December 9, 1869. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICDLTUhE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



455 



worked in this way. I witnessed the budding of one Vine 

 abont three or four years old : the bud was taken from a piece 

 of halt-ripe wood aud cut in the same way a9 a Hose bud, ouly 

 leaving a small portion of wood on the bud ; then the biiik of 

 the Vine close to where the latter entered the house was care- 

 fully raised, the bud put in, and bound up with a piece of 

 mattinj. This was done about the time the Grapes wore 

 colouring on the Vice in which the bud was inserted, aud the 

 bud remained dormant till the Vine was started in the spring, 

 when it grew and mide a rod the same year as thick as one's 

 thumb, and from 12 to 14 feet long. This mode of working 

 Vines can be practised without any loss, as you can have a crop 

 of Grapes on the old Vine at the same time, and when the 

 young rod arrives at a bearing state the old one can bo cut 

 away and the young one be left. 



Whether this is an old or new practice, Wolverstoue is the only 

 place where I have ever seen it pursued, and I have spoken to 

 many gardeners on the subject, and I have never met one as 

 yet who had heard of it or seen it. No doubt there are plenty 

 who have had more experience in budding Vines than I have 

 had, and I can only answer for budding two Vinos, and both 

 suooessftilly. I do not know if this is the mode adopted by 

 Mr. Stevens, but should like to see a description of his r-ystem 

 in yonr paper. — J. L,, Higham Court. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S JANUARY 

 SHOW OP FORCED SHRUBS. 

 I Mucn need to know why do not the Committee of the Koyal 

 Horticultural Society issue their schedules at an earlier date ;' 

 Some time ago an advertisement appeared in " our Journal " 

 stating there would be a show held en the 19;h of January for 

 " forced Shrubs.'' I think it is, therefore, quite time that we 

 Aonld have the details of this exbibition, as any one desiring 

 to exhibit on thit occasion ought, I should think, to be now 

 preparing his plants for blooming, and how is he to know what 

 to prepare? Supposing, for instance, that I wished to exhibit, 

 and that I had prepared three Ehododendrons, and had bloomed 

 them well, when the sebsdule arrives I find that I cannot cuter 

 my plants because six are required. This would bo very aggra- 

 vating, and I think the case I have stated is not at all an un- 

 likely one to happen. Again, we do not know whether ama- 

 teurs will be invited to compete or not. In fact, wo know that 

 a show is to be held, and that is about all, and we are within 

 six weeks of. the time. Not only would exhibitors bcnelit by 

 an earlier announcement of the Society's intentions, but the 

 Society itself would receive a large benefit, as it would have 

 a better show. The Committee may say, perhaps, " We cannot 

 yet make arrangements for next summer, and our arrangements 

 are all included in one schedule." Then I say, Lit us have two : 

 a spring schedule and a summer schedule ; this would over- 

 come the difficulty.— A Scesceieer. 



on the boiler is inversely proportionate to the square of the 

 radius or diameter of the pipe." This is a mistake, the 

 pressure depends on the height of the pipe irrespective of its 

 diameter. For instance ; a pipe 34* feet high filled with water 

 would cause a pressure of 1.5 lbs. on the inch to be exerted 

 on the boiler to which it was attached. Were the pipe 1 inch, 

 or were it 20, in diameter, the pressure would be the same en 

 the inch. For rough purposes it may be said the pressure per 

 inch on tho boiler is equal in pounds to half the height of the 

 feed-pipe in feet, when such pipe is filled with water. By in- 

 creasing the pressure, the boiling point or temperature of the 

 water at boiling is increased, and, of course, the consumplioE 

 of fuel. — JonN WooLFiELD, Soho, Linniniiltani. 



BOILERS AND BOILING. 

 Gardeners know that fire applied at the top of a boiler 

 will not heat the water ; they unjustly blame the firo for not 

 doing 80. Mr. Peach declares it does heat the boiler : perhaps 

 it does, but it certainly does not heat the water to any extent. 

 Mr. Peach compares a boiler with an oven, this proves he did 

 not reflect. Water is boiled by convection — that is, as soon as 

 the fire is applied uuderneath a boiler containing water, tho 

 hot particles of water ascend and the cold particles descend 

 until the whole is heated. Water being a bad conductor of 

 heat, it is practically impossible to boil it by putting a fire 

 above it. Science and practice have proved the relative value 

 of heating surfaces to be — 



Horizontal surfaces above the flatae 1.03 



Vertical 0.50 



Horizontal surfaces beneath flame 0.00 



—(From Molesworth'8 " Engineers' Pocket-Book".) 



I should advise all persons interested in this subject to read 

 Tomlinson's book on "Warming and Ventilation." 



As to the setting of any boiler, the furnace should be high, 

 as this is favourable to combustion. If tho boiler is close 

 down on the fire it chills the gases evolved during the com- 

 bnstion of the fuel, and they pass off nnconsumed. Tho fire- 

 bars should extend beyond the front of the boiler ; in other 

 words the front end of the boiler shoald be at least 1 foot 

 away from the farna^e door. 



I do not exactly comprehend what Mr. Peach means by " the 

 feed-pipe, too, should be one of large diameter, as the pressure 



AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES. 



Yonn correspondent "RnEus," in the Journal for Sc-ptembei: 

 IGih, must have been untortuuafe with his Lawton and Dor- 

 chester Blackberries, it they wore not so fine as the wild Eng- 

 lish species. Here the Lawton is at least four times a? large 

 as the average English fruit, makes a very handsome dish, 

 and when thoroughly ripe the flavour is excellent, quite dif- 

 ferent fromthe flat insipid flavour, or rather want of flavour 

 in tho English sorts. I had not formed a favourable opiniom 

 of Blackbenies in general previous to tasting them here, but 

 can now say that although mine is not a juvenile taste, they 

 arc a capital fruit both raw and cooked, and I have not heard 

 of its being necessary to mix Crabs or wild Apples to im- 

 prove the flavour in tarts and puddings, which I have seen done 

 in England. 



I recollect a short time ago reading in a gardening periodical 

 that the fruit of the Prickly Pear was sold for dessert in the 

 American market. According to this showing, the American 

 people are in the same state of civilisation as the ancient 

 Britons, which wo should scarcely expect to be the case when 

 excellent Peaches can be bought at 2s. Gd. a-bushel. Apples at 

 less money. Strawberries at '2(;. the quart. Pine Apples at all 

 the fruit stalls at 1 cent, or less than a halfpenny per slice, and 

 Cinanas at the same scale. I am anxious to know the per- 

 centage of young folk in England who taste all the above fruit, 

 to say nothing of eating their fill ot them, and not once but con- 

 tinually. — James Taplin, .S'o!((7i Ainhoi;, Xcio Jerseij, U.S.A. ^:, 



TOMATOES IN ILLINOIS. 



The sons of a labouring man in this parish, who are settled 

 ill Illinois, U.S., iu writing to their parents sent them some 

 Tomato seed, and in offering a tew of them to me they brought 

 tho letter for me to read. ;It has occurred to me that yon 

 might like to insert in your Journal what these young settlers 

 think of the Tomato, and their way of cultivating it iu their 

 adopted country. They say — " Tomatoes are very nice to eat; 

 we like them as well as Peaches ; they are good to skin them, 

 and sliced up aud sprinkled with sugar to eat at ta'ole like 

 Peaches, They are good stewed-up with pepper and salted. 

 We like to pick them off the vines and cat them out of hand, 

 but most people do not like them except for table use. Yen 

 sprout them in a box like Cabbage, and set them out 3 feet 

 apart. The vines grow like Potato-tops. The fruit on the vines 

 is nearly as large as your fist, and red or yellow when ripe." — 

 W. B. Capaen, The Vicarage, Draycot, Veston svper-Mare. ^j-jjj 



PRINCE OF WALES POTATO. 



I HAVE grown this Potato for several years, and it is a great 

 favourite of mine. When I first became acquainted with it my 

 ground was in a very unfit state for gardening, but being per- 

 suaded by a friend of mine I purchased 7 lbs. of seed. I pre- 

 pared a piece of ground, and planted the seed on May 27th, 

 1865, and took up the produce about the middle of September. 

 To my great surprise, when I weighed it I had somewhat more 

 than 2 ewt. ; I never saw such a yield before, and some of the 

 tubers were very large. I have continued to grow this variety 

 every year since, and although it has not jielded as it did the 

 first season, still it is the most productive of any second early 

 Potato I know. 



Prince of Wales Potato has one disadvantage — it is rather 

 sa'cject to disease, but if the tubers are lifted as soon as the 

 haulm begins to decay there will not be much to complain of. 

 The flavour is not quite so good as that ot Myatt's Prolifie 

 Early Ashleaf Kidney, not being quite so dry. I planted ihiz 



