184 THE GARDENER. [April 



scarlet and yellow Nasturtiums last a long time in the wet sand. Ver- 

 benas make a nice change in their season, and especially Roses ; the 

 flowers of these should be cut young in the morning, when the dew is 

 on them. 



Such stands as these are never complete without light-green foliage 

 of some sort or other, such as the different kinds of ornamental 

 grasses in their season, and the tops of some of the meadow-grasses in 

 the autumn. Jn the same way sprigs of Asparagus from the kitchen- 

 garden are very useful ; so is the foliage of Tamarix Gallica, a hardy 

 deciduous shrub ; also Humea elegans, and suchlike. Variegated 

 plants work in well ; the Iresine with its handsome mottled red leaves 

 keeps well in the sand, so do Coleuses and variegated Pelargoniums ; 

 of the latter, such as Mrs Pollock, and the white Ivy-leaved kind 

 l'Elegante. Then there are blooms of Gladioli, Asters, Chrysanthe- 

 mums, and many others, with stiff stalks to support them. In a general 

 way, many of the flowers will last only one day ; and I change the 

 whole of them three or four times a-week, but make a rule of looking 

 the stands over every other morning. The sand should not be so 

 saturated as that the flower-stems will not stand erect in it, or they 

 are apt to fall out when the stands are removed from the table. 



William Plester. 

 Elsenham Hall Gardens. 



THE MUSCAT HAMBURGH GRAPE. 



A REMONSTRANCE. 



If the natural sweetness of my disposition did not restrain my vindictive feelings, 

 I should certainly enter an action against you for defamation of character, for in 

 page 96 of the ' Gardener ' you have said, " Our experience of the Muscat Ham- 

 burgh does not warrant its general recommendation ; it evidently is a shy Grape, 

 and requires peculiar soil. " This I consider a very serious charge — so serious that 

 a vindication of the truth demands that I should reply to it. Last spring, just 

 at the time when I had made a growth of 4 to 7 inches, and nothing but the 

 duplicate breaks had been taken off, a writer in ' Hibberd's Magazine ' passed the 

 same slight upon my character as you have done. My kind protector, magazine 

 in hand, marched into the vinery, and calling the young man in charge to his 

 assistance, requested that the number of bunches upon each Vine should be 

 counted. Well, upon many of the breaks there were four bunches, others had 

 three, and very few less than two, while such a thing as a barren break was not to 

 be found at all. Now, when totalled up and divided by the lineal yards of the 

 Vines, what do you think was the result ? Why, an average of more than 20 

 bunches to the yard ; and if that is not sufficient to satisfy any reasonable being, 

 I can only say that he must have a most elastic and capacious conscience. Call 

 you this shy bearing ? Oh, I think I see the blush mantling your cheeks ! and 

 well it may, to thus malign the best and Bweetest of Grapes. 



