BLACK HAMBURG GRAPES UNDER GLASS. 153 



ago that, possibly, this glass might be put to better use in grow- 

 ing grapes. To do this, I started some cuttings of the Black 

 Hamburg grape, and grew the vines for the first year in pots in 

 my cucumber house. The next year they were set out in the 

 border where they were to grow and were grown in a frame, 

 raised three feet high and covered by a single string of hot-bed 

 glass the vines being trained inside the frame. The vines were 

 cut back in the fall to two eyes, and covered. The next spring 

 the rafters of the house were built and the glass was put on about 

 the last of April. 



The vines made a fair growth last year, and were allowed to 

 ripen only a few bunches of grapes. But next summer I hope to 

 be able to grow a fair crop. The glass with which this house is 

 covered is ordinarj- hot-bed sashes, which are fastened to the 

 rafters by 'means of screw-eyes in the rafters, through which 

 common wood screws pass into the under side of the sashes to 

 hold them in place. The glass is taken off in the fall, after the 

 vines have been pruned and laid down and covered with earth. 

 The glass is used on hot-beds or cold frames till April 20, when it 

 is replaced upon the rafters of the grapery, just as the grapes are 

 breaking into growth. The grapes treated thus will ripen in 

 September. I see no difficulty in growing grapes in this way very 

 cheaply. When I made my plans for this operation the price of 

 Black Hamburg grapes was from seventy-five cents to one dollar 

 and a quarter per pound, but the recent large importation of 

 California grapes in the fall, together with the improved excellence 

 of our out-door grapes, has reduced the price, so that Black 

 Hamburgs sold last fall at about thirty cents per pound. This 

 low price was partly due to the wet season, which made it impos- 

 sible to hold the grapes for later marketing. 



I do not, therefore, regard this experiment as likely to prove a 

 financial success, but any one who wishes to grow these delicious 

 grapes cheaply, can do so by using his spare glass, and will be 

 rewarded for the care they require, with a crop of choice fruit 

 for his table or for his friends. There is, however, little induce- 

 ment to grow them for market, unless they are forced early, or 

 held till cold weather, which involves the use of heat and different 

 arrangements. 



The span of the house is about twenty-four feet. The rafters 

 are eighteen feet long, inclined at an angle of 45°, and are pre- 



