192 



THE GARDENER. 



[April 



till 2 o'clock, when it should be grad- 

 ually reduced. See that the soil is 

 kept just damp euough to jnoinote 

 healthy fresh growth, avoiding dryness 

 and overmuch watering. The early 

 started Queens will now be swelling 

 their fruit rapidly, and must have 

 every encouragement. Keep them 

 steadily moist by waterings of manure 

 made from guano and sheep-droppings. 

 Shut them up early so as to have a 

 high temperature from sun - heat in 

 the evening, allowing it to drop to 

 70° by 10 P.M. Let the air be kept 

 moist in proportion to the heat. 

 Syringe the surface of the bed, and 

 give the plants a dewing overhead : 

 avoiding wetting the crowns much, or 

 they will grow more than is sightly. 

 The bottom-heat for these should be 

 kept as steadily as possible about 90°. 

 Until fruit that are about fully swol- 

 len begin to colour, treat them as 

 directed for the early Queens ; but 

 when colouring commences, give them 

 more air and less moisture to develop 

 flavour. Smooth Cayennes and Char- 

 lotte Rothschilds that are wanted to 

 start six weeks or two months hence, 

 should be kept cooler and rather drier 

 for the next month ; but do not carry 

 this treatment so far as to crijiple or 

 stunt the plants. A time of compara- 

 tive rest makes it the more likely 

 that they will fruit when required. 

 Any portion of the stock that are well 

 rooted in small pots should be shifted 

 at once. If shaken out or much 

 disturbed at the root, more shade will 

 be desirable than earlier in the season, 

 until they take with the shift. 



Vines. — The winter and early part 

 of spring having been so very cold, 

 necessitating so much fire-heat, it is to 

 be feared that the foliage of early Vines 

 may not be so robust as is desirable, 

 and no doubt red spider will be more 

 troublesome. No amount of attention 

 should be considered too much to 

 keep the destructive pest under. At 

 this early season, the best way we 

 have ever adopted is to keep a sharp 

 look-out for its first appearance, and 

 to sponge it off with a soft sponge and 

 a little soapy water. A man can go 

 over a great deal of foliage in this 

 way in a short time. As soon as 

 colouring commences in the case of 

 pot - Vines, do not give any more 

 strong liquid manure. Increase the 

 air, and keep the soil sufficiently moist 



to well sustain the Vines. The reduc- 

 tion of water at the root to an extent 

 that tells on the system of the plants 

 is a mistaken ])ractice, sometimes ad- 

 opted with the idea of having better- 

 ilavoured Grapes. Where the crops 

 have begun to colour on permanent 

 Vines, having their roots chiefly in 

 inside borders, examine the soil, and 

 if in need of water, give them a soak- 

 ing that will carry them on till the 

 Grapes are cut, or nearly so. Later 

 Vines, in whatever stages of progress, 

 should not be subject to high night- 

 temperatures : it is the greatest evil 

 that can be perpetrated on Amines 

 otherwise in good condition. Fine 

 leathery dark-green foliage, free from 

 the attacks of insects, can never be 

 produced with high night-temperature 

 and a stagnant atmosphere. We 

 would much rather have Black Ham- 

 burgs at 55° than 65° all through this 

 month. A line crisp growth and 

 strong foliage, with dew-drops round 

 their edge in the morning — the whole 

 plants having a fresh healthy look — 

 is the result of moderate night- tem- 

 perature and judicious ventilation. 

 The forcing should be done by day 

 under the influence of light and sun- 

 heat ; and when the vineries are shut 

 up in the afternoon with a high tem- 

 perature, we like to shut the ven- 

 tilators closely, opening them accord- 

 ing to the weather at six o'clock. 

 All growing Vines will now require 

 constant attention. Whenever the 

 best bunches can be discerned in the 

 broad points of the buds, rub off all 

 superfluous ones, leaving one to a 

 spur. Stop the points of the shoots 

 two joints beyond the best bunches. 

 By the best bunches we mean the 

 most compact and strongest -limbed 

 ones. All the most loose and weak- 

 limbed bunches should be removed. 

 As soon as the shoots can be brought 

 down to the wires, tie them in their 

 places. This operation has to be done 

 by degrees, especially in the case of 

 strong black Hamburg Vines. Thin the 

 berries of free-setting sorts early, for 

 when the berries get larger the opera- 

 tion takes more time, and it gives the 

 Vines needless work to do in swelling 

 useless berries. Regarding the stop- 

 ping of lateral growths, our practice is 

 when the main shoots are very short 

 jointed, and the leaves consequently 

 thickly set, to remove entirely the lat- 



