Uucb 21, 16£7. ] 



JODBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



213 



are 7ery light, and the lifting up one side of a seven-feet length 

 not oppressive ; but there is no doubt that one side of the ridge 

 on hinges would be more agreeable. This mode should be 

 followed by Mr. Wells (there is not the least occasion for hinges 

 on both sides), and then he could lower the price of bis hinged 

 vineries, so as not to make them objectionable to amateurs 

 with purses not overflowing. 



Mr. Broome's advice as to planting is good, as are, indeed, 

 most of his remarks. The trifling errors I have noticed, I 

 hope kindly, have arisen from his want of experience in the 

 management of ground vineries. To me it seems highly ne- 

 cessary to simplify all new modes of culture, and this feeling 

 alone has tempted me to write this article. 



I must not conclude this, I fear, too tedious paper without 

 giving a caution to the planter of Vines in ground vineries. A 

 strong Vine, 6 feet or more in length, and capable of bearing 

 ten or twelve bunches of Grapes, is often left at its full length 

 and suffered to bear profusely the first season. This is ruinous 

 to the Vine, which is often two or three years in recovering its 

 normal vigour. A Vine from 6 to 8 feet long should when 

 planted be cut down to 3 feet, or one of smaller size to 18 inches 

 or 2 feet. Three or four bunches may be allowed the first sea- 

 son, certainly not more. If the Vines are trained to a wire 

 inches from the surface — the most eligible height, they may 

 in time require more head room. This is easily given by ad- 

 ding a brick to each brick originally placed on the ground for 

 ventilation ; even a third brick may be added, so as to have a 

 four-inch brick wall of three courses, with apertures for venti- 

 lation. In confined town gardens the single row of bricks 

 may not admit air enough : it should, therefore, be known that 

 two or more courses of bricks may remedy the evil. 



With regard to the sizes of these vineries for the million — 

 in 1877 they will be in every respectable cottager's garden 

 — there are three ; — 



No. 1. — Thirty inches wide at base, 1.5 inches high in centre. 

 This will hold one Vine, pegged down in the centre, and give 

 room enough for many years' growth. My finest Vines are in 

 No. 1 size. 



No. 2 is 3 feet wide at base, 18 inches high inside. This 

 size will hold one Vine in the centre, trained to a horizontal 

 wire 9 inches from the surface, or two rows of double cordon 

 Peach, Pear, or Apricot trees. 



No. 3 is 3J feet wide at base, slope of roof 28 inches, height 

 inside 21 inches. This will give room enough for two Vines 

 pegged down to the slates, and requires two ventilating bricks 

 on each side. 



I can see no reason why there should not be a No. 4, 4 feet 

 wide ; it would make a roomy plase for bedding plants, salads, 

 and Strawberries. 



It your readers have patience enough to follow me through 

 this article, they will, I think, see that I am what Sterne calls 

 'hobby-horsical " about ground vineries. The truth is, that 

 from the first moment I saw one at the residence of my friend, 

 the inventor, and found him hesitating about making the 

 hinged roof for ventilation, on the score of expense, as he in- 

 tended them for "the million," and at once adopting my or- 

 chard-house idea of low ventilation by placing bricks at inter- 

 vals to support the ridge, I prognosticated, to use a hackneyed 

 phrase, a great future for these simple garden structures. Ten 

 years' experience has confirmed all my anticipations. — Thos. 

 Rivers. 



they may be removed from the bed without receiving any 

 severe check, each having a mass of roots. 



Where pots are a consideration, the above plan relieves the 

 gardener from all anxiety on their account, and as to air, I re- 

 commend the same treatment as that stated at page 176. — 

 Bebkshibe. 



PLANTING-OUT VERBENA CUTTINGS. 



I CAN fully endorse all that your correspondent stated at page 

 176, as to the advantages of planting-out spring- struck cuttings 

 of Verbenas. I have adopted the system for some length of 

 time, and have found it answer most admirably ; but in one 

 respect I carrj' it out somewhat difi'erently. 



When my cuttings are all well rooted, which they invariably 

 are about the middle or latter part of March, I make up a bed 

 of half-spent dung, put on the frame, and insert a testing stick. 

 In the course of a few days the bed is ready for the plants ; I 

 then shake them carefully out of the pots, and have ready a 

 number of square pieces of turf of about 3 inches by 2J inches. 

 I then scoop a piece out of the centre of each, put in a little sand, 

 and press a little more soil round the roots. The sittings from 

 under the potting-bench answer well for this purpose. I next 

 place the turves as closely together as possible, add a little soil 

 to cover all over, and water. In this way much trouble in 

 watering is saved, and those who adopt the system will be re- 

 warded with strong, stiff, healthy plants. At bedding-out time 



HARDINESS OF TRITELEIA UNIFLORA. 



I WKITE to say that with me Triteleia uniflora is perfectly 

 hardy in the most ordinary garden soil, and without the least 

 protection in winter. 



In the autumn of 1865, I purchased half a dozen bulbs and 

 planted them out, understanding them to be quite hardy. These 

 are now a clump, with, at the present moment, seven blooms 

 fully expanded, and ten more in bud. They seem to increase 

 rapidly, and the offsets flower later than the older bulbs, thus 

 prolonging the blooming season. The flowers are as large as 

 a florin, and beautifully tinted with a soft greyish blue ; they 

 remain totally unaffected by the changeable weather of the last 

 few days. On the whole, I consider it one of the most exquisite 

 gems of the spring garden. I wonder why it is called "uni- 

 flora?" With me each strong bulb sends up two or three 

 footstalks, three of which have this year produced two flowers 

 from one sj^athe. — A. S. M., Brentford, Middlesex. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN G.UiriEN. 



Another week of winter weather has elapsed, during which 

 rain, sleet, and snow have saturated the ground and prevented 

 the putting in of every crop usually sown or planted in the 

 present month. Even gardens well managed were scarcely ever 

 known to be so little under crop as they are at the present 

 time, or to contain so little either on or in the ground. Scarcely 

 anything is to be seen except mere vestiges of some of the 

 hardier Greens. Asjjaragus, be sure to salt the beds of this and 

 Sea-kale ; little and often is our maxim. The time is approach- 

 ing for planting Asparagus ; it should not be planted until 6 or 

 8 inches high. Cauliflowers will require to be forwarded by 

 means of hand-lights or other modes of protection, and their 

 growth promoted by stirring the soil and the application of 

 liquid manure. C«;ro(«, see to crops of the Early Horn ; slugs 

 are very destructive. Nothing, probably, is better than cinder 

 ashes riddled extremely fine and the mere dust taken out ; these 

 sown thickly over the ground present such a sharp macadamised 

 kind of surface, that the snails and slugs are at the last point 

 of starvation before they will venture on it. As the cropping 

 has been thrown out of its usual course, it will be necessary to 

 make some additional sowings. Cahha^es, sow Early Hope or 

 Early Sugarloaf, as such will probably be early in demand ; 

 also the Yellow Saeoij and some Oerinan Greens, Kidney 

 Beans had best be sown in pots in a cool frame for planting 

 out when the ground is sufficiently warm. Peas that are being 

 forwarded under glass should be planted out as soon as the 

 weather will permit in rows running east and west, and let 

 them be sticked on the north side only. Beans, plant a fuU 

 succession of the Windsor. Potatoes, forward some more early, 

 by sprouting them in a warm place. Sow Onions. Leeks, Car- 

 rots, Parstiips, Spinaeh, Turnips, Lettuces, and the Large Red 

 Tomato in a little heat. 



FKUIT G.VRDEN. ""''' 



If the weather prove clear the sun will have great power on 

 fruit trees against south walls. The days being so long blos- 

 soms of Apricots and Peaches will expand, and more than 

 usual protection ought to be provided for them, as severe nights 

 frequently occur for some time after so much frost and snow 

 leave the ground. Eradicate insects by all possible means. 

 See that all the winter and early spring worlc amongst fruit 

 trees is brought to a close forthwith. Finish root-pruning 

 with all luxurfant trees ; most persons may have observed the 

 effect of moving a large Pear tree very late in the spring, it 

 generally becomes covered with blossom-buds. Such, in degree, 

 will be the effect of root-pruning at this period. 



FIOWEP. G.UIDEN. 



See that rolling, mowing, &c., proceed in due order. Now 

 is the period to lay the foundation of a fine lawn, the pride of 

 English gardening. Let aU fresh turfing be completed forth- 

 with ; it is a good plan to scatter rough old tan thinly over it, 

 as a screen from the sun, until the roots take hold ; some 

 waterings are also essential. Early herbaceous plants over- 



