360 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ Novembor 12, ! 



of the greatest curiosity. It is a record of all the Gooseberry 

 exhibitions througbont the year 1868, the names of the ex- 

 hibitors, the berries shown, and their weights. The largest 

 herry shown was London, 29dwts. 19grs., at Brough, Derby- 

 shire, by Mr. Phineas Higton, Alderwashley, nearWirksworth. 

 Whoever sends Is. 8d. to Mr. Leicester, nurseryman, Crompton 

 Eoad, Macclesfield, will have a copy of the Register returned to 

 liim. 



VINE ONE YEAR OLD BEARING T^VENTY 

 THREE BUNCHES OF GRAPES. 



The truth of the statement, at page 279, being doubted by 

 more than one of our correapondents, we wrote to Mr. Roberts, 

 and the following is his reply : — 



" I VFTofe to Mr. Meredith's, at Garston, fonvardinR the letter yon 

 enclosed for me, also the Jonrnal containing my statement, and I now 

 give Mr. Meredith's foreman's reply. He also sent me a sample of 

 the eyes the Vine is furnished with, which I have shown to several of 

 my gardening friends, who all say they never saw more frnitfnl-look- 

 ing eyes and wood, for the eyes look like nuts. This cert,ainly shows 

 that the crop has not taken all the vitality to mature the fruit, but 

 that there is wood able to bring to perfection double the quantity next 

 season if allowed. 



" 'When I entered the house in which Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat is 

 planted, for it is in an inside border, if the question had been asked, 

 How long I thought the 'S'ine had been planted ? I certainly should 

 have guessed six or seven years, for it looked quite as vigorous in 

 growth as if it had been planted that length of time, the bunches 

 fceing in such fine condition, and the wood so strong and firm. I can 

 assure your correspondent who is so fond of Vine culture, that he 

 would never regret paying Mr. Meredith's vineyard a visit ; there he 

 would have the pleasure of seeing the powers of Mrs. Pince's Black 

 Itfuscat tested, and the wood it is furnished with for next year's crop, 

 after bringing to maturity a greater quantity of bnnches than he states 

 in his letter. — CniRLES Kobekts, Borfokl Uall Gardens, Kantwidt, 

 Oheshire." 



The letter from Mr. Meredith's foreman is as follows : — 

 " Your statement concerning the Vine of Mrs. Pince's Black 

 Muscat is substantially correct, but you have underrated the weight of 

 fruit. The facts are as follow : — The Vine was planted in the sum- 

 mer of I8ti7, and was then a small one, certainly not more than 3 feet 

 in length. It bears now twenty-one bunches, two having been taken 

 off, a berry at a time, for tasting. The weight of the twenty-three 

 2)unches would be at least 30 lbs., several of them being nearer 2 lbs. 

 than 1 lb. in weight. 



*' I have measured the stem this morning, the circumference at the 

 base is GJ inches, and at 2 feet from the bottom it is 5J inches. I 

 enclose a sample of the eyes it is furnished with, which certainly do 

 not look like barren ones. — 'Wm. Taylor, Tlie Vineyard, Gurston, 

 near lAverjpol" 



COST OF HEATING AND MANAGEMENT OF A 

 BOILER— GARDENERS' WAGES. 

 In answer to "C. C." and others, for single small houses 

 ■where only a little heat is wanted to exclude frost, there is no 

 other plan so economical as having a brick or an iron stove, 

 "with a small funnel through the roof. 



2. A flue will heat such a house more cheaply than a boiler, 

 because in proportion less heat will escape at the top of the 

 chimney. 



3. Much heat is always thus lost from a boiler unless the 

 stoker is careful, and do what he will much wall go to ameliorate 

 the temperature of the surrounding air. We have passed furnaces 

 heating boilers, with fire and furnace doors open, and a glaring 

 Ted fire in the furnace, and the flickering of the air at the top of 

 the chimney told at once the quantity of heated air that was 

 thus escaping. 



Now, as commonly arranged, the following precautions are 

 necessary, so far as securing economy in fuel is concerned : — 

 Clean out the furnace before lighting, close the furnace door 

 after lighting, and leave the ashpit door open until the fire has 

 fairly taken hold and is burning freely ; then shut the ashpit 

 door, and if there is a revolver in it just open it a little to seciire 

 more perfect combustion, and by the time the fuel is incandes- 

 cent place the damper in the chimney, just leaving a little open- 

 ing to allow the gases to escape. To make sure of this, in ex- 

 perienced hands, in the centre of the damper a hole may be made 

 half an inch in diameter, and then the damper may shut in 

 closely, as that opening will obviate all danger, and the heated 

 air, instead of all rushing up the chimney, will to a great ex- 

 tent be sent back to play over and around the boUer. Open- 

 ing the ashpit door half an inch or less will admit sufficient air 

 to support a slow combustion. 'When the boiler and pipes are 



heated, a slow-burning fire will keep up the heat for a long 

 time. When only a sudden heat for temporary frosts is wanted, 

 we prefer a brisk fire burning itself out. The ashpit door and 

 the damper must be looked to if a continuous heat is to be main- 

 tained economically. The whole matter is simplicity itself ; but 

 we know practically how very difficult it is to make otherwise 

 clever active men attend to such matters of detail, such seeming 

 trifles. 



We can hardly tell whether " C. C.'s " architect, ironmonger, 

 and friends arc right in saying he ought to heat his conserva- 

 tory, haU, and greenhouse, all on a small scale, for £7 or £8 per 

 annum. This we do Icnow, that there will be much waste if 

 the stoking is not attended to as if a man were determined to 

 do it well as above, and without waste ; but this we also know, 

 that the veriest rubbish has been affirmed by architects, iron- 

 mongers, and hot-water tradesmen as to the little fuel that heat- 

 ing by hot water needs. Hot water wiU always be economical 

 as respects fuel, in proportion to the great quantity of work done 

 by one boiler, and therefore one chimney. 'When we use a 

 boiler for a small place, we think of efliciency, cleanliness, &c., 

 rather than the cost of the fuel. Even then the stoker can do 

 much. 



As to the other question asked by " C. C," such a boiler, and 

 with 1 i acre of kitchen and flower garden, and lawn, could in a 

 certain way be attended to by one man and a boy with occasional 

 assistance ; but much will depend on the occasional. 'We have 

 known small houses, such as we may judge his to be, that 

 would almost require the whole of a man's time. We have 

 known them tidy with a few hours' work each day. We can 

 form less idea of the i\ acre of park or paddock. Altogether, 

 we should judge that where fine plants and much forcing were 

 required, the labour would not be sufficient. Nor do we think 

 that £1 per week would tempt a good man to remain. It would 

 likely have been a saving if, instead of having half a dozen 

 changes, there had been a few shillings a- week more given to a 

 good man. A gentleman never gave more than fi'om £5.5 to 

 £60 per annum, and generally changed every year, or at the 

 longest every second or third year, and every change cost him a 

 considerable amount of money for alterations. By gi'ving £10 

 or £20 more, he has told us, he has effected a great saving. He 

 found out that everybody he had before came to his place 

 merely as a fiU-gap, and was on the look-out for something else, 

 and consequently felt little or no interest in the work. It was 

 very wrong, no doubt, but it cannot be expected that all the 

 virtue is to come from the wage-getting man. 



POMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 



" Permit me to add a few words to the excellent description 

 of THE Mteoealan, or Cherry Plum, given by " Archambacd," 

 page 296. In my youth a gigantic tree of this kind grew in 

 the "front court" of our house, and every season was a 

 mass of snowy flowers, and now and then, perhaps twice in 

 seven years, would give a sprinkling of its pretty fruit, but 

 never an abundant crop, such as I have seen in Touraine, 

 where every branch is often a rope of fruit more numerous by 

 far than the leaves, and most beautiful to behold. I have 

 heard that in some sheltered places in England, perhaps near 

 the sea, it occasionally bears in like abundance. Here, 

 owing to its putting forth its flowers in March, before our 

 spring winter is over, it is rarely that any escape the severe 

 frosts of that or the following month. 



" This Plum is evidently as distinct a species as the Sloe 

 (Prunus spinosa), for although many thousands fre annually 

 raised here from seed to be used as stocks for a few sorts of 

 Plums, which succeed well when grafted on it, no variation in 

 habit is ever seen — they are as constant as Quick raised from 

 haws. There are, however, two or three kinds that vary in 

 the colour of their fruit, one bearing yellow and another green- 

 ish yellow Plums, but their leaves and shoots seem never to 

 vary. The latter kind is common in Belgium, and is used in 

 their sandy soils for stocks for Plums, Peaches, and Apricots. 

 This kind strikes freely from cuttings in the light peaty soils of 

 Belgium, where it is called the Mirabelle Plum. One peculiar 

 characteristic of this stock is its immunity from the attacks of 

 the Plum or any other kind of aphis, often so injurious to 

 all other kinds of Plums. Seedling Cherry Plums form finer 

 trees than those that are grafted, as they have naturally a 

 graceful pyramidal habit, and would, if planted in sbrubberiea, 

 require no care, soon becoming trees, always ornamental and 

 sometimes fruitful. 



" Some years since a kind of Plum was introduced to the Hor- 



