212. The proper management of the grape-house has now become an important part of the duty of a gardener. To lay down particular rules in this place is impossible ; a few general hints only can be given. A great deal of use ful information on this subject may be found in the excel lent Treatise on the Culture of the Vine, by Mr William Speechly, London, 1789; and in the Forcing Gardener, by Mr Walter Nicol, Edinburgh, 1809. These and similar books the gardener should study, as containing the results of experience ; but many cases will occur, in which he must depend on his own practical knowledge, and be guided solely by his own judgment.
The forcing of the earliest grape-house is often begun in January. Till all the buds be broke, air is daily admit ted by the sashes, and the heat is kept moderate, so that the .thermometer may indicate only 50° or 55° in the mornings and evenings, when the sun has no influence. The tempe rature is then gradually raised, in the course of it fortnight or three weeks, to about 70°. When the flowers appear, it is increased nearly to and the house is frequently steamed, by sprinkling water on the flues, or on the walk when the sun shines, grapes being found to set best in a strong moist heat. The gardener now selects his bearing wood•for next year, and trains the shoots to an upper trel lis, a foot above the other, and the wires of which are per haps two feet apart ; while he nips off all lateral and super fluous produce, and at the same time shortens the bear ing shoots at an inch beyond the uppermost cluster. While the berries are swelling, water is moderately given. Nicol, indeed, recommends, that it should be given libe rally till they begin to ripen ; but this has been considered as likely to deprive the grapes of their proper raciness and flavour.
The thinning of the bunches deserves attention. This is sometimes neglected ; but in many kinds, without this attention, the berries in the middle of the bunch are apt to get mouldy and to rot ; and in all cases where thinning is practised, the berries become larger and more equal in size. In the operation of thinning, particular care should be taken that the left hand, with which the bunch is held, be kept cool, and also quite free from perspired matter. For this purpose, the gardener should have a vessel with pure cold water beside him, into which he may now and then clip his hand, to keep it cool and clean. \Vithout this precaution the berries oftener suffer from being handled, acquiring a rusty diseased look,and not swelling freely.
When the grapes approach maturity, all ate agreed that no more watering is proper. Air, however, is freely ad
mitted. In general, a proportion of the foliage, especially on the stubs on which the clusters hang, is removed. The fruit ought to remain till it be fully ripe ; but this the impa tience of the owners seldom permits. When the fruit is all gathered, the stubs which hove it are cut off, and the new shoots are let down from the upper trellis to their proper places. Watering both of border and foliage is now re sumed, and the house is usually left fully exposed to the atmosphere. The general pruning is performed from the middle to the end of October, and time is thus given for the healing of the wounds before forcing be again commenced. At this pruning the loose part of the outer bark on the old wood is carefully peeled off, and the whole plant and the trellises are washed with some penetrating liquid, calculat ed to destroy the minute eggs of insects. about a fort night after this severe pruning the house is kept shut, but it is afterwards freely exposed as before.
The management of the late grape-house entirely re sembles that of the early, making due allowance for the difference of season. It is not intended for forcing the fruit, but merely for supplying the deficiencies of our na tural climate in spring and autumn.
As the vinery may remain without its glass-covers for many months in the year, in some places, especially in the south and west of England, the peach-house is formed ex actly of the same dimensions ; and, when the peach season is over, the glass frames are transferred to the vinery, and, if the blossorml have escaped, a crop of ripe grapes, of the best sorts, is thus procured in September or October, and the new wood is thoroughly ripened.
Fig-House.
213. The fig-house is generally constructed on the same plan as the cherry house, with fig-trees on the back wall trellis, and either dwarf figs, cherries, or apricots in front, the flues being likewise covered with a small trellis for holding pots of strawberries or kidney-beans. A separate hot-house, however, is but seldom erected for the cultiva tion or the forcing of figs ; a few dwarf trees, such as the brown Italian, and purple Italian, introduced into the peach or cherry house, being by most people thought sufficient. It has been found by experience, that dwarf standard lig trees, planted in the middle of a vinery, between the flues, and so under the shade of the vines, beat fruit plentifully, ripening both the spring and autumn crops. This may be seen in the vinery which forms a part of the splendid range of hot-houses at Preston Hall near Edinburgh, designed by Mr John Hay.