May 31, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENBB. 



397 



Byringing the Vines. In that case both the praotioea as then 

 performed were wrong. It ia obvious the dust mast have been 

 injarioas, and not much less so were the twice-daily squirtinga, 

 for the water at that time left the foliage of the Vines before 

 the end of the season as " white as a miller's hat." So long 

 as that practice lasted good crops of Grapes were never seen 

 in those vineries. 



The floors and stages of a vinery during the growing season 

 ought never to be in such a state that any "little boy," how- 

 ever much he may try to do so, can raise even a "little " dust 

 daUy with the aid of a housemaid's broom. Water should be 

 nsed sufficiently freely that no dust accumulates, then none 

 can rise to soil the foliage. Syringing then becomes a super- 

 flnity — that is, as ordinarily applied to the under surfaces of 

 the leaves, a little water, perhaps, " settling on" the surfaces, 

 leaving its sediment marks behind it. In the vineries alluded 

 to dust is never permitted to form, and the regular moisture 

 preventing it is immediately conducive to the health of the 

 Vines. This is quite compatible with allowing the paths to 

 become quite dry at least once a day, and when the broom is 

 antside the houses. 



I think I have stated that the Vines are never syringed, but 

 they have always had periodical " washings " during the 

 season — very different from ordinary syringings. Notwith- 

 standing that dust is not permitted to form in the house, 

 sooty particles will in time settle on the foliage. The syringe 

 is then brought into requisition in a thorough manner, not, 

 however, guiding the water to the under sides of the leaves 

 where the particles are not, but directing it with force as much 

 as possible between the leaves, striking the glass, whence it 

 falls in volumes on the leaves, rinfing them thoroughly and 

 leaving them clean. I cannot say how many years I have 

 practised that mode of "washing," but long enough to prove 

 it good, and it was adopted " long before my time " by some 

 of the best Grape-growers in their generation. When the 

 syringing is judiciously done the falling water trickling from 

 leaf to leaf and amongst the berries does not in the slightest 

 manner impair the bloom. Like a drenching shower in nature 

 it cleanses and refreshes, and is all the more potent by its 

 thoroughness and comparative infrequency. — J. Wkight. 



CULTURE OF NEPENTHES. 



Yon published last week a most excellent illustration of the 

 exceedingly rare, and beautiful as rare. Nepenthes sanguinea. 

 The plant is very scarce in its native country, which is Java — 

 80 scarce that if a collector could find a dozen or two plants of 

 it, it would be a prize indeed. A plant such as that figured 

 would be worth sixty guineas in the trade. There are other 

 species of the family more easily obtained, and, in their way, of 

 equal beauty, and to these I will now refer. 



N. RalUesiana should stand high on the list; it is a native 

 of the hottest districts of the world, being found principally 

 in Borneo and Singapore. The plant grows rapidly, and the 

 pitchers, though not quite so brilliant in colour as those of 

 N. sanguinea, are larger and prettily marked with purplish red. 

 A full-grown specimen will hold a pint of water. Nearly 

 allied to it, if not a variety of the species, is N. Hookeriana ; 

 the formation of the pitchers, their colour, and also the habit 

 of the plants, are very similar. ' 



N. distillatoria U one of the most free-growing of the species, 

 and has been grown in this country much longer than any 

 other species; it was received from China in 178!(. I saw this 

 species growing at Drumlanrig under the care of Mr. D. Thom- 

 son with the largest pitchers I have ever seen. The plants 

 were trained to the rafters of the house and had grown to the 

 length of at least 1.5 feet, and they had a very novel and dis- 

 tinct effect. Others of the species were treated in the same 

 way and had given equally good results. N. ampullacea is also 

 a desirable species of free growth, and is also adapted for train- 

 ing to the rafters. 



There are also some very handsome varieties which have 

 been raised in the nurseries of Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea, in 

 the first place by Mr. Dominy and latterly by Mr. Seden. 

 N. Djminii is one of the earliest results, and this variety 

 crossed with N. Hookeriana gave N. Chelaoni; this is what 

 onr florist friends wonld call a good "offer." It has pitchers, 

 "the shape of a broad flask somewhat dilated and flattened 

 below, with ciliated wings, rather broad, and forming a very 

 handsome appendage ; the margin ia broad, and the lid smaller 

 than the mouth." The pitchers are high-coloured like 

 N. Hookeriana. N. intermedia is another Chelsonian novelty 



raised from N. Rafllesiana, and partakes of the character of 

 that fine sort. If we add N. Sedeni the above list contains 

 nearly all the desirable species and varieties, and no plants 

 are easier of cultivation if they receive suflicient heat and 

 moisture. 



They grow equally well in pots or in baskets suspended from 

 the roof of the house. If grown in pots these should be filled 

 half full with clean potsherds, and over the drainage place 

 about half an inch of clean sphagnum ; then the compost, 

 which ought — indeed must — consist of the best fibrous peat 

 and sphagnum in equal parts, with a few bits of charcoal and 

 potsherds mixed with it ; and in potting great care must be 

 taken not to injure the small roots, as, if they are much 

 broken, the plant suffers severely. 



Nepenthes are propagated very freely from seeds, but as the 

 plant is dicecious the seeds cannot be obtained unless the male 

 and female are in flower at the same time, which does not often 

 happen in small collections. Bat they may also be propagated 

 from cuttings, and this is about the only way available to 

 private growers. I strike the cuttings in small pots, placing 

 them in a shady part of the etove ; they take two or three 

 months to form roots in that way. 



Except for about three months in the year the night tempe- 

 rature should not be lower than 70", in winter 05°, and when the 

 plants are in free growth they take a verj large quantity of 

 tepid water both on the leaves and at the roots. — J. Douglas. 



IN FLORA'S LONDON DOMAIN. 



Within the length and breadth of our great metropolis Flora 

 may be seen under many aspects — growing under an cmharras 

 de riclu'sses in the mansions of the west, and anon struggling 

 through a feeble sickly existence in some miserable attic at the 

 east. Bat however treated, with skirts all decked with many- 

 coloured blooms or draggling through the mire of some 12 feet 

 square of back yard, Flora must still be wooed to remain with 

 us, to give to the weary worker for daily bread a glimpse of 

 the dainty surroundings which Nature keeps to spread paths 

 of pleasantness for those who labour in her fields. 



Of the possibilities and impossibilities of floriculture in 

 London much has been said, but only those who try to put 

 details in practice know half the diflieulties of the situation. 

 Much is of coarse done, and more might be accomplished 

 before we should attain to that Utopian state of horticulture 

 foreshadowed many years ago by a writer in " Once a Week." 

 In the roseate amokeless atmosphere of his imagination house- 

 top gardens were to form the recreative pleasures of future 

 householders, and the happy hunting grounds in which cha- 

 perons might seek eligible itartis. At present we have not 

 attained to that desirable state of pure air which would make 

 such resorts pleasant ; nor, in spite of the improvement in 

 horticultural buildings and the tax off glass, have we attained 

 to rooting in our dwellings with conservatories. Drawing the 

 reins of our imagination, and dismissing housetop gardens 

 under the above aspects as at present beyond our province, it 

 may not be uninstructive to look on to the roofs of certain 

 dwellings and peer into back yards and similar localities, ob- 

 serving each spot where we may trace Flora's steps and search- 

 ing out fresh nooks in which she might with advantage aet 

 her foot. 



Following in the wake of Captain Cattle, when I find any- 

 thing fresh I make a note of it ; and a noteworthy example of 

 gardening under difficulties I saw last summer within sound 

 of Bow bolls — in fact not many hundred yards away from the 

 arcadian precincts of St. Giles's. In this spot the right man 

 had evidently fallen upon the right place, the capabilities of 

 which he had developed to the utmost. The spot was the 

 leads outaide the upper — nay, the very uppermost storey of a 

 model lodging house. Within this limited area there was a 

 garden— a veritable garden, with bright fresh green foliage and 

 many brilliant flowers, such as do not disdain to bloom even 

 in uncongenial quarters. The moat oanspicuous plants in this 

 garden overhead were giant Sunflowers, which roared their 

 large round yellow heads as proudly beneath a London sky as 

 though they were growing by aome far-away country cottage; 

 and from thia fact I received unanawerable confirmation of my 

 own suggestion, that for town growth the Sunflower ia a most 

 suitable subject. In the first jlace it has enormous capabilitisa 

 for absorbing moisture, and the most depressing of English 

 summers with its average downpour would only make it grow 

 the finer. Should an exceptional season arrive the yard or 

 garden in which Sunflowers are growing may form a fountain 



