362 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( KoTemb«r 4, 18S9. 



backgroand. Here this Grape sets its bnncbes well, anct Mr. 

 Clarke eajs it is as ;et the best lale variety. Alicante is 

 bere larger in bnoch tban the Lady Donne'i<, fully as black, 

 and vritb quite as Rood a bloom, but Lady Duwne'e has a size 

 of borry and beauty of Cnieh wbich Alicante cannot exhibit. 

 ^Muscat of Alexandria is bearing an immense number of bunches, 

 and tbey are not large, affording proof, if it were needed, 

 that to have many bunches on a Vine tbey must necessarily 

 not be large; though, perhaps, large enough for a gentle- 

 man's table, they wonld not do for exhibition. It is worth 

 mentioning this fact, as some persons expect twenty or more 

 bnnches on a Vine, and each bunch C(inal to those seen on exhi- 

 bition tables. You may see in every glace where Grapes are 

 grown for exhibition which are the S'ines relied on. You see 

 them with two or three large bunches, which, perhaps, may 

 ^veigh a dozen pounds, and a Vine with twenty bunches in a 

 private or non-exhibiting garden, which will weigh upwards of 

 1 lb. each, or 20 lbs., therefore it produces the heavier crop. 

 The large bunches are, not desirable for every-day consump- 

 tion, for Grapes are never so good as when fresh cut. Mr. 

 Clarke says his Muscats euHered severely last season from 

 drought, and also the Barbarossa [Gros Guillaume], which is 

 not nearly so fine as in 18G8. Having planted a number of 

 Muscat Vines, and not finding them keep so well as Alicante, 

 Mr. Clarke has grafted them about halfway up the house with 

 Alicante, and on the same Vine are white and black Grapes, 

 white at top and black at bottom. The effect is pleasing, and 

 the object sought has been attained, as the Alicante seems to 

 succeed on the Muscat, the bunches being fine, and the colour 

 of the berries jet black. There is a White Nice Vine carrying 

 two immense bnnches ; the size, however, is the only recom- 

 mendation of this Grape. 



The fourth house, and adjoining the last, is an early vinery 

 of the same size, and the same in other respects, the border 

 being heated, &c. It is at present occupied with Vines in pots, 

 of which Mr. Clarke has about eight hundred fruiting canes. 

 The Vines in pots are very strong, and promise to yield good 

 crops next year, the wood being firm and the eyes plump. The 

 permanent Vines are in appearance like so many bare sticks, 

 but the eyes are so prominent, and the wood so brown and 

 ]iard, that they seem prepared for the forcing they must shortly 

 have to ripen their fruit in May. The sorts are Black Ham- 

 burgh and Golden Hamburgh. The latter succeeds admirably 

 in the heated border, however indifferently it may do in un- 

 heated ones. Golden Champion has found a place here. Mr. 

 Clarke has great expectations of it. lie has Bowood Muscat 

 inarched on the Frontignan, and with good results, as it ripens 

 perfectly at that early season, but not nearly so well on its own 

 roots, nor so early. 



Leaving this house we enter the Cucumber house, at present 

 unoccupied. It is about 12 feet wide, with a walk along the 

 back. In front is a wide border, formed with brickwork, and 

 having a flagged bottom ; underneath is a chamber, in which 

 are hot-water pipes for furnishing bottom beat, and to give 

 moisture along with the heat some of the pipes are guttered 

 to hold water, which can be poured into them from the back 

 walk by means of an iron tube with a funnel mouth. Any ex- 

 cess of heat in the chamber can be regulated by means of 

 passages communicating with the back walk, and the heated air 

 being moist is very favourable to vegetation ; besides, it serves 

 to make up for any deficiency in the top heat. If I remember 

 rightly, Mr. Clarke employs this house for the propagation of 

 Vines from eyes. The three houses last named have a south 

 aspect with a westerly inclination. — G. Abbey. 

 (To bo continned.) 



PLUMBAGO CAPENSIS. 



Allow me to say a few words about a special favourite of 

 mine, the well-known half-hardy plant, Plumbago capensis. 



I wonder why it is not more freely used in the decking of 

 gardens, for it will prosper out of doors, at least during the 

 three summer months, and its delicate beauty, which, I think, 

 I may call unique, more than compensates for the trouble of 

 sheltering it before the advent of cold weather. I should be 

 very glad to hear any details as to its propagation which the 

 experience of others may have furnished ; for, until lately, I 

 have not had the power to do more than buy plants of it to 

 gladden my eyes and heart. I know its capabilities are great, 

 for I have seen it in a high state of cultivation, climbing round 

 greenhouse walls after the fashion of Clematis Jackmanni. 



So zealous an advocate am I of my favourite that I would fain, 

 perhaps in unconscious defiance of botany, transfer to it tbo 

 name Agathiea c.ilestis, which is bestowed on a plant with 

 fewer characteristics (as it seems to me), suggestive of the 

 country where nothing ever fades. All flowers are heavenly, 

 all are endowed, either collectively or individually, with the 

 dignity of symbohsm. The fragrance of one, the purity of 

 another, the grace of a third ; the endurance, perseverance, uo- 

 obtrnsivenesB, or majesty of many more, are palpably in- 

 dicative of high and holy things; but I think no flower is 

 gifted with loftier or more varied eloquence than the gentle 

 I lumbago capensis. It stems the flower of truih preeminently. 

 Mark its delicate transparency, its wide-open innocence, the 

 exquisitely clear purity of its colour, pale as if in condemnation 

 of all things exaggerated, but deepening its own sweet lint in 

 pencillings that stream out lightwards from the flower's heart. 

 In virtue of its long-tubed throat, the Flnmbago capensis (I 

 repeat its second name to distinguish it from P. Larpentre), 

 may rank among the up-springing plants, as the sweet flowers 

 of the west wind, and all the Amaryllis and Crocus tribes ; and 

 this habit of darting upward, emulating in chastity of boe 

 " the Shechinah of the Blue" beyond the clouds, is addition- 

 ally tj-pical of " things that are not seen." Again, the fra- 

 gility of this plant's physique proclaims it to the fancifoi 

 mind a stranger in a world of storms. Among such blossoms, 

 immortalised, we feel our beloved in the church triumphant, 

 might fitly dwell. 



The Plumbago capensis is, in point of scent, negative ; but 

 with the loyalty of an enthusiastic partisan, I declare it to be 

 on that very account the better fitted for the work-table, the 

 sick-room, and the various circumstances of everyday in-door 

 life. In common with many others, I suffer phy.sically from 

 the near neighbourhood in rooms of the Hyacinth, Lilac, 

 Syringa, and many of the Lily tribe. The Plumbago ministers, 

 but never oppresses — never " makes faint with too much 

 sweet," those who permit its presence. 



My little flower garden is not much more than 20 yards 

 square, and my greenhouse correspondingly unpretending ; 

 but I could not over-rate the joy they give me. I was incited 

 to real labour in the sweet service of flowers partly by the 

 example of one " Filix kh'misa," whose thoughts about Ferns 

 used to appear from time to time in tliis Journal ; and I beUeve 

 I speak the sense of all lady gardeners, when I say that none 

 who have not personally wooed flowers can guess how grate- 

 fully they respond, nor with what full measure soothing, 

 elevating, and delighting their cultivators. Calmly faithful 

 always, they brit:hteu through life our gardens, and in death 

 our graves. — C. A. G., Kaling. 



SEEDLIKG VINES. 



I H\vE more than a hundred seedling Vines raised from last 

 year's Grapes, which have been stopped several times since 

 "they were 7 feet long, and which are many of them as thick as a 

 finger near the bottom. .\re these not unusually strong for their 

 age ? Some of them look as if they would fruit next year, but 

 I shall not trust them, k Vine of nine months from seed can 

 hardly be a fruiting cane, one would think. — J. B. Pearson 

 ChiUvcU. 



; There can be no doubt that the Vines are of unusual growth 

 for their age, but being so we see no reason why they should not 

 be allowed to bear fruit, as they would be allowed at the same 

 age if raised from eyes. We should be glad to hear from others 

 on this point. — Eds.] 



BOTTOM HEAT : ITS USE AND ABUSE. 



As a nurseryman, I have found bottom heat to be of the greatest 

 use for all kinds of propagation, not only for stove, but even for hardy 

 plants, a threat many cuttings of which cannot be made to root without 

 it. The he^t material for producing bottom heat for this pnnKtse. and 

 for fonvarding young plants after they have been pottcd-off, is^tan. 

 It retains its heating power for a long time, and gives out just^snch 

 ft genial moist beat as all kinds of young plants, cuttings, and 

 Orchids like. To keep np this genial heat, it is necessary to turn 

 over the beds every six weeks or so, and add a little fresh tan at each 

 turning. 



Tho nest best materials to tan are properly prepared dung and 

 leaves ; but they require so much management, and the heat is so 

 changeable, that it is only adapted for a few plants, and requires the 

 exercise of great care in looking after it. I now come to bottom heat 



