Jannary 8, 1867. J 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



23 



taining a good quantity of lime. The bulk of it ought to be 

 chopped turf from an old pasture ; if neither too sandy nor too 

 heavy, this alone would grow good Grapes. It may be used 

 the day it is cut as advantageously as if kept a year. To ten 

 bavrowloads of this turf soil add two of broken oyster-shells, 

 old lime rubbish, or chalk, or a mixture of the three, which is 

 preferable ; one of horse-droppings, and half a bushel of broken 

 bones." 



Now I would ask, Is the remark of " Forwards " a fair one ? 

 Is not the sort of turf soil pretty well indicated in the passage 

 I have quoted from Mr. Pearson's book ? — A Lovek of Fair 

 Play. 



PEAS— QUANTITY OF SEED NEEDED- 

 ESTIMATE OF VARIETIES. 



In reply to the question relative to the quantity of Peas 

 sown per acre of kitchen garden ; that here is nearly five acres 

 in extent, and there is a large demand for Peas, yet I find 

 24 quarts ample for the whole season. 



Too much cannot be said in favour of Essex Rival and AVon- 

 derful. Although Essex Rival is about a week behind Dick- 

 son's First and Best in coming in, I depend upon it for large 

 gatherings. 



For a first crop I sow in pots in the end of .Januai-y, harden 

 off, and plant-out the first opportunity, and find the yield to 

 be more than double those from November sowings, and quite 

 as early, to say nothing of the trouble of the latter from mice, 

 &c., and especially from the gardener's feathered friends. 



I find the following sorts are as good as any I have tried :— 

 Dickson's First and Best, Essex Rival, Dickson's Favourite, 

 Wonderful, Yeitch's Perfection, Hairs' Dwarf Mammoth, and 

 Ne Plus Ultra.— Ct. E., Strawhen-ij Hill. 



OUR VINES. 



{Continued from page 6.) 



Through all the winter time, day after day, we looked at our 

 Vines. They were still pale, leafless, uupromisiug-looking 

 canes, giving no sign of growth, nor even of life. Uncle Tetley 

 peered at them through his spectacles, and papa bought a 

 large magnifier ; but yet we could make nothing out. Cousin 

 Herbert took a trowel and turned away the soil from about the 

 Vines. There were lots of little white thread-like roots push- 

 ing in all directions ; but, then. Cousin Herbert had never 

 seen Vine roots before, and did not know whether they were 

 right or wrong, so I asked George, our gardener, a supposed 

 clever man. " Why, you see. Miss, I never took much notice 

 that way. I am not sure they should be either white or brown, 

 I have seen them both. I don't think it matters much." 



February passed, JIarch came — a dry, sunny, blustering 

 month, as much dust in the streets and on the moors as would 

 have ransomed every kiug in Christendom, our Vines at South 

 Field were out in full leaf ; those at llidge Close had not a leaf 

 to be seen, nor even the least appearance of any swelling of 

 the eyes. " They are dead right out, I am sure," said papa; 

 " I would write to that Bradford man and tell him, if I were 

 you, Herbert ;" but Herbert had larger hope and longer patience, 

 so waited on. One morning in the first week of April, a little 

 glistening tear had gathered in the eyes of several of the Tines, 

 and during the same day the had-beeu-owner walked in. 



" What ! Tour Tines in this state yet ?" He took up a 

 syringe and doused them over and over again. It was a regular 

 thunder-storm inside, with heavy rain. How it did run down 

 the glass, carrying with it a good many Yorkshire blacks we 

 did not know to be there. Certainly it was a cleansing opera- 

 tion. Kate timidly suggested the idea of drowning, but he 

 only S3'ringed away the harder, saying, " Do you not know I 

 pledged myself for the success of these Tines ? and unless you 

 wish mo to fail yon will not let them die of thirst. Tell your 

 brother to syringe them night and morning, and during the 

 day while the dry sunny weather lasts, and tu water them once 

 a-week, giving them at least three gallons each." Then he 

 took up a watering-can and emptied the cistern that always 

 stood fall in the vinery. 



After this the Vines grew apace. Cousin Herbert syi-inging 

 them every morning before he went to his ofiice, and in the 

 evening when he returned, and Kate looking after them during 

 the day. There was no doubt they bad wanted water, for in 

 the moist atmosphere they grew amazingly, leaf after leaf un- 



folding itself in the warm April sunshine. Soft delicate leaves 

 they were, and very beautiful. 



One morning going into the vinery we found several of the 

 leaves on the Lady Downe's Vine and one Muscat Hamburgh 

 eaten by some insect, nearly all the young leaves were more or 

 less disfigured ; perfectly round holes they were, as if they had 

 been cut out with an instrument. Cousin Herbert said " We 

 must see after it, for the Vines would be injured if not de- 

 stroyed ; if the leaves went wrong the roots would follow, 

 for the leaves are the great root-feeders." Uncle Tetley 

 always laughs at this theory, and calls it absurd, and says, 

 " There never yet were and there never can be leaves without 

 roots." So Kate and I spent much time seeking for something 

 that could have done the mischief. Aunt Margaret thought it 

 was a caterpillar. No one seemed to share her opinion. Janet 

 said, " The likeliest thing was an earwig," but then it was too 

 early in the season for those little, lazy, comfort -loving pests to 

 have become troublesome, and in all our search we never met 

 with one. I said, " Miglit it not be a snail or slug ?" " Oh, 

 no ! " said Kate, very wisely, " it cannot be that, for the little 

 molluscs never make those clear ring-like holes, they are much 

 too greedy, they eat on straight before them until leaf, or 

 flower, or whatever they have attacked is done with, unless 

 they meet a midrib or dry stem which proves harder than 

 they like. Besides, they would have gone to the Ferns at our 

 feet in preference to making a long uphill journey for very 

 doubtful food." Cousin Y'alter said, " It might be the crickets," 

 with which om- vinery was already sadly infested. " That 

 cannot be," said Janet, " for crickets are anti-vegetarians." 



So the search went on day after day, and the wonder what- 

 ever it could be agitated the two households in no small degree. 

 Even Aunt ilargaret shared in the search, and came in con- 

 queror after Kate and I had spent a weary time, and Cousin 

 Herbert pounds of paraflin composites, for the evening was his 

 only spare time, and he would not use our farthing rushlights. 

 Yes, Aunt Margaret came in one day with a little cinnamon- 

 brown beetle stuck at the point of her darning-needle, looking 

 hard at it as if afraid it would escape. " Is this the gentle- 

 man you are seeking?" said Aunt Margaret. " A clever fellow 

 he is to hide away just on the very bit of Tine bark nearest to 

 his own colour. I tell you what, Kate, with all your cleverness 

 and your quick eye for shade and colour, you could not match 

 yourself like this." 



" Clever do you call it. Aunt Margaret ?" said Kate, " I caU 

 it the Divine instinct of self-preservation." 



"Well! well!" said Aunt Margaret. 



" It is all chance," said Janet, " you might just as well have 

 found it anywhere else — across the way on Maud's Dendrobium 

 nobile, for instance." Janet's book-learning and French read- 

 ing had made her rather sceptical about what she called simple 

 things. 



" I do not think it looks like an insect to eat Tine leaves," 

 said mamma, who was at Ridge Close at the time, and who is 

 a great lover of those little hard-backed fellows. 



" Then, pray," said Cousin Herbert, " what was he doing up 

 there ? In truth, I searched the leaves under and over, but 

 never once thought of the canes. You deserve a gold medal 

 for your success, Aunt Margaret." 



Then the poor little beetle was put under the magnifier and 

 subjected to close observation. If he had any shyness about 

 him he must have been greatly troubled. Some one wanted to 

 keep it as a specimen for future use, but Aunt Margaret coolly 

 put it in the fire, saying she was a member of the " Humane 

 Society, and, doubtless, it was suffering from the prick of her 

 needle." After this we found several ; they were always hiding 

 away on the bark, on the shady side of the cane. Whenever 

 a new hole was seen then fresh search was made until they 

 were fairly exterminated. 



Through all the long summer days, and the shortening ones 

 of autumn, the Tines grew and flourished. How much we 

 thought of them ! How proud we were of them ! If they had 

 been chickens, or children, they would have been spoiled right 

 out with over-kindness or over-praise. Everybody admired 

 them. They shot right out straight as an arrow, as if aiming 

 to reach at one-year's spell the light graceful roof. Uncle 

 Tetley used to go round the vinery nearly every day, and 

 slacken the strings which tied up the Tines to some Uttle brass 

 hooks Cousin Herbert had put in by the sides of the windows 

 for that purpose, saying as he did so, " The poor things must 

 have room to grow." I have a fancy Cousin Herbert used to 

 tighten them many a time to keep them up in their proper 

 i place. However, the canes did thicken fast, almost past beUef. 



