276 THE AMATEUll’s KITCHEN GARDEN. 
above the surface, and the others rubbed off. The layers, 
under ordinary circumstances, will be well rooted by the end 
of the summer, but it is generally preferable to defer taking 
them off until early in the autumn. 
Ground Vineries offer a fair compromise between the open 
wall with its uncertainties and the well-built glasshouse with 
its costliness. A ground vinery is a glasshouse in miniature, 
its form is that of a narrow frame, in the style of our A frame, 
described in pages 38 and 39. The smallness, and hence the 
cheapness of the ground vinery is not its only recommenda- 
tion. One special virtue it has in economising the heat of the 
earth, which of course is but a reproduction of the heat of the 
sun, for the use of the grape vine, a heat-loving plant. In 
the most distinct manner possible, a ground vinery is a trap 
to catch a sunbeam. The village carpenter can make a 
ground vinery as well as anybody, but if the ready-made 
thing is required, it may be obtained from Messrs. Boulton 
and Paul, of Norwich, or any of the builders of greenhouses 
who do not disdain small work. 
The management of a ground vinery is extremely simple, 
the one primary rule being that the vine is laid horizontally 
on a pavement of slates, or on cross bars over a trench, and is 
covered with a glass frame, which can be ventilated without 
difficulty. Usually the frame is placed on a foundation of 
bricks, from which a certain number of bricks are omitted to 
form pigeon-hole ventilators, which of course can be closed 
easily when very severe weather prevails, but which are 
usually left open to ensure a slow and soft, but constant 
movement of the air within the structure. The vines may be 
managed on the long rod or the spur pruning system. The 
last named has proved the best in our experience, and it con- 
sists in simply cutting back the side shoots every year and 
leaving the main rod intact. This is a very pretty mode of 
grape culture, costing but little for a first start, and affording 
a most delightful pastime, with the prospect always of a nice 
crop of really good table grapes. Given a healthy vine and a 
good season, the one important point in the management is to 
thin the crop severely. First, cut away all the small bunches 
while they are in flower, reserving about one bunch to every 
foot length of the main rod, and afterwards thin out the 
berries severely, the time for thinning being when they are 
scarcely so large as peas. 
