82 THE GRAPE, 
better substitute and a much more effectual plan, is 
eover the border with glazed sashes, or wooden shutters, 
and to conduct an extra pipe from the hot-water apparatus, 
or a length of flue, which may be conveyed around the 
outside, and sunk in a cavity, so that the top may be open, 
and even with the surface. During the time when forcing 
is going on, the heat may in this way be made to circulate 
over the surface, and forms a stratum of warm air w‘thin 
the chamber made by the covering, which need not to be 
elevated more than six inches above the upper level of 
the border, so as to keep the collected heat more im- 
mediately near the roots, and by limiting the space to be 
heated, prevent waste. Wooden shutters are best, so far 
as retaining the heat is concerned, there is likewise no dan- 
ger of breakage, but glass sashes have the advantage of 
collecting a considerable degree of calorie during sunshine, 
and will somewhat counterbalance the loss occasioned by 
its conducting properties. No doubt some persons, who 
may he disposed to have early grapes, may think such 
appurtenances very troublesome and expensive, to which 
we would answer, if a thing is worth doing at all, do it 
well, for all horticultural products are cheapest when well 
attended to, and such a convenience once obtained will 
_ last many years, as it may be removed in the summer sea- 
son, and packed away, and the channel-in which the out- 
‘side heating apparatus is placed, may at the same time be 
covered over, to prevent any unsightly appearance, further 
than the row of boards or flags, as the top will be level 
with the surrounding surface. That good grapes have 
been and still will continue to be foreed early without such 
an appendage is ; admitted, but is it not more 
in accordance with —_— to ps the footw ah wareth 
at the 
