THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 23 



tered. Under the ridge-pole must be the studs to support this, 

 and these shoukl be twelve feet in the clear between the ridge- 

 pole and the sill, and here should be a dou])le partition of plas- 

 ter to separate the front of the house from the back. The 

 rafters and the ridge-pole must be finished -with a capping 

 board. There are to be two doors, one at each end, two feet 

 eight inches wide, of glass ; the ends are also best of glass,* 

 and the sashes should be permanently secured. Gutters may 

 be placed under the roof to lead the rainwater where desired. 

 Sohd brick work may be substituted for the support of the 

 sills, leaving spaces six inches s.^uare for the stems of the 

 vines to be brought through. The back wall may also be 

 built of brick or stone, but they would be more costly con- 

 structed in this way. 



A house built, as above described, on stone posts, in the 

 plainest manner, but of good materials and workmanship, and 

 well painted, would cost about eight dollars per running foot. 

 The heating apparatus would be in addition ; also, the expense 

 of preparing the border, purchasing the vines, and the plant- 

 ing of them out. The cost of the border, and of the heating 

 apparatus, must vary according to the natural soil, and the 

 purposes to which the house is to be put. Making a border 

 twenty-five or thirty feet wide, and three feet deep, is an ex- 

 pensive work, and will vary from one to two dollars per foot. 

 The same remark will hold true with the heating of the 

 house ; a grapery forced in winter, (that is, in December,) 

 will, in a severely cold climate, require a very expensive ap- 

 paratus ; a furnace and flue, for forwarding and protecting 

 the vines in the spring or autumn, is a simple and cheap 

 aifair, and the cost w^ill vary, according to the amount of heat 

 required, from one dollar to three dollars per foot. 



I think ten dollars the running foot is the lowest price at 

 which a plain grapery, with a simple furnace, can be built, with 

 vines planted, and all complete ; and this cost can be increased, 



* Double \vindovvs, or shutters, should be used on the ends, if the house is for 

 forcing^. 



