84 THE GARDENER. [Feb. 



One word about temperature in the atmosphere of the vinery. If 

 the Vine is supplied with a steady and abundant supply of food and 

 moisture at the root, a high indoor temperature is most beneficial, but 

 it must be attended with free circulation of air. If the Vine is a gross 

 feeder, it has also a wonderful digestion, and under high pressure 

 will store up an amazing amount of stamina for future produce. That 

 it will ripen its fruit sometimes in favoured parts of England, does not 

 prove that it also ripens its wood sufficient to withstand, say a Crimean 

 winter. What is the summer temperature of Malaga, or of the valley 

 of Jericho, where the spies found the large clusters, or the borders of 

 the Caspian? we suspect our vineries seldom approach those localities 

 in their aggregate of summer heat or even moisture. And yet the Vine 

 is not a tropical plant. We never could exactly understand putting 

 the Vine to rest, or ripening its wood by exposing its branches to our 

 summer and autumn weather. We may stop its growth by cold, but 

 that is not putting a Vine to rest; and we suspect that is at the bottom 

 of early-forced Vines starting prematurely in autumn. We find those 

 Vines which go to rest with their wood matured with strong heat, 

 have the least tendency to start prematurely ; indeed, are the slowest 

 to move under forcing. But if the Vine has lost its foliage through 

 red-spider or any other cause, it is hopeless to put it to rest by the 

 high-temperature process. Recourse, under these circumstances, must 

 be had to cool treatment and a short supply of fruit the following 

 season. The Squiee's Gardener. 



]SrEW PLAISTTS OF THE PAST MONTH. 



At this season of the year, Orchids mainly represent the new plants that 

 come under notice. At the meeting of the Floral Committee on the 

 15th of December, Messrs Veitch & Sons received first-class certificates 

 for Pleione humilis which, though not altogether new, is yet a very 

 pretty species, somewhat paler in colour than the forms usually seen, 

 and somewhat later in blooming ; and for Masdevallia Candida, a mem- 

 ber of the group of cool Orchids, and, like the foregoing, not new, as 

 it was shown in flower some seven or eight years ago. It is a rare 

 species notwithstanding, and has pretty pure white semi-transparent 

 flowers that are pleasantly fragrant, while as a plant it is a good grower 

 and increases rapidly. To Dr Rogers, of East Grinstead, was awarded 

 a first-class certificate for Oncidium Rogersii, perhaps the largest flower- 

 ing Oncid ever seen ; supposed by some to be a very fine variety of 

 0. bifolium, but nevertheless specifically named as above. It has 



