1G6 PLANTING AND MANAGING 



ponent. Wherever charcoal is pJaced in situations 

 that exclude the atmospheric air, dryness can never 

 enter. It is said to be under such circumstances 

 indestructible; but that is not the case when the 

 roots of vines fasten upon it, for their spongioles soon 

 abrade its surface, and appropriate the particles to 

 their nourishment and support. The same process do 

 they effectually perform on the bricks and mortar. 



And with reference to bones, the direct nutriment 

 which they afford is more lasting in its nature than 

 that of 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 

 reception of the roots of vines put together in the 

 manner here recommended, when once made, is made, 

 if not forever, at least for a long series of years. 



A brief recapitulation of the numerous advantages 

 resulting from the practice of planting vines within 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 

 erections which abound throughout the country, name- 



