152 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



And who that has a heart, 



Could play the sordid part 

 Of speaking harsh or frowning down a supplicant in May ? 



There are lessons all around, 



From blue sky to budding ground, 

 Which teach the joy of kindness to our brothers in the clay. 



So, like the nodding flowers, 



Spend your few and fleeting hours. 

 Diffusing sootLing incense to each bruised and broken heart ; 



And like the merry birds, 



Utter none but pleasant word?. 

 Though bitterness and scorn survive where hate still plays its part. 



So shall you bless the grass. 



And the shadows as they pass ; 

 For many gaps of beauty you may gather for the day, 



There are not too many friends 



For the soul that sorrow bends ; 

 And the heai-t may still grow kinder 'mid the budding blocm of May. 



POT CULTURE OF THE VINE. 



FuOM lotg experience I have proved the following method of cultivating vines in 

 pots to answer most admirably. The Black Hamburg is perhaps the best kind for 

 pot-culture ; but I have also found the White Frontignauto succeed well ; the latter 

 sets its fruit best in the coolest part of the house. I prefer buds from old spurs to 

 any other. About the middle of January the prunings are introduced into heat, to 

 forward the buds previous to potting, and in tlje flrst week in February the buds are 

 prepared in the usual way. I insert one only in a four-inch pot, just covering the 

 wood ; I use leaf-mould hnelj- sifted, mixed with a small portion of silver sand. 

 The pots are then plunged half their depth into a bottom-heat of about seventy degrees ; 

 if the young vines receive due attention, they will require a shift in the middle of 

 April into eight-inch pots, using a mixture of well-rotted cow-dung, leaf-mould, 

 and strong loam, in equal proportions. I then again subject them to bottom-heat, 

 until the roots fairly show that another shift is wanted, which is the final one. I 

 employ at this shift tifieen-inch pots, and use a soil composed of three parts strong loam 

 and the other part cow-dung. I train near the glass with a view to ripen the wood 

 effectually, and pay strict attention to stopping the laterals, preserving the main branch 

 to the length of eight feet ; I always allow one foot in addition to the bearing wood, in 

 case of a bud starting at the top, which it often does when the vines are luxuriant. 

 During the growing stage of the vines in the fruiting pots, I apply liquid manure 

 once a week made from cow-dung ; and when the shoots exhibit a tinge of brown, 

 I pick out the laterals with my finger and thumb, retaining the leaves, and two or 

 three laterals at the extremity. When the wood is i'uUy matured, water is 

 gradually withheld, and the vines pruned to the required length, and stored away 

 in a dry shed exposed to the north winds ; there they remain until they are 

 required for forcing. A week previously to introducing them into heat, the plants 

 receive a thorough watering with clear liquid manure in a tepid state. Treated as 

 above described, they fiuit most abundantly ; the number of good-sized branches I 

 manage generally to bring to perfection is from ten to fifteen on each vine. I may 

 mention that I moss the stems for about a foot and a half in height from the surface 

 of the pots ; the stems root freely into the moss by keeping it continually moist. 

 When the fruit is swelling, I supply the plants liberally with the liquid manure 

 above mentioned, and in addition I apply guano water once in eight days in the 

 proportion of about a pound of guano to a gallon of water ; by this application I 

 Lave proved that three or four pounds of fruit may be brought to perfectlou on a 

 vine. The pots are placed in pans on a flue and trained near the glass. F. 



