orember 4, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTDBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



359 



plants free from insects and naildew, and in good health. To 

 be efficient the dusting mast be thoroughly done; not only the 

 upper, but the under sides of the leaves and the stems must be 

 completely blackened, and remain so for forty-eight hours at a 

 time.— J. W. 



POT VINES. 



Since writing my little work on the Vine, several persons 

 have asked me why I did not write a chapter on the cultiva- 

 tion of pot Vines. As I hear a third edition will soon be 

 required, 1 think of adding a few words on this part of the 

 subject. 



Several years since three different gentlemen told me they 

 had purchased Black Hamburgh Vines at 10s. 6d. and 1.5s. each, 

 which had never shown a single bunch of fruit. If one per- 

 son had told me this, I should have thought it hardly possible. 

 When it was first mentioned I said, " Of course, they must have 

 been strong canes, and appeared well ripened, or you would 

 never have paid such a high price for them. Now, in grafting 

 Muscat Hamburgh on the Black Hamburgh, our men always 

 choose for scions the weakest Vines we have left, and yet 

 many of these weak grafts show fruit. Customers of mine 

 who have bought common planting canes at 5s. each, have 

 shown me the same Vines carrying nine or ten bunches of 

 good Grapes. How, then, is it possible such Vines as you 

 describe could fail to fruit ?" For the last year or two I have 

 kept this problem in mind, and have at last, I think, solved it. 

 It is quite clear, as all growers of pot Vines know, that if 

 during a great part of the season anything had been wrong, 

 they wonld never in appearance even have made fruiting 

 canes. The soil must be suitable, heat sufficient without being 

 too great, watering carefully attended to, if Vines are to be 

 strong in one season ; indeed, a very trifling neglect will de- 

 stroy all hopes of good pot Vines. It was, then, after their 

 growth was completed, that these barren Vines were injured. 

 I learnt, on inquiry, that whilst yet quite green water was 

 withheld from them entirely, to ripen them and make them 

 drop their leaves. Is it wonderful that Vines so treated should 

 not fruit ? 



This great anxiety to get rid of foliage, as a proof of ripe- 

 ness, is productive of great injury. I always act on the exactly 

 contrary idea, and believe everything should be done to pre- 

 serve the foliage to as late a period as possible. Vines ought 

 never to suffer from want of water even during winter, when 

 devoid of leaves, much less when in leaf. To prevent Vines 

 suffering from drought, it is not necessary to keep them sod- 

 den with water. Careful watering, guided by intelligence, is, 

 perhaps, the greatest point in the cultivation of all plants 

 under glass, but it certainly is so in Vines. I remember Mr. 

 Thomson, of Dalkeith, showing me two sets of pot Vines, 

 grown in the same house, in the same-sized pots, and the 

 same soil, one of which was as good again as the other. 

 " There," said he, " you see the effect of watering ; two men 

 had charge of these Vines, and watering has been the only 

 cause why one lot is so superior to the other, and yet I thought 

 both careful men." 



It is a common remark, " That no one knows how fat a 

 beast will turn out so well as the feeder," and I fancy the ripe- 

 ness of Vines is best known to those who have had the care of 

 them. Last year I had a lot of fine pot Vines, which many 

 gardeners told me were not ripe, because the leaves were green 

 up to October. I knew they had been ripe for many weeks. 

 Now these same Vines were forced early at Chatsworth, and 

 produced many bunches of 3 lbs. weight. It was lucky they 

 were in such skilful hands ; but if they had been unripe, even a 

 Speed could not have produced such Grapes. — J. R. Pe.\kson, 

 Chilwell. 



Gardemeks' Dinner and Pkesentation at Altkincham. — 

 The name of Mr. Tbomas Baines, gardener to Horatio Micholls, 

 Esq., of Summerfield, Bowdon, has been for a number of years 

 known to, aud highly respected by, the lovers of horticulture. 

 Owing to the removal of Mr. Micholls to London, and Mr. 

 Baines leaving, it was thought desirable by a number of friends 

 of Mr. Eaines, that some tangible token of their esteem should 

 be presented to him before leaving the neighbourhood, and the 

 presentation took place on the 27th ult., at the Axe and Cleaver 

 Inn. A party of thirty-two subscribers and friends sat down 

 to dinner at seven o'clock. After dinner, the Chairman handed 

 to Mr. Baines the following address, illuminated on vellum, 

 and mounted in a handsome gilt frame :— " Presented, with a 



gold watch, to Mr. Thomas Baines, by the gardeners and friends 

 of Altrincham, Bowdon, &o., on his leaving the neighbourhood, 

 as a mark of their esteem and regard. — October 27th, 1869." 

 He then presented a very handsome and massive gold watch, 

 bearing the following inscription : — " Presented to Mr. Thomas 

 Baines, by the gardeners and friends, as a mark of esteem, on 

 his leaving the neighbourhood of Altrincham and Bowdon. — 

 October 27th, 1869." 



TEA-SCENTED ROSES. 



Having been for many years an ardent admirer of the Eose, 

 but especially of that deservedly popular class the Tea-scented 

 varieties, so remarkable for free-blooming, fragrance, and deli- 

 cacy of tint, I determined on paying Mr. I'avitt, of Bath, a visit, 

 where, I felt sure, I should find a fine collection of these his 

 special favourites, of which he is an enthusiastic cultivator. 

 I wish now to give the readers of this Journal a few notes of 

 my visit to the nursery. 



The plants were robust and healthy ; some of them were 

 growing on the Briar, but they were principally on their own 

 roots, and even on the 12th of October in a sheet of blossom, 

 reminding me more of May than the present autumnal season. 

 I found more than seventy varieties in bloom, and scarcely 

 knew which to admire most ; but I particularly noticed Adam, 

 Moiret, Souvenir d'un Ami, Niphetos, Madame Willermoz, and 

 Souvenir d'EHse as very fine, aud as sorts that will hold their 

 own in every choice collection. I also noticed Jaune d'Or and 

 Madame Falcot, both lovely ; Madame Charles, new, and an 

 improved Abricotc ; Marie Sisley, a charming novelty, a per- 

 petual Blairii, and a decided acquisition ; Adrienue Christophle, 

 quite a new colour and very distinct ; and the most glorious of 

 all free-flowering Roses, Marechal Niel, which seems to luxu- 

 riate in Mr. Pavitt's nursery, and is, I think, his special fa- 

 vourite, for he sends whole bouquets of them to his numerous 

 horticultural friends. I will only add that I hope to see many 

 of the Tea-3cented class take a much more prominent position 

 in every garden, for what can be more beautiful? — A. A. 



UNFRUITFUL FIG TREES. 



A LADY, " Mrs. J. W.," has a Fig tree rather thick in its 

 wood, of which we recommend her to thin out a portion of the 

 oldest, that the wood left may be more exposed to the sun and 

 air. That, however, of itself will not check luxuriance, and we 

 have no doubt her tree is too luxuriaut. The Fig tree will 

 always bear best on short-jointed firm wood, and all the more 

 if the wood made every season is only a few inches instead of 

 a foot or two in length. The most radical remedy is to root- 

 prnne the tree, removing the earth on one side so as to get 

 beneath it, cutting through all tap roots, if any, and shortening 

 all that extend above 4 feet from the tree ; drain the space well, 

 build a wall or use other means to prevent the roots running 

 further, and pack the roots left in fresh turfy soil with a little 

 lime rubbish in it, and water rather liberally in dry weather in 

 summer. The Fig tree, when growing, likes moisture, but it 

 must pass away freely. 



If this is too much labour, then we would advise ringing 

 all the main branches near the bole, taking out the bark close 

 down to the wood for a quarter of an inch wide, and doing 

 it again if the ring heal over without checking luxuriance. 

 We some time ago saw two Fig trees against a wall, the one 

 very luxuriant but almost barren, the other very moderate in 

 its luxuriance hut loaded with Figs, the joints of the wood 

 being very close together. Both trees had been covered up in 

 winter ; but as respects the fruitful tree, the mice and rats had 

 so gnawed the stems, that they did for them what ringing 

 would do — checked the luxuriance, aud thus the growth was 

 more stunted and fruitful, because better hardened and ripened. 



LADY-BIRDS. 



Can you tell me, if I collect lady-birds now, whether I can 

 keep them during the winter so as to breed from them next 

 year, and turn out the produce in my orchard house ? Surely 

 something might be done in this way to rid onr houses of the 

 aphis without the use of tobacco, &a. — J. C, n'incliestcr. 



[We sent your note to one of our best entomologists, and in 

 reply he says, " It is an excellent suggestion. The lady-birds 



