1 (nr;il Architecture. 
A CHEAP COLD GRAPERY. 
By ONE WHO KNOWS. 
Have not our progressive horticulturists 
gone a Jittlc beyond the wants aud desires 
of tiie great industrial classes. It Is true 
that we have many wealthy citizens who 
are able and willing to spend any amount of 
money to gladly their taste for horticultural 
hobbies, but the masses tire excluded from 
these luxuries, at least many of them think 
so, and with good reason ; for at the present 
time only immense establishments, costing 
hundreds of thou Minds, are, with rare excep¬ 
tions, represented in our horticultural jour¬ 
nals. If a plan should happen to be given 
for a grapery, the chances are that the roof 
is curvilinear, or upon the ridge and furrow 
system, aud the whole heated with hot 
water, at an expense that would appall any 
one except a millionaire. 
There are thousands of our people who 
would like to possess a small green house or 
grapery; but if they consult an architect, 
their desire and enthusiasm vanishes upon 
receiving an estimate of cost. A first-class 
house, with all the modern improvements, is 
certainly more desirable than a second-rate 
affair; but for real pleasure or profit, the lat¬ 
ter is not a whit behind the former; and 
there are a thousand persons who can afford 
to have a green-house or grapery that does 
not cost more than $500, where there is one 
who can own one that costs $5,000. As the 
Rural bus always aimed to secure the great¬ 
est good to the greatest number, I propose 
to tell how a cheap and efficient cold grapery 
can he built—perhaps I might make the lan¬ 
guage a little stronger, and say is often built; 
for as the writer happens to bo one of the 
poor mechanics who are seldom suspected of 
indulging in such luxuries as green houses 
and graperies, he has erected several struc¬ 
tures of this kind for his own pleasure and 
profit. 
The “la-nn-to” Grapery, 
The simplest plan for a cold grapery is 
what is called a lean-to, as shown in the ac¬ 
companying illustration. A house of tills 
kind may he built of any length required, 
the width varying according to circum¬ 
stances or taste of the owner. For an ordi¬ 
nary house, say forty or fifty feet in length, 
twelve feet in width Us sufficient. 
Position. 
Light and solar heat are requisite in grow¬ 
ing grapes, as well as other fruits, conse¬ 
quently a position to secure these should be 
selected. A house facing directly south is 
perhaps the very best aspect; but if it should 
vary a few degrees east or west the differ¬ 
ence in results will seldom ho noticed. If 
the location is a slightly elevated one, it will 
be all the better for securing good drainage. 
This is an important matter, and it would 
be almost useless to attempt growing grapes 
under glass where the borders could not be 
well drained. 
Wnlls and Frame, 
The walls may be made of brick, stone or 
concrete. Even walls made by nailing planks 
or slabs upon the (wo sides of six or eight 
inch posts, and the space between filled with 
tan-bark, will last for many years. Wood, 
however, is not as good u$ the other materials 
named, and when used should be frequently 
while-washed to prevent Insects finding a 
lodgement in t he crevices. 
The hack wall of a house, like the one 
shown, should be about ten feet high and the 
front two or three feet. The end walls 
should be of the same material as the side, 
with door in one end for entrance. Holes 
should be left in the front wall,—one directly 
under where each ral'ler is to be placed—fer 
the vines to go through, as the roots arc to 
be planted in an outside border. 
The plates should not be less than three 
inches thick by eight inches broad, and the 
rafters two by six inches, and of <: ' clear 
pine, or of some kind of strong, . . ght- 
grained wood. The lower sash may he se¬ 
cured firmly in its place, but the upper un 
should be arranged so ih: ji will rcadifi 
slide, as it is to be op nt d lor vei l it n / i . 
house. The sides ' me rafters arc a’•vain;' 
for the reception <«? t h. s.-< h slim, i precis* w 
as the,jam casing o' an ordinary window, 
without weights 
Siisii and (.Ihms, 
Th r rush -!■ mU i•,o . : plank not less 
than an inch > i r, if link; two inches 
would 111 still belt". T:, side rails should 
be two inches and i I df wide; the upper 
one tin same, and i!n lower five or six; and, 
of course, tin di mbs of the rabbet for the 
gilts h-ss ill thickness, inasmuch as the 
wat/ i must flow over it ill escaping from the 
roof. The small center bars are made of 
plank i unit one inch and an eighth thick 
i worked. The lower corners maybe 
idly beveled, and the upper rabbeted to 
receive the glass three-eighths of an inch 
deep and a quarter in width. Across the 
center of each sash, a strong baud of iron, of 
an inch in width and one-eighth thick, 
should be firmly secured and sunk its full 
thickness into the sash. This will prevent 
the spreading of the sash when handled; 
also keep the small center bars from sag¬ 
ging. 
The length of sash required for a house of 
the size and pitch of roof described will be 
about fourteen feet, and eight feet for the 
lower one and six for the upper, is a con¬ 
venient size. The glass may be of almost 
any size, but seven by nine inches will he as 
cheap as any, and equally as good as larger. 
Five widths of seven-inch glass, with side 
and center bars, will give us a sash three 
feet six inches wide. This is a very con¬ 
venient size for hot-bed frames, and it is al¬ 
ways a good plan to have the upper tier of 
sashes on glass houses the same size as those 
used on hot-beds; for, in ease of accident, a 
sasli from the latter can be taken to replace 
a broken one upon the house without loss of 
time. Some of our largest florists have all 
the sashes in their establishments made ex¬ 
actly of the same size, so that they may be 
readily exchanged. 
erally preferable to that procured from wells, 
cisterns must be built. These may be built 
within the house, or at either end; but if iu- 
sidc there is less danger of frost, and they 
can be made cheaper, and arc far more 
convenient. If the soil should happen to be 
very loose gravel, or full of stone, it will be 
necessary to build the cisterns with stone or 
brick; but in ordinary soils, whether light 
or heavy, such expensive cisterns are entire¬ 
ly unnecessary, as the cement can be put 
directly upon the earth, and the top of cistern 
covered with plank. 
T have made several cisterns in the follow¬ 
ing manner, and as vet, none have failed to 
answer every purpose. For a cistern seven 
feet deep and the same in diameter, all that 
is required is a load of coarse sand, one bar¬ 
rel of cement, (water lime,) two strong pieces 
of timber nine feel long, aud thick plank or 
slabs sufficient to cover the top. (Large 
stones are better if they can be obtained.— 
Eds. Rukal.] A bushel of flue sand is also 
required, hut ibis may usually be sifted from 
the coarse; if not, it must be obtained else- 
;-i TFp pi'ii, i...■ ivi,: ' i. i .i, h ' i him ii iI ' i 7: : ; r 
' 
H 
l_i ii i i rr 
i n i i 
A CHEAP COLO GRAPERY. 
Good clear glass is requisite; but an ex¬ 
pensive quality, such as French plate, may 
be dispensed with. For raising and lower¬ 
ing the upper tier of sash, a strong cord 
should be secured to the center of each, and 
then run over a pulley fastened to the Avail 
plate, and thence doAvn the back wall to 
Avithin reach. 
(jtlaziiiir. 
The sash should receive one coat of paint 
before glazing. The glass may be embedded 
in soft putty, but none should be used on 
the upper side. Lap the glass about one 
quarter of an inch, and fasten with strong 
glazier’s points; when a sash is filled, take 
Avhite lead paint, just as thick as it can be 
applied with a brush, and fill the joint be¬ 
tween the edge of the glass and sash. This 
is a far better plan than the old one of using 
putty, Avhich is always more or less liable 
to crock and come oil’. Besides this, when 
a glass is broken and a new one to lie put 
in, there is no old putty to remove. The 
entire sash should he given two or three 
coats of white paint before being placed 
upon the house. 
Pieimrilift the Border. 
The bed or border in which the vines are 
to be planted is usually made on the outside 
and along the entire front of the house. It 
should not be less than eight feet wide at the 
start, and two or more feet added every two 
or three years until it is fifteen or twenty 
wide. In preparing this border the soil 
should all he removed to the depth of eight¬ 
een inches, near the house, descending to 
about two feet at the outside. In addition, 
there should be a trench dug at least one 
foot deeper than the bottom pf the pit, and 
the entire length at the lower side. This 
must be filled with stone or some other 
similar material that Avill serve as a drain. 
A deep soil and good drainage are essential 
to success. 
Mniei-iulM for Border. 
It is seldom that the proper fertilizing ma¬ 
terials for a grape border can be found in a 
condition for immediate use; therefore a lit¬ 
tle preparation is usually necessary. I have 
little faith in special comports, scientifically 
prepared, but have an abiding faith in old 
sods from a pasture, leaf mold from the 
woods, or good common soil mixed with 
barn-yai\l manure, in proportion of one- 
fourth of the latter and the balance of either 
.. or any of the former. 
i dis compost ought to be made at least 
ji-ee months before it is used; but if it was 
necessary, or even desirable, to fill the bor¬ 
der and plant the vines immediately, I 
should not hesitate to do so. By adding a 
barrel of bone, cracked as fine as peas, to 
every ten feet in length of the border; by 
forking over two or three times before plant¬ 
ing, the whole would become a homogeneous 
mass, suitable for the reception of the vines. 
Flour of hone, guano or other stimulating 
manure can always be added, Avhen required, 
to the surface of the border. A large 
portion of the soil removed from the pit can 
sometimes be used in the compost, and thus 
save the expense of removing to a distance. 
When the border is complete it should be 
about six inches higher than the surround¬ 
ing soil, thereby adding so much to its depth. 
Water. 
Before completing the house some pro¬ 
vision should be made for obtaining a good 
supply of water; aud as rain water is gen- 
Avhcre. Select the place for the cistern, and 
dig out. the soil to the depth of one foot and 
eight feet square; make the bottom of the 
pit. level and smooth, then set a peg in the 
center, and with a string and another peg 
strike out a circle of six or seven feet in 
diameter, which is to he the size and form 
of the cistern. Now dig out the earth, pre¬ 
serving the sides as smooth as possible, and 
nearly perpendicular until reaching within 
two feet of the required depth ; then gradu¬ 
ally curve them in toward the center, mak¬ 
ing the hole in the form of a deep kettle or 
lady’s thimble. Lay the two pieces of lim¬ 
ber across the hole, placing them about two 
feet apart., and then dig out the earth under 
each end, and lower them so that the upper 
sides av ill be just even Avith the top of the 
cistern. NvYrr-lay on the plank, leaving a 
square hole in the center sufficiently large 
for a man to enter conveniently. The plank 
should he placed close together, and the 
cracks covered with narrow strips, to pre¬ 
vent dirt from falling in when the cistern is 
completed. Around the man-hole in the 
covering, a rim sufficiently high to keep out 
the rain to be replaced over the cistern. 
The cistern is now ready for plastering. 
The first coat should be of very coarse sand 
or gravel; if of the size of grains of Avlieat, 
it Avill mane a better Avail than if smaller. 
Take one-half bushel of the cement and mix 
it with two bushels of the gravel and water 
sufficient to work easily, then apply it an 
inch thick, commencing at the bottom of 
the cistern. A fiat stone should he placed in 
the bottom to stand upon while at Avork and 
it may be left there if candidly plastered 
over. When the first lot ol mortar is used 
up, mix another in the same way. A half 
to two thirds of a barrel of the" cement is 
sufficient lor the first coat. When this has 
been applied, take out a pailful of the ce¬ 
ment, and set it aside for llie last coat, and 
then apply the second in the same way as 
the first, only use fine but sharp sand, using 
two parts sand to one of cement, and make 
this second coat only a half inch thick. 
Make it as smooth as possible, ironing flown 
as the mortar hardens. 
The last coat may lie applied with a white¬ 
wash brush., using nothing but cement made 
thin. The umlov and upper side of t he plank 
covering may also be whitewashed Avith the 
cement, as this Avill prevent, to sonic extent, 
decay. I have sometimes applied a thin 
skim coat, of cement, and very fine sand, in¬ 
stead of pure cement; but never discovered 
any difference in the result. 
I have made four cisterns just in the man¬ 
ner described, and they are as sound as when 
first built many years*ago. If made where 
the water pipes cannot be readily removed 
when the cistern is full, then a discharge 
pipe should be put in, to prevent running 
over. A cistern may be commenced in the 
morning and finished the satueday; or each 
coat may be allowed to dry a little before 
the next is applied. My cisterns, of the ca¬ 
pacity named, cost about $1 each, in addi¬ 
tion to my own labor and a man to help 
one day. 
A cistern seven feet in diameter will ans- 
Aver for a cold grapery twenty-live feet long, 
in ordinary season; and instead of making 
one very large cistern, 1 prefer t\vo or more 
snml) ones, because in case of an accident to 
one, the others will furnish a supply of water 
until the break is repaired. When the 
cisterns are placed in the open ground, it is 
necessary to cover its top deeper Avith soil 
than when iu the house, to prevent freezing. 
An cave-trough must be put upon the front 
of the house, and pipe mun it to carry the 
water into the cisterns.—[Concluded next 
week. 
Arboriculture. 
TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES. 
BY F. R. ELLIOTT. 
"Well, avc are not nil constituted alike, 
nor do we all see things in the same light; 
nor have Ave all passed through the same ex¬ 
perience and practice; and while 1 sincerely 
dislike to run counter to the recommenda¬ 
tions of L. D. Snook, as published in the 
Rural of March 5 , relative to transplanting 
large trees, I cannot help saying that he is 
certainly behind the age. 
A quarter century or more since I com¬ 
menced the removal of large trees, following 
somewhat after the practice noted by L. D. 
8 ., and which is portrayed in Gilpin, Lou¬ 
don, &c., but the mote I studied tree plant¬ 
ing, the forms of roots, etc., the more I be¬ 
came satisfied that balls of earth Avert; utterly 
useless—that a sledge or stone boat, truck or 
derrick, a horse and pulley wear© items be¬ 
longing to the operator avIio only had physi¬ 
cal power, and hot brains to assist iu his 
labors. And so feeling and observing, 1 can 
iioav say that for fifteen or more years past 
1 have practiced successfully removing ever¬ 
greens, and deciduous trees, a‘s desired, rang¬ 
ing from six to ten inches in diameter, and 
into measurement, avc transfer the tree from 
its wagon-bed into its future home, set it up¬ 
right, and Avhile one man steadies the tree in 
its upright position, another gets upon his 
knees and carefully lays each root in line 
and position, packing the earth from the very 
lower root firmly with his hand and spread 
fingers, upward, root by root, round and 
round the tree, an inch deep at a time, all 
the while keeping his feet out of the Avork, 
but Avorking with fingers and hand, packing 
thoroughly and naturally every root and 
fiber, and especially making it firm at the 
center, until the surface is reached; then 
level and leave, letting no man put a foot on 
the Avork to press it. from first to last. 
It is thus 1 have moved evergreens thirty 
to forty feet high and twenty-five feci in di¬ 
ameter of extremity of lower limbs; have 
moved elms, maples, ash and Scotch larch 
I eight to ten incites in diameter at one foot 
from the ground, and have rarely met with 
a loss by death, and never had occasion or 
need for stake or guy rope to keep them in 
place during the most severe storms 
-- 
AMERICAN SUMAC. 
It may not he known to many Rural 
readers that annually many tons of sumac 
arc imported from Sicily, to be used in tan¬ 
ning sheep-skin linings and other light leath¬ 
er, as also for coloring. It is believed a con- 
from fifteen to forty feet in height, and have siderable sham of this demand may he met 
never used a pulley or stone boat, nor have I 
used a stake or other support to sustain the 
tree after being transplanted ; and 1 think I 
have sometimes had occasion to fear my 
practice because of the strong northwest 
winds on our south shore of Lake Erie, but 
not a tree has ever moved from its bed. 
I do not believe in stakes to support trees, 
by the production of American Sumac, 
which abounds in all parts of the country, 
on uplands, from the Lakes to Florida. 
Upon this subject the American Grocer, New 
York, says: 
The American article known best-in this 
market, comes mostly from Virginia. That 
gathered in this State and New Jersey is 
not SO highly esteemed. As it has a Avidc 
nor in stone boats, drays or pulleys, as con- range, and grows so luxuriantly in all the 
. . . Q, 4 . h 2.-. in. i . i . .. 
nected Avilh tree transplanting, simply be¬ 
cause I have found them all useless in prac¬ 
tice. Let the operator go to Avork under¬ 
stand ingly, with a knowledge of the soil in 
which the tree grows, and with a correspond¬ 
ing knowledge of the Habit of the tree in 
the disposition of its roots, and three men 
Avill do more in the same number of hours 
than live men, a horse, stone boat, pulley 
and dray by the old and stupid practice of 
years gone by. 
And now for my work, say on one tree— 
for neither the Rural nor I can afford to 
tell how to do Avilli all. It is an elm, is 
thirty feet high, stands in a second growth 
clearing, on clay loam soil, a hard-pan par¬ 
tially, not wholly, beloAV. Beside it are 
oaks, hickorys and maples. I look at it, 
judge its branches and their corresponding 
Southern States, it is quite likely that the 
yield from others of them would be, if neces¬ 
sary, quite as large and of ns fine a quality 
as that gathered in Virginia. The leaves in 
their natural state are avoii.Ii about fifty dol¬ 
lars per ton at the mills. They are too 
bulky to bear long transportation before 
being ground, and therefore the nearer a 
mill the belter for the gatherer. 
There arc two qualities of Sicily Sumac 
found in this market.. The finest is Avorth 
about one hundred and seventy-five dollars 
per ton. 'file inferior quality lias been al¬ 
most entirely displaced by the American, 
and is very slow of sale at greatly reduced 
rates. 
The quantity produced this year in Vir¬ 
ginia is much greater than ever before, but 
will not probably reach more than three 
thousand tons. The actual consumption of 
sumac in this country is about so much every 
year, aud does not grow very rapidly, lienee 
the limit o! demand for home consumption 
tines and extent of roots. I estimate the * or ***(• American article will probably lie 
amount of branches that I must remove, 
aud which they arc, to meet the correspond¬ 
ing root. Then I set two men at Avork with 
their spades at the point Avhcre I Avant to 
break the longest root. As soon as the root, 
is reached and broken I step into the trench, 
take hold of the root and keep it up out of 
the amount of second quality Sicily hereto¬ 
fore used, at least until the’ dyers become 
convinced that the American‘will answer 
their purposes as ivell as the finest grades of 
Sicily. But an export demand may he 
created, and then the production might be 
profitably carried to a much greater extent. 
i. f ./ .V ; Sumac has two principal uses in the arts 
take hold of the root and keep it up out of v j 7 . f or tanning and for dyeing. The inu¬ 
tile way ol the spades which my assistants ners use it. in tunning their finest qualities of 
ply, working toward and around and under- sheep-skins, and for 'white goods, moroccos, 
neath the tree, moving from point to point, ^ '‘‘‘V cannot make an exclusive appli- 
raising and thing hack the small roots of a C :l, lon .°*. < he American article on account ol 
.. , . , . , . ... its staining too much, mid feel compelled 
finger s size, or larger, and so working until, |, Ht . u ie Sicily ; but improved care in pre¬ 
in less than two hours, my tree is all clear, paring It for the market may greatly over- 
As avc have worked along under one tree, come this objection. 1 lie dyers use it es- 
raising and tiling back the small roots of a ° 1 account.i.1 
its staining too much, and feel compelled 
tingei s size, or larger, and so Avorking until, j 0 use the ,Sicily; but improved care in pre¬ 
in less than two hours, my tree is all clear, paring It. for the market may greatly over- 
As avc have worked along under one tree, conic this objection. 1 he dyers use it es- 
the car.. fallen, ami will, one man to gr"' t works, for preparing 
bear his weight on the body of the tree, the In t |,i» connection Mr. F. 8. Presbrey of 
other takes off the tap root, and the tree is Richmond,'*Va., twites us:—“In gathering 
clear. Now avc take the tvagon Avith ttvo sumac, the leaf and leaf stems only are picked, 
planks set, and we raise and roll the tree on f^e flowers and berries not being used, and 
, .. , , ,,,. . , It is not gathered Avhen in blossom, but bc- 
t,o Its bed. Hum my big pruning shears f ore that period, as it is then of more value 
take oil limbs and branches to balance the hi tannin. It is cured in a manner similar 
roots and give form and contour to the tree, to curing bay, but should be done in the 
which is easily done Avith the tree resting on shade, or more properly under cover, it 
a man’s shoulder at, say, fifteen feet from its should be dried sufficiently to break readily 
, iu the hand, after which it. is ground to aline 
asu powder, put in sacks similar to coffee bags, 
containing about one hun- 
_ died and sixty pounds. 
/ “ Thus far it has mainly 
S \ Mf / x. been gathered from the 
/ \ [ / \ natural growth on the 
/ \f / \ hill-sides, but may be 
/ \| V \ easily cultivated by sow- 
/ k \ ing the seed on ground 
/ H _ w \ where the forest growth 
f ^ ~ \ has been partially re- 
/ / ■% moved. It will need seed- 
( I S nig but once, ns it will 
I / M I groAAj from the roots utlor- 
\ s / I The lowest grade of 
\ ' ? / sumac known in market 
\ ' v I x / yields seven per cent, of 
\ s x 1 , ' X / tannin, and sells in Liver- 
\ N I / / pool at about forty dollars 
\ / per ton. The best brands 
n. /A A ot foreign are selling in 
\. yApARKy y/ Neiv York at about one 
x. / x-/ hundred and seventy-five 
^-' dollars per ton, while the 
walbrldge AFFI.E—outline. jobbing price of best 
American is only ninety 
Arriving at our destination for pV.mting dollars. It is believed to be possible, by 
the tree, it is presumed that if avc have car ® ingrowing, gathering, curing and pre- 
paring for market, to make the American 
thought beforehand of our woik, that - Sumac take the place of the imported, to a 
hole for planting is all ready ; but on arrival g Teat extent, and that, too, at a price cor- 
we find it necessary to estimate the depth iff responding with its real value for tanning, 
the hole for planting in connection Avith the ani ' thus add another to the valuable pro¬ 
point of the lower root, as connected with' { n, !^ inP r? Ce 
*. r ,, ’ ,, . .. ol importing it Irnm abroad at a duty often 
AVALBRLDGE AFPI.E—OUTLINE. 
reiving at our destination lor punning uomus. n y ueneveu io uc possime, by 
tree, it is presumed that if avc have car ® in growing, gathering, curing and nre- 
paring lor market, to make the American 
lgbt beforehand of our woik, that - Sumac take the place of the imported, to a 
the crown or surlace of the earth when the er ceut a d valorem ingold. 
tree is planted; for avc have no desire to _ 1t ( _ 
plant a single inch lower than the tree stood \rboricuRural Inquiry.— will apple seed that 
in its former locat ion. Taking this carefully has laid in pomace all Avinter, grow ?— h. l. 
