438 



JOCRNAL OF EOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 5, 1867. 



McBGAT Hamburgh Vine (J. M. £".).— We have no donbt you will suc- 

 ceed well with your Muscat Hamhurph if you thin out freely the bunches 

 that show so plentifully, so as to leave only one, and not always that, on 

 the shoot that shoivs as many ns four hunches, and when the bunches are 

 in bloom keep a good heat — a little more than usual. Damp the path and 

 floors of the house, and during; a sunny day f,'ently draw a dry handover 

 the bunches in bloom. Your having fi'no nine-feet rcdi on your Rowood 

 Muscat, so well ripened, is^he chief reason why some of the' small spurs 

 <io not ripen well. 



Span-roofed VmERT iF. H.).— We quite approve of vour inside border, 

 but we would have an arch opposite each Vino, instead of everv alternate 

 Vine, in order to let the roots out. We approve of yonr filling up these 

 arches in a temporary manner for the first year or two, removing the 

 bnckbats, &c., and letting the roots out afterwards, and making your 

 outside border piece by piece at two or three times. The effect on the Vines 

 will be like that of a fresh piece nf pasture in the case of cattle. Your 

 walk round the house inside, and vour proposed archway for Vines in the 

 centre— the Vines, like those at the sides, planted 4 feet apart, and so that 

 the ^ me in this bed shall face the intervil between two Vines in front- 

 will look very well ; but we fear that unless von keep the side Vines vpry 

 close to the stems the Vines will suffer from want of Ught when the 

 former are fully established. 



Vine Cplture {Flora Montagup).—^)!^ Vines ought not to be primed 

 nntil the leaves have fallen, and we should think it will be quite early 

 enough to do tbis by Christmas nr the ne«' vear, but the sooner it is 

 done after the leaves are all fallen the butter, as there is then less likelihood 

 of bleeding. You may cut in all the shoots to two eves ; but if the 

 shoots are farther apart on the rod than LS inches, voii may leave the 

 shoot next below the length of rod on which there are no shoots some- 

 what longer, or cut it hack to three or lour eyes. The Vines, after pruning, 

 may have the loose bark removed from the rod, and be pointed with a 

 compositir'n of 4 ozs. of soft soap dissolved in half a gallon of water, anr' 

 you may add an oimce of tobacco over which enough boiling water ha.-, 

 been poured to cover it. The tobacco liquor upon cooling may be added, 

 after atraming. to the soap solution, to which add 1 lb. flowers of sulphur, 

 and enou2h clay to bring ic to the consistency of paint. The stems and 

 every part of the Vines should be painted with the composition, rubbing 

 it well mto every crevice. The woodwork should be well washed with 

 soap and water, taking care not to wet the glass with the soapy water, 

 but wash it with clean water. The walls ought to be well whitewashed, 

 adding 1 lb. of flowers of sulphm- to every gallon of whitewash, and the 

 house must in all respects be made thoroughly clean. The border may 

 be neatly pointed over with a fork, avoiding going so deep as to disturb 

 the roots, and you may sprinkle over it a few half-inch bones-one hun- 

 dredweight will be enough— and put over them an inch or two of chopped 

 turf and horse droppings in equal parts. No water will be required in 

 Winter, but in March you should give a good watering, and repeat it 

 ©very three weeks until the Grapes change colour for ripening, when 

 the last watering may be given. It is not necessary to have fires in winter, 

 unless you have plants in the house, when fires may be employed to keep 

 out frost. The temperature should not exceed 40= from fire 'heat. You 

 cannot give too much air.if you only keep out rain, nor have the house too 

 dry at this season. If you have no plants fire heat will hardly be necessary, 

 except it be in very severe weather, when a gentle fire may be made, but 

 not more than will raise the temperature to 4U", which ought not to 

 fie exceeded whenthe Vines are at rest. For further particulars we would 

 advise yon to obtain the " Garden Manual," which yon can have free by 

 post from our office for twenty postage stamps. 



Grapes Spotting ano Cracking (.4 Grape Grower). ~7ram your de- 

 scription we should attribute the turning black of the berries on the 

 Lady Downo's Vine, and their subsequent falling-in, to spot. Spot is 

 mainly attributable to depriving the Vines of too much foliage, and 

 especially that immediately over the hunches. The Lady Downe"s Grape 

 will endure as heavy cropping as any other variety ; but to grow it well 

 i-*J^'^i^"'^^ ^^'^*' ^"^^ ^^ ^^^^ account the hemes set badly. With a 

 little heat, attention paid to admitting air early, and to not reduciug 

 the foliatie toomuch at once, we think the Lady Downe's would have been 

 ■difl^erent from what yon represent. The Muscadine, too. would not have 

 cracked had air been givmi early, and a little fire heat been used when 

 - .1 fi^^''"^ changed colour. A gentle fire, to cause a circulation of air 

 U) dnll moist weather, would, doubtless, have saved their cracking; but 

 nre heat without air is worse than ha\-ing no heat. Giving air and avoid- 

 ing to make the atmosphere more moist than can be helped are the essen- 

 tials in a vinery when the Grapes are ripening. Yonr having them fine 

 from Vmcs in pots, in heat, tends to confirm our views. 



CoLoDR OF RosEs ( IT. H. B.I.— The Rnses vou name are all good, and 

 we have stated their colours. Gloire de Dijon, yellow and salmon; Gene- 

 ral Jacqueminot, crimson ; John Hopper, pink, crimson cpntre : Senateur 

 vaisse, bright red ; Louise Odier. bright piuk ; Mari-ckal Souchet, reddish 

 crimson ; Baronne Prevost, pale i)ink ; Abdcl Kadir, shaded crimson ; 

 Jules Margottiu, bright cheiTj; Sidouio, rose-coloured: Maiechal Niel, 

 deep yellow. 



Protecting Mahechal Niel Rose {M. E. S.).— " Marechal Niel is a very 

 hardy Rose, considering that it belongs to the Tea-scented family, and it 

 answers admirably upon a Briar. I have twenty-five on its own roots and 

 two on Manetti ; I shall, therefore, he able in due time to say on which of 

 the three it succeeds best. I advise ' M. E. s: to put litter or dry straw 

 over the roots, to tie loosely, so as not to exclude the air, to place straw 

 or Asparagus haulm r-mnd the Briar stem, and to tie a padding of straw 

 over the shoots, so as to admit air. If ^ M. E. S.' has a greenhouse, the 

 safest plan would be, as the shoots are only an inch long, to pot the Rose 

 for the winter, using also the above precautions. I have two strong 

 plants on Briars treated as above. Those on Manetti. on their own roots, 

 and one sickly Briar plant, are planted out in my Melon-house. — W. F. 

 Radclyffe."' 



Mar;.chal Niel Rose Cuttings Faii.ing (Haddock).— The Rose cut- 

 tings cannot be failing from the heat, for a temperature of 50^ would not 

 prevent their growing ; indeed a mild huttora heat of from 65^ to 70-, and 

 a top heat of 55^ at ni^ht, would hasten their rooting. We think the 

 cottings have been too gross and immature, and have not formed a calosity, 

 or if they have, the soil has been kept too wet and caused them to turn 

 black at the base, which is not unusual. The cuttings would have suc- 

 ceeded, had they been inserted in sand in a cold frame and kept close and 

 shaded from sun. September, or early in October, is quite Ute enough to 



put in Rose cuttings. It is now late to put in cuttings of Roses. They 

 should be put in so that a callu;s may be formed before winter, and it is 

 all the better if they are put is during the summer, so that they may 

 become well rooted before winter. 



Taking a Hornet's Nest.—" Will some reader of this journal state how 

 to proceed in taking a hornet's nest that is in the roof of the house, 

 and built on the side of the kitchen chimney i* I am anxious to preserve 

 the nest.— A. W., Newbury." 



Forming a Kitchen Gabden {An Old ,<?»7jscr(7)cr).— The subject was 

 continued in vol. viii., page 460, and throughout vol. ix. In vol. ix.p. 497 

 of our first series is an article on the construction of walls, copings, &c. 

 An article on walls will shortly appear in our i)ages, and will treat fully 

 on the subject. The wall on the north side of the garden should not be 

 less than 12 feet in height, but it maybe made higber with advantage. 

 That on the south side may be 10 feet high, and if the garden is extensive 

 12 feet would be preferable. The east and west walls should equal the height 

 of the south wall. Walls 14 inches thick are as strong as need be, but 9-inch 

 walls, when strengthened by piers, will serve, still theyarevery ugly, and 

 are not so strong as hollow walls. A 14-inch hollow wall is Visry strong, 

 and looks equally well with a solid one, and it is drier and equally sub- 

 stantial. The foundation of the wall, up to the gi-ound hue, is built soUd^ 

 and then the brickwork is carried up hollow to within three or four 

 courses of the top, which should be solid. The hollow part is built of 

 headers and stretchers, every fifth header on both sides of the wall being 

 a whole brick, whilst all the other headers are half bricks. Nine- inch walla, 

 if can'ied up higher than 7 feet above ground, should have piers at every 

 12 foot, which need not exceed 18 inches broud for a wall 9 feet in height, 

 whilst for a wall of 10 feet, ami not exceeding 12 feet, from the foundation, 

 piers 22^ inches broad would be required, the piers in all cases projecting 

 4.h inches, and they ought to he caniod up to within 2 feet of the top. 

 As to copings, those of stone are, perhaps, the best; but slabs of fire-clay 

 are very durable. The copings should be 4 inches wider than the thick- 

 ness of the walls, which will allow of two-inch projections on both sides. 

 The coping should be raised in the middle, so as to cause the wet to 

 pass ofi"; or, if flat, the side next the most important side of the 

 wall should be raised to cause the water to drain to the least important 

 side. On the under side of the coping, near to the outer edee of the 

 projection, should be a grooved throating for the water to drip ofi", instead 

 of running down the wall. Your border of 6 feet is too narrow, unless 

 your wall is low. The border should equal the height of the wall in 

 width. No trees, other than those planted against the wall, should be 

 planted in the border. Espaliers next tbe walk, unless very low, would 

 shade the liorder too much ; they should be placed on the opposite side 

 of the walk to the border. Yonr other iiiiery is very compreliensive, and 

 would require more time and space than we can afford to devote to it at 

 present, but the subject will be treated on fully in an early number. 



Yew Hedge Thinning (F. H. Law). — We would not thin out every other 

 plant, for though planted very thickly they will make an impenetrable 

 fence, and there is no fear of their dyiug off if left as they are. All you 

 have to do is to keep it well cut in, and this should be done annually, 

 eai'ly in August. If your hedge is intended for a screen, rather than 

 for a fence, you may take out every alternate plant; but you will not 

 then have a fence proof against cattle, and as a screen four years' growth 

 will be required to make the hedge close. The trees may be removed now 

 or during mild weather up to April; but unless you require the plants 

 for other purposes, we would advise you to leave well alone. 



Heaths for Blooming in August and November {Q. Read). — For 

 August: Ventricosa grandiflora.Cavendishii.Ventricosahirsuta, Ventricosa 

 Bothwelliana, Rtjllissoni, and Vestita rosea. For November : Wilmoreana, 

 McNabiana rosea, Tricolor Wilsoni, Pulchen-ima, Hyemalis, and Lam- 

 bertiana. 



Azalea Leaves Browned (R. S. F.). — We think your plants have 

 dm'ing the summer been kept much too warm and dry, and have not had 

 a sufficient supply of water at the roots. The leaves sent are not infested 

 with insects of any kind, and we cannot discover they have been so. The 

 drainage should be examined, and rendered efficient if defective. The 

 cause of the brownness is probably that named ; and the evil also 

 sometimes results from a sudden change. Exposing the pots in summer 

 to the sun's rays, which heat them and destroy the roots, or allowing 

 tbe drainage to become choked, will have a like result, and the leaves 

 brown from want of support and ultimately full. We would advise yoa 

 to keep the plants rather dry during the winter, in a cool house from 

 which frost is merely excluded, care being taken not to allow them to 

 suffer from want of water, and in spring repot them immediately after 

 blooming. After potting place them in a house with a moist atmosptiere 

 and a temperature of not less than 55^ at night, and a day temperature 

 of 65'^ from fire heat ; sprinkle them overhead with water morning and 

 evening ; and sprinkle the floors and every available surface two or three 

 times a-day in order to produce a moist atmosphere. The plants should 

 be carefully watered for a time until the roots are working in the fresh 

 soil, when the watering should be liberal. This treatment ought to be 

 continued until they have ceased growth, when they should be gradually 

 hardened ofl' by exjiosure to light and air, and they will speedily set their 

 buds, which being secured, they should have a light and airy position in 

 a cool house. They require a temperature of 40'^ to 45^ from fire heat 

 after the buds are set and until they .start into growth in spring. 



Pear-Tree Training {E. T. H^).— Pear trees may be trained upon 

 wires fixed 1 foot above the ground, but we would prefer them 13 inches 

 from the ground, as the fruit, when the branches are so near the ground, 

 is Uable to have dirt splashed upon it dming heavy rains, and the 

 wires are apt to bend downwards owing to the weight of the branches 

 and fruit. Only two sboots will be required, or one on each side of the 

 stem, and beyond those all others should be cut away, dependance being 

 placed upon the spurs for fruit. 



PEGGiNa Down Roses [Tdevt). — Roses on the Manetti in beds on a lawn 

 may be pegged down, so that the branches may lie upon the surface, pro- 

 viding it can be done without breaking them. It is quite optional whether 

 the shoots be pegged down or not, and for our own port we prefer them 

 not pegged. It is a matter of taste ; but though you may have a mass of 

 bloom from plants pegged down, you must not expect a great profusion 

 of it. 



Chasselas Musquk Vine (Rector, ^('710.— There is no such Grape as 

 " Chasselas Jijuscat," it must be Chasselas Musqut-. 



