VINERIES. 



313 



either case; but the number of vines in a 

 portable state is extraordinary — Mr Burn 

 fruiting no less than from one hundred 

 to one hundred and twenty annually. 



The intention of pot- culture is to ex- 

 tend the season of ripe grapes throughout 

 the year ; and this has been very satis- 

 factorily accomplished, particularly by 

 the two cultivators last named. It must, 

 however, be admitted, that pot-culture is 

 precarious, and requires great skill and 

 attention, as well as an annual propaga- 

 tion of the plants ; for the received opin- 

 ion at present is, that the vines should 

 only produce one crop. We should also 

 state that, beyond a certain degree of 

 northern latitude, the practice is not likely 

 to be attended with satisfactory results. 



Attempts have long ago been made 

 to ripen two crops of grapes in the same 

 house, one early and the other late. 

 Some have tried to accomplish this by 

 planting one set of vines within, either 

 along the back wall or in the middle of 

 the house : these were forced early, so as 

 to be ripe in April and May. The other 

 set were planted outside in the usual 

 manner, and brought into the house at 

 the period their buds were breaking — thus 

 producing a late crop, which, of necessity, 

 must be ripened off by the month of 

 November, and then withdrawn, to allow 

 the others to be put in order for forcing 

 again. Another mode of attempting this 

 has been by planting two sets of vines in 

 front, outside of the house — half of which 

 are early sorts, and taken in in Decem- 

 ber, while the other set, being later kinds, 

 remain out till April. Thus we have the 

 spring season of the one and the autumn 

 season of the other coming in conjunc- 

 tion in the same house. 



The vinery at Tedworth differs in con- 

 struction, in some respects, from any 

 others we have figured. Mr Sanders, 

 in his excellent " Treatise on the Culture 

 of the Vine," introduces his account of 

 these deviations from the usual practice 

 by observing, " Every grape-grower is 

 fully aware of the difficulty in protecting 

 the stems of vines planted in outside 

 borders from the frost during the pro- 

 gress of early forcing ; and even at a 

 later period of the spring, they often 

 receive injury from the same cause." 

 With a view to remedy this, Mr Sanders 

 has constructed his vinery with double 



VOL. I. 



Fig. 425. 



walls in front, as will be understood by fig. 

 425, which is a portion of the section 

 forming the front of the 

 house* — the house of 

 itself differing nothing 

 from vineries in com- 

 mon use, excepting in 

 having a flow and re- 

 turn hot-water pipe 

 placed close to the bot- 

 tom of the back wall, 

 the utility of which is 

 clear and obvious, that 

 part being always the 

 coldest and worst venti- 

 lated. The front wall of 

 the house is formed of 

 two 4-inch walls having a cavity between 

 them of 5 inches, the whole being set upon 

 an arched foundation, and covered at top 

 with a wooden wall-plate, upon which 

 the mullions a are set to support the 

 top wall-plate on which the ends of the 

 rafters rest. These wall-plates are pro- 

 vided each with two grooves at top, and 

 also at bottom, to receive the upright 

 lights, w T hich are made to slide instead of 

 being opened by hinges. In planting the 

 vines, which is done in autumn, (Mr 

 Sanders thinking that the best season,) 

 they " are placed 2 feet apart, or as nearly 

 so as may be practicable; but the distance 

 must in some degree be regulated by the 

 under-ground arches, for the following 

 reason : the stems of the vines are in- 

 tended to be introduced through them, 

 and to be carried up between the two 

 walls — thus affording them that protection 

 from the effects of frost which is so desir- 

 able during the process of forcing ; and 

 if each vine, at planting, be sufficiently 

 long to reach the top of the front sash, 

 so much the better. In training them, 

 let the one be brought immediately under 

 the rafter, and the next under the centre 

 of the light, and so on throughout." In 

 autumn, when the wood is perfectly 

 ripened, the vines are pruned; and now 

 comes the second advantage of the double 

 walls, in the withdrawal of the vines. 

 " The only thing required is to slide out 

 the upright sashes from the outer wall, 

 which must be done from the end of the 

 house, then disengage the vines from the 

 wires to which they have been trained, 

 and dispose of them by securing them to 

 the pillars (mullions) or any other con- 



2 R 



