JB17 IS, 1869; ) 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



45 



they become oouvinceJ of tue simple fact, that provided air ia 

 given early eaougli, and enough of it to prevent a sudden out- 

 burst of fun raising the temperature of the house immo- 

 derately. Vines, itc, will not be injured if the temperature 

 fluctuate considerably — say, goes up and down from 60° to 00', 

 or even 9c>'', as the rising and falling will bo gradual, and there 

 will be no contined moist air within the house, which often 

 does so much mischief when the house is shut up. 



To suit a number of inquirers besides " KiTE," we have 

 thus alluded to what we deem the correct management of a 

 cool house for Vines in two circumstauces^when ventilation 

 can be attended to daring the day, and when the most of that 

 work mast be done — say, at 9 a m. and i p.m. 



So much, then, for the main issues, as to keeping such a 

 Vine house shut up night and day, a practice admitting of no 

 defence except on the supposition that the statement is slightly 

 incorrect, and the probable fact that the gardener thoroughly 

 beUeved he was doing the best under the circumstances, not in 

 giving no air, but in taking the full advantage of the sun heat. 

 Until the last eight days or so, the season, as a whole, has been 

 dull and cold. We had plenty of nights in Hay and June in 

 which in such a house the perforated zinc would have been 

 better shut than open. We have a house with Vines and Peach 

 trees together, but in such weather the house was often shut 

 np by three o'clock, and though a little air was given at the 

 apex early in the morning, there were days when that house 

 hiad little more air than would have been supplied by the 

 3 inches of perforated zinc. Of course, if there was even a 

 short period of bright sun the air wai increased, but in cold 

 bleak days not in proportion to the burst of sun heat, as we 

 knew that could do no harm, with air on to prevent a confined 

 atmosphere and a circulation of light vapour. In the last days 

 of the week air was freely given at back and front, and the 

 doors were opened, but the front air was cut o2 by three 

 o'clock, and all except a little taken from the back by four 

 o'clock, so that the sun should leave a kindly heat in the house. 

 Most likely the gardener has erred from excess of zeal, to make 

 the most of the sun heat for the benefit of his Vines, and 

 thi'ough them for the advantage of his employer. If they 

 tmite together and strike out a happy medium as respects venti- 

 lation, all will be well, and the cheapest of all heat, sun heat, 

 will be made the most of. 



We shall conclude with this advice : In a house of the de- 

 scription referred to, moderate ventilation night and day will 

 be safer in every way than little or no ventilation at any time. 

 The amount of ventilation required greatly depends on the 

 plane of glass. Orchard houses with large squares require 

 almost double the amount of air that would do for a houso 

 built in the old-fashioned way, with heavy rafters, and the 

 sash bars not more than 6 or 7 inches apart.] 



GROOVING ROSES NEAR THE CITY. 



Hybeid Perpetual Roses will not flower with me from being 

 near the City. Would I have a better chance with them grown 

 in pots ?— F. G. 



[The following is Mr. Fish's answer : — 



You are quite right, it is the smoke and soot which spoil 

 your Perpetual Kosos, clog up ihe pores of the bark and 

 leaves, and prevent free respiration and perspiration. I cannot 

 perceive what benefit will result from growing the Hoses in 

 pots^that is, if you keep the pots out of doors, plunged or 

 otherwise ; but you will succeed well with suc'u Eoses in pots, 

 if you can place them under glass, syringe well, give plenty of 

 air, and yet keep the smoke and soot out. I have tried 

 several modes, as wool netting, fine gauze, wire, &c., over the 

 ventilators ; but, perhaps, there is nothing better than rather 

 fine gauze, or rough muslin, which allows the air to pass 

 through with tolerable freedom, and yet keeps out the smoke 

 and soot, only the gauze must be washed and ironed out as it 

 becomes dirty and clogged up, or soon no air would enter. 

 There is also this great advantage in having your plants under 

 glass, that you can give air freely at night in summer, shut up 

 your houso as the morning fires are lighted, and then when 

 most air will be wanted, as at midday, the atmosphere will be 

 clearer and sweeter. 



One other mode I practised on a small scale with Eoees in 

 London, with the stronger Perpetual, Hybrid China, China, 

 and even a few Moss Eoses. The plants were on their own 

 roots, and the method consisted in treating them more like 

 Bose stools than Eose plants. Thus, the shoots made this 



season were little depended on for a succeeding year. If very 

 strong they were partly pruned in the autumn, and some fern 

 was placed over the stool, covering up a dressing of rotted dung. 

 The partly cutting back concentrated the strength of the 

 plants in the roots, and the lower almost imperceptible buds 

 near the base of the shoots. Frequently the tops looked rusty 

 and woe-begone in winter, and sooty and grimy enough too, 

 but that mattered little, as when April approached we used to 

 cut them all down to the ground, and as the atmosphere be- 

 come clearer plenty of shoots, strong and with good foliage, 

 came from the stool ; and though the Boses were produced 

 later, we used to have plenty of them, and a succession, by 

 carefully thinning out the stronger and the weaker shoots. AU 

 the China section, including such kinds as Abbe Mioland, Cra- 

 moisie Supericure, Mrs. Bosanquet, &c., did well, and yielded a 

 profusion of flowers when so treated, but failed miserably 

 when we merely pruned back bushes in the aanaX way. The 

 Eoses were treated on a hint obtained from the fact, that de- 

 ciduous trees that expand their leaf buds late, do so much 

 better than evergreens in smoky places. Even though the 

 stems and branches of trees are encrusted with soot, the fresh 

 green foliage coming out late in a clearer atmosphere, enables 

 the trees to keep up a rather healthy vitality. Many of the 

 Eoses, if left to themselves, are almost half-evergreen, and 

 among the Hybrid Perpetuala the shoots are often covered 

 with small apinea or bristles, which keep the soot about them 

 like so many burrs. The China group have smoother bark 

 and stems, and give less lodgment to the enemy ; but even in 

 that case, where the atmosphere is greatly smoke-laden, I would 

 advise the cutting-down system. I used to have fine massive 

 bushes of Fuchsias, by treating them in the same way — cutting 

 down to the ground, covering the stools with dnng and Utter, 

 and better with moss, and removing the covering about the 

 end of April. I cannot, at present, think of any other modes 

 I could recommend for your adoption.] 



PHYLLOXERA VASTATRIX. 



We are very sorry to learn that this most formidable of all tha 

 enemies of the Grape Vine has made its appearance in England. 

 Wg were the first to call attention to it in this country as being 

 prevalent on the Continent ; little did we then think that it was 

 at our doors. We make the following extract from a letter 

 addressed to us by a gentleman in Kent : " My Vines have all 

 grown well except two, a Mrs. Pince's Muscat and Meredith's 

 Alicante ; these did not move more than 2 or 3 inches, and I 

 determined to take them up and examine the roots. Now the 

 roots were swarming with Phylloxera vastatrix; there was also 

 the winged kind. Your description in the May number of tha 

 ' Gardener ' is very accurate. With a glass of good power yoil 

 can see it in all its stages, but you can see it with the naked 

 eye. It looks like grains of yellow sulphur in the crevices o£ 

 the roots ; with a high pov.er it resembles small yellow tortoises. 

 It barks all the roots and destroys the Vice." The writer 

 farther expresses a fear that this pest is known to be in soma 

 nurseries, but is kept a secret. If so, no time should be lost 

 in discovering which these ore, and in getting it " stamped 

 out," to use a phrase only too familiar to us. 



The following is the description referred to : — 



In some localities of the south of France the Vines are suffer- 

 ing from the ravages of a destructive insect, which has lately 

 been noticed for the first time. M. E. A. Carrieie has just 

 published in the " Eevue Horticole" an extract from an article 

 which M. J. E. Planchon contributed to the " Comptea Eendns 

 de rinstitut" (18C8, page .588). Here is the passage from 

 the " Eevue :" — • 



I will here give a brief resinnc of all I learnt about the habits 

 of the Phylloxera vastatrix from a series of observations made 

 on the spot, in three short visits to the south of France ; also 

 all I noticed with reference to the specimens which I kept in 

 glass bottles during forty con.'iecutive days. 



Its best-known form ia that in which no trace of wings can 

 be discovered. When the insect is about to lay its eggs (that 

 is, in its adult female state), it forms a small ovoid mass, 

 having its inferior surface flattened, its dorsal .surface convex, 

 being surrounded by a kii^d of fillet, which is very narrow- 

 when it touches the thoracic jiart of its body, which, formed by 

 five rather indistinct rings, is hardly separated from its ab- 

 dominal part of seven rings. 



Six rows of small blunt tubercles form a slight protuberance 

 on the thoracic segments, and are found very faintly marked 



