GROWING GRAPES UNDER GLASS. 



Sharp slope shown in fig. i are often used. But such 

 grading is more suggestive of a railroad embankment 

 than of lawn gardening, and during our frequent pro- 

 tracted droughts the exposed point or angle of earth at 

 the junction of the slope and terrace lines is subject to 

 such severe drying that it is with difficulty kept green, 

 even when hydrant water is available. 



As a substitute for the terrace and slope in places of 

 this kind, we would recommend the rounded slopes 

 shown in fig. 2. Such a contour has not the stern 

 abruptness of fig. i, and instead of the exposed angle 

 alluded to, there is a well-sloped surface not specially 

 subject to injury from drouth, and easily traversed in 

 any part by the lawn-mower. Besides, these easy curv- 

 ing slopes do not shut out all view of 

 the lower part of the house from the 

 street, or vice versa, as does the stiff 

 8-foot embankment. 



Again, let ussuppose that the height 

 of the lots at the house-line is the 

 same on both sides of the street. 

 Here it is easily understood how 

 much better would be the appear- 

 ance of the street and of the sur- 

 roundings, as seen from verandas and 

 windows of houses, if rounded slopes 

 instead of terraces were used in lawn 

 grading. Not only is there again in 

 the beauty of curved lines, but also 

 in the relief which they afford from the str 

 angles predominating in city boundaries. 



Figs. 3 and 4 show an intermediate condition of things. 

 Here the house may be supposed to stand about five feet 

 above the edge of the street pavement. Assuming that 

 the height is too great to admit of a simple curved out- 

 line of the lawn from house to curb, a short slope, either 

 in connection with terraces, as in fig. 3, or with rounded 

 outlines, as in fig. 4, is in order. In fig. 3 the short slope 

 appears midway between the fence-line and the house. 

 In fig. 4 it is much nearer the street. Although the cen- 

 tral position is often assigned to such a slope in cases of 

 this kind, still that is not the best place for it 



715 



Our choice would fall upon a lot where such slope 

 could be brought as near or nearer the street than is 

 shown by fig. 4. The fault of the midway slope is 

 that it breaks the front area in two almost equal parts, 

 causing the comparatively weak effect of two half-lawns 

 on different levels, where one area, bold and unbroken 

 or nearly so, would be much more dignified and hand- 

 some. This is a matter that in many cases cannot be 

 well controlled, excepting as one might have a choice of 

 lots, some of which would more naturally admit of the 

 slope being brought near the fence-line. The same 

 reasons for preferring rounded slopes instead of flat ter- 

 races and sharp slopes, referred to in connection with 

 figs. I and 2, apply also in this case. 



iTH Slope in Cbnter, 



and 



Lawn with Slope near Street. 



In conclusion, we must remember that in lawn- 

 grading of any kind, an inflexible rule is to cover with 

 fertile earth, before sodding or sowing, all surface that is 

 to support grass life. 



It is impossible to establish a satisfactory sward on a 

 sterile subsoil. The thickness of the fertile earth may 

 depend somewhat upon the after-treatment to which the 

 lawn will be subjected . If water will be supplied regularly 

 through dry weather to keep the grass vigorous, then a 

 four-inch layer of fertile earth may answer fairly well ; 

 if profuse summer watering is impracticable, then the 

 fertile layer of fresh earth that is added should be fully 

 twice the depth named. 



GROWING GRAPES UNDER GLASS. 



FINE RESUI,TS EASILY OBT, 



IPE GRAPES all out of season, when, 

 of course, they taste the best, will 

 cease to be exclusively a rich man's 

 luxury as soon as the majority of our 

 wide-awake amateurs find out how 

 cheaply and easily they may be grown. At first thought 

 the proposition to grow exotic grapes will be scornfully 

 rejected by the average home-grower, even if he be well 

 aware of the superior deliciousness of the fruit and its 

 great commercial value. Yet there are absolutely no 

 difficulties in the way of success that should discourage 

 any man having a few square rods of land, a town-lot or 



a little, well-protected garden spot, from making the 

 attempt. Indeed, it would be hard to find a more prom- 

 ising field of intensive fruit-production for a large num- 

 ber of amateurs. 



The great enemies of exotic grapes are the phylloxera 

 and powdery mildew. When these can be overcome — 

 the former, perhaps, by grafting upon resistant stocks of 

 American species, the latter by applications of dry sul- 

 phur or by spraying with fungicides— grapes of the vinif- 

 era class may be grown here, even in the open air. 

 Henry Fafford, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, has 

 made a signal success of growing Black Hamburg, Chas- 



