106 THE CULTUEE OF THE GRAPE. 



been made inside of the house, and vines planted against 

 the back wall, and borders made outside, and vines 

 trained np the rafters. The grapes upon the back wall 

 have, every one of them, shrivelled iintil the vines upon 

 the rafters had been shortened so as to admit the light 

 upon the back wall, and then the grapes have done well, 

 plainly proving that want of light was the cause, and not 

 the want of heat in the border. In early forcing, I have 

 covered one half of the border with hot dung and leaves, 

 two feet thick, the other half, six inches, and I never 

 could discover the least difference in the growth of the 

 vines inside, or in the fruit. The larger the leaves are 

 the more light they require to assimilate and decompose 

 the sap ; and this, in my opinion, is the reason why early 

 forced vines do not shrivel, their leaves scarcely ever 

 being more than half the size of those begun in March, 

 and the light in May and June is commonly greater than 

 that of«July, which is, in general, a dull and showery 

 month. After ti-ying evei'ything that I had seen recom- 

 mended as a remedy, and feeling fully convinced, in my 

 own mind, that v.'ant of light was one of the causes, I 

 thought I would try what effect proportioning the heat 

 to the light would do. This I have practised for several 

 3'ears, and with a success beyond my expectation. 



In dull weather, I keep the house CDol, and, when the 

 grapes begin to color, if the weather is warm, I leave the 

 top and front lights a little open, so as to keep up a re- 

 gular circulation of air in the house night and day ; and, 

 if the weather is cold and wet, I shut the front lights, 

 and a Kttle fire is made in the front flue so as to cause 

 the air to circulate, but nothing like forcing is attempted. 



