136 



JJUliNAL OV irOKTICULTUEK iND COTTAGE GAKlENEli. 



[ August 20, 1868. 



Grapps will generally be licst flavonred wben slightly sbaded 

 by their own leaves, and when the rays of light reach them in a 

 broken and flickering manner rather than directly. This season 

 Grapes out of doors are generally good, and may be expected 

 to ripen for something better than inferior wine. The abbots 

 and friars of the olden time must have b»en cleverer than we, 

 or had better seasons, though even then we suspect their best 

 wine was imported from the more sunny south. 



Straipficrrifs.— Proceeded with placing Strawberries in their 

 Irniting pots. We should have liked to have been a fortnight 

 earlier, but before the showers came we felt it was useless to 

 pot unless we could hope to water, and that we saw no prospect 

 of doing. If we had waited until we had rooted runners we could 

 not have potted now. As to layering in pots the little runners 

 that showed themselves, that would have been next to use- 

 less, as watering them thus scattered would have been out of 

 the question. All our pet theories about second runners being 

 more fruitful than the first-formed ones had also to go to the 

 winds. We were glad to secure even a semblance of a runner. 

 We will enter into some details respecting these Strawberries 

 as a guide to others as much dried-up as we were. 



As soon as we could take hold of some runners not rooted, 

 but just having formed the joint with a few little leaves, and 

 showing where the roots would come from on the lower side of 

 the runner, we cut the little new plant off with nbout i inches 

 of the runner attached ; that part of the runner being useful to 

 hold by, and fix by, and also for a short time, from the sap con- 

 tained in it, acting as a wet nurse to the young plant. Part of 

 these small runners, the best of them, were fixed in small pots 

 (60's), in rich lightish soil, and were set closely together in a 

 frame with some old sashes over them, and were watered, 

 shaded from the brightest sun, and syringed overhead two or 

 three times in the hottest days, giving them only a little air at 

 night. These pots are now filled with nice healthy roots, 

 the plants are vigorous, and being fully exposed for some 

 time have been turned into 6-inch pots and placed on a hard 

 bottom fully exposed to the sun. 



To save the time of thus potting in small pots, a good many 

 were pricked into a bed in rich light soil, the connecting stem 

 of the runner helping, as above, to hold them more securely ; 

 and these, too, were assisted with shading, syringing, &c. We 

 could thus manage to keep these little plants growing with 

 very little water ; in fact, a pint syringed over them would do 

 as muoh under these circumstances as a gallon would have 

 done in the open air if the little runners had been layered in 

 pots there. We felt the more anxious to forward these plants, 

 as observing how late and how small the runners would be 

 with us, we had resolved to pot over again some old plants in 

 pots not turned out, but we found they were too much injured 

 by want of water, even though we had partially shaded them 

 with dry litter. The pricked-out plants may now be lifted 

 with good balls, and will be just a little behind in point of 

 time those potted at once in small pots. 



It uaay be only a prejudice of ours, but we have a partiality 

 for this sort of double-potting. Some people secure very fine 

 plants by layering the runners in the open ground in 6 or 7-inch 

 pots at once, and only cutting the thread of the runner when 

 the plants are well established, and then removing them to a 

 suitable place to become matured. We ourselves have had 

 fine plants and fine returns from plants so treated ; and in 

 ordinary seasons, besides the moving of the large pots there is 

 not so muoh trouble, as the very size of the pot and the bulk 

 of the soil render the young plant more independent of the 

 water pail. With the drought and the scarcity of water, we 

 could not have managed these so well as by having the young 

 plants all put closely together, and then depending more on 

 the syringe than on the water pail. Our prejudice, however, 

 was not solely owing to the scarcity of water supply. In 

 layering in a large pot at once the roots have a tendency to 

 mn to the outside of the pot ; and we have frequently noticed 

 that when the rootlets have matted there the inside of the ball 

 was comparatively free of rootlets. Now we like the ball to be 

 firm with rootlets — a mass of them, in fact, right through, so 

 as to occupy every portion of the soil ; and this we think is 

 more effectually secured by using a small pot first, having that 

 well filled with roots, and then, after ruffling with the hand 

 the outside of the ball, to let the roots freely progress, trans- 

 ferring the ball to a larger pot in which to produce fruit. Many 

 of our readers may judge this to be mere fancy, but others may 

 think over the reasons given, and then act according as their 

 own judgment prompts. 



Having said so much we may add a few words more. First, 



as to pots : These should be washed clean, inside and outside 

 too, but especially inside, and nothing ig better than warm 

 water. Nothing thrives well in a dirty pot, and even dry rub- 

 bing will bear no comparison to the water pail, or rather tub, 

 or barrel, for it is as well to fill the tub and let the pots soak 

 before scrubbing them. The hotter the water the sooner the 

 pots will dry, and they should be quite dry before being used. 

 Then as to size : For small sorts we prefer large 48-sized pots, 

 and for very early work we prefer what are called 40's, as 

 these are sooner crammed with roots, and the buds are, conse- 

 quently, sooner matured. For general crops under glass we 

 prefer pots (32's), 6 or 7 inches across, and provided we could 

 obtain runners early and good, we would not have many in 

 smaller pots, as the size renders them convenient tor watering. 

 When we iise larger pots, as 'il's, we generally have two plants 

 in a pot. The size of the pot is of less consequence than the 

 maturing of the buds, and just suiScient strength to cause 

 the production of good trusses of fruit. Great luxuriance is 

 not to be aimed at, as that with immature buds will be any- 

 thing but an advantage. 



Then the potting, though simple, is a matter of importance. 

 We seldom use much drainage to take up the room of the pot. 

 One crock over the hole, two or three little pieces above it, 

 then a sprinkling of moss, and on that a slight sprinkling of 

 soot, a small handful of rough pieces of fibrous loam — say 

 from the size of a bean to that of a walnut, with as much of 

 the soil as will enable the ball to stand high enough for the 

 collar or bud to be about level with the rim of the pot. 

 We then fill round with rich fibrous loam, rather stiff than 

 otherwise, and make that as firm as possible, not only with 

 the fingers but with a blunt stick as a rammer, to within half 

 an inch or so of the rim of the pot. That will allow of free 

 watering, and permit of top-dressing afterwards. This firm 

 potting does much to secure the whole of the soil being filled 

 with rootlets. 



After potting the best position is a hard bottom fully ex- 

 posed to all the sun that will come, and if flagging threatens at 

 first, that must be prevented by shading or syringing to arrest 

 evaporation. Plants prepared as above generally manage to 

 hold their own. 



Then as to watering. That is not done so as to saturate the 

 new soil before the roots fill it. Before the roots reach the 

 sides of the pot we think it best to use common soft water; 

 after that we prefer manure water, and that to be varied, and 

 if not suitable then we sprinkle the surface of the pots with 

 soot, superphosphate, guano, or any sort of dung, renewing it 

 as it is washed away. 



Watering when required will be nearly all the plants need, 

 except giving them room and taking off all runners and weeds 

 that appear, until it is time to secure them for the winter, 

 after the buds show they are tolerably well matured. 



ORXAJIEN'TAL DEPAKTHENT. 



The slight showers have given a greenish tint to the brown 

 lawn, so that in a week or ten days we expect the lawn will add 

 to instead of detract from the beauty of the flower beds. The 

 Coleus has done well with us this season. We have several 

 times alluded to the fine bed at Woburn. Mr. McKay, jun., 

 reminded us of what we first heard alluded to by Mr. Chater, 

 of Cambridge — namely, the exceeding brilliancy of the colour- 

 ing of the plant after a thundershower. No other watering 

 would produce nearly the same gorgeous colouring as that 

 which the plant exhibited under such circumstances. We 

 have noticed the same phenomenon the only day in which we 

 had a little thunder this season. Have others observed the 

 same striking result ? On that day the Coleus had a beauty 

 all its own. 



We must begin propagating for next season ; but we are un- 

 willing to interfere with the fullness and uniformity of the beds, 

 and more especially as but for thick planting the plants would 

 not have been so close together as usual. However, with little 

 water and all drawbacks they have done better than others we 

 have seen and heard of, and might have been better still if all 

 seed and decayed flowers had been more constantly picked off. 

 Many forget that even Scarlet Pelargoniums are more distressed 

 by allowing large heads of seed to swell and ripen than they 

 would be by producing three or four times the number o£ 

 trusses of flowers. If time cannot be spared to pick beds over, 

 this furnishes a good reason for having fewer beds to manage. 

 A large garden is often a large mistake. A single flower bed 

 well managed is more satisfactory than a dozen or a score in a 

 tawdry state. We could specify scores of flower gardens and 

 pleasure grounds where it would be a comfort and a source oi 



