THE GRAPE 395 



ample room for extension. J. F. Allen, of Salem, Mass., a 

 most successful cultivator, in his Treatise on the Grape, re- 

 commends for a torder, a mixture of one-half loam, or the 

 top soil of an old pasture, one-fourth bones or other strong 

 manure, one-eighth oyster shells, lime, or brick rubbish, 

 one-eighth rotten stable manure — varying with circum- 

 stances. The bed should be well mixed, and should be 

 two to three feet deep. 



The same work states the cost of a cheap lean-to grape 

 house, without fire heat, 12 or 14 feet wide, at about eight 

 dollars per running foot ; and with the addition of a heat- 

 ing apparatus, at ten dollars per running foot, constructed 

 as cheaply as possible. 



It would be impossible, within the space of a few pages, to 

 give full directions for the management of a grape house. 

 The following brief instructions, from A. J. Downing, con- 

 tain all that is essential for a cold house : • 



" Routine of Culture. In a vinery without heat this 

 is comparatively simple. As soon as the vines commence 

 swelling their buds in the spring, they should be carefully 

 washed with mild soap suds, to free them from insects, 

 soften the wood, and assist the buds to swell regularly. At 

 least three or four times every week, they should be well 

 syringed with water, which, when the weather is cool, should 

 ahvays be done in the morning. And every day the vine 

 border should be duly supplied with water. During the 

 time when the vines are in blossom, and while the fruit is 

 setting, all sprinkling or syringing over the leaves must be 

 suspended, and the house should be kept a little more closed 

 and warm, than usual, and should any indications of mil- 

 dew appear on any of the branches, it may at once be 

 checked by dusting them with flour of sulphur. Air must 

 be given liberally every day when the temperature rises in 

 the house, beginning by sliding down the top sashes a little 

 in the morning, more at mid-day, and then gradually closing 

 them in the same manner. To guard against the sudden 

 changes of temperature out of doors, and at the same time 

 to keep up as moist and warm a state of atmosphere within 

 the vinery as is consistent with pretty free admission of the 

 air during sunshine, is the great object of culture in a vinery 

 of this kind ' 



