154 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



the highest perfection, and at the present time the grapery, 

 either with or without heat, is not only an indispensable 

 addition to the grounds of every lover of the grape, but the 

 fruit is produced in such abundance that our markets are 

 supplied with it at a price within the means of the humblest 

 individual. 



All this has been the work of scarcely more than twenty 

 years: before that period graperies were only found in the 

 gardens of a few of our most wealthy people, and the 

 fruit was esteemed one of the greatest luxuries, and only to 

 be obtained at a high price. Nearly or quite all were then 

 produced by artificial heat, and very few of what are now 

 termed cold vineries were to be found ; but as soon as it was 

 ascertained how easily tlie grape might be raised in this way, 

 and at what a slight expense, they were no longer confined 

 to the wealthy, but these vineries became a necessary ap- 

 |)endage to hundreds of gardens throughout the Middle and 

 Eastern States. 



The artificial culture of the grape has always been consid- 

 ered as requiring a high degree of skill to produce the most 

 successful results. Volumes have been written upon the sub- 

 ject, from the time of Speechly, the father of the grape cul- 

 ture in England, to the present period ; yet it is doubtful 

 whether one in twenty of our cultivators have produced as 

 fine specimens as were raised fifty years ago. Great quanti- 

 ties of grapes are raised, and some of them exceedingly fine, 

 but the larger part are of ordinary quality, and fall far below 

 the standard of the old English grape growers. The truth 

 is, it requires a great deal of practical knowledge and skill, 

 to grow fine grapes, — more than most amateurs or even gard- 

 eners will acknowledge ; and until the notion is dispelled that 

 it is asimple operation which almost any one may accomplish, 

 we cannot expect to see a high standard of culture. True, 

 in the infancy of any art, we cannot expect to find proficiency 

 in all ; but if there is an earnest endeavor to attain to it, and 

 a desire to learn, we may ere long look for a higher condition 

 of grape culture than has heretofore been seen. 



These remarks have been suggested by a recollection of 



