254 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 2, 1866. 



was'laid a foot of brickbats, from which the finer portions kad 

 been sifted out by an inch sieve, and on the brickbats was 

 placed turf grass-side downwards. The border was composed 

 of turf, cut 3 inches thick, from a pasture, the soil of which 

 was a lightish hazel or yellow loam resting on a gravelly sub- 

 soil. The turf was laid on fresh, as cut, grass-side downwards, 

 and between every layer boiled half-inch bones were strewn, 

 until the border had been carried up to the height of 24 inches. 

 When finished it had the appearance of an inclining terrace, 

 with slopes in front and at the ends, the drain-tiles extending 

 beyond these, and being each fitted with a wooden plug, so that 

 they could be opened or closed at will. During the growing 

 season these plugs were taken out daily, if the temperature of 

 the air exceeded that of the border, but at no other time, and 

 they were invariably put in at night. Vines were of course 

 planted, and the Grapes did not shank. The border, having a 

 sloping top or surface, was covered with boards if the weather 

 proved unfavourably wet. I mention this, thinking it may 

 meet the requirements of a correspondent, " M. J. B.," to 

 whose questions the above is partly in reply. 



2nd, Vitiated Sap. — In vineries where the borders are in- 

 side shanking is not wholly unknown, nor in heated borders is 

 it invariably true that Grapes do not shank. I have seen them 

 shank under what we may term very unfavourable conditions 

 for the disease, and notwithstanding every precaution taken to 

 guard against it. I fully believe tho Vine to be no feeder on 

 carrion, nor any of those strong manures which subside during 

 decomposition into a soapy mass, in which no Vine rout will 

 live for a single winter, or, if so. only to push into the subsoil 

 or anywhere out of the roach of the putrefaction. Very often 

 Vine borders are made so that the mouths of the Vines planted 

 in them are rotted off, at times taking up so much food as to 

 cover the roof with an undue amount of foliage, and at other 

 times scarcely enough for the pressing demands of the leaves 

 and fruit ; but if this cause shanking, what is it but an insuffi- 

 cient supply of sap ? The roots not taking up the supply of 

 food as decomposed or rendered available, it is absorbed by 

 the soil adjoining, and this goes on constantly, so that the soil 

 not only bacomes exctssively rich, but sodden, sour, and de- 

 prived of air from its closeness. It surely must follow that 

 the spongioles take up food in a vitiated state, and that the 

 plant being unable to throw it off otherwise new parts are 

 formed ; these being vigorously stopped the vitiated sap chokes 

 the passage in the narrow part between the berry and main 

 conduit of the sap, and the berry so cut off from further 

 supplies of sap shrivels. 



The sap may be vitiated by excessive watering, too rich 

 soil, and the border being deprived of air from the 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 stop swelling, remain red, 

 shrivel, and are sour. A soil open, well-drained, and poor 

 rather than rich, would prevent the last result, and 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 its dryness and shallowness. Naturally, the Vine loves 

 the hills and rocks, and will not thrive in bogs, such as we 

 may see without much trouble in almost any garden where 

 Vines have been planted some time. Afford tho Vine a warm, 

 dry, and open soil, and shanking will be less frequently seen. 

 It may only be an idea which I have, but I think calcareous 

 matter is valuable for some kinds of Vines, and these are such 

 as are most liable to shank — viz., Frontignans. I have had 

 these free froni shanking when grown in a border out of doors 

 resting on a bed of chalk, which substanco also entered largely 

 into the composition of the border, as also another variety 

 very liable to shank — namely, the Muscat Hamburgh. Of ail 

 Grapes this I believe to be the very best, and, at the same time, 

 the most difficult to grow without shanking in an outside 

 border. With me, when worked on the Black Hamburgh stock, 

 it is anything but cured, though vastly improved. 



The berries sent by " M. J. B.," which " appear bruised," 

 are, in addition to shanking, spotted. The " spot," as 

 gardeners call it, is mainly due to the same causes as shanking. 

 — G. Abbey. 



The " Retaiia " (Parkinsonia aculeata), grows wild in many 

 parts of south-western Texas, and is now quite extensively 

 cultivated at Austin, and in other places. The young trees 

 have a bright green, smooth bark, both on their trunks and 



branches, with long, pendent, grass-like leaves, which, when 

 young, have small leaflets. It has bright yellow pea-like, fra- 

 grant flowers, the lower parts of the petals tinged with ochreous 

 brown. Its seeds are contained in pods. It is a rapid grower, 

 and quite hardy. From its endurance of the "northers" at 

 Austin, where the thermometer is sometimes as low as 20°, 

 and very often 12° below the freezing-point, I am satisfied it 

 will thrive in the open air as far north as Washington. It 

 deserves extensive cultivation in all the States south of this 

 latitude, for there are few trees more beautiful. — (American 

 Country Gentleman.) 



ANNUAL BEDDERS. 



To any one in want of a cheap, showy, and easily-managed 

 bedder, I would say, Try the common Scarlet Runners. I 

 have grown them for this purpose for two seasons, and have 

 satisfied myself that when properly managed, this plant makes 

 a very gay and effective bedder. At the present time my row 

 of Runners is a perfect sheet of orange scarlet, and this in spite 

 of the drenching rains to which most of my bedders have suc- 

 cumbed. Nothing can be simpler than the management. Sow 

 the seeds in May in poor soil, without manure, but on dry 

 land, and in a sunny position. Put the seeds into the ground 

 with your finger and thumb, at, say, 12 inches distance from 

 each other. They soon make their appearance, and grow like 

 Mushrooms. As soon as the stems begin to taper up peg them 

 down until you have a perfect row, or, if you grow them in a 

 bed, until the ground is completely covered. After that you 

 must go over the row or bed occasionally, and nip off with a 

 pair of shears any straggling shoot, together with some of the 

 foliage, if it is too thick. You wiU soon have an even mass of 

 bloom, which will last till the frosts come. Of course, you wiU 

 take off the pods as they become ready for the table, and so 

 your bedder will be useful as weD as beautiful. The colour, as 

 every one knows, is a peculiarly cool brick red, unapproachable, 

 in my opinion, by that of any known bedder. Combined with 

 blue Salvia behindit, and Centaurea, or Mrs. Holford Verbena in 

 front, the effect is magnificent. If you object to Salvia patens, 

 from the uncertainty of its bloom, try a border composed of 

 the following materials — 1st row, Lobelia speciosa ; 2nd row, 

 Scarlet Runners ; 3rd row, Calceolaria amplexicaulis. Though 

 professional chromatists niay be horrified with the combination, 

 I venture to say that your border will be the admiration of the 

 neighbourhood. 



Another annual which I never omit to use as a bedder is 

 Sapouaria calabrica. As a border close to grass, it is, I think, 

 unequalled for beauty and duration of bloom, and when thus 

 used it saves the labour of trimming the verges'of shrubberies 

 on the lawn. It contrasts admirably with Calceolaria Anrea 

 floribunda, and I have seen it used with excellent effect to fill 

 a small bed on a lawn. It should be sown thickly, and should 

 not be thinned out too much. — F., Westmoreland. 



A PLEA FOR SNOWFLAKE LOBELLl. 



Let me say a kind word for the much-abused Snowflake 

 Lobelia. With me it had rather a pleasing effect in some 

 circular beds of Iresine and Coleus. These beds were edged 

 with Centaurea caudidissima and Cineraria maritima, and a 

 ring of Snowflake Lobelia was planted between the edgings and 

 the dark brown and crimson masses. The Lobelia was clipped 

 over when about 6 inches high, and formed a well defined ring 

 of its white flowers, having a very pretty effect. 



Lobelia Snowflake has certainly a very straggling and up- 

 right habit, and is quite unfit for bedding by itself or for 

 ribbons, but if clipped it will flower more densely; and if 

 mixed with other plants to support it I think it is worth 

 further trial. — Williaji Tillery. 



ROSES IN SCOTLAND. 

 As promised, I enclose a list of Roses which I have found to 

 be suitable in a cold late climate in the West Lothian, 

 420 feet above the level of the sea, as well as a list of those 

 varieties which do not succeed at all under similar circum- 

 stances. Many in the latter list are undoubtedly Roses of 

 first-rate excellence, but will only succeed in a genial climate. 

 I have been an enthusiastic grower of Roses for fifteen years, 

 and may, therefore, be expected to know something about the 



