THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 



195 



Arundo pJwaffmites fol. var., 

 Arundo donax versicolor. — T«'0 noble 

 grasses for the margins of lakes and 

 damp shady places. The second of 

 the two needs protection in winter. 



Arundo Mauritanica fol. var. — 

 I^ot quite hardy, but may be planted 

 out all summer. It is the finest of all 

 the Arundos, and admirably adapted 

 for exhibition. 



Culamagrostis arimdinacea fol. 

 var. — Elegantly edged and striped, 

 grows strong, and is well worth a 

 place in an amateur's collection. 



Dactylis glomerata fol. var. — A 

 pretty grass of moderate growth, it 

 forms a glittering tuft when grown 

 on a bank of poor sandy soil. 



Elymus arenarius cjlaucus. — A 

 very noble glaucous-leaved grass of 

 very strong growth. Kemarkably 

 eifective on a bank. 



Fesluca cjlauca. — A lovely grass 

 of rather low growth, forming dense 

 tufts of fine glaucous foliage. Easily 



propagated by dividing, does best in 

 poor sandy soil. 



Melica ceridea. — A pretty com- 

 panion to Aira caispitosa. 



Phalaris arundinacea fol. var. — 

 The well-known ribbon grass, of late 

 years much esteemed on account of 

 the admirable use made of it for edg- 

 ing beds of dahlias and hollyhocks at 

 Kew. It is very beautiful on a high 

 dry sunny bank in front of dark ever- 

 greens. 



VAEIEGATED TEEES AND SHRUBS. 



Fuchsia corymhiflora fol. var. — 

 Flowers as freely as the normal form, 

 and is a very beautiful object for the 

 conservatory. 



Fuchsia glohosa fol. var., F. ma- 

 culata, and F. j^umila are three 

 very pretty variegated fuchsias, well 

 adapted for vases, beds, and pot cul- 

 ture. 



FEUIT CULTURE-OUT-DOOE GEAPES. 



The cultivation of the vine {Vitis 

 vinifera) in the open air is one of 

 the most universally favourite amuse- 

 ments with amateurs in the southern 

 and middle counties of England. The 

 care and attention bestowed upon 

 them year after year, in spite of the 

 fact that they are perhaps in the 

 most unfavourable situation, and that 

 in five years out of six the berries 

 remain obstinately green and sour, 

 or turn rotten and fall off*, is certainly 

 deserving ' of better success. The 

 proprietor, however, nothing daunted 

 by repeated failures, prunes in the 

 autumn, waits patiently all winter, 

 watches with delii,'ht the bursting of 

 the buds in the spring, chuckles over 

 the fact tjiat a splendid crop of fruit 

 is set, so at once sets to work, nails 

 up the shoots, strips off the leaves 

 which cover the bunches so as to 

 give them the fall benefit of the sun, 

 and to make "assurance doubly sure." 

 buries his lately defunct " tabby " 

 near the roots, and then with the self- 

 satisfied air of a man who has done 

 all that a mortal can do, he leaves 



the rest to the weatlier and to Pro- 

 vidence, and is again disappointed. 

 Snch practice as this is but too 

 frequent, notwithstanding the vast 

 amount of philosophy which has been 

 disseminated of late years, and the 

 numerous excellent practical treatises 

 upon fruit culture which are con- 

 tinually issuing from the press ; the 

 wonder is that experience alone does 

 not teach them better, but even that 

 frequently fails to enlighten the 

 amateur vine-grower. 



The point of the greatest import- 

 ance in the out-door culture of the 

 vine is the duration and heat of the 

 summer. Thus, although the mean 

 temperature of England is as high 

 and even higher than in some coun- 

 tries where the grape ripens without 

 anv difficulty, it will be found that 

 wliile England is warmer than most 

 countries in the winter months, the 

 heat is not nearly so great during the 

 months of September and October, 

 at which period the out of door vine 

 is just ripening its fruit. This is the 

 chief reason why the finest grapes 



