25 



JOUEKAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ Jul/ 14, 1863. 



and if they are treated with plenty of manure water, and 

 :itand in saucers, they may be depended upon to produce a 

 good dish for every four pots. They come in live or six 

 v?eeks before the out-door plants, and last untU these are 

 ripe. 



If any one, liko yoiu* correspondent ''A. Z.," finds that he 

 cannot make his Strawberry plants bear under orilinary 

 treatment, let him try the method I hare described, and I 

 assure him he will not be disappointed even with plants of 

 the first year. By the way, Stiawberry plants should always 

 be struck in small pots, and planted out, if possible, in 

 August ; a bad winter and spring ivill show the importance 

 of this.— H. C. K., — — Rectory, Hereford. 



CUTTING-DOWN CANON HALL MUSCAT 



VINE. 

 Mb. Fish some time ago startled the readers of tlus 

 Journal by announcing that he had seen some very flourishing 

 Vines during liis visit to Ireland that had been sawn off but 

 recently at the stem's junction with the root. On the evening 

 of the 24th .Tune I called on a friend, Mr. D. Ackroyd, 

 gardener to L. Nathan, Esq., West Lodge, BrR.dford, and 

 very soon stumbled on a Canon Hall Vine. We had so 

 often seen this Vine with large bunches badly set and three 

 parts of the berries ruined by the spot, th.at we felt indignant 

 at the idea of growing Muscats along with otlier Vines 

 requiring a cooler temperaturs ; but now the Vine was so 

 much altered in appearance that we could not believe it 

 was the same. Having satisfied myself on this point — for 

 the Vine was cut down about three yeai's ago — I gleaned 

 the following information from the intelligent and persevering 

 gardener : — 



"In November of last year the roots (three in number) 

 were cut off 1 foot below the sui-face — that is, the Vine had 

 only thi-ee bare stem-like roots without fibres, 1 foot long 

 each, left. A little of the old soil was taken away, but very 

 little, not more than a baiTowfid, and thi-ee bushels of cocoa- 

 nut refuse put in the hole. In this the stubbed-up Vine 

 was planted, and the ordinary soU of the border thromi on 

 so as to level the whole neatly. There were other Vines 

 in the border, so that it was impracticable to make a laro-e 

 hole. Shortly after thLs was done 1 foot of stable litter was 

 put upon the border, and that, as might be erpected, heated 

 very little indeed. The house was started in the beginning of 

 February, and ripe Grapes were cut on the 14th of June. 

 The Canon Hall broke as weU as any of the other Vines, 

 never flagged under the brightest sun, the flowers set well, 

 and the whole progressed extremely well. It had the same 

 tieat and treatment as the other Vines, and the result is as 

 follows :— Length of fiiiiting pc.rtion of cane, 10 feet. (It was 

 not headed down, but left its fuU length in the ordiuary 

 course of pruning.) The young leader Ts li inch in circum- 

 ference, with round i^lump eyes. There are nine good-sized 

 bunches on the Vine, the majority being 9 to 10 inches long, 

 lOi inches across the shoulders, and the ben-ies. remarkable 

 for their evenness of size, measure 3 to 3.! inches in circum- 

 ference, either round by the footstalk or the middle of the 

 berry. They are just beginning to ripen, and will, of com-se. 

 be larger yet." 



In the same house — in fact, the only vinery — I noticed a 

 companion Vine that had been inarched last year. The 

 stock was an old Barbarossa that never did well, the scion 

 Bowood Muscat, and the operation has resulted in seven good- 

 sized bunches, and wood promising well ftir another year. 



The other Vines were in capital order, a St. Peter's having 

 nearly tlurty large bunches upon it, and better set and finer- 

 shaped bunches I have not seen. A Tokay was bearing 

 freely, Hamburghs were fast approaching maturity, and a 

 kind here called Victoria Hamburgh was very fine. " It much 

 Tesembles, if it is not identical with. Pope's Hamburgh ; but, 

 if anything, with a little more of the Esperione about it. It 

 !3 a more compact buncher than the old Hamburgh, more 

 even in the beny. forms large shoulders, and is in every way 

 a desirable variety. Notwithstanding that this is the only 

 house sot apart for Grapes, yet, with a proper admirture of 

 sorts, fruit is had late in the season. The Sweetwaters are 

 npe now (June), Hamburghs will follow, then nome Muscats 

 o,nd Tokaya, and, last of all, the St. Peter's. 



Under the Vines were Cucumbers in pots, with trait nearly 

 2 feet long, and plants and Ferns too numerous to mention. 

 The conservatory was neatly arranged, and gay with flower- 

 ing ijhmts. In a pit I observed some nice plants, as 

 Nepenthes distiUatoria, with a profusion of pitchers ; Ixora 

 javanica, I. coccinea superba; a good plant of Pandanus 

 javanicus foliis variegatis ; Alocasia metallica ; Alocasia 

 macrorhiza variegata (small) ; Allamanda Schotti, cathartica, 

 neriifolia. &c. ; Dipladenia crassinoda, Crotons variegatum, 

 pictum. and longifoUum variegatum ; Vincas rosea and rosea, 

 alba, V. ocellata ; Cyanophyllum magnificum ; Cyrtoceras 

 reflexa ; Caladiiuns C'hantini, Wighti, argyrites, Belleymei, 

 &c. In another house were a magniticent specimen of 

 Pavetta borbonica; a fine specimen of the finest of all fine- 

 foliaged or variegated plants, Cissus discolor; SphtErostema 

 mai-morata, a poor thijig under any cfrcumstances, and it 

 was as fine here as I have seen it ; fine plants of Stephanotis 

 floribunda, Hedychiums, &c., all of which are generally 

 considered to belong to fine places where there ai-e acres of 

 glass and scores of hands. Never was a more mistaken 

 idea. It is brains and a patient, dogged, and persevering 

 wUl that can grow such in a small place. There are a neat 

 lawn and flower-garden all in good trim. 



I must not forget to say that last year Mr. Ackroyd took 

 several piizes at the Bradford Show for plants, and the first 

 prize for the best dish and largest bunch of Grapes. He 

 yearly gets some fine Mushiooms out of his Melon-pits in 

 winter, and all he does is to put a little spawn on the 

 manure before the beds are earthed. Last winter he had them 

 in frost and snow without any covering but the lights, 

 and a specimen weighed 1 lb. I think he would willingly 

 let any gardener see the Vine in question, and answer any 

 inquiries respecting it. — G. A. 



GAEDENEJi.S' PKIENDLY .SOCIETY. 



Like our friend of the Green Isle, who last week favoured 

 us with a reminder in relation to the proposed Gardeners' 

 Benefit Society, I have been expecting to hear week after 

 week that the scheme had taken some definite form, and I 

 have been surprised at the continued silence respecting it. 

 I believe I have shown on a previous occasion that my views 

 were in favour of the project, although I might have failed 

 to state clearly that I would become a member, provided 

 the proposed Society actually came into existence. 



Why gardeners as a body have not come fonvard and 

 surported the motion, as doubtless would have been the 

 case with men of other callings, may appear inexplicable ; 

 but the fact is gardeners are not constantly together as 

 men of other trades are ; the natiu'e of their business keeps 

 them far apart ; they meet very rarely in a body ; the 

 means offered for anything like social gatherings are few, 

 and but a minority of them do or can take advantage of 

 horticultural societies for the piu'pose of holding friendly 

 intercourse, so that horticultural joiu'nals offer the only 

 ready means of thefr communicating with each other. This 

 means is far from being likely to excite or maintain an 

 interest in any undertaking equal to that which is' kept 

 alive by personal intercourse in the case of men who follow 

 thefr ordinary occupation in bodies : nor do I believe that 

 the ordinary wages of gardeners are sufficient to induce 

 them to be particidarly provident, and at the same time 

 maintain that respectability in appearance which seems to 

 be requfred of them. In this respect I tliiuk there is still 

 room for improvement, which probably will be accomplished 

 when gardeners — that is, the average run of them, enter more 

 deeply into the mysteries of thefr calling. How this may 

 be remains to be seen ; but a grand step vriR be taken in 

 the formation of a general Ciardeners' Society like that for- 

 merly proposed, and which I now advocate. — F. Chittt. 



Cyanophyllum maonificitm. — In yoiu' Joiu-ual of June 

 23rd I saw an account of " A Tounh Gardener " having a 

 Cyanophyllum magnificum, some of the leaves of which 

 measured 26 inches long and 13 broad, and I was rather 

 surprised at the note of the Editors, remarking that they 

 had never seen one with leaves so large. Fancying mine 

 were usually larger I went with my gardener and we measured 



