420 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 4, 186*. 



If it is a scarce or good variety, my plan is, immediately on 

 taking the bulbs up, to separate the young bulbs, and at once 

 plant them in small pots, using good light soil, and keep them 

 in a cold pit during the winter. This gives them a great ad- 

 vantage, and insures, I think, their starting. If the kind is a 

 common one, and yet increase is wished for, then keep the 

 young bulbs, and sow them in drills in the spring like Onions ; 

 and if no increase is desired, simply cut them off and throw 

 them away. 



Varieties. — On this I hope to write more at length next week. 

 In the meantime I would say, of new kinds Milton, Shakspeare, 

 Eurydice, Meyerbeer, Fulton, Marechal Vaillant, and Madame 

 Furtado are excellent. Of those somewhat cheaper, James 

 Veitch, De Candolle, James Carter, Mons. Lebrun d'Albanne, 

 Prince of Wales, Stephenson, and Dr. Lindley may safely be 

 recommended ; and of cheaper kinds, Due de Malakoff, Rem- 

 brandt, John Bull, Belle Gabrielle, Mac Mahon, Lennu, Le 

 Poussin, Madame de Vatry, and Brenchleyensis are good. I 

 hope, however, to give a detailed account of most of these in 

 my next communication, and only hope I may induce some 

 others to grow this charming autumnal flower. — D., Deal. 



VINE BORDERS. 



A few weeks ago I was about making a Vine border, and 

 therefore felt some interest in an article headed " Vine Borders, 

 and How to Make Them." I read it through carefully, and, I 

 confess, felt thoroughly disheartened, for it seemed to me that 

 no man of moderate means could grow Grapes if borders 3 to 

 5 feet deep must be made after the expensive directions given 

 by Mr. Wills. On a second perusal I found that all his words 

 referred to the future, " to be or not to be," according to cir- 

 cumstances. As far as I can foretell, I think he will reconsider 

 some of his propositions and simplify them. I am induced to 

 think so, from having read in a contemporary an account of 

 some vineries at Bishop Stortford, one of which seemed to suit 

 my case. I therefore made my way to the Great Eastern, 

 otherwise to the garden of Mr. Miiler at Bishop Stortford, 

 where Mr. Ward, his gardener, kindly told me all I wished to 

 learn. I have no wish to burden your columns with all I 

 learnt, but I will endeavour to give an idea of the simplicity of 

 the structure and of the culture followed. 



The house I allude to is span-roofed, 200 feet long, 30 feet 

 wide, and 15 feet high in the centre, 5 feet at the sides. The roof 

 is fixed, all the rafters of the same size. Ventilation from below 

 by sashes suspended, and opened by a crank ; ventilation above 

 by pieces of glass in slides to every fourth rafter, held in their 

 places by iron weights. 



I fear to weary your readers by a long description of this 

 fine vinery. No description can convey an accurate picture ; 

 and so I shall merely try and tell how simple a matter it is to 

 make a Vine border, and thus cheer those who, like myself, 

 felt disheartened after reading pages 289 and 290. 



The borders, or rather border — for it is one continuous 

 border — occupies the whole 30 feet width inside of the house, 

 and has no connection whatever with the outside ; the founda- 

 tions of the walls are solid brickwork, so that not a root can 

 pass through ; the soil being a sandy loam resting on gravel, 

 no drainage was required, and the border was thus simply 

 made. The turf was pared off the enclosure in which the 

 vinery stands, and wheeled into the house. To this mass 

 of turfy sandy loam (always take sandy loam), were added 

 rich half-rotten stable-manure and one-inch hones, mixed with 

 larger pieces, the " screenings " of ground bones, nearly in 

 the following proportions : — To twenty loads of loam (of 

 twenty bushels each), four loads of manure and one load of 

 coarse broken hones were added. This compost was well 

 mixed, and the border when completed and settled was about 

 30 inches deep ; it now lies about 1 foot above the surface of 

 the soil outside. It is intended, I believe, to give the border 

 annual surface-dressings of a richer compost than it was made 

 with, so as to encourage the roots to come to the surface. The 

 surface of the border has not been stirred since it was made ; 

 so that from being much trodden it is quite solid. 



The Vines growing in this border are as fine and robust 

 as can be imagined; for in this, the second year of their 

 growth, the canes made by a large number of Lady Downe's 

 Vines average 2i inches in circumference and from 16 to 

 18 feet in length. There is no doubt but that in soils 

 not calcareous 4 inches of lime rubbish added to the above 

 compost would be advantageous ; it is not required at Bishop 



Stortford, and so I have confined myself to giving the very 

 simple mode in which the border haB been formed. In soils 

 not favoured by a substratum of gravel it would probably be 

 necessary to place a layer, 9 inches thick, of broken bricks or 

 stones, or drain-pipes, and on this to form the border ; and I 

 think, also, the border in such cases should be raised to the 

 height of the boundary walls, and lie at least 2J or 3 feet above 

 the surface outside. 



In all that I have said I have referred to the border in the 

 span-roofed house, but I see no reason why the same principle 

 should not be applied to lean-to houses. All that is required 

 is to make the front and back walls of a height sufficient to 

 allow of a border being made 3 feet deep the whole width of the 

 house ; and this in a house 14 or 16 feet wide would be amply 

 sufficient for Vines for many, many years, and with annual 

 surface-dressings, probably as long as a vinery would last. 



This method of making Vine borders offers such a contrast 

 to the complicated recommendations of Mr. Wills as to merit 

 notice, for simplicity in all gardening operations should be a 

 leading feature. It seems to me also to do away with the ne- 

 cessity or quasi-necessity, so expensive, of building the boun- 

 dary front walls of vineries on arches to allow the roots to go 

 outside. An inside Vine border requires no protection from 

 the weather, it is dry and comparatively warm in winter, and 

 in summer partakes largely of the temperature of the house. 

 One objection seems to offer itself — the necessity of artificial 

 watering, for, of course, no rain can ever fall on an inside 

 border. On iuquiring of Mr. Ward, Mr. Miller's intelligent 

 gardener, I learut that the border of the span-roofed house, 

 200 feet long and 30 feet wide, was thoughly watered at the end 

 of March of the present year, and the same once a-month till 

 the middle of August. No water has been given since, neither 

 will any be given till next spring. This is not, therefore, a 

 heavy objection to an inside border. 



One feels surprise that none of our writers on Vine culture 

 have recommended Vine borders to be entirely inside, after 

 the mode practised by Mr. Miller. Mr. Thomson, even, the 

 most acute of our Vine authors, seems to have omitted it. 

 One feels regret that he has done so, for he could handle the 

 subject well. 



I saw many years since, in a market garden near London, 

 some Vines planted in the hard clayey floor of a vinery with 

 little or no preparation of the soil. They were remarkable for 

 their vigour and productiveness. I have recently seen the 

 experiment repe.Ued, and am almost inclined to say, " The 

 climate is the maker of the soil :" therefore the whole of a Vine 

 border, whether for a lean-to or span-roofed house, should be 

 inside, and not more than 3 feet deep, trusting rather to 

 surface-dressings than to deep, dank, five-feet borders for the 

 proper food of Vines. 



There is one peculiarity in the planting of this vinery 

 worthy of notice. On each side of the central path is a row of 

 pyramidal Vines attached to upright rods, as they are seen in 

 the gardens of the south of Europe. These Vines are from 

 3 to 4 feet apart, and form a most beautiful avenue 200 feet 

 long. The Vines trained under the roof are planted on each 

 side in the usual manner. The varieties in the late house are 

 Lady Downe's and the Black Tokay, /alsely named the Black 

 Alicante, and now very properly called after Mr. Meredith to 

 distinguish it from other sorts under the name of Alicante ; 

 but it must ultimately take its true name of Black Tokay, 

 under which it has been known in England for some scores of 

 years. In my opinion this late Grape is not at all equal in 

 flavour to Lady Downe's, which closely rivals the Black Tokay 

 in its keeping quality. — Vitis. 



STRAWBERRY CAPTAIN COOK— GROWING 



FOR PROFIT. 



As some of your readers appear anxious to know which are 

 the best and most profitable Strawberries for the market gar- 

 dener, perhaps you will allow me space in your valuable Journal 

 for the following account of Strawberry Captain Cook, as re- 

 lated by a market gardener in the north of Lancashire. He has 

 grown this delicious fruit on rather an extensive scale for sale 

 for a great number of years, and as he has tried almost every 

 variety which has been sent out, I consider his opinion is worthy 

 of notice. He says that he has never met with any variety that 

 is so profitable as Captain Cook, as it produces a greater weight 

 of large, marketable fruit than any sort which has come under 

 his notice, and always commands a ready sale at the best prices. 



