304 
THE GRAPE. 
Culture under glass without artificial heat. The great 
superiority of this fruit when raised under glass, renders a vine- 
ry an indispensable feature in every extensive garden. Even 
without fire-heat grapes may, under our bright sun, be grown 
admirably ; the sudden changes of the weather being guarded 
against, and the warmth and uniformity of the atmosphere sur- 
rounding the vines being secured. In the neighbourhood of 
Boston, cheap structures of this kind are now very common, and 
on the North River, even the Muscat of Alexandria and other 
sorts which are usually thought to require fire-heat, ripen regu- 
larly and well, with moderate attention. 
A vinery of this kind may be erected so as to cost very little, 
nearly after the following manner. Its length may be thirty 
feet ; its width sixteen feet ; height at the front, two feet ; at the- 
back twelve feet. This part of the structure may all be built 
of wood, taking, for the frame, cedar or locust posts, setting 
them three and a half feet in the ground, the portion rising 
above the ground being squared to four or five inches. On 
these posts, (which are placed six feet apart,) nail, on both 
sides, matched and grooved planks, one and a quarter inches 
thick. The space between these planks not occupied by the 
post, fill in with dry tan, which should be well rammed down. 
The rafters should be fixed, and from three to four feet apart. 
The sashes forming the roof, (which are all the glass that will 
be necessary,) must be in two lengths, lapping in the middle, 
and arranged with a double groove in the rafters, so that the 
top and bottom ones may run free of each other. The building 
will, of course, front the south, and the door may be at either end. 
The border for the grapes should be made partly on the in- 
side and partly on the outside of the front wall, so that the roots 
of the vines may extend through to the open border. A trellis 
of wire should be fixed to the rafters, about sixteen inches from 
the glass, on which the vines are to be trained. Early in the 
spring, the vines, which should be two year old roots, may be 
planted in the inside border, about a foot from the front wall — - 
one vine below each rafter. 
Soil. The border should be thoroughly prepared and pulver- 
ized before planting the grapes. Two thirds of mellow sandy 
roam mixed with one third of a compost formed of well ferment- 
ed manure, bits of broken charcoal, and a little lime rubbish, 
forms an excellent soil for the grape in this climate. If the 
soil of the garden is old, or is not of a proper quality for the 
basis of the border, it is best to prepare some for this purpose by 
rotting and reducing beforehand, a quantity of loamy turf from 
the road sides for this purpose. The depth of the border need 
not exceed two feet, but if the subsoil is not dry at all seasons, 
it should be well drained, and filled up half a foot below the 
border with small stones or brick bats. 
