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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( Febnunr 37, ItK. 



I'ARADISE STOCKS. 



I WA3 much snrpriscJ at roaJing tho letter of Mr. Pearson 

 last week, condemniDg tho Pnroilise stock for Apple-grafting, 

 and wsitcd eagerly to see what would be written in reply, aa I 

 an: Inyini;; out a new garden, and I intended to plant largely of 

 the Apple on tho Paradise slock. I am disappointed to find no 

 one but Mr. Scott replies to the letter. ^\ hat has Mr. Rivers 

 to fay on the subject? It was from his recommendation I 

 took tho idea, and I have his last catalogue before me, in ivhich 

 he very strongly recommends the Paradise stock, and after 

 quoting prices, says in a footnote, " These kinds of trees will 

 he planted extensively in gardens, and, in fact, revolutionise 

 Apple-tree culture." Nothing is more puzzling to the amateur 

 than these very contradictory opinions from leading and expe- 

 rienced men.— J. D. 



[There seems to be a great misunderstanding arising from 

 Mr. Pearson's observations about the Paradise stock. What 

 Mr. Pearson spoke of, and what ilr. Scott recommends, is the 

 Pommier de Paradis of the French, a very diflerent tree from 

 the English, the Dutch, and the French Paradise stotrks which 

 are used in this country, nnd one or other of which Mr. Rivers 

 alludes to in his catalogue and " Miniature Fruit-ljarden," 

 vrherein he recommends plantations of Apples grafted on the 

 Paradise. What we call the French Paradise is by the P'rencli 

 themselves called the Doticin ; hut all these three are entirely 

 different from tho Pommier de Paradis that Mr. Scott recom- 

 mends. Our own experience of the last is, that it is tender, 

 impatient of cold and wet, and subject to canker. We liavii 

 cultivated trees grafted on it successfully in pots, for which 

 purjiose it is well adapted ; but unless in a hglit warm soil and 

 a veiT favoured situation, we should not he disposed to place 

 any reliance upon it. — Eds. J. of H.] 



VINE CULTURE. 



I SHori n have been better able to have replied to "|T. S. W.'s " 

 criticisms in No. '250, page 24, and should have felt more plea- 

 sure in 'dc'ing so, had he put his name in full at the bottom of 

 his article, instead of taking shelter under initials. 



It is true I invited a discussion on the A'ine, and should have 

 been ven' much pleased to have been corrected, and would not 

 h.-.vc been slow to have acknowledged an error if it had been 

 pointed out to me in a friendly spirit, and according to the rules 

 of courfes". " T. S. W." seems to have forgotten this. He 

 says, "Vine culture is a subject that has been so often and so 

 thoroughly sifted of late years, that it would be difficult indeed 

 to broach any new or profitable idea upon it — a fact which 

 your correspondent seems to have been unable to overcome." 



In reply to this— Ist, I ask " T. S. W.," Is the cultivation of 

 the Vine to stop at the point of perfection at present gained, 

 wl i'st ev<r.;-thing else is progressing ? 



•Jud, "T. S. W. ' is wrong in assuming that I was attempt- 

 ing to introduce any new system of cultivation for the Viue. 

 What I preach I practise — none of my articles are copied from 

 other works, but are simply descriptive of my own everyday 

 eipi rience. 



As to the red spider difficulty on which " T. S. W." lays 

 such stress, I maintain that tho insect may be easily kept 

 under if the proper means are adopted from the beginning of 

 the forcing season to the fall of tho leaf. " Prevention is 

 always better than cm-e." With regard to the proper mixture 

 to be used for painting tho Vines, &c., " T. S. W." seems to 

 lave been brought up in an ajc %vhen none of the old-fashioned 

 plans of our forefathers were ever heard of. If I saw any of 

 my Vines undergoing such a severe process as that described 

 by " T. S. W." (with the hard spoke-brush), I think I should 

 want a stimu'ant ra;her stronger than water to prevent me 

 from fainting. 



As regards lowering the tops of the Tines, I still adhere to 

 wh.i: I stated in No. 242, page '^'J8. I have grown Grapes which 

 have been deemed worthy of a first prize at the metropolitan 

 exhibitions ; they have been cut from the middle of the Vine. 

 I also noticed that tho wonderful hunches of Grapes exhibited 

 by Mr. Meredith during the past and previous seasons had 

 been principally produced about the centre of the Vine. If 

 the hot-water apparatus has been properly fixed, there will not 

 be a very great difference in the temperature of any particular 

 part of the house. What I mean by properly fixed is to have 

 the pipes equally distributed over the floor of the house, or 

 above the Vine-border, instead of having them priuoipally at 



the front and back of the botue, as was usually the case in days 

 gone by. 



In late vineries I consider tho regulor breaking of the Vine 

 may be attributed more to the approach of its natural season 

 of growth than to any other cause at that period. The diffi- 

 culty to contend with is how best to keep the Vine back. Fire 

 heat will seldom or never be required in a late vinery while the 

 Vines are breaking, unless the weather bo very cold, which is 

 sometimes the case. 



I admit " T. S. W.'s " to bo a good plan — I mean the laying 

 the Vines horizontally along tho front of the house. It is a 

 I>lan which I formerly adopted myself, but have discontinued 

 fur this reason — in bringing the Vines into their proper position, 

 many of tho finest and most prominent buds are often sacri- 

 ficed. 



With regard to temperature, my experience teaches me that 

 it is better to err by subjecting the Vines to a moderately low 

 temperature, than to force them into a premature growth 

 before there can be a reciprocity of action between the roots 

 and fohage. I consider a high night temperature quite con- 

 trary to all reason — all plants should be at rest during the 

 night ; and in forcing a plant of any kind into growth before 

 its natural season of growth arrives. I maintain that every pre- 

 caution should be used to bring this about as gradually as 

 possible; and I have found in the course of my practice, that 

 (Jrapes will colour much better in a temperature of from 70° to 

 7")° than they will if subjected to a higher temperature. I have 

 often had the thermometer in my vineries down as low as 46°, 

 where the heating apparatus has not been sufficient to do the 

 work properly, without noticing any ill effects resulting from it. 

 I have also frequently seen a good crop of Grapes nearly spoilt 

 by being subjected to a high temperature. 



For the above reasons, therefore, I hold that the system of 

 treatment which I have given is the safest one to go by, for 

 that class of readers of The .Ioubnal of HonTicrLTUBE for 

 whose guidance my series of articles on the cultivation of the 

 Vine were intended. 



With all due respect to " J. S. S.," No. 24«, page 519, I 

 must beg to be allowed to differ from him in opinion as to the 

 use of the pruning scissors. I still maintain that it is im- 

 possible to make a clean cut with them ; ond that, however 

 careful the operator may be in using them, the wounds never 

 heal so quickly, and in many cases not at all. 



I trust that these pages mav yet be enriched by articles 

 from some of our champion Grape-growers ; and I am sure 

 that the Editors will not refuse to insert any articles on the 

 above subject, written in a friendly spirit, and for the general 

 edification of that class of readers of the Jouraal who are not 

 slow to acknowledge the benefit they obtain from conning over 

 its pages, and who anxiously watch for its arrival by post. 

 — J. Wills. 



THE ESSEX RIVAL PEA. 



At page GG of The Jorr.NAL of Hor.riccLTrEE, is an in- 

 quiry from a correspondent who signs himself " NicKEnnoR," 

 as to the parentage of the above valuable Pea, and Mr. Eley, 

 who has spared neither pains nor expense to introduce it to 

 the public, has replied with the honest spirit of a true English- 

 man, to the effect that if " Nickebboh " will give his real 

 name, he will answer his inquiries ; but your correspondent 

 has not thought proper to do this either privately or publicly. 

 He, also, under the disguise of his imm dc plume, charges Mr. 

 Eley with sending out a Pea as a new variety which has long 

 been known in Nottinghamsliire and Leicestershire. I happen 

 to know that Mr. Eley has been indefatigable in his exertions 

 to prove the Pea in question identical with any known variety, 

 ami the principal seed merchants, who send representatives all 

 over the country, and many eminent gardeners, have failed to 

 recognise it, but have furnished ample testimonials to proye its 

 superiority. — T. J. S. 



SrssEX Floiu. — Mr. W. B. Hemsley, assistant in the Kew 

 herbarium, is engaged in collecting materials for a Flora of 

 Sussex, and solicits the co-operation of resident botanists and 

 others interested in the issue of such a work. Local Usts, es- 

 pecially of tho extreme west and north-west, also information 

 relating to critical species and specimens of the same, wonld be 

 of great service. It is intended to include hsts at least of the 

 lower Cryptogamia. Names of intending subscribers will be 



