A Ground Vinery and its Management 



211 



No further care is taken until danger of frost 

 in October, when the frame is turned down, 

 to prevent injury to the leaves until their 

 office is perfectly fulfilled, and the wood and 

 bark fully ripe. In very cold November 

 nights, the foliage still looking fresh, a mat is 

 laid on the glass ; and finally, in December, a 

 coat of thick paint, composed of carbolic 

 soap, sulphur, clay, and water, having been 

 applied so as to fill and cover every portion 

 of the cane after being pruned, it is laid flat, 

 covered when dry with coal ashes, old hot- 

 bed manure, and an old door, to keep all dry, 

 and so left to sleep until April. 



It should be added to what has been said 

 above about training a renewal cane, that if 

 the frame is found too narrow for two canes 

 of a large-leafed variety, the shelter afforded 



makes it quite safe to depend, year after year, 

 upon the single original cane, never cutting 

 it away, but spur-pruning each of its bearing 

 branches. This method is reputed to give 

 finer flavoured but smaller and less juicy fruit 

 than is furnished by a fresh cane of the last 

 year. In the open air, canes are sometimes 

 injured so much by the winter as to be inca- 

 pable of conveying sap copiously. This lia- 

 bility, coupled with the advantage of having 

 large showy bunches for dessert use, makes 

 renewal training popular. 



The common idea that a glass covering 

 benefits the Vine by preventing injurious 

 changes of temperature, is not confirmed 

 by observations. There are greater extremes, 

 of high temperature at least, with the use 

 of a dass covering than there are without it. 



A FEW BEAUTIFUL SHRUBS FOR THE SPRING. 



AFTER the long dreary winter, our ad- 

 miration of beautiful flowers becomes 

 somewhat intensified, and we hail the early 

 spring flowers with delight. The earliest of 

 the flowering shrubs may not be any more 

 beautiful than the latter kind, but it is quite 

 natural to study them more minutely, and 

 thereby form a closer acquaintance with their 

 merits. Among the most attractive of those in 

 bloom at the time I write, I consider the fol- 

 lowing as indispensable : — Cercis japonica, or 

 Japan Judas tree. The flowers are produced 

 in such abundance that the branches are hid- 

 den from view. The colour of the flowers is 

 a rich bright crimson. This shrub is not so 

 rapid a grower as some of the other species, 

 but it is far superior as an ornamental shrub or 

 tree to Pyrus japonica; such as the pink, 

 scarlet, or light crimson, double crimson, and 

 other varieties, are certainly among the most 

 showy of early blooming shrubs. 



The double Plum-leaved Spircea (Spiraea 



prunifolia pleno) is the most showy of the 

 white varieties. The pink and white dwarf 

 flowering Almonds are old favourites, only 

 excelled by the newer double-flowering 

 Plum (Prunus trilobata). But when one 

 begins to specify and describe the indi- 

 vidual merits of plants, he is very likely to 

 tell a long story ; therefore I will only name 

 a few of the beautiful shrubs which were in 

 full bloom early in May, and in view from my 

 library window : — Andromeda floribunda, 

 Cassandria calyculata, Caragana, in variety; 

 Azaleas, hardy early Chinese sorts; Haw- 

 thorns in variety ; Lilacs, many sorts ; Rho- 

 dodendrons, a few foreign species and 

 varieties ; double Chinese Apple (Pyrus spec- 

 tabilis) ; double Chinese Cherry (Exochorda 

 grandiflora), a grand shrub in all its propor- 

 tions ; Viburnum lantanoides. 



The above may be considered as medium 

 early, there being a few which bloom a few 

 days earlier. — T. 



