CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 187 



for the use of sashes has occurred to me, and I am in- 

 clined to think it has sufficient merit to be carried into 

 extensive practice. It is mainly applicable to the hori- 

 zontal-branch system of training. Supposing we have a 

 lot of sashes from hot beds and houses which are gener- 

 ally released from use by the 1st of June : now, if our 

 horizontal trellis is two and a half feet from the ground, by 

 running two wooden strips horizontally, the length of the 

 rows, a foot above the vines, the bars being three feet 

 apart (which is the ordinary width of sashes), and resting 

 upon small posts, which are three and a half feet out of 

 ground, it will be seen that we have a very simple and 

 cheap frame upon which sashes could rest, directly over our 

 vines. It will be easy to secure these sashes to the frame 

 by side-hooks, to prevent them from being lifted by a 

 gale. Sashes three feet in width would cover the princi- 

 pal part of the foliage of a horizontal trellis. If the sashes 

 were applied to the frame early in the spring, the vines 

 underneath would start much earlier than when uncov- 

 ered: they would also be protected to a great degree 

 from late spring frosts. There would therefore be a gain 

 of some weeks in growth. The inconvenience in disbud- 

 ding, tying, and checking under the sash, would be but 

 trifling. Throughout the season, it will be found that the 



