INTRODUCTION. 



INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



There are several works published in England, written by 

 practical men, giving ample directions for the cultivation of 

 the grape in that country ; but the climate of the Northern 

 States of America is so different from that of England, that, 

 however well calculated these directions may be for the latter, 

 they can hardly be expected to suit the former. The tem- 

 perature of England is milder, and is not subject to the great 

 extremes of heat and cold which we experience. The search- 

 ing northwesterly winds, which prevail with us in New Eng- 

 land in the Avinter and early spring months, with the mercury 

 often at zero, and even below that point, and the sudden 

 changes we are liable to, in this season of the year, often 

 equal to forty degrees in a few hours, render the care requi- 

 site, for the successful forced culture of fruit, very great, and 

 the process a more difficult one, in this country, than in 

 England.* .^ 



* Mr. Hovey, in his Magazine of Horticulture, quotes the above passage, with this 

 remark relative thereto : " In regard to the ' more difficult' process of producing the 

 grape, in tJiis cuimtry, the SMlhoT undoubtedly alludes to early forcing; for vi-e ap- 

 prehend that, in cold houses, the process requires as little care, if not much less, than 

 in England." I cannot imagine how any one could doubt the meaning of this ex- 

 j)ression ; for, after mentioning the e.xtreme changes in winter and spring, the mer- 

 cury falling to zero, (wliich it can nei'er be expected to do when the grapes are growing 

 in a cold house,) is added these words : " render the care requisite, for the successful 

 FORCED culture of fruit, very great, and the process a more difficult one," &c. If 

 Mr. Hovey considers growing grapes under glass, without fire heat, forcing them, he 

 differs from me, in what forcing is. (See Remarks on Forcing.) 



The care necessary, is in the regulation of the temperature of the Forcing House 

 in the daytime, under the particular circumstances referred to. Good judgment, 

 some e.xperience, and much caution, arc requisite in the proper ventilation of the 

 house at these times. For instance, the mercury, in the open air, has been, during 

 ihc night, 0° or 10° below zero ; to keep the temperature of the house at 45° or 50°, 



