October 15, 1863. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



279 



.ir)»/i/<ii<i/- (Teft). — Very vigorous. Flowers very Iftrge and 

 very full, very deep salmon yellow. This variety, the issue of 

 Gloire ile Dijon, has the vigour of that plant, with flowers 

 equally beautiful, but of a deeper colour and very rich. 



Fi-rfi-clinii (Ir I.ijon (H.V.). — Branches vigorous and erect. 

 Flowers very large, full, cup-shaped, rose, with the back of the 

 petals lilac. 



yardij Fnrcs (Hybrid Portland?).— Very vigorous. Branches 

 strong and straight. Flowers very large, full, and well formed, 

 beautiful violet rose, with slate colour on the reverse of the 

 petals. 



GUILLOT FIIjS. 



:\raclame Ciline Norrey (Tea).— Very vigorous. Flowers very 

 large, very full, and opening well. Reverse of petals purple 

 red ; centre, tender shaded rose. Very beautiful variety. 



Madrmoixi-U,- Adrivn Chirtophlr (Tea).— Very vigorous. Flow- 

 ers large, very full, coppery yellow, strongly shaded with rosy 

 peach, sometimes of a beautiful deep yellow. l!y the variation 

 of its colours this variety produces a magnificent effect. 

 , ^lademniseUe Marie 'SMij (Tea).— Very vigorous. Flowers 

 large, very full, globular, yellowish white, deeply bordered with 

 lively rose. Superb. 



Marfiimita (Noisette). — Very vigorous. Flowers medium- 

 sized, very full, well formed, very brilliant yellow, of an en- 

 tirely new shade of colour, broadly bordered with pure white 

 shading off to rose, and producing a magnificent efieot. Superb 

 variety. 



Madayni' Jacquicr (H. P.).— Vigorous. Flowers very large, 

 well-formed, size and shape of the Rose La, Reine, a beautiful 

 bishop's purple. Very tine. 



I need not say that the descriptions are not mine, but the 

 raisers' ; and I can ouly add what I daresay will strike every 

 one, that if they at all are borne out by the flowers themselves, 

 that they will be very great acquisitions. " Xotis vcrrons." 

 — D., Deal. 



GRAPES SHANKING AND SPOTTING. 



Is my opinion there are two causes of Grapes shanking — a 

 deficiency of sap, and vitiated sap. The deficiency of sap may 

 result from the great disparity between the temperature of the 

 ground in which the roots are situated, and that of the house 

 where the foliage and fruit, in the case of outside borders, are 

 growing — a diilerence very often of 10' between the mean 

 temperature of the house and that of the border. In a hot 

 dry day the leaves and fruit will throw off moisture rapidly ; 

 hut the roots furnishing sap slowly, too little will be suppUed 

 to meet the requirements of the expanding fruit ; the foot- 

 stalks of the berries will therefore shrivel or become ulcerated, 

 and a complete stoppage of the communication between the 

 roots and the berries will be the consequence, ending in the 

 shrivelling of the berries. 



Yet that in all cases is not the cause of shanking, for the 

 condition of the roots may be such that they will supply sap 

 fast enough, or there may be enough stored up in the stems to 

 meet any sudden demand of the expanding fruit ; this, how- 

 ever, can only be the case where the roots are in a medium 

 favourable to the formation and preservation of the fibres and 

 their points, or spongioles. Shanking, therefore, may not be 

 the effect of too great a difference between the temperature of 

 the soil and atmosphere ; but the conditions unfavourable to 

 shanking are elevation, dryness, and openness of the border, 

 which are essential to the preservation of the fibres in health 

 until the crop is mature, whilst the causes predisposing to the 

 disease are lowness, wetness, and closeness of the materials of 

 the border. Most outside borders have a tendency to cause 

 shanking, for however dry they may be rendered by drainage 

 and the materials of which they may be formed, yet very wet 

 and cold weather, when the fruit begins to colour, may so re- 

 tard root action as to induce shanking through an insufliciency 

 of sap, arising from inactivity of the spongioles ; but a dry 

 scorching summer like the last will be most favourable to low, 

 close-made borders. 



A deficiency of sap may also result from the border being 

 not only outside, but also below the level of the surrounding 

 ground, and deep, rich, and imperfectly drained. This is 

 generally the case when shanking is most severe. Than roots 

 situated deep beneath the surface, and in a manner shut out 

 from all sun and atmospheric influences, in conjunction with 

 excessively rich soil, nothing further is required, except a 

 period of cold rainy weather when the Grapes commence 

 ripening, to cause the speedy destruction of the fibres, never 



very plentiful. The supply of sap being thus rendered in- 

 sutilcient fur the expansion of the fruit, as a consequence the 

 berries shank. Examine at wliat time we may the roots of 

 Vines situated in a deep, rich, low, wet border, we shall find 

 them little bettor than so many bare sticks with a few fibres at 

 the ends, in winter almost entirely rotten and dying back; and 

 wiiat can we expect but that timilar destruction of the fibres 

 will take place in summer when the same conditions of cold- 

 ness and wet present themselves ? Too great a depth of soil ; 

 roots too deep ; soil wet, too rich, and cold, in comparison with, 

 the temperature in which the branches and fruit are situated, 

 will destroy the fibres and cause a deficiency in the supply ot 

 sap, owing to which t)>o footstalks of the berries or parts of 

 the bunches will become ulcerated. 



An insufliciency of sap may also result from depriving the 

 Vines of too much foliage, either in the current or the previous 

 season. It is not unusual to keep vineries warm and moist, 

 with no great amount of air, after the fruit has set, in order to 

 secure root action. A great breadth of folinge is produced, 

 and when the fruit begins to colour, or a little before, a great 

 part of the leaves is suddenly removed under pretence of allow- 

 ing the fruit to become well coloured, and thus the foliage not 

 being in proportion to the fruit and to the roots, it cannot' 

 assimilate the extraordinary amount of sap driven into it, 

 h.ence the roots are rendered inert, and their destruction fol- 

 lows, either when the weatlier proves wet and cold, or a good 

 supply of water is given to help the second swelling. The 

 roots are now gone but more air is given, the evaporation from 

 the leaves becomes excessive, the roots do not supply sap fast 

 enough for the swelling fruit, and shanking of the footstalks of 

 the berries and bunches follows. This is not so common a 

 cause of shanking as coldness and wetness of the border, bnt 

 it does sometimes occur with Vines planted in an inside 

 border. 



With regard to vitiated sap, in vineries where the borders are' 

 inside shanking is not wholly unknown. I have seen Grapea 

 shank' imder what we may term very unfavourable conditions 

 for the occurrence of the disease, and notwithstanding every 

 precaution taken to guard against it. I fully believe the Vine 

 to be no feeder on any strong manures that are often used in 

 making Vine borders, the roots not taking up the supply of food 

 as decomposed or rendered available, so that the soil not only 

 becomes excessively rich, but sodden, sour, and deprived of air 

 from its closeness ; it follows that the spongioles take up food 

 in a vitiated state, and the plant being unable to digest it, 

 disease ensues as a necessary consequence. The sap may be 

 vitiated by excessive watering, too rich soil, and the border 

 being deprived of air from closeness of the materials employed, 

 and this vitiated sap produces much wood and long loose 

 bunches of fruit with wiry footstalks, the berries swell very 

 irregularly, and when they should become large, plump, and 

 well-coloured, they cease to swell, remain red, shrivel, and are 

 sour. A soil open, well drained, and poor rather than rich, 

 would prevent this cause of the disease. Our best Grapes are 

 not grown in borders measured by their depth and the quantity 

 of manure they contain, but by the openness of the soil, the 

 slow decomposition of the manurial substances, and the soil's 

 dryness and shallowness. Afford the Vines a warm, dry, and 

 open soil, and shanking will be less frequently seen. 



The varieties I have noticed most liable to shank are Frott- 

 tignans and Muscat Hamburgh. I believe the last-named to- 

 be a splendid Grape, but it is most difficult to grow. I wish 

 we were all fortunate enough to have it in the fine condition it- 

 is grown by Mr. Pearson, of ChUwell Nursery, but I think it 

 might be greatly improved by grafting on the Black Ham- 

 burgh stock. I noticed the Vine borders at Garston Vineyard 

 during a visit paid in August, and Mr. Meredith's intelligent 

 foreman informed me he had never seen any Grapes shanked 

 there, and I could see by the borders and the Vines that every - 

 precaution had been taken against that evil. The drainage of 

 the outside borders rested on the ground level, and instead 

 of a brick wall, as there is in most cases, turf was packed' 

 round the outside, so that there was nothing to prevent 

 the air passing freely through the border from top to bottom, 

 and this, in my opinion, is a great secret in the successfnl 

 cultivation of the Vine. In the houses the Vines looked 

 most vigorous and healthy, besides bearing an excellent crop 

 of highly finished bunches. One house was devoted entire'y 

 to Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat, and one Vine nearly filled the 

 house. The foreman informed me it was a very small cane 

 planted in 1867, and this year at the time of my visit (August 

 2l8t), it was bearing twenty-six bunches, I should say nearly 



