38 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 



Grape s^rowing under jjlass is not such an cxpensixe lu\ur\ as it niiglit seem 

 to tlic uninitiated. Naturally, it costs a little more to produce extra early fruit; 

 still it is this same early fruit that is so highly prized. Some people still ha\e 

 the opinion that fruit grown under glass is of interior quality, but the rich men 

 are waking up to the fact that Grapes produced in their own home greenhouses 

 are unexcelled for beauty of appearance and richness of llavor, as they are allowed 

 to remain on the \ine until fully matured, and are sent to the table within an 

 liour after being cut from the \ine. 1 ha\e heard it argued more than once: \\ lu' 

 go to the expense of growing fruit under glass \-ourself, w hen sou can purchase 

 it so cheaply in the open market.^ But those who ask such questions do not 

 really know the hothouse product. 



Taking up now the culture of the Grape vine from the time that the house 

 is started until the Grapes are ripe, we are confronted with many details. In 

 the first place, it must be understood that newly planted vines should not be 

 started up until about the first of March, for so doing any earlier would simply 

 be a waste of coal and as well would injure the young vines. It is best to accli- 

 matize the vines gradually to the forcing process. After they have been forced 

 a few seasons, they can, if necessary, be started in the middle of December, and 

 with the temperatures that I will give later ripe Grapes may be had at any time 

 from the ist to the loth of May. 



Three compartments are required for a continuous succession of fruit through- 

 out the season, one each for early, midseason and late vaiieties. With such fa- 

 cilities at command there should be a steady supply of Giapes for at least eight 

 months out of the twelve. If we have our three compartments, the early house 

 should be started in the middle of December, the midseason house in the first 

 week of February, and the late house the first of April. I recommend a mod- 

 erate temperature when first starting a house, especially in Midwinter, when 

 the sap ii very sluggish. It takes some patience to go into the house day after 

 day and see no apparent change, yet we are gradually acclimatizing our ^•ines to 

 their season's work, although it takes a month to detect the mo\e. Under 

 these conditions beware of rushing on too much heat. 



The method I have followed for many years with success sufficient to recom- 

 mend it is to start w^ith a temperature of 45° to 50° at night, with a rise of 10° 

 during the day, rising five degrees every twelve or fourteen days until 65° is 

 reached at night and 75° by day. This will be sufficient to carry the vines until 

 they begin to bloom. Then a temperature of "0° by night and of 80° by day 

 is in order; from this time on nothing will be gained by further raising the 

 temperature. 



AIRING THE HOUSE 



At the same time the house should be aired. While this mav seem a simple 

 operation to the inexperienced, much depends on the \\a\ ol doing it. The 

 hothouse plant is subject to catching cold if not kept in a fairly steady tem- 

 perature. The man in charge of a grapery must watch the airing very closely, 

 particularly in the Spring months; and the only man adapted for this work is 



