292 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE OAIIDENEB. 



[ October 17, 1867. 



Vines. Tbey Lave been watered tliis eeasou as described at 

 page 420, and bad tbeir bist sujiply in tbe middle of August. Mr. 

 Ward tells me tbat as soon as tbe fru it is gatbered, he will give 

 the borders a sound watering, and leave tbem till March. Tbe 

 manual labour is heavy ; but this might now be obviated, by 

 having two perforated zinc pipes laid on tbe surface on each 

 side, and a cistern slightly raised to give gentle pressure. 



Mr. Ward, Mr. Miller's gardener, not only excels in Grape- 

 growing, but may point to bis Pines as models of successful 

 Pine-growing. I saw with him Smooth-leaved Cayennes, weigh- 

 ing from 9 to lOJ lbs., beautifully ripened. — Viator. 



STORING POTATOES. 



Accept my thanks for your reply to my inquiry, page 21"2 ; 

 but I must ask of you a little further information. When 

 ought one to consider a Potato ripe ? for here seems the difiS- 

 cnlty. The premature death of the stem by disease cannot be 

 said to be a proof of the maturity of the tiiber. By tbe end 

 of March most growers here have completed planting. By the 

 middle of July, when there is a severe visitation of disease, 

 such as, for instance, this season, all the stems have disap- 

 peared. Up to this, I take it, the poison in the plant is being 

 actively circulated. Some tubers become infected by it, others 

 withstand it ; but, on the death of the stem, is it your opinion 

 that this circulation is at an end ? or does the process continue 

 to spread in the soil? Because it is obvious that if there is 

 an end to such circulation upon tbe death of the stem, the 

 tubers may as well lay for a time iu their isolated condition in 

 the ground as be "heaped" anywhere. The difference would 

 be, that if drawn — say in tbe first fortnight in August, some 

 Potatoes would be stored having disease in such an incipient 

 form as not to be noticeable at the time of drawing, and they 

 would naturally injure those about them in the storehouse, 

 and would be certainly themselves soon unfit for use ; but if, 

 on the other hand, these Potatoes were left undisturbed till the 

 end of September tbe affected tubers would have fairly rotted 

 down, and the Potatoes then appearing sound would really be 

 so, and therefore could be heaped without any risk. 



The old people in this neighbourhood tell me that it was the 

 rule before the disease was known to draw Potatoes in the first 

 week of November. Then they planted later, it is true ; but it 

 is, of course, also true that tbe dying of the stem occupied 

 longer time then, when tbe plant continued free from taint, 

 than in these days of disease. 



I take it, if it can be laid down what time certain sorts 

 Tinder ordinary conditions would require to i ipen, and if diseased 

 or not, what would be the best time to commence drawing for 

 store, the difiiculty would bo met. Here there are strenuous 

 advocates of two opposite courses : the one bids you draw 

 directly the plant dies, and so save the spread of the infection ; 

 the other advises you to leave them untouched for some two 

 months later, and so get riper Potatoes and less risk in storing. 

 I appeal to you to relieve me from their contradictions. — 



COENCEIA. 



[A Potato is ripe as soon as its outer cuticle, or skin, will 

 not come off when gently rubbed. If the weather be fine the 

 tubers may be allowed to remain in the soil until the stems 

 are dead ; but the tubers neither increase iu size or ripeness 

 after the stems begin to turn yellow. If the stems are diseased 

 they had better be cut off, for they supply diseased sap to the 

 tubers. If the stems are only cut off at about half their length, 

 and the lower half is still green, the tubers may be left in the 

 ground until the remaining portion of the stems shows evi- 

 dences either of decay or of disease, when, in either case, the 

 tubers should be taken up and stored. There is no doubt that 

 so soon as the stems are dead all circulation in tbe tubers has 

 ceased ; but it is quite an erroneous conclusion that therefore 

 they may as well remain in the soil. They may do so if a 

 depth of soil is heaped over them to preserve them from ex- 

 cessive vicis.situdes of temperature and moisture — the prime 

 agents of decay ; but it is much easier and more safe to take 

 up the tubers and store them in a cold, dry outhouse in alter- 

 nate layers with sand, so tbat scarcely two Potatoes touch. 

 This is very different from storing them '• heaped," which pro- 

 motes heating, and consequently is the worst of all modes of 

 storing. When stored in sand, if a tuber decays it does not 

 affect those even nearest to it ; and even a tainted one will not 

 decay so fast as when in the wet soil. 



We remember, as your neighbours do, when the Potato crop 

 was not usually taken up until late in the autumn ; but that 



was before " the iiaeAso" had become so excessive. "Scab" 

 and " curl " were then the diseases most injurious, and early 

 or late taking-up had no influence over them. 



No certain time can be assigned as requisite for a Potato 

 plant completing its growth ; but there are some varieties 

 which, in defiance of an unpropitious summer, are ready for 

 taking up by the end of July or early in August. These are the 

 least Uable to the disease, and some of them should always be 

 grown for storing. 



What we have said is only an amplification of what we before 

 recommended — namely, that unless the weather is fine we re- 

 commend our own practice of taking up the tubers and storing 

 them in sand so soon as the stems begin to assume a yellow hue.] 



"WINTER TREATMENT 



OF TRICOLOR, BRONZE AND GOLD ZON.\L, .^ND OTHER 



PEL.iRGONIUHS. 



I.N reply totheinquiry of your correspondent " H. J. Jackson," 

 as to the best mode of wintering these beautiful plants, I will 

 state as fully as I can my mode of treating them ; and I feel 

 sure, if he will follow the advice I shall give him, that he will 

 succeed, for I have grown them now two winters in one of the 

 wildest and worst parts of Lancashire, and have found no 

 difficulty whatever in growing and propagating them freely. 



In the first place, your correspondent states that his Tricolor 

 Pelargoniums have been growing in frames, and tbat he has 

 now housed them. The place most suitable for the Tricolor 

 varieties is a shelf near the glass in an airy place, where the air 

 can circulate freely amongst their foliage. They are very im- 

 patient of a damp humid atmosphere ; care must therefore be 

 taken to afford them all the air possible, and water must be 

 given sparingly through the short dull days of winter. A dry 

 temperature of from 45° to 55° is the most suitable for them 

 throughout the winter. 



In the first week iu January tbe plants may be shaken out, 

 and repotted iu small pots in a good, free, sandy loam, with a 

 little leaf soil mixed with it. Very little water should be given 

 them till tbey have begun rooting freely into the new soil. At 

 the end of January they may be placed in a warmer tempera- 

 ture of, say, 60°, still keeping tbe plants as near tbe glass as 

 possible, and giving them the benefit of air on all favourable 

 occasions, but on no account must they have too much moisture. 

 This must be afforded as sparingly as possible till March, when 

 the plants will grow vigorously, and will require water more 

 frequently. 



Cuttings may now be taken off as fast as suitable shoots 

 appear on the plants, but it is not advisable to take any until 

 they have made five fully developed leaves ; and in taking 

 thtm care must be exercised to leave an eye or two beyond the 

 stem of tbe parent plant. It tbe plant is in a vigorous state of 

 growth it will soon push out another set of shoots, which 

 should again be taken off, using the same jnecaution of leaving 

 dormant eyes. By skilfully carrying on this practice the parent 

 plant in a few months becomes well furnished with shoots. 

 Tbe same temperature as tbat in which tbe plants are growing 

 will suit tbe cuttings. I have treated fully on the management 

 of these in one of tbe spring numbers of this Joitrnal (No. .316), 

 After the young plants are rooted and growing freely their 

 heads may be taken off, but not before you can take a cutting 

 having the same number of leaves as recommended above, and 

 leaving two or three good leaves on the plant. As soon as the 

 eyes have broken on tbe young plant from which the cutting 

 has been taken, and it has formed some small leaves about 

 the size of a shilling, it may be shifted into a larger-sized pot. 

 This will give it a fresh start, and will soon enable it to pro- 

 duce from two to four good cuttings, according to the number 

 of eyes left on the plant ; so tbe work of decapitation and pro- 

 pagation may be continued under glass up to the end of June, 

 from which time till September the cuttings will strike much 

 more readily in the open ground. I merely stick tbem into 

 the common garden soil, and as soon as the cutting begins 

 to emit roots it is taken up and potted ; this will be in about 

 three weeks after it has beeu inserted in the soil. 



If any considerable number of cuttings is put into the open 

 ground at once during tbe hot summer months, it is as well to 

 shade them a little for a few days. This may be done by 

 simply sticking a few evergreen branches amongst tbem, which 

 prevents the sun from scorching their leaves, and preserves 

 tbe strength of the cuttings better. As soon as tbe cut at the 

 base of tbe cutting begins to heal, which will be in a week or 



