February 6, 1866. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



105 



adhered to, givint; air gradually as the temperature] rises, and 

 reducing the amount as gradually as it falls, leaving a little on 

 all night at top, by every light if possible, under all circum- 

 stances and in all weathers. A little will do, from a quarter 

 of an Inch to an inch will be generally sufficient, but the Vines 

 must be the guide. If the top bu(is are becoming too pro- 

 minent give a Uttle more air, but never open the front lights 

 on any consideration. It is soon enough to do that when the 

 btmches are showing their blossom. The uniform moisture 

 which is by this treatment presented to the Vine is the most 

 natural and congenial, and the assistance of the syringe wiU 

 not be required, except, perhaps, a slight dash very early in 

 the afternoon of unusually sunny days. I have observed that 

 Vines which are peeled, scraped, and polished up, do not, as a 

 rule, break so kindly as those which have but little done to 

 them in this respect ; the rougher surface of the unscraped 

 Vine retaining a more continuous and geuial moisture aroimd 

 the spurs and buds, I believe, constituting the difference. Such 

 is the treatment which was so successfully adopted by Mr. 

 Young, late gardener to Viscount Barrington, and by which he 

 for several years invariably secured good breaks, and with 

 after-modifications fine uniform crops all the way up the 

 rafters, excellent in character as regards size, colour, and 

 flavour. For weeks together the Vines were not syringed, yet 

 a red spider in the house was, indeed, a rarity, although close 

 to the back wall ran a smoke-shaft, which was often so hot 

 that the hand could not be kept on it. I remember one night 

 taking the air off the top of the house for experiment, and in 

 the morning finding that part 11° warmer than the lower part, 

 and that proves that were it not for constant top air, the Vines 

 must have broken irregularly. I have also proved, that in the 

 case of a Vine trained vertically up a wall in the open air and 

 a hght placed against it, that part under the glass -will break 

 first. — .J. 'Weight. 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FEBRC.UtY 3rd. 



At the meeting held this day, Messrs. Cutfaush tt Son, of High- 

 gate, made one of the most elegant exhibitions of forced flowers we 

 have seen. So simple and gi-acefol was the group, and so tastefully was 

 it arranged, that it was the admiration of all who saw it, and fully 

 justified the Judges in awarding it a fii"st prize. It consisted of four 

 pots of Convallaria polygonatum, or common Solomon's Seal forced 

 (we are surprised this is not more frequently seen), as a centre ; and 

 surrounding these were nice plants of Rhododendron Cunninghami, a 

 Dielytra speetabilis, an Azalea pontica Taylor's Red. a Vallota pui-- 

 purea, two pans of Crocus versicolor, two pots of Vermilion Brilliant 

 Tulips, one of Toumesol Tulips, and one of each of the Hyacinths La 

 Tour d'Auvergne, Vainqueur. and Amy. 



Mr. Bartlett. of Shaftesbury Road, Hammersmith, who exhibited 

 so successfully last week, was again present with a nice collection of 

 twenty-five Hyacinths well bloomed, and some Polyanthus Narcissus, 

 for which he received a second prize. 



Messrs. Lucking Brothers, of Bay.swater, received a first-class 

 certificate for a pretty exhibition of forced flowers. 



INCISIONS IN VINE ROOT. 

 Is Mr. Thomson's "Treatise on the Vine" (chapter on ex- 

 periments), he speaks of having made incisions in the old root 

 or arm of the Vine after taking it up, and that from the lips of 

 each incision roots were produced. I have this day bared the 

 old root of my Vine with scarcely a fibre upon it, and have 

 nicked it with a knife in several places. My gardener says 

 "it will bleed to death," and that no roots can possibly come 

 of this. Mr. Thomson says he cut " incisiong" Does he 

 mean simply nicks with the knife, or does he (.^t, °^^' ^ piece 



from the back of the root '? thus, .1 A All roimd 



the root I have laid fine fresh turfy soil and bones. Will my 

 Vine die, or will it be improved, do you suppose ? — A Constant 

 Re.^deb. 



[We are not quite sure what kind of incisions Mr. Thomson 

 made, but we should presume they would be simple slits — say 

 three-quarters of an inch long, and one-eighth of an inch deep. 

 .Just as in the case of the slit in a layered Rose, or a layered 

 Carnation, a little bit of crock or wood might be stuck in the 

 slit to keep the wounds open, or rather their lips a little separate. 

 There is Uttle danger of the wounds bleeding, if made early 

 enough. We shall be glad if Mr. Thomson will explain this 

 process, more especially as we may have mistaken his meaning. 

 From our own experience, however, we would direct om- cor- 



respondent's attention to the experiment as detailed by Mr. 

 Thomson. The Vine roots operated upon were roots that were 

 chiefly bare of fibres, and that had been shortened and taken 

 entirely out of the ground. When these are treated as stated, 

 we have no doubt, from experiments of our own, that roots 

 would be formed at the incisions, and most plentifully near 

 the stem. Other successful experiments have been detailed in 

 this Journal, in which fresh roots were abundantly protruded 

 from the bottom of stems that had no connection with roots ; 

 but such experiments require first-rate management, and un- 

 remitting care. What we wish chiefly to add, however, is, that 

 when we have made such incisions on the bare parts of large 

 roipts of Vines that were not separated from the fibres that 

 existed at their extremities, then few of such incisions pro- 

 duced rootlets.] 



ABSTRACT OF METEOROLOGICAL 

 OBSERVATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1865. 



TAKEN AT W.^HINGSTOWN, COUNTY DOWK, IBELAND. 



Latitude, 54° 25' 52" N. Longitude, 6° 17' 56" W. Height 

 above sea level, 190 feet. 



DETECTING BARREN STRAWBERRY PLANTS. 



Whilst engaged in filling our Strawberry-house with plants 

 that have been prepared for forcing, I have been led to re- 

 member what was said last spring about barren Strawberry 

 plants, one of our gardening friends being disappointed, after 

 forcing his plants, to find that very few of them showed any 

 blossoms. It is quite evident from what he said about his 

 plants that they were barren. Now, barren Strawberry plants 

 may easily be distinguished from fruitful plants now, or while 

 they are being prepared in the autumn. I prepare for forcing 

 nearly two thousand plants every year, and I have had a Uttle 

 trouble myself with barren ones ; for, after forcing my plants, 

 I very often make plantations of them in the kitchen garden, 

 and 1 frequently find some that have become ban-en. When I 

 come to look for early rimners from these plantations I find 

 that I can take them much sooner from ban-en than from 

 fruitfiU plants, but aU that they will give me for my trouble 

 will be leaves and runners. In the spring they first produce a 



