244 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICTJLTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ ltoi<h«7, UM. 



place after mignight a portion of mercury will be found de- 

 posited at the bulb end of tlie tube ; bat this quantity is not 

 to bo taken into account. At the moment of tilting, the ther- 

 mometer is supposed to have stood at 38', as is shown bj' the 

 new scale. All that is required to reset the instrument is to 

 pnll up the alarum weight, w, in the usual manner, and the 

 apparatus will appear once more as in lig. 1, and be ready. for 

 future obsenations, according to the fancy of the ob3er\'er. — 

 X., Surrci/. 



HE.\.TrN'G A SM.iLL PROP.VGATING-HOUSE. 



Will yon inform me as to the best manner of making a small 

 tank for projiagating-purposes, as cheaply as possible? I have 

 a small greenhouse, 15 feet by 10 feet, with a door leading into 

 a potting-ahed. The front shelf is 2 feet wide. I have en- 

 closed a portion, 5 foot in length, with glass, and have had 

 made a small tin boiler, placed in the shed, with pipes 1 inch in 

 diameter, placed horizontally, running into that enclosed portion 

 of 5 feet. These I have covered with cinder ashes, and I find 

 I obtain a nice bottom lieat of 8Cr, but only just where the small 

 pipes run. Now, would it do to make a small wooden or brick 

 tank half filled with water, covered with slate, on which the 

 pots could rest, and through which the tin flow and return pipes 

 could pass round inside ? — Ai-j)ent Lo\-Er. of Flowers. 



[Tour cheapest plan would be to add two more of your one- 

 inch pipes in the enclosed space. Make the bottom waterproof 

 with Portland cement, place house slates or . galvanised iron 

 over your pipes, and then ashes for plunging in. Leave a 

 few holes with tubes in the covering, to let up heat when you 

 want it, and through them you can let air or moisture down 

 at pleasui'e. Your two one-inch pipes, unless very hot, and 

 that always wastes fuel, will not give you enough of continuous 

 heat, either for your present arrangement or if you preferred 

 a tank. The piping recommended would also be necessary for 

 a tank ; a wooden one would be cheajiest. It should be made 

 of IJ to 2-inch wood; 3 inches would be deep enough; slate 

 would be the best covering. At that depth you woiUd want a 

 frame with glass to set over it. Yoiu: first plan is the simplest.] 



CULTURE OF \TNES IN POTS. 



{Continued from page 224.) 

 The nine-inch pots being tuU of roots, pot the canes without 

 loss of time into 1.5-ineh pots, which will be large enough for 

 the majority, but any that are very strong may have 18-inch 

 pots, and those of small growth 12-inch pots, for though all may 

 have been put in at the same time, and treated alike, the canes 

 will have different degrees of strength. The pots should have 

 one large hole at the bottom, aud three, each an inch in di- 

 ameter, in the sides, the bottom of these holes being sUghtly 

 above that of the pot. A large crock being laid over the hole at 

 the bottom, place 2 inches of rather large crocks over it, aud 

 above these an inch of smaller ones, but not very small, and 

 on these again an inch of the sods broken into pieces with the 

 hand, and the soil knocked out of them. The pots are now 

 ready for the Vines. The soil being chopped with a spade, and 

 made somewhat fine, mix with every peck one quart each of 

 half-inch bones (boiled), and pieces of charcoal, from the size 

 of a hazel nut to that of a walnut. Mix them well, and in this 

 compost pot the Vines, pressing it firmly between the ball and 

 the sides of the pot. The soil should not be wet. nor yet dry, but 

 between the two extremes, and it should have been kept under 

 cover for some time to air. After potting, if there is the con- 

 yenience, a bed of leaves and dung, or tan, will be of advantage in 

 inducing the roots to reach the sides of tlie pot quickly, and its 

 temperature should be from 70' to 75°. Upon no consideration 

 must the Vines, for the sake of bottom heat, be placed in a 

 situation shaded by other cUmbers. As climbers Vines require 

 the first place beneath the glass, and they should be from 

 9 inches to a foot from it, and a foot apart, or better 18 inches. 

 The pots may remain plunged to the rim until the roots reach 

 the sides, when tlie pots should be raised, and remain plunged 

 no deeper than a couple of inches above the side holes. Through 

 these roots will come, and passing into the fermenting material 

 give, without applying liquid manure, to the canes a strength 

 more than equal to that obtained when the pots are on a hard 

 bottom and liquid manure freely given. If -the pots are 

 slightly phmged in a border, weak Uquid manure may be afforded 

 twice a-week, but if on a hard floor or bottom it should be sup- 



plied at every alternate watering after the roots ehow at the 

 sides of the pot, as they will do in three weeks after potting. 

 WiLii the pots are on u hard bottom there is an advantage, 

 inasmuch as all the roots are made witlun the pots, whilst 

 when iilunged many of the best roots are in the bed, and the^ 

 on the removal of the pots are lost, and unless the pots are 

 plunged in a mild hotbed on forcing, the Vines show the loss 

 by breaking weakly. If there is the convenience to form a 

 hotbed in which to plunge the pots before forcing, allow the 

 Vines to root through, as they then require less feeding to 

 become strong, and I do not like to be under the necessity of 

 giving strong doses of liquid manure in order to have strong 

 canes, for it makes the soil heavy. On the other hand, if there 

 is no alternative but to set the pots on a hard bottom, be con- 

 tent with giving weak applications of liquid man<ire at every 

 alternate watering, and what is lost in the thickness of the 

 canes will be gained in their certainty of fruiting. 



From the canes being trained to the roof they will throw out 

 laterals near the bottom, but trained to a stake erect few if any 

 will appear at the bottom. If not trained to the roof, incline 

 the canes after the last potting as nearly to a horizontal position 

 as convenient, remembering that the more erect the canes are, 

 the more their vigour will be spent in the upper part, and that 

 is the part to be cut away, and along with it the best eyes. 

 Laterals, however, will show, aud I wish to have them as low 

 upon the canes as possible, and for that reason train them to 

 the roof or inclined from the perpendicular as much as circum- 

 stances will permit, for I have a great aversion to a cane double 

 the strength at 8 feet that it is at 2 feet from the pot. En- 

 courage the laterals near the bottom, and do not stop them 

 until they have made three leaves, then take out their points ; 

 but stop those above 5 feet from the pot at the first leaf, re- 

 moving the tendrils when first seen, to avoid the strength of 

 the cane being wasted. After the laterals have been stopped 

 once, aDow them to make six leaves, taking out the point of 

 the cane when it has grown 9 feet, and every time the lateral 

 from the side of the upper eye makes a leaf take out the point 

 of the shoot above that. If the uppermost eye break, as it 

 most likelj- will, and the next two or three below it, stop all at 

 the first leaf, and this will cause the vigour of the Vine to be 

 thrown into the laterals below, and these being allowed to grow, 

 and hang loosely so as not to shade the first leaves along the 

 cane, this will be of nearly equal strength from top to bottom. 



When the vigour of the Vine seems to have spent itself, 

 which will be known by the laterals gi\Tng up growth, and the 

 wood of the cane assuming a russety appearance, reduce the 

 laterals to six leaves, and if they do not break within ten days 

 reduce them still further to one joint from the point whence 

 they take their rise ; but if they push strongly stop them at the 

 first fresh leaf, and instead of reducing them all at once, do so 

 by degrees until they be all brought in to one joint, and at this 

 keep them until the wood is brown and hard ; then with a 

 sharp knife remove them close to the cane. This must not be 

 done until the wood is ripe, and the roots in the border cut ofi 

 close to the pots, and the soil iu these sparingly supplied with 

 water ; for if it be moist, and the root-action powerful, to take 

 away the laterals is only to cause some of tlie principal eyes 

 to break, aud fruit may be showing at a time when the Vines 

 are required to go to rest. 



From the time of potting the eyes to that of the wood be- 

 coming brown, the soil should never be allowed to become so 

 dry as to cause the leaves to flag, but be kept well supplied 

 with water ; but this should not be given imtU the soil shows 

 signs of dryness, which, after the pots become full of roots, 

 will be ever}- day, and very often twice a-day water will be re- 

 quired to keep the leaves from flagging. After the canes have 

 become as thick as the little finger, and the wood is turning 

 brown, leave off the applications of liquid manure, and only 

 water when the soil is dry. Up to this time weak Uquid 

 manure may bo given at every alternate w.atering after the pots 

 have become fuU of roots. Discontinue watering after the 

 leaves turn yellow, but do not leave og all at once, but from 

 once a-day gradually reduce the frequency of watering to once 

 or twice a-week, which will be sufficient after the leaves change 

 colour, and then the Vines may be taken out of the house and 

 placed close to a south wall with the pots on boards, there 

 they will soon go to rest. 



The house, until the wood become brown, should be sprinkled 

 morning and evening with water, and the paths, walls, &c., 

 must be kept moist, and if there are evaporatiug-troughs these 

 are to be kept full of liquid manure. The fohage should be 

 syringed every evening to prevent red spider attacking the 



