186 ON PLANTING AND MANAGING 



upon it, for their spoDgioles soon abrade its surface, 

 and appropriate its particles to their nourishment and 

 support. The same process do they effectually per- 

 form on the bricks and mortar. 



And with reference to bones, the direct nutriment 

 which they afford is more lasting in its nature than 

 any other known substance. And all these substances 

 lying thus close together, within a small compass, are 

 at the immediate command of the vines, the roots of 

 which have not to traverse through a vast mass of soil 

 in search of food, by which their growth is frequently 

 impeded and an injurious check thereby given to the 

 vital energies of the vines. The roots, indeed, are 

 surrounded by all the conditions necessary to create 

 in them a healthy action. They lie warm, for the 

 temperature which they enjoy is many degrees higher 

 than that of common soil, and at the same time they 

 are beyond the reach of all sudden atmospheric 

 changes. The shoots which they produce will always 

 be short-jointed, and therefore fruitful, because of their 

 comparative slowness of growth. 



The practical advantages of these conditions are, 

 that vines growing in the enjoyment of them, may be 

 forced with perfect safety, six weeks sooner than they 

 could be under ordinary circumstances. And, as a 

 crowning advantage, a bed of materials for the recep- 

 tion of the roots of vines put together in the manner 

 here recommended, when once made, is made, if not for 

 ever, at least for a long series of years. 



A brief recapitulation of the numerous advantages 

 resulting from the practice of planting vines wthin a 

 house, and surrounding their roots with conditions more 

 in accordance with those that exist in their native 

 country, having now been made, a few words may be 

 offered, in reference to that large class of glass erec- 

 tions which abound throughout the country, namely, 



