162 THE GARDENER. [April 



of them would be 2 lb. Indeed we never saw much finer bunches of 

 that variety. In flavour it is not so good as the Muscadine, but its 

 cropping qualities are a recommendation. The Vine that bore the 

 above number of bunches had just a strip of wall 16 inches wide 

 allotted to it like the others. No doubt the hardier constitution acquired 

 by the Vines, both in leaf and bunch, enables them to bear such 

 heavy crops. The wood of the Vines was brown and ripe to the ends 

 of the shoots when we saw them, and a portion of the leaves had been 

 picked off to allow the sunshine to get to the fruit to hasten its 

 maturity. After the fruit begins to turn, this practice is not considered 

 to be injurious in any way to the health of the Vines. The soil of the 

 Vineyards is a brown flinty-looking compost, and varies in depth from 18 

 inches to several feet, and the surface where the roots of the Vines are, 

 is mulched with decayed manure or litter. After the Grapes have been 

 thinned, early in the summer, the after-culture consists almost wholly 

 in training the shoots and pinching the laterals, the last being done by 

 women who nip the shoots off with their fingers. The espaliers and 

 bushes in the open quarters are not so particularly looked after appa- 

 rently, but on the walls the laterals appear to be pinched as fast as 

 they push, after the first stopping, little or no growth being permitted 

 beyond the fruit, the exigencies of space demanding that every shoot 

 be kept strictly within bounds. As to the quality of the Chesseles 

 de Fontainebleau Grapes, they are certainly superior to the same kind 

 grown under glass at home, being well coloured, sweet, and of good 

 flavour, very much superior to the foreign Grapes usually sold in this 

 country during the autumn and winter. 



We may state in conclusion that we enjoyed our visit to Thomery 

 very much, and were well rewarded by what we saw, and we think no 

 gardener should leave Paris without visiting these famous Vineyards ; 

 it will at least be a new experience to him as it was to us, and in the 

 pleasant little Vine-clad village of Thomery, with its well-appointed 

 but old-fashioned French country inn and quaint church, and its gen- 

 eral surroundings, he will find much to interest him besides Grape- 

 growing. J- S. W. 



CULTIVATION OF GARDENIAS. 



"Without doubt the Gardenia as an evergreen stove-plant stands 

 very high in popular estimation, and is very highly prized by ladies 

 for the sweet fragrance its flowers possess, as much so as the Rose, 

 the Eucharis, and others — and more especially because it can be 

 brought into bloom in autumn, winter, and spring. Although its 

 flowers are only of short duration, they do not all open together, 

 which makes them the more useful, as a large plant will continue 

 to open blooms over a period of some weeks. With a number of 



