January 21, 1911 



HORT I CULTURE 



69 



Fruit and Vegetables under Glass 



PESTS OF VINES 



The following named pests will be found the chief of 

 those affecting a vine while growing under glass, but by 

 being continually on the alert, and checking them before 

 they have got ahead to any great extent, they can be kept 

 down. Eed spider, thrips, mealy bug, vine weevil and 

 mildew. 



Where pests have been at all troublesome last year 

 the vines should receive several washings before being 

 started into growth as advised in a previous issue. This 

 will ensure a clean start which is half the battle. Pre- 

 ventive methods should be adopted all along, as vines 

 will not stand for much fumigating. Eed spider as 

 usually is the case with all plants, is caused by a lack 

 of moisture in the house or cold draughts. When found 

 syringe with as great a force of water as possible with- 

 out damaging the foliage. If fruit is coloring hand 

 sponging must be resorted to and as soon as crop is cut 

 give several syringings with some approved insecticide 

 on alternate evenings. 



Thrips are found under similar conditions to spider, as 

 a rule the latter appearing first. In a like manner water 

 is inimical to them. If sponging has to be done, add a 

 weak solution of soap and sulphur to the water. 



Mealy bug, once established, is hard to eradicate. 

 Severe war should be waged against them during the 

 resting period of the vine. Eeraove all loose bark and 

 get well into any crevices or holes that may be on rod 

 or spur when washing. This should be done at inter- 

 vals during tlie whole of this resting time. Examine the 

 rods when breaking, on all sunny days, and kill any stray 

 ones which may have escaped the winter raids. 



The vine weevil is a little fellow who feeds on the 

 tender roots in its larva state and when come to matur- 

 ity devours the tender foliage, and after doing its damag- 

 ing work through the night, retreating to the soil again 

 for the day. The amount of damage which can be done 

 in a short time by a quantity of these will be readily rec- 

 ognized, especially as it is almost impossible to destroy 

 them in the soil without injury to the roots of the vine. 

 As soon as their presence is known lay an old sheet under 

 the vine. At night shine a bright light on them while 

 eating and shake the whole trellis. This will cause the 

 majority to fall on the sheet when they can be taken up 

 and destroyed. Pieces of cloth tied lightly on the rod 

 will also answer the purpose, the weevils secreting them- 

 selves underneath it as daylight approaches. They will 

 be found to be of a dark color, hard round body, wingless, 

 having six legs. 



Mildew is often the cause of bad ventilation. Use sul- 

 phur on the hot pipes, as you would for roses, or blow a 

 little in the air on to affected spots. As soon as berries 

 are set seems to be the worst period ; after this the foliage 

 and skin of the berries get harder. 



Vines started 1st of December which are breaking 

 should have the temperature raised to 48 to 50 degrees 

 at night with advance by day. 



PROPAGATION OF THE VINE LI0R/' 



The vine is one of the most simple plants to propa- ' 



gate, roots being produced on every part of the stem when 

 placed under suitable cgnditions. Nature itself shows 

 us this. Let the roots of an established vine become in 

 anyway deranged and the usual humid atmosphere kept 

 up, the whole stem or part of it will become a mass of 

 hanging roots. These are known as aerial or adverti- 

 tious roots and would, if allowed, fix themselves in the 

 soil and help supply the plant with food. This and 

 layering are Nature's own way of propagation. You 

 will notice by this the roots are emitted from hard wood 

 and so it is that you seldom see a vine propagated from 

 a cutting made from young and tender growth, or from 

 the leaf, as is possible with such plants as the saintpaulia, 

 gloxinia and the several begonias, etc. Cuttings made 

 from tender growths could be inserted but the percent- 

 age of rooted plants from these would be very small. 



The usual methods of propagating the vine, using the 

 ripened wood, are by cuttings, layers and eyes and 

 also by budding, grafting and inarching. Lay- 

 ers are about the most natural methods, as the vine 

 in its wild state is naturally a trailing plant, sup- 

 ported by stronger trees and wherever a shoot reaches the 

 ground it takes root. If this method is adopted, a shoot 

 can be trained near the soil or a pot suspended below it, 

 filled with soil and kept moist. The shoot should have 

 the bark slightly cut away on the underneath side for 

 about an inch and then be pegged down firm into the 

 soil. As this takes root it can be gradually severed from 

 the parent. By cuttings is the method usually adopted 

 for outside vines when raised in quantity. A shoot is 

 taken about a foot long, having a heel to it, and placed 

 in a bed allowing only the top two or three eyes to br.eak. 

 "Eyes" is the method universally used for propagating 

 vines under glass. Select only the best ripened wood, 

 with good solid eyes. Cut the eyes away, cleaving 

 only % inch on each side. The cut is best made 

 sideways giving more rooting surface. It is not 

 necessary to cut these any more, as the end below the 

 eye will callous and root, but if a little of the wood 

 is removed beneath the eye there is a double 

 chance, as this will callous and root as well as the 

 end. Ej'es should be pegged firmly down into 4-inch 

 pots, having a compo«t of three parts loam, one sand 

 and one leaf soil. Plunge in propagating case and give 

 a bottom heat of 70 degrees and top heat of 65. Keep 

 moist but not sodden. Ej'cs should root in two to three 

 weeks. After top growth commences admit a little air. 

 This work of propagating can be done at once or through 

 February ; by starting now a good long season is sure. 



(Budding, graftlDC and Inarcbiug to be dealt with later.) 

 TEMPEHATURES, VENTS AND AIRING 



Fruit houses, unlike many plant houses, require a 

 moving temperature. By this I mean you cannot fix 

 one temperature for the whole growing season. As the 

 seasons would come on gradually, so must the tempera- 

 tures inside. Certain scales are used by some, but 

 there is no hard and fast rule ; the conditions and state 

 of the growth must govern. Instances are peaches and 

 nectarines in flower, 45 to 50 degrees (nisjht) ; Ham- 

 burgh vines, 65 degrees; Muscat vines in flower 70 de- 

 grees; peaches stoning, 55 to 58 degrees; but these 



