The peculiar method of glazing spoken of in the March issue (p. 186), in which spaces of half inch are left between the panes of glass, looks like a very "cranky" notion to an old grape grower. We grow exotic grapes under glass solely because we are thus enabled to control the atmosphere surrounding them, keep it close or otherwise, impregnate it with sulphur, tobacco fumes, etc., to destroy fungi and insects, and finally, but by no means least, to keep moisture away from the vines at times when it is not desired. None of these purposes could be served by a house with such a latticed glass roof. It may be, and is desirable to keep the ventilators open night and day at certain periods, but never during storms, and the inside borders can be better supplied with moisture artificially when needed than to be drenched with rain when the fruit is ripening. I like abundant means for giving air in a grapery when needed, but want to be able to control the air and prevent draughts. Mildew, I apprehend, would be totally unmanageable in a house with such an open-work roof, and I had as soon undertake the culture of Vitis vinifera in the open air at once.

After grapes have begun to color, and not until then, do I admit a general draught of air through the house by ventilating above and below at once, but even then it is of importance to close out rain storms and keep as dry as possible. Keeping the lower ventilators rigidly closed during the swelling of the fruit from first to last, with sulphur exposed to the sun along under the lower edge of the glass, will usually keep down mildew during the period when heavy syringing is desirable; but drip on the foliage and a thousand little draught holes in the glass, would set it going, despite the best care. I see very little said now a days about grape growing under glass. Is it getting to be a lost art among gardeners ? - W. F. Massey, Raleigh, N. C.

Cold Graperies #1

I READ with much interest the article by Mr. Williams in the March number of The American Garden, advocating glazing cold graperies by leaving the panes of glass a short distance apart instead of lapping, as is usually done. The necessity of so frequently opening and closing the ventilators is thus avoided, and also watering the border by hand, which is so generally neglected by amateurs.

I can say from my own experience, and I have practiced this mode for twelve years, that good grapes can be grown under glass with the roof not water-tight, with the ventilators never fully closed, with no watering save such as comes through the spaces in the roof and an occasional broken pane, and certainly with much less care and attention than is required by the other method.

I have thus grown exotic grapes for many years in a simple lean-to enclosure facing the northwest, which I consider an unfavorable location, and am not troubled with mildew or any insect enemies save occasionally the mealy-bug. I open the ventilators in the spring and seldom change them through the summer, and never fully close them, but keep the door closed and avoid all bottom ventilation, as I find the cold drafts from below are apt to produce mildew. At this date, August 20th, the vines are entirely free from mildew and are carrying a good crop of grapes just beginning to color. The positions of ventilators have not been changed since they were opened in the spring.

In the fall the vines are cut back closely, laid on the ground, and covered with salt hay or any light material to protect them from the heat of the sun. The door and £.11 the ventilators are opened wide and left so all winter, and I have never had a vine winter-killed. In my opinion many vines are ruined by too much attention and by following out some pet theory; in other words, killed by too much kindness. My experience is that the growing of exotic grapes under glass can be made so simple, and the structure built so cheaply, that anyone having some horticultural taste or knowledge can grow as good grapes under a simple lean-to costing but a few dollars as are grown in an elaborate grape-house worth many hundreds, with all the expensive attention usually given in such a structure.

Newark, N. J. Chas. S. Jones.