20 



IRISH GARDENING 



said: " So that is the English Primrose. It is 

 indeed a lovely liower. AVcll, I am proud and 

 pleased to think I have seen it at last." 



So let us value as it deserves this cheerful 

 little l^ritish tlower of Sj)ring, and reserve for it 

 at least one small portion of oui- gardens from 

 which its tldwits iiiav j^deam, not only in Si)rini,' 

 but also in Autumn, for the Prinu'ose is kind to 

 those who love it, giving more abundantly of its 

 treasures to those who eare to ask it for them. 



E. A. Armstrong. 



Fruit Notes. 



Watering Vine Borders. 

 .Vftrr s])ending a considerable number of years 

 in the fruit houses in some of the leading estab- 

 lishments in different parts of the Kingdom, 

 and at all times having taken a keen interest in 

 grape growing, I am now convinced that more 

 harm is done to vines in many gardens by over- 

 watering than by any other wrong system of 

 cultivation. 



Before I was in a position to carr}' out my 

 own ideas in grape growing I, like man}- other 

 foremen, had to stick " religiously " to the old- 

 fashioned plan of working to a sort of chart 

 which was hung up in each vinery. On this 

 sheet was written the date when the house 

 had to be shut up, when the heat was first 

 applied, date of first watering, &c., and from 

 time to time a further order was added, such 

 as increase of temjierature, another watering, 

 feeding, &c. As a rule the watering was carried 

 out at regular intervals throughout the season 

 whether the vines recpiired it or not, and this is 

 the point I should like to enlarge upon in your 

 valuable journal, as I thmk a few hints may be 

 of some service to yoimg gardeners taking their 

 first posts as heads. Here we have a very large 

 block of span-roofed vineries, so I will state how 

 the borders are treated in regard to watering in 

 these gardens. Contrary to the usual practice 

 of watering in the spring as soon as the houses 

 are " started," we thoroughly soak the borders 

 to the drainage in the autiimn and irintcr after 

 the grapes are cut, and, if possible, before the 

 foliage is ripe and while the roots are still active ; 

 at the same time we administer a good feed of 

 liquid manure from the cowsheds or stable. 

 Undoubtedly this helps to plump up the basal 

 buds, and it naturally follows that strong shoots 

 are produced from the spurs in spring. It may 

 seem incredible to some of your readers, but the 

 fact remains that with the exception of a fairly 

 heavy damping every fine morning in the grow- 

 ing season, the borders receive no further water. 



No syringing of the rods is practised at any 

 time, and we never " damp down " in the 



afternoon or at closnig time, and 1 can honestly 

 sa\- that I have never seen a red si)ider or thri[) 

 in any of the vineries, even in an excei)tionally 

 hot season; in fact, the foliage gets so leathery 

 that a spider couldn't live on it. 



Now, 1 should iiive to explode another old- 

 fashioned theory which I have proved to be 

 absolute nf)nsense — \ iz. : that vines, until they 

 have made a few inches of lateral growth, make 

 no fresh roots, the general idea being that the 

 sap in the rods alone produces the first few 

 inches of growth. This may be the case where 

 the vines are in an unhealthy state and the sur- 

 face roots have disappeared, but with 'healthy 

 vines, where the borders have been well 

 attended to, I have invariably found on examin- 

 ing the surface roots when the rods were just 

 " showing green " that innumerable small 

 white feeding roots had develo|)ed. 



Now, I am certain that to soak a border with 

 cold or even tepid water at this stage is fatal to 

 these tender roots ; they simply rot off and the 

 old roots do not produce any more fresh feeding 

 roots until the borders get thoroughly warmed 

 by the sun and the water gets naturally warmer, 

 when, of course, it maj' be applied without fear 

 of such disastrous results. In many gardens 

 that fine grape Madresfield Court is condemned 

 because of its bad habit of sjilitting the berries 

 at a certain period. I can quite understand this 

 happening in a mixed house of grapes, and it is 

 very annoying, but where a house or part of a 

 house can be devoted to the variety (and it is 

 well worth it both for private use and commer- 

 cial purposes) there is no difficulty in prevent- 

 ing splitting of the berries. 



In these gardens we are fortunate in having 

 a Aladresfield house, and by withholding water 

 entirely as soon as the first tinge of colour is 

 seen on a berry, and by allowing a little more 

 lateral growth to develop at this stage, and 

 giving ample air on all favourable occasions by 

 day and night, we rarely have a split berry, and 

 the bunches finish perfectlv. 



J. G. B.„ 

 Melton Constable. 



Symphoricarpus racemosus var. 

 Laevigatus. 



This is one of the most attractive " berried " 

 shrubs hardy in this country. Although not re- 

 markable when in flower nor particularly dis- 

 tinguished in habit or appearance, during the 

 summer months it is certainly beautiful and 

 striking, when the branches are " roped " with 

 large, pure white berries in late autumn and 

 early winter. 



