76 



JODENAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTASE GABDENER. 



[ Febrnarj 1, 1877. 



display " — I mean large plants of double white, purple, and 

 scarlet Stocks iu the depth of winter. It is easy to obtain 

 Stocks in spring and summer, and even at those seasons they 

 are beautiful when the plants are well grown ; bat they are 

 far more attractive from November until April, and withal 

 they are easily produced at that period. When the sowing of 

 Lothian Stocks is deferred nntil July or August the plants do 

 not flower until late in the following spring, continuing through 

 the summer precisely when other Stocks are plentiful. The 

 true Lothian Stock, it should be remembered, requires a longer 

 period of growth before flowering than does the ordinary type 

 of the Intermediate Stock ; the Lothian also lasts considerably 

 longer after it commences flowering than the London Interme- 

 diate — indeed longer than does any other Stock in cultivation. 



Seed sown in February or early in March produces plants 

 which, if well managed, commence flowering about July and 

 continue until destroyed by frost. Such plants make most 

 effective beds in the flower garden — beds as decided in their 

 beauty and lasting as long as any other " bedding plants." As 

 thus managed Lothian Stocks are very valuable. July and 

 August sowings, as has been mentioned, produce plants which 

 flower in spring, lasting also a considerable time ; but the 

 time of sowing for producing the " best display " I have found 

 to be April, say, for the purpose of fixing it on the memory, 

 on All Fool's-day. By sowing at that time I have had plants 

 in 8-inch pots — plants 18 inches high and about as much in 

 diameter, perfect masses of double white and scarlet flowers 

 (the purple is not so effective during winter) at Christmas and 

 onwards until April. It is not necessary to dwell on the value 

 of such plants for affording an abundant supply of cut flowers 

 of the first order of merit, neither is a laboured eulogium 

 necessary as to the commanding effect of the plants in the 

 conservatory. At their period of flowering few plants can 

 equal them, none surpass them. 



My plan of raising the plants is to put up a bed of leaves 

 and litter about 2 feet high, nail four boards together to form 

 a rude frame, and cover the bed with frame lights. Four or 

 5 inches of soil is placed on the bed, and in this the seed is 

 sown thinly, very thinly, in drills. The plants are thinned to 

 an inch or more apart as soon as they can be handled, and the 

 glass is removed entirely during favourable weather. About 

 the middle or towards the end of M»y the plants are very 

 sturdy, and are potted into small pots just vacated by bedding 

 plants. In these small pots the plants remain until they show 

 flowers, when the spike of each double flower is out off. Side 

 shoots speedily grow, and as soon as these are seen the plants 

 are potted flrmly in rich soil in their blooming pots. These 

 are placed on a hard bottom so that the roots cannot pene- 

 trate into the ground to any great extent, and a little litter is 

 placed between the pots to aid in keeping the roots cool and 

 moist. The plants are subsequently treated as to watering the 

 same as are Cbrysanthemume, giving them liquid manure 

 occasionally. They commence flowering in October, and an 

 inch of the surface soil is then removed from the pots and re- 

 placed with a rich top-dressing after the manner of surface- 

 dressing fruit trees in pots. The plants are then placed under 

 glass and in a minimum temperature of 45° to 40°. They 

 flower splendidly all the winter. 



That is the best way that I know of producing the " best 

 display" of Lothian Stocks. The plan is appl cable to most 

 gardens, and when plants are well grown they are worthy of 

 a place in the most choice collection of conservatory plants 

 during the winter months. — A Northeen Gakdener. 



PEUNING VINES. 



Some Vine-growers in giving directions for pruning lay down 

 one rule as suitable to all the varieties of Grapes ; but there 

 are exceptions to all rules, and Grapes, such aa Muscats and 

 a few others, require different treatment from Black Ham- 

 burghs in the way of pruning. This productive and useful 

 Grape does very well with close pruning, but I have always 

 found Muscats to succeed best by leaving two or three eyes to 

 the spur, of course rubbing off all but one when it could be 

 discerned which was best. I have even in some cases left a 

 Bide shoot from 1 to 2 feet in length, and when I see a bud on 

 any favourable portion of the rod between the spurs I en- 

 courage its growth, supposing I have space for two or three 

 leaves, liy doing this the spurs never become unsightly, and 

 besides it promotes the health and vigour of the Vine. 



I may add for the benefit of some of the amateur readers of 

 the Journal that I have always found Tyuoingham Muscat 



easier to manage than Black and White Frontignan and a few 

 other inferior sorts, and it is superior to both Grapes named 

 in appearance and flavour. I do not say Muscats are so easily 

 managed as Black Hamburghs and a few other Grapes, but 

 certainly they are not so difScult as many are led to believe. 

 Anyone in possession of a vinery may grow Tynningham Mus- 

 cat, which is one of the finest flavoured white Grapes in culti- 

 vation. I have grown it for nearly fourteen years, and during 

 all that time its productions have been most satisfactory. 



In the above remarks I allude to mixed houses : in large 

 establishments where a whole house can be devoted to the 

 growing of Muscats no doubt they can be brought to a higher 

 state of perfection, but few have such accommodation ; there- 

 fore I hope what I have stated may be of service to some 

 amateurs. The pruning of Vines should now be completed as 

 speedily as possible. — J. Dickson. 



EARLY BRUSSELS SPROUTS & CAULIFLOWERS. 



A LETTER from Mr. E. Gilbert, Burghley Gardens, has been 

 sent me by the Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, from 

 which I make the following extract — " ' A Market Gardener,' 

 on page 26, says he sows Brussels Sprouts in September. I 

 have done the same for three years in succession, but my 

 plants have run to seed. Sowing in February in beds slightly 

 heated is a plan I follow yearly with the best results." 



My reply to that is, that only during one year out of more 

 than a dozen have my autumn-sown Brussels Sprouts run to 

 seed, and that year I sowed earlier than usual, and the winter, 

 like the present one, was unusually mild. The plants were 

 very large — too large — when planted in April, and, like my 

 autumn-sown Cauliflowers, the crop was a comparative failure. 

 I fear that I am much in the same position this year, but 

 inadvertently omitted saying so. It was, however, because of 

 the prospective failure of my autumn-sown plants of both 

 Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflowers that I laid stress on the 

 importance of sowing seed under glass in January. 



My plants are much too forward this year, as are those of 

 many others. It has been impossible to prevent the plants 

 from growing too large during the winter, and I much fear it 

 will be equally impossible to prevent the Cauliflowers from 

 " buttoning " and the Brussels Sprouts from "running " during 

 the ensuing spring and summer. I would send Mr. Gilbert a 

 few plants, but as I anticipate they will most of them " run" 

 it would be useless my doing so. That, as before stated, ia 

 why I urged as important the raising of plants under glass by 

 sowing a little seed at the present time of both Brussels Sprouts 

 and Cauliflowers. 



These are important vegetables, and the value of the crops 

 is enhanced by having them ready for use early in the season. 

 It is very common to sow Cauliflowers in gentle heat at the 

 present period of the year, but not nearly so common to raise 

 Brussels Sprouts at the same time and in the same manner, 

 yet I have always found the latter crop as valuable as the 

 former. By sowing seed of Brussels Sprouts in September I 

 have been able to produce an ample supply of this esteemed 

 vegetable early in August. At that period of the year Peas 

 have sometimes been scarce owing to drought, and also by the 

 same cause have Cauliflowers: the "Sprouts" have conse- 

 quently been specially acceptable. 



I am glad to have received Mr. Gilbert's suggestive letter in 

 reference to the running of autumn-sown Brussels Sprouts. 

 The matter is one of considerable moment and worthy of being 

 more particularly alluded to. The primary cause of the plants 

 running is their being too large at the time of planting them. 

 The larger the plant the greater usually is the check it receives 

 by its removal. Smaller plants, however, will run if not care- 

 fully managed. If the plants are denuded of a large portion 

 of their fibres in the course of removal, and sunny days and 

 frosty nights follow their planting, the plants wither consider- 

 ably and their stems become hard — "woody." Such plants 

 are very liable to run whether they have been sown in the 

 autumn or have been raised under glass early in the spring. 

 The great point to secure is to keep the plants steadily growing 

 and their stems succulent. In a winter like the present it has 

 been impossible to keep the plants " steadily " growing, for 

 they have grown rapidly and are now dangerously forward. 



I sow my Brussels Sprouts late in September. The plants 

 do not grow so quickly as do Cauliflowers, and at this period 

 of the year plants of the former are generally quite small. 

 During February or early in March, according to the weather, 

 a few for the first crop are selected and are pricked into square 



