34 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



for many years in succession; Onions too 

 sometimes succeed well on the one plat year 

 after year, and the same is sometimes found 

 true of other crops. But these things only 

 show that the conditions of the soil are ex- 

 ceptional, being singularly rich in the par- 

 ticular plant foods required in such cases 

 respectively. It would not be wise to apply 

 that which Is exceptional to general practice. 



The Cold Grapery. 



A fruit grower who had met with the 

 usual easy success in raising foreign Grapes 



credit of Americans. But with all this our 

 Grapes are yet, at their best, much inferior 

 to the magnificent foreign varieties at their 

 best. And while we may reasonably enough 

 expect to see further improvement in the 

 former, it is but proper that we should give 

 the culture of the superior foreigners, by 

 such means as are easily at our command, 

 the attention they deserve. 



The Me.\ns to the End. If we have not 

 a climate suited to the foreign Grape, we at 

 least have the sun and clear summer skies 

 that are friendly to its growth. As a matter 



FIG. 1. SPAN-ROOF COLD 



under glass chiefly for his own use was 

 heard to say: "If every person who liked 

 good Grapes as I do knew how easily and 

 cheaply they could be raised there would in 

 a short time be a thousand Grape houses 

 where now there is a single one." Certain it 

 is that plenty of testimony could be produced 

 to the fact that no addition to a home or 

 fruit garden can for a small outlay be made 

 that will yield such abundant returns as a 

 cold house for raising foreign Grapes. 



About Foreign and Native Grapes. 

 The Grape of the East has a history nearly 

 as ancient as that of man. It stands almost 

 without an equal among the fruits of earth 

 for all that goes to make up delicacy, rich- 

 ness and beauty. It is entirely distinct from 

 our American Grapes, the former being 

 known bolanically as Vitin vim/era; of the 

 latter there are a number of species, the one 

 of chief interest being Vitis Labrusca, and 

 which is the parent of nearly all the Grapes 

 grown in our country. In a dried state the 

 foreign Grapes are well known as the raisins 

 of commerce. The great excellence of these 

 among all dried fruits at once prepares our 

 minds to admit the superiority of the fresh 

 fruit from wliich they come. No American 

 Grape is capable of making a good raisin. 



But unfortunately the climate of temperate 

 America is wholly unsuited to the foreign 

 Grape. Nearly every other fruit of foreign 

 origin (in point of fact about all of our 

 common fruits — Apple, Pear, Cherry, etc., 

 are such) succeed to perfection here, the 

 vine almost alone being exceptional. Its 

 introduction has been attempted times with- 

 out end, from the early colonial settlements 

 down, and as often failing. To have any 

 Grapes, therefore, suited to open air culture 

 in America it was found necessary to turn 

 to the acid, foxy and otherwise unpromising 

 wild species at hand, making the best of these. 



That such marked excellence in improving 

 the wild Grapes of America has down to the 

 present time been attained, as shown by our 

 best native varieties to-day, is greatly to the 



GRAPERY— 18 FEET WIDE. 



of fact it is found, that by putting up almost 

 any kind of glass protection, however rude 

 and inexpensive, and in this planting foreign 

 Grapes, they will thrive here with the great- 

 est ease, freely yielding a superior quality of 

 fruit. Henderson tells of a German in 

 Jersey City, who year after year grew a 

 splendid crop of foreign Black Hamburgs 

 on vines which had been planted against the 

 rear fence of his lot. He did this by keeping 

 over them, to lean against the fence, some 

 old sashes eight feet long. The glass up, and 

 it is barely more trouble to manage a certain 

 number of vines here than in a vineyard. 



A cheap or rude structure, however, is 

 not always the most economical in the end. 

 It may also not be adapted by its appearance 

 to the surroundings, or it may be very 

 awkward to manage. In this article, there- 

 fore, we confine our remarks and illustrations 

 in the main to more substantial, but not 

 needlessly expensive, structures of this kind. 



Cold Grape Houses. First let it be un- 

 derstood that the Cold Grapery, a structure 

 depending entirely upon the sun, and the 

 natural protection of the glass for heat, is 

 what we are here writing about, and recom- 

 mending to Americans. This is distinct 

 from the Early or Forcing Grape House, used 

 for bringing along foreign Grapes by means 

 of artificial heat early in the season merely 

 for the sake of earliness. It is also distinct 

 from the Late House, heated artificially to 

 ripen during the winter the later varieties, 

 and for the mere sake of extreme lateness. 



The best Cold Grape Houses are those 

 made with a span roof, as shown in the ac- 

 companying Figure 1. This structure is 

 built in the most substantial style, with the 

 sides resting on brick walls. The same 

 house with Locust or Red Cedar posts set in 

 the ground at four feet apart, as supports to 

 the sides and rafter plates, would be much 

 cheaper, although lacking somewhat in 

 durability. 



The roof is supported by rafters at about 

 four feet apart, their lower ends resting on 



the plate, and the upper ones meeting the 

 ridge piece. Across these, between top and 

 bottom, are strung two pieces about 3 by 4 

 inches in thickness and the entire length of 

 the house, upon which the glass-bars, at 8 

 inches apart, rest. 



A good width for the house would be 18 

 feet — it might be a little more or less. As to 

 length, any size desired from 20 feet to 75 

 feet or more long would answer. A house 18 

 feet by 35 feet should be built in good style 

 for |400, and this, if properly planted, after 

 the third year ought to easily bear at least 300 

 pounds of prime fruit annually. The house 

 should stand north and south. 



Where there is an available building or 

 other wall located for forming a north or 

 northeast rear part to a grapery, then a lean- 

 to, like Figure 3, answers remarkablj' well 

 and comes cheaper than the span-roof. We 

 call to mind one rude structure of this kind, 

 built, as to glass, of old hot-bed sash sup- 

 ported by rafters, for an outlay of |60, that 

 every year ripens about 200 pounds of splen- 

 did Black Hamburg Grapes. 



The Border. This should be made 

 about two feet deep, and be so thoroughly 

 underdrained that not a drop of water can 

 find lodgment jn it. Some think it best to 

 have the border only on the outside of the 

 walls; we are satisfied that with proper 

 care in watering inside it is best to have 

 both inside and outside borders. In either 

 case the walls must be made with numerous 

 openings below the surface, to admit of the 

 roots freely passing through from side to side. 



For soil there is nothing better than a 

 compost made of four parts rotted turf from 

 a pasture and one of well-rotted manure, to 

 which is added a good sprinkling of bone 

 manure. A little lime rubbish and broken 

 bricks and stones also added will improve 

 it somewhat. 



What to Plant. The best of all Cold- 

 house Grapes for common culture is the 

 famous Black Hamburg variety. It has 

 large shouldered or branching bunches and 

 large, sweet, rich berries. Where twenty 

 vines are to be set, at least a dozen should 

 be of this sort. Of other fine varieties for 

 the amateur we can recommend the follow- 

 ing: Black or purple — Lady Downes, Mus- 

 cat Hamburg, Trentham Black; red — Grizzly 

 Frontignan, Red C'hasselas; white — Bowood 

 Muscat, Early Auvergne, Frontignan, 

 Golden Hamburg, 



Royal Muscadine or 

 Chasselas de Fontaiu- 

 bleau, White Fron- 

 tignan. 



FIG 2. A LEAN-TO GRAPERY. 



Vine Planting and Early Care. The 

 vines may be one or two years old when set 

 out, age mattering but little if there has 

 been a good and well ripened growth. They 

 may be procured from a number of our 

 leading nurserymen. They should be 

 planted in the spring, setting them at four 

 feet apart, or one to each rafter, and cutting 

 them back at the time to three or four eyes. 



