In early vineries, where the Grapes are ripening, ventilate freely, always leaving air on all night, so as never to have a stagnant atmosphere. Keep ripe Grapes cool and dry, but do not carry the drying up to an extreme, especially as regards Vines that have their roots chiefly in inside borders. Anything like starving them just now tells injuriously on the Vines for another year. Never let the border get dry, and when watered give as much as will go right through it, applying the water early on a fine day, so that the surface dries a little before night. Keep the foliage on these early Vines as healthy as possible. If red-spider appears, get rid of it at once by sponging it off with a soft sponge and tepid water. In later vineries, where the Grapes are swelling rapidly, keep up the temperature with as little fire-heat as possible. When the nights are cold and frosty, as they often are in May, rather drop the heat a few degrees, than keep it up by force of firing. If the thermometer is at 60° at 6 a.m., it is high enough, except for Muscats, which we do not like to see in a cooler temperature than 65° after the first of this month.

Shut up the vineries early in the afternoon, so that the sun runs up the heat to 85° or 90° for a time, and sprinkle the surface of the border, paths, etc. : open the front lights an inch or two at 6 o'clock, and leave them so all night. This causes a circulation of invigorating fresh air by its coming in at the bottom of the house, and escaping at the laps all over the roof. Muscats in bloom should have a free circulation of warm air about them, at the same time giving the stems of the bunches a tap about mid-day, so as to disturb and distribute the pollen. Thin all free - setting sorts immediately they have shed their blooms. It is an unnecessary strain on the Vines to leave the thinning till the berries are nearly as large as Peas, besides taking much longer time to do the work. Avoid heavy cropping and crowding of foliage and wood as the greatest evils that Vines can be subjected to. Look over later Vines, and stop and tie them down as they may require, two or three times weekly. Examine all inside borders, and never let them get dry, giving good drenchings of water and liquid manure, as the state of the Vines may call for. Avoid a close damp atmosphere kept up by swilling the inside of the vineries all day long with water.

Everything about the Vines and vinery should be dry for a considerable time every day. A good vapour - bath for a few hours in the afternoon and evening does them good, but this should not be continued. Attend carefully to young Vines planted a few weeks ago. Mulch their roots with some litter to prevent rapid evaporation from the soil. Keep them regularly tied to the wires as they advance, and allow them to make growths sufficient to cover the whole roof without crowding the foliage.

Vine Forcing #1

If early vineries in which the wood is thoroughly ripened require painting or repairing, or any alterations in the way of heating, now is a good time to attend to such matters. Should the weather be dry, late Grapes that are swelling off and just begin-ing to colour should have their borders well watered with manure-water, and mulching of some sort, if it has not been already applied. Put a little extra heat into the pipes should the weather be dull and damp; and never neglect having a circulation of fresh air about them night and day. Remember that nearly all black sorts colour best in a dense shade, and do not pinch the lateral growth too rigidly. Muscats and other white sorts, on the other hand, colour best with a free play of light about them. Keep ripe Grapes as cool as possible, and protect them from wasps and flies, by fixing hexagon netting over the ventilation openings. Keep a vigilant eye on Vines in all stages, and see that red-spider is never allowed to damage the foliage. No doubt some localities are more favourable to this pest than others; but the chief encour-agers of spider are too dry borders and too much fire-heat. We have a Black Hamburg house that ripens its crop in August, on the cool and airy system of treatment; and for seven years it has never been syringed once, nor has there ever been a red-spider in it to our knowledge.

Syringing Vines and the surrounding of them with a damp close atmosphere, we regard as one of the most fertile causes of unsatisfactory results in Vine-growing. And, unless to check red-spider, we would never practise syringing. It then becomes the lesser of two evils. Should any of the Vines from which the fruit is now all cut have their roots down deep, and are in consequence not maturing satisfactory crops, now is a good time to take out a trench in front of the borders. Lift the roots 4 or 5 feet back, and lay them in good soil, at the same time taking all inert soil off the surface of the border down to the roots, and laying about 8 inches of fresh loam, horse - droppings, and crushed bones over them. It is astonishing how Vine-roots can be attracted to and multiplied near the surface by fresh loam and manure. Pot-Vines intended to fruit early next year, should by this time have their wood brown and well ripened. Expose them to as much sun and as free a circulation of air as possible, and never let them get too dry at the root.

Remove all young lateral growth that they may attempt to produce after the first of this month, but preserve the main leaves in health to the last: avoid the practice of placing them outdoors, in positions where high winds may destroy their foliage prematurely.