68 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ January so, isss. 
Birds are beginning to build, having been in song since Christ¬ 
mas, especially thrushes and blackbirds. Fieldfares and red¬ 
wings are absent, but huge flocks of the snow bunting darken the 
air every now and again, and seem to be doing good service in 
the newly ploughed fields. Bullfinches are rare on the north-east 
coast, in that part of the County Palatine anciently known as 
Werewickshire, so that gardeners do not suffer much from their 
ravages ; but sparrows, from their numbers, eat far more buds 
than bullfinches, and can only be kept from doing injury by 
judicious feeding. We do not destroy a single bird, but feed 
them all alike, and rarely they do us any harm.—F. 
VINES AT LONGLEAT. 
THEIR HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT. 
In this little history of what have been pronounced 
by competent judges to be somewhat remarkable pro¬ 
ductions, I shall endeavour to give a truthful account 
of what was done to produce them, how it was done, 
the reasons for doing it, and the lessons gained during 
the time. I shall take my readers into my confidence, 
not flinching from detailing failures and disappoint¬ 
ments ; and if any one of them should be so uncharit¬ 
able as to say, “ Yes, I could have told you so,” when 
an experiment has been described which resulted differ¬ 
ently from what I had expected, I have no doubt there 
are others who will sympathise and encourage by say¬ 
ing the disappointments are all lessons, and the suc¬ 
cesses more than counterbalance them. 
THE YINERY. 
Early in the year 1869 I took charge of these gar¬ 
dens, and amongst other things was requested to 
improve the supply of Grapes, this fruit being in great 
request during winter and spring. The structures then 
existing were pronounced inadequate, and my noble 
employer was persuaded to erect a building more in 
accordance with my ideas of what a vinery should be. 
Mr. Buckenham, the able clerk of the works, was in¬ 
structed to prepare plans, and the month of April saw 
the commencement of the present structure, which 
everybody acknowledges gives him great credit, and I 
must add that it has given me satisfaction in every way. 
The total length is 216 feet, and the breadth inside the 
walls 30 feet. It has a span roof running north and 
south, is divided into three compartments—one about 
75 feet for late Grapes; another, the middle one, for 
Muscats is about 80 feet; and the other for Hamburghs 
is about 60 feet. The walls are built on arches, and as 
there were at the time some rather wild notions about 
the rambling disposition of Vine roots, provision was 
made on the east side for an outside border to extend 
30 feet by small breadths at a time as required. As 
the house stands on the side of a hill facing eastwards 
there is not much chance of border-making on the 
western side without some heavy excavating, but accord¬ 
ing to present appearances it is not likely to be required, 
for the Vines are still confined to less than three parts 
of the inside border, and there appears as yet to be no 
difficulty in giving them all they want there. 
THE VENTILATION. 
Ventilation, which is the weak point in so many of 
our modern light-built houses, is here ample, and is 
afforded by means of upright sashes 2 feet 9 inches deep 
along each side, tied together in lengths of 30 to 40 feet, 
and moving on their centres so as to open to tbeir 
utmost capacity without much weight on the lever. 
Bashes opening this way, although they are objection¬ 
able in some cases, undoubtedly admit more air than 
when they swing on a hinge at the top, for in the latter ( 
case they can scarcely be brought into a horizontal 
position, and a deeper sash is consequently necessary. 
The principal span is crowned by another and smaller 
span, generally called a lantern ; this is 6 feet wide with 
upright sashes 2 feet deep, and these also swing in a 
similar manner to the lower sashes, excepting that 
they move on a rod which is rather more than half way 
up, thus giving sufficient weight to the lower part to 
make it close itself when once the chain by which it is 
regulated is unfastened. With such ventilation there 
is no difficulty in keeping the temperature down below 
100° during the hottest weather, and this, too, when it 
is managed properly without draught; but I shall have 
something to say on this part of the subject further on, 
and I now proceed to speak of other important subjects. 
THE DRAINAGE AND THE WATER SUPPLY. 
The ground on which the house is built besides 
sloping to the east also falls considerably to the north. 
It was necessary, therefore, in order to have it level to 
excavate at the south-west corner some 9 or 10 feet into 
the stiff clay, while the north-east corner is slightly 
above the old level, and it was thought advisable in 
order to have the bottom all alike to concrete it some 
4 inches thick. I have no doubt that concrete bottoms 
are often made where not required, and are then in fact 
a disadvantage, but I think there was some excuse for 
having it here. Good drains were made outside the 
house along each side about 2 feet from the wall, and 
the concrete bottom had a fall of about 6 inches each 
way from beneath the ridge to these drains, being con¬ 
tinued through the arches, which were afterwards bricked 
up and pigeon-holed at the bottom. 
A tank was made for catching rain water in each 
compartment below the level of the concrete (with the 
exception of a man-hole which is carried up nearly to 
the surface of the border). All three tanks are con¬ 
nected by a drain pipe so that no water can run away 
till they are all filled, and each has a pump attached 
to it. There is provision for a further supply of water 
from a hydraulic ram when the rain water fails. 
Probably some of my readers will say the method of 
supplying water is a cumbrous one, that we ought to 
have a cistern outside on a higher level, and a supply 
of hose, &c., inside the house; but as my notions of 
watering Vines differ somewhat from those of most 
people I will ask them to suspend their judgment on 
this point. 
The concrete floor dry, drainage to the depth of 8 or 
10 inches was placed over it in the shape of stones, 
brickbats, and ballast, the experiment in burning the 
latter proving rather a costly one; but as I knew 
nothing at that time of such work it was entrusted to 
one who was said to have had practice of the sort on 
the railway, but either from his fault or the fault of the 
material it proved to be much more costly than fetching 
bricks and stones from a distance. But someone will 
say, “Why is all this drainage necessary? You have 
good tile drains and ample slope of floor, surely a few 
drain tiles across the floor and a couple of inches of 
rubble should be sufficient to take away all surplus 
water.” Probably it would so long as it was kept clear, 
but a Vine border is made to last a century, and it is 
well to make doubly sure that a stoppage cannot possibly 
take place under anything like fair management. But 
this is not by any means the only or the principal 
