the roots begin to traverse 

 the bed of mateiials, a great number of them will ram- 

 ble upwards until they reach the under surface of the 

 brick flooring, being attracted thereto by the warmth 

 of the atmosphere of the house, and also by solar in- 

 fluence. When the roots once get there, they will 

 quickly multiply by thousands, and feed on the under 

 surface of the bricks of the floor, because it will be 

 warmer and moister than any other part of their bed. 

 The increased moisture of the flooring-bricks will be 

 caused by those copious sprinklings on the floor of the 

 house, which are so advantageously given to vines 

 under glass, from the time of the setting of the fruit 

 until the berries are about to swell off, and which, by 

 creating a moist atmosphere at night, enable the fruit 

 and foliage to absorb that additional nourishment which 

 they stand so much in need of at this particular period 

 of their growth. A considerable portion of the water 

 thus sprinkled on the floor will find its way down to the 

 under surface of the bricks, and consequently it will 

 thus be seen that what is so extremely beneficial to the 

 fruit is also equally beneficial to the roots. If the 

 flooring-bricks, therefore, were to be taken up at any 

 time after the roots of the vines had become well 

 established, this grand source of nourishment to them 

 would be entirely cut off. One course of moveable 

 bricks, therefore, running along the middle of each 

 compartment containing one vine will be sufficient for 

 the purpose before mentioned. When the flooring is 

 finished, the glazing &c. of the house should be done 

 without delay. 



9th. Planting the Vines. When this is intended to 



