April 89, Vm. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTIODLTURE AND OOTTAOB GARDENER. 



287 



parent pldTit of the above nimoil Piiohsia. at Iticcarton, anH on 

 my anivftl in Otni^o, in 1850, I wa^ plei^ed to (Inii niy old 

 favourito liiil procoJetl me. — G. Mattubws, Dnnedin. 



SETTINa GHArES. 



Discussion- on any subj-ot in the pages of Tire Joi;i;>j.m, of 

 HouTi<;ui.ruiii;, wli«u praciical men cjii bo iiaiiicect to tulcfi it 

 up, ia thd means of niuoii iiecful jtiEonniition boiny b'rotigbt out. 

 Setting Grapes is a most importaot subject, anil Iheie is nincli 

 (lilToreace of Ojiicioii amoijg.sl ji-irden^'ra as to llie bot method 

 to pursue. There are those wii j ri;conimend a very high Itm- 

 per^titre and a comparatively dry atm isphero doviui; the whole 

 period of llowoiing; other.s recommeiid a miicli lowtr tenipcra- 

 laio, aud syviugiug the Grape!* >> h"u in (lower. Darinj to,! past 

 eeason a very .^uccai'ifu! cchihiror of iliise.it^ at the Luuuon 

 exbibitious, and who exhibits Jlusouts in a hi(!h Bluto of per- 

 fection ali the aumraer .slio'.vs, told mo that it was liis conatenl 

 praclioa to tyricgu his iiufcata when in (lower; and if Muscats 

 Crin be set iu a low temperature of from C5° to 70", willi the 

 sccompauimtnt of ii some" hit moist itlmoeplitve, simply by 

 syringiu^', or rather iicving the bunches when iu llower, it 

 must he hotter for the constitution of the Vices than a dry 

 overheated atmosphere of 75° at night aud 85° by day during 

 dull, cold weather. 



There is an e.irly house hero planted with Black Hamburgh, 

 Buoklaud Sweetwater, and White I'Vontignan. The l^st two 

 varieties never set well in a rather moist atmosphere of from 

 (JO' to 65°, but in the past and present season I allowed no 

 water in the evaporating troughs, but damped the walls and 

 pathways twice a-day, and kept up a regular night temperature 

 of 70\ and they set quite as freely as the Hamburghs. Tne 

 Grapes are now ripeui.jg, and in all cases the berries are swell- 

 ing equally. I treat the Muscats in tiie same way, but allow 

 the night temperature to range from 7U° to 75^ ; I lind the 

 Grapes set well, but Ilia high night temperature \Tithcut the 

 usual amount of moi-^ture is conducive to the development of 

 red Slider, aud if that invincible enemy of the Vine gains 

 much headway at this early stage there is only a poor chance 

 of well-finished Grapes beicg produced. I have little faith in 

 the system of allowing the shoots to grow up towards the glass 

 as being an uufiiling remedy. I lind with pot Vines that the 

 bunches nearest the ground set quite us freely as those on 

 shoots allowed to ramble upwards. 



I believe the first point ia to have the roots in an aelivs 

 haalthy state and under command ; the next point is the re- 

 quisite degree of temperature aud of atmospheric moisture. 

 On the latter point, as I have already stated, opinions diiter 

 widely, and a few remarks on this subject from successful 

 cultivators would be of great value to those who have not had 

 an extensive experience. We have Mr. W. Tlromson's system 

 in his book on the Vine iu a concise form, but if those who have 

 been equally successful with a different method would state 

 their mode of proceeding, it would be space well occupied in 

 your Journal. — J. Douglas. 



wore killed to the roots. Not a Mexican Conifer was left in a 

 condition which ils owner cared to preserve. Handsome trees 

 of Ihnt hundfomcfit of Conifers, Piaus ineignis, were swept 

 anay. Kvun the Oaks of Sherwood l''ore8t were heard U' shciit 

 uloud ; and their nged bnrk was rent with a report which tlrofo 

 nho heard it compaied lo the rr jjort of musketiy. But the 

 tlleot on the vegetation of the Wealds of Sussex was far olhcr- 

 wife. To this day we have Mexican CoLifers hale and Inxn- 

 rinntvhich passed that dreadful ordeal v>illr their leaves but 

 slightly browned; and I'mus insigni.^, nov/ upwards of '10 feet 

 hi.;!j, wii? left peiftctly u!. injured, while Laurels, Bev-s, Porlugal 

 Laurels, Laurustiuus, and Aucubas, which in other places were 

 di-ilruvfc.l, escaped wilhout any damage bcjoud the bio'soini; 

 of ihtir foliage. 



THE CLIMATE OF SUSSEX. 

 In the garden of F. Ellman, Esq., of Battle, there is a 

 Camellia growing on a lawn iu the open air, the circumference 

 of which is 40 feet, and the height between S and 'J feet. It 

 was in bloom on Christrrias-day last, and judging from a photo- 

 graph of it now before us, which was taken ou the 20;.h of 

 February, it may be said to have been in a profusion of bloom 

 then ; thus producing during the dreariest months of the year 

 a cheering and a charmiug efltct. Mr. Ellman informs us that 

 it hag stood all weathers for forty-nine or fifty years in its 

 present position, the blossoms numbering thousands each 

 season. This is encouraging to lovers of horticulture in Sassex; 

 and when, in addition, we know of open-air Figs being-pro- 

 duced in abundance there also, it says much for the climate of 

 that district. We ourselves, after the experience of a quarter 

 of a century on the Weald of the same county, can testify to the 

 remarkable immunity plants enjoy from severe frosts, while 

 those of the same species have been completely destroyed in 

 what would seem to be ncoe highly-favoured situations. During 

 the period referred to there have been two or three intense 

 frosts that have spread havoc over the face of almost all 

 England. That of Chriftmas-day, 18C0, surpassed anything of 

 the kind on record in its effects on vegetation. It left in 

 Bome places neither tree nor shrub. Evergreens of great age 



THE APPLE AS AN ORCHARD FRUIT. 



Mil. Peai!so:j'3 able article on the Bess Pool Apple (seo 

 page 2fi), will, I hope, induce others to come forward and 

 speak oi Iho merits and demerits of varieties of friiii wj.icb, 

 however useful aud good, are only known in one diblriot. 

 Alihoiigh I btlicvo the Apple just named has a v.ider range of 

 enltnre, yet from all I can learn it does not seem to be much 

 grown in this district, where no inconsiderable proportion of 

 the land in cultivation consists of orchards. But my purpose 

 ifl not to ask for further information respecting it, for Mr. 

 Pearson's remarks will certainly go further to condemn it than 

 the mere production of a high-coloured sample in a favourable 

 season will do to secure it favour in the eyes of the long-headod, 

 close-observing class of fruit-grower.-; who Fupply London and 

 the other great markets in tire kingdom with the bulk of the 

 fruit that is consumed. There is no question thit a fine highly- 

 coloured dish of fruit may captivata some less-experieueed 

 growers iu a similar way that glitter and gay colours iu other 

 things receive more than their meed of attention. Whether 

 this Apple is over- or under-praised is not what I would 

 now aak ; I simply call the attention of such experienced fruit- 

 gi'owers as Mr. Pearson to the general principles of their calling, 

 aud ask them to discuss in a temperate manner one or two of 

 the ideas put forih in other quarters on the growth of the 

 Apple and other fruits, with regard to obtaining the greatest 

 amount of good fruit at the least cost; or, iu certain caseB, 

 let us lay aside the matter of cost altopether, aud say in what 

 manner the best fruit is obtained. Tiio latter view of the 

 matter ought, however, not to be confounded with the former, 

 which is by far the more important ; but where some especial 

 treatment has resulted iu fruit of very superior quality being 

 produced, any communie.ttiou bearing on this will be in the 

 highest degree instructive. 



In districts where the .Apple is extensively grown it is fair to 

 suppose that amongst the many whose living depends on its 

 well-doing there are those who closely attend to its cultivation, 

 watch its progress, and i.re ever on the alert to gain further 

 knowledge of its management, whether imparted by books, the 

 agency of other fruitgrowers, or the still more eiScient mode 

 of judging for themselves. Fruit-growing cannot be learned in 

 half-a-dozen years, and the idea entertained at the end of that 

 period may bo reversed at the termination of the next six years : 

 hence, as a general rule, the opinions of the old and experienced 

 in such matters are those to be depended on ; for experiments 

 with fruit trees are not so satisfactorily proved iu a short time 

 as to justify a decisive opinion. Some experiments, however, 

 have been carried on a sufficient length of time to enable a 

 fair conclusion to bo arrived at, and may with propriety be 

 adverted to here, still confining my observations to the Apple. 



It ia very probable that ever since the cultivation of this 

 fruit began amongst us some mode of pruning the tree has 

 been adopted ; and in mauy cases pruning was a necessity, for 

 the tree either became too large for its place, or in some other 

 way encroached on something else, and had to be cut back. 

 In other cases a tree might be planted against a wall, and cnt- 

 ting-in and training would by degrees work themselves into an 

 established plan, and ultimately trees trained in some fancifiU 

 form became the hobby of those who might thiuk that a cluster 

 of fruit in one place was better than the same scattered over 

 several branches. Varied in every conceivable way were the 

 modes adopted to induce the tree to take the desired shape, 

 but the mode of bearing fruit was the same in all cases, and, 

 in fact, is the same now iu the more recent foim the tree is 

 obliged to take ; spurs of various lengths, aud pruned with 

 more or less severity, being the parts ou which the fruit has 

 been produced. It has often occurred to me that a much 



