August 2, 1913 



HORTICULTUEE 



135 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BT 



f^-^YS^ 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page ivlll be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Penson. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office ol HOBTICTJLTDRB. 



Care of Late Vinery 



The late vinery will be the chief consideration 

 amongst the grapes from now on until Christmas. The 

 earlier one will be either finished or have ripe fruit 

 waiting to be cut, which is easy from a growers' point of 

 view. In the late house the berries will be swelling 

 fast, demanding all the care possible in anticipation of 

 the best crops. Keep the border watered well and also 

 give the roots plenty of feed. If a mulch is already on 

 the border give it some clear water first, then dust on 

 the manure and water it in. Artificial manures are all 

 right for vines but if good liquid manure-water can be 

 had from the farmyard there is nothing to beat it. Keep 

 all sub-laterals pinched out and at the same time keep a 

 sharp lookout for the numerous pests that are liable to 

 make an appearance, chief of which is red spider. The 

 late house will be more susceptible to spider than the 

 previous ones as the hot weather during its growing sea- 

 son necessitates open ventilators, making the air drier 

 than the earlier houses would be at the same stage, with 

 perhaps only half the air on. When spider is discov- 

 ered lose no time in having the foliage sponged with 

 clear soft water. Some gardeners may prefer to syringe, 

 or spray with insecticides, but once seeing a fine lot of 

 Gros Colmans marked on every berry through this 

 method of eradicating spider I prefer to take the longer 

 and safer course. 



Care of Strawberries 



Strawberries that were potted up some two weeks or 

 more ago and placed pot-thick to husband the moisture 

 will now need going through. First remove any rhi- 

 zomes (or runners) the plants are making, also any bad 

 foliage they may have. Follow this up by pricking up 

 the surface soil with a pointed stick or label, not deeply, 

 just enough to break the hard crust that has formed 

 restricting the free passage of air to the roots. After 

 this tlie pots should be spaced, giving the foliage plenty 

 of room to develop. Do not, however, overdo this or 

 the pots will dry out very quickly. See that all pots 

 are stood level on a bed of ashes which will always make 

 them clean on the bottom and the weeds will not grow so 



easily as they would on bare soil. During the hottest 

 part of the day we find a shading of one thickness of 

 cheese-cloth beneficial to the plants. After the pots 

 are nicely filled with roots some weak soot-water twice 

 a week will help them. 



Melons in the Frames 



If the plants growing in cold frames show any signs 

 of starvation soon after the fruit is set feed them, but do 

 not overdo it if they have a quantity of soil to grow into 

 or some of the fruits will crack later on. The quantity 

 of soil they are growing in is a thing that has to be 

 reckoned with right from the start and the longer they 

 are growing tlie greater part it plays. With no restric- 

 tion to the roots, sometimes we find no limit to the size 

 of the fruit, which excels itself and bursts, or cracks open 

 about the time it should start to ripen. Water very 

 carefully as the ripening stage approaches. Opinions 

 differ as to whether the fruits should be left in their 

 natural position on the soil or raised on inverted pots. 

 With the same subjects growing in a house the fruits are 

 suspended beneath the foliage which affords shading. 

 By raising them on the pots they are above the foliage 

 and exposed to the full sun which must in some degree 

 make them harder and be a detriment to their swelling, 

 which brings me to the conclusion that they are best 

 left with the natural shading of their own foliage. A 

 piece of wood about an inch thick, to allow a groove to 

 be put into it, will keep the fruits off the soil and give 

 them a better appearance for the table. The groove in 

 the wood is to allow the moisture to drain away. 



Tomatoes 



It may seem early to talk about sowing tomatoes for 

 winter work, but there is always a possibility of an early 

 frost and the tomatoes are one of the first things to go 

 under. In those districts where early frosts are fre- 

 quent a sowing now will have ripe fruit in time to keep 

 up a continuous supply. These can be grown in pots,* 

 until a later sowing comes into bearing and then be done 

 away with, thus not utilizing any of the regular bench 

 room devoted to them. A six-inch pot will furnish 

 about three hundred plants. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 



Sweet Pea Show. 



The National Sweet Pea Society, 

 held an excellent show in London, on 

 July 17th. The cup presented hy W. 

 Atlee Burpee, of Philadelphia, was 

 awarded to F. A. Wellesley, Westfield, 

 Woking. In the trade section a fine 

 display was made by Dobbie & Co., 

 who received a gold medal. The va- 

 rieties included : New Marquis, mauve ; 

 Thomas Stevenson, orange scarlet; 

 Mrs. Heslington, lavender; Duplex, 

 semi-double cream pink; King White; 

 Lady Miller, apricot tint on cream 

 ground; Inspector, semi-double orange 

 salmon; Lavender George Herbert, 

 bluish lavender; Edrom Beauty, 

 orange salmon; and others. Robert 



Bolton also received a gold medal for 

 a well-arranged group. W. J. Unwin, 

 of Histon, was another successful 

 exhibitor. Pour novelties were ex- 

 hibited on the stand of Bertrand W. 

 Deal. These were: Sincerity, deep 

 cerise; Delight, carmine rose; Annie 

 Sculpher, salmon cerise; and Brook- 

 lands Queen, salmon shading on soft 

 rose. 



Sweet Pea Trials. 



The awards in the trials of sweet 

 peas organized by the International 

 Committee have lately been published. 

 Awards were made to: Walter P. 

 Wright, light lavender, and Leslie Im- 

 ber, blue, from W. J. Unwin, Histon, 

 Cambs.; Deal's 226, provisionally 

 named May Morgan, from B. W. Deal, 



Brooklands, Kelvedon; R. F. Felton, 

 lavender, and Red Chief Improved, 

 red maroon; R. Bolton, Warton, Cam- 

 forth ; Seedling C., provisionally named 

 Mrs. G. L. Hutt, from G. L. Hutt; Her- 

 cules, large pink, and Florence Wright 

 Spencer, from G. Stark & Son, Ry- 

 burgh, Norfolk. Silver medals were 

 given to Edna May Improved, and 

 Walter P, Wright; the gold medal was 

 withheld, as the committee did not 

 consider that there was any novelty 

 of outstanding excellence to which it 

 could be awarded. 



