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JOURNAL OP HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 21, 1867. 



peraturc of the frame sbould be 70°, or it may range from 05° 

 to *l . If there be nn excess of steam the lights may be tilted 

 or opened at back. Shade from bright sun must be afforded, 

 and when the nights are frosty a double covering of mats over 

 the lights will be necessary, care being taken that they do 

 not hang over the bed, otherwise there will be danger of the 

 frame being Hlled with rank steam from the dung. 'Wlieu the 

 heat declines the frame should be covered with mats to preserve 

 the proper temperature, litter being placed against the sides. 



In a fortnight the Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, and Agera- 

 turns will have struck root, and the Verbenas and Lobelias will 

 be well rooted in that time. In any case when the cuttings 

 begin to grow air should be given — a little at first, increasing the 

 quantity until it can be admitted early, or by 8 a.m., if the 

 weather is mild, and it should be reduced to a minimum by 

 4 or 5 P.M., when by watering the plants overhead and shutting 

 up close the temperature will be increased, and a moisture 

 tighly favourable to growth will be secured. The points of 

 the cuttings, or rather plants, should be taken out after they 

 have struck root, and this will cause the plants to become 

 bushy and stiff. The soil is to be kept moist, but the sprink- 

 ling overhead will in most eases be sufficient. Continue this 

 treatment until the end of the second week in May ; then 

 draw down the lights every day in mild weather after 7 a.m., 

 and shut them up at night, but only to afford protection from 

 frost. The plants being thus hardeued-off should be planted 

 out at the end of the month, or early in June, and this is 

 easily done if they are in pots, but if in turf it is merelj' ne- 

 cessary to cut it between the. plants in order to secure to each 

 a small ball, and they do better thus than in any way I know. 



As to striking the cuttings in pots or pans I do not recom- 

 mend it for Pelargoniums at this season, though it may be 

 done if the plants be potted off afterwards ; but I do not con- 

 sider that there is anything gained thereby. However, whether 

 for Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, Ageratums, Verbenas, or Lobe- 

 lias, the pots or p.aus should be well drained and the rougher 

 parts of the compost placed at the bottom upon the crocks, 

 afterwards lilling to within half an inch of the rim with a 

 mixture of turfy loam two-thirds, one-third leaf mould, and 

 one-sixth sand, well incorporated, the pot or pan being sur- 

 faced with sUver sand. Insert the cuttings, give a gentle 

 watering, place in the frame, and plunge in the sawdust, the 

 bed being covered with from 3 to (i inches of that or some 

 other loose material, or set the pots on a layer of sand an inch 

 thick. The cuttings must have shade and a gentle watering 

 overhead to keep the soil moist and the foliage fresh. They 

 will be well rooted in a fortnight ; then gradually harden them 

 off. Set a frame on bricks under each corner, and place within 

 it 6 inches deep of rough ashes, clinkers, brick rubbish, or 

 better still, rough gravel ; level and place thereon the riddliugs 

 of the following compost : — Light loam from rotted turves 

 three-fourths, one-fourth leaf mould, and then 6 inches of 

 sifted soil. Put on the lights and keep them close, and in a 

 day or two the soil will have become warmed aud aired ; the ! 

 rooted cuttings may then be planted out, not nearer than ! 

 l; inch or 2 inches apart, but twice that distance should be 

 allowed if there is room. After planting give a good watering 

 with water of a temperature equal to that of the frame, and 

 shut up the lights closely ; keep them on continually, except 

 when opened for watering, and protect with a mat in cold, ' 

 frosty nights. Slight shade from bright sun will be beneficial ' 

 for a few days until the plants begin to root and grow freely, 

 then take out the points of the shoots, and give air by opening 

 the sashes about an inch at back early in the morning, liut on 

 cold days keep them close, or admit less air, and about 2 or 

 3 P.M. water the plants overhead aud shut up closely. Pursue 

 this treatment, keeping them well but not immoderately 

 watered until the middle of May, then harden oft', and you wiil 

 probably find autumn- struck plants cramped in pots over the 

 winter and starved in spring not doing half so well when 

 planted out as these, which should be moved and planted with 

 a ball, giving a good watering after planting. — G. Abbey. 



VINES AND VINE BORDERS. 

 In an article under the above heading by " H. S.," in the 

 Number for .January 15th, the writer begins by criticising Mr. 

 Wills '8 system of making Vine borders ; then proceeds to find 

 fault with him in no measured terms for not denouncing cer- 

 tain recommendations made by me as to the proper tempera- 

 ture for Vines at particular seasons of their growth in the 



treatise I wrote on the cultivation of the Grape Vine. It may 

 appear superfluous that I should enter on any defence of a 

 monograph, which is on the eve of entering on a fifth edition 

 in as many years, nor would I have done so, were it not that 

 " H. S." in the following passage imputes a motive — certainly 

 a very ridiculous one — to Mr. Wills for his silence on the sub- 

 ject : — " Why has he [Mr. Wills] not already given utterance 

 to his indignation at the barbarity of shutting up a Vine in 

 the midseason of its growth in a mean temperature of 81° for 

 Hamburghs, and 85° for Muscats ? Mr. Wills must surely 

 know that the temperature, in which 'proprietors of villa resi- 

 dences, who are not supposed to employ scientific gardeners ' [a 

 quotation from my work on the Vine], are recommended to 

 gi-ow them, is wholly unnecesary. Is Mr. Wills's silence to be 

 attributed to the benefit he has received from the application 

 of the author's styptic to the bottoms of his PelargonimB 

 cuttings ? " 



Now, whatever benefit Mr. Wills's Pelargonium cuttings 

 received from the application of the styptic in question it could 

 not by any possibihty influence him or his judgment in regard 

 to the proper temperature in which to grow Grapes, nor pre- 

 vent his giring pubUc expression to it, however much it might 

 differ from my recommendations on the same subject, seeing 

 that we are perfect strangers to each other, and that he had no 

 interest in the world, except the public good, in making known 

 that he had used the styptic with advantage in propagating 

 Pelargoniums —a discovery in which he certainly preceded me, 

 though I have since verified it. 



As to the barbarity of shutfing-up Vines in temperatures 

 varying from 81' to 85° of sun heat, all Grape-growers of any 

 experience know that these temperatures are by no means the 

 maxima at which it is perfectly safe and advantageous to 

 shut up Vines in the afternoon, and that 100° with a moist at- 

 mosphere is perfectly safe ; aud if " H. S." had as extensive a 

 knowledge of Grape-growing as he seems to have of geography, 

 he would know this. Does he for a moment suppose that 

 Grapes grown in the open air in the countries he refers to, can 

 compare with the best Grapes grown in hothouses in this 

 eountiy ? If he does, I challenge him to the proof, after which 

 I shall be readj' to admit that the temperatm-es I have recom- 

 mended are too high, but not till then. 



" H. S." says, " The Vine seems to be very much at home 

 in the valley of the Volga, where the mean summer temperature 

 is 72'." Do.es he mean to say that .it certain hours of the day 

 during some part of the Vine's season of growth the maximum 

 temperature does not reach !)0° ? the maximum named by me. 



In the autumn of 1801 I visited the Vine-growing part of 

 Germany on the Ehine, where, on the sloping terraced banks 

 of that river, the Vines, both root and branch, must, during 

 some portions of the day, be subject to a higher temperature 

 than anything I have recommended for hothouses ; but in the 

 absence of a continuation of this high temperature the Grapes 

 are wretched subjects in comparison with the best English 

 Grapes. My observations on the subject in Holland, Belgium, 

 and France led me to the same conclusion — i.e., that the tem- 

 perature is not sufficiently high to produce first-class Grapes 

 in the open air ; and from all I know, founded on the observa- 

 tions of others, the zone referred toby " H. S." affords nothing 

 in the wny of Grapes equal to those produced by the aid of 

 artificial heat. 



I may remark that I was so struck with the inferior character 

 of the Grapes in the hothouses I saw on the Continent, that I 

 wrote home for three bunches of Muscats, to be sent to meet 

 me in Paris, where I exhibited them at the first great Exhibi- 

 tion of the " Societe Imperiale et Centrale d'Horticulture " on 

 the 17th of September, and though the three bunches only 

 weighed 10 lbs., they created as great a sensation as if the sea 

 serpent, or some other semi-fabulous monster, had made his 

 appearance. They had the Emperor's gold medal awarded to 

 them, and during three days that I paid a visit to the show- 

 rooms the table where they lay was so crowded that I never 

 saw more of them, but left them to the disposal of a friend. 

 On one occasion, when standing with a friend who understood 

 French near the part where the Grapes were, I observed a 

 French gentleman gesticulating very much, and making use of 

 the word "Ecosse;" I asked my friend what he was saying 

 about Scotland, and he replied, "Oh, he is saying that there 

 must be some mistake, for there are no Grapes grown in the 

 latitude of Scotland ; in England there are." Now, this worthy 

 Frenchman was, no doubt, well up in his geography, like 

 "H. S. :" but not so in the history aud practice of Grape- 

 growing. 



