142 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



the one shown in annexed illustration, will 

 be found most convenient, and where cost 

 is no objection, should be given the prefer- 

 ence to the lean-to style, such as the reader 

 may picture for himself, if he will imagine 

 one-half of the span roof (cut through the 

 peak) placed against a solid wall, with 

 Grape vines set along the latter. 



Briclc walls, as here shown, make a sub- 

 stantial, and decidedly the best foundation 

 for the sides; but good posts (Locust, Red 

 Cedar, etc.) set in the ground four feet apart 

 may be used as cheaper substitutes. Two 

 lines of 3x3 scantling are laid across the 

 rafters, at about equal dis- 

 tance from plate, between 

 one another, and from ridge 

 piece. The sash bars, at 

 about eight inches apart, rest 

 upon these scantlings. The 

 width of this house should 

 be about 18 feet. Chances 

 for thorough ventilation may 

 be provided in the manner 

 suggested in the illustration. 



Thorough preparation of 

 the soil (border) in which the 

 vines are to be planted, is 

 one of the chief points of 

 importance, and indispensa 

 ble for the best success. The f 

 whole natural ground six to 

 twenty feet wide on each 

 side of the house, and pre -j-jHlS^fc^ 

 f erably over the entire inside ' ' "? -" ■■ ■ti---3"»^ 

 also, should be removed 

 to the depth of two feet, (German growers 

 recommend a depth of four and a half feet); 

 a lot of coarse rubbish, pebbles, gravel, etc., 

 with several lines of tile for thorough drain- 

 age laid in the bottom, and the excavation 

 again filled up with a mixtiire of rotted 

 turf, rich loam or leaf mold, old dried pond 

 mud, and well-rotted cow manure, if possi- 

 ble with some addition of bone dust and 

 lime rubbish. Such things as old leather, 

 rags, wool waste, plaster from old walls, 

 old bones, sweepings, and in fact all rub- 

 bish of a similar character, will serve a 

 good purpose if placed directly upon the 

 drainage material in the bottom. The walls 

 for the sides must be left with sufBcient 

 openings to give roots a chance for feeding 

 both inside and outside of the Grapery. 



Varieties to Plant. Black Hamburg 

 is the leading and most reliable variety for 

 planting in an unheated Grapery. Other 

 reliable sorts are Royal Muscadine, Buck- 

 land's Sweetwater, White Frontignan, 

 Trentham Black and Charlesworth Tokay,to 

 which may further be added Lady Downe's 

 Seedling, Muskat Hamburg, Red Chasselas, 

 Bowood Muskat, Early Auvergne, Golden 

 Hamburg, etc. 



Planting and Cake. A well ripened 

 one year old vine, started from single eye 

 and grown in pot, is preferable to one of 

 greater age. Such plants may be procured 

 from our leading nurserymen. Set them in 

 May, when buds are just ready to start, 

 either outside the house, drawing the tops 

 through the openings in the wall to the in- 

 side, or with roots inside, one plant to each 

 rafter which brings them four feet apart. 



In November or December the single 

 cane which was allowed to grow the first 

 season, and trained along the rafter, is to 

 be cut back to within three or four feet of 

 the ground, or at about the bottom of the 

 rafter. A bunch or two might be grown 

 the next season, but for the good of the 

 vine it will be much better to allow only 

 the single cane to grow, training this to the 

 rafter as before. In November or Decem- 

 ber the cane is cut back to about eight feet 

 from the ground, and tlie season following 

 will bear a good crop on the lower laterals 

 or side shoots, while the leading cane is 

 again allowed to grow to the top. The next 



(fourth) season the vine will be strong 

 enough to bear a full crop the entire length 

 of the rafter. 



The system of pruning and training usu- 

 ally atlopted is simple, and known as the 

 "spur" system. One main cane is trained 

 up along the rafter, up to the top, and the 

 laterals, which constitute the bearing wood, 

 are annually cut back to one eye. 



The vines need some [protection during 

 winter to insure their entire safety. They 

 should be unfastened from the wires or 

 supports, laid down upon the ground and 

 covered six or eight Inches deep with sand 



B O R D 



R 



A SPAN ROOF COLD GRAPERY. 



or soil. Or a kind of trough may be formed 

 by setting up a line of boards eighteen 

 inches from the wall, the vines laid down 

 in this, and the space filled up with this 

 soil. Guard against mice. 



Chief Requisites. These, during growth, 

 are (1) the maintainance of proper tempera- 

 ture, which should be not less than sixty- 

 five degrees P'ahr. at night, or eighty to 

 eighty-five degrees during the day; (3) co- 

 pious watering outside in dry weather; (3) 

 damp atmosphere, by sprinkling the floor 

 inside, except during the period of flower- 

 ing and fruit setting, when watering should 

 be dispensed with; (4) thorough ventilation 

 at top, and when necessary at the bottom 

 during clear, hot weather; (5) judicious sum- 

 mer pruning by pinching laterals to one 

 leaf; (f>) thinning the fruit when about the 

 size of a Pea by carefully clipping out one- 

 third of the smaller berries, with a pair of 

 pointed scissors, in order to allow those re- 

 maining room to swell out to full size; (7) 

 cleaning and washing the vines with a so- 

 lution of soft soap and tobacco water at the 

 time of laying down for wintei:, as a protec- 

 tion from insects; (S) the tree use of sulphur 

 as a preventive of mildew. 



The cold Grapery may also be utilized 

 during winter in various ways. Many half- 

 hardy plants, such as Roses, Pomegranates, 

 Oranges, and others may be here stored, 

 with pots or tubs well covered over with 

 leaves or other materials, and thus safely 

 wintered. Or it may .serve as a pleasure 

 resort for poultry when the weather would 

 not permit them to he much out doors. 



The Warm or Heated Grapery. For 

 forcing Grapes in artificially warmed 

 bouses, to come in early, a well constructed 

 lean-to will be found useful, but span roofed 

 houses are also popular and serviceable. 

 The grower may select whichever system of 

 heating he deems preferable. Hot water or 

 steampipes should lay upon the ground, or 

 near the surface, and not far from the cen- 

 tre line of building. 



If fruit is desired by May, forcing should 

 be begun in December or January. The 

 boards outside should be well covered up 

 with leaves and coarse manure to keep the 

 temperature of the soil at about sixty de- 

 grees Fahr. Heat should never be applied 



inside while the roots of the vines outside 

 are yet frozen. 



For the first three weeks at the be- 

 ginning of the forcing process the inside 

 temperature should be held at about fifty 

 degrees, with ten or fifteen degrees higher 

 during the day. Gradually increase to sixty- 

 five degrees at night, with the correspond- 

 ingly higher temperature in day time, until 

 the buds begin to develop. This will take 

 about five or six weeks. When the fruit 

 has begun to set, which will be in about 

 four or five weeks more, the temperature is 

 raised to seventy or seventy-flve degrees at 

 night, with ten or fifteen de- 

 grees more during the day. 

 Proper attention has to be 

 paid to thinning, pruning, 

 airing, etc., as described for 

 the cold Grapery. The pipes 

 may also be painted from 

 the very beginning with a 

 mixture of sulphur and lin- 

 seed oil, as a preventive of 

 mildew and red spider. 



The following varieties are 

 most suitable for forcing in 

 heated structures: Black 

 Hamburg, Muscat of Alex- 

 andria, Maddresfleld Court 

 ^ Muscat, Trentham Black, 

 - Muscat Hamburg, Golden 

 Champion; for late, Barba- 

 ^, -?£ rossa, and Lady Downe's 

 Seedling; for early, Chasse- 

 las de Fontainebleau, etc. 

 Black Hamburg and Alexandria are the 

 most profltable for market. 



Grapes in Late Forcing Houses. Houses 

 of same construction, and heating arrange- 

 ment are used for late forcing. Fruit is 

 here desired from November on, and the 

 first aim must be to retard vegetation in 

 spring by every available means. The 

 house should be covered as soon as the frnit 

 is off the vines, to exclude the warming sun 

 rays, kept open on cold days, and closed on 

 warm days. The frozen ground outside 

 may be deluged with water, and when this 

 has frozen, covered with leaves and manure 

 to keep the frost in, and retard the begin- 

 ning of the new growth as long as possibly 

 can be done. During summer also the house 

 is kept as cool as circumstances will allow. 

 At the approach of cool autumn weather 

 the fires must be started, and greater heat 

 provided from the time that the fruit begins 

 to color. Ripe fruit may then be had in 

 November, and with proper handling 

 through the winter. 



"^f^^^.^/fritrr^tgl , 



Station Horticulture. Experiment Station 

 Bulletin No. 4 of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture is one of more than usual importance. 

 It contains a list of the horticulturists at the 

 various experiment stations, together with the 

 lines of work undertaken by each. The publica- 

 tion of these plans cannot but be productive of 

 good results in suggesting desirable lines of 

 work, in the avoidance of unnecessary duplica- 

 tion, and iierhaps in some cases leading to direct 

 co-operation. No co-operation work is pro- 

 posed in the buUetin except the distribution of 

 plants and seeds and the solicitation of certain 

 kinds in return. The names of forty-two 

 stutions are given, of which twelve have either 

 undertaken no work in partic\ilar or have made 

 no report. The principal work at most of the 

 stations is to be the testing of varieties of fruits 

 and vegetables, and a special effort is made to 

 induce originatf)rs to furnish new varieties to 

 the stations for trial. Seventeen stations intend 

 to give attention to synonymy. Only two propose 

 to do anything with seed testing. The improve- 

 ment of varieties by selection, and to a less 

 extent by crossing, will be an important work at 

 many of the stations. The improvement of 

 native wild fruits will receive special attention 

 at one station and limited attention at several 

 others. Plant diseases will be studied mainly by 

 the station botanists and by those holding the 

 office of both botanist and horticulturist.-^..4.C. 



