EXPERIMENTS WITH VINES. 



65 



that should be left on a vine, so much depends on the 

 vigour of the plant and the size of the bunches. As a 

 rule, I consider 1 lb. of grapes to every two superficial 

 feet of glass a fair crop. Throughout the entire period 

 of forcing, a constant circulation of air should be kept 

 up, as directed in the body of this treatise. In May 

 and June, if the weather is hot and dry, little fire-heat 

 will be required, and consequently little evaporation will 

 take place from the steaming apparatus. In such a 

 case the paths and border may be sprinkled slightly 

 with water; but avoid the stewing system by all means. 

 As soon as the grapes are thoroughly ripe, the house 

 should be kept as cool as it generally can be in July. 

 In the case of Muscat grapes, I would let the tempera- 

 ture at all stages be 5° higher than that I have recom- 

 mended. I have shut up a Muscat house with a sun 

 temperature of 100°; but 95° is safer, and 90° in the 

 case of all other sorts. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH VINES. 



The first of these that I shall describe is that of a 

 very large house of vines at Wrotham Park, Middlesex. 



When I entered on the management of these gardens, 

 in the autumn of 1837, 1 found all the vineries in a very 

 unsatisfactory state, and it was determined that the 

 vines and borders of three of them should be renewed 

 at once ; but the large house in question was not one of 

 those — it was 65 feet long, 22 feet wide, 7 feet high in 

 front, and the back wall 1 6 feet high. There was a row 

 of strong cast-iron pillars running along the centre of it 

 to support the rafters, and against these the vines were 

 planted, twisting round them like enormous snakes. 



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