PEACH HOUSE. 331 



ible than numbers of small and ill-ripened bunches of grapes, 

 smeared as they often are, with dust and honey dew. 

 Avarice not unfrequently cheats itself in this matter ; and 

 it generally happens in the vinery, as elsewhere, that not 

 he who desires most obtains most. The ripening, color, 

 and flavor of grapes on the tree are said to be promoted by 

 removing a portion of the foliage ; this is to be done, how- 

 ever, Jy after the fruit has attained full size ; and by 

 some it is, with apparent justice, alleged that the" foliage 

 ought never to be abridged. If it be abundant, and ex^ 

 posed to the sun, the grapes will come to perfection although 

 shaded by the foliage. Sometimes the berries, when swell- 

 ing, seem suddenly arrested in their progress to maturity, 

 and remain stunted and shriveled. This affection is called 

 shanking by gardeners, and is generally ascribed to damp 

 and noisome vapor, or the want of due circulation of pure 

 air. 



The forcing of the earliest vinery may commence in 

 January. At first the temperature may vary from 50 to 

 55 Fahrenheit in the mornings and evenings. When the 

 buds have burst, it may be raised to 70, and in the flower- 

 ing season it may be kept at 75. At this period it is 

 necessary that the air should be preserved moist by frequent 

 steamings. Upon the appearance of color in the fruit, the 

 waterings should cease, and air be copiously admitted. In 

 the early vineries, it is necessary to continue the fire-heat 

 without intermission : in the^ later houses this is not re- 

 quired, but it must be used occasionally, even in warm 

 weather, to obviate the effects of damp. 



THE PEACH-HOUSE. A peach-house, intended to be 

 commanded by one furnace, is generally about forty feet 

 long, ten or twelve feet wide, and fourteen feet high ; but 



