Jannary 28, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



77 



bo ready for gathering about the end of August or beginning of 

 September, according to the season. The plants while growing 

 eliould never be allowed to droop for want of moisture, and 

 occasional watering with liquid manure during dry weather is 

 beneficial in producing rapid growth and early maturity. The 

 beans should be gathered and shelled when they have attained 

 almost their full size, but while they are still of a pale green 

 colour ; they should be thrown into boiling water with a little 

 salt, and boiled for about twenty minutes, when they should 

 be served hot, with a lump of butter in the centre of the beans. 

 — (National Food Reformer.) 



DRESSING VINES. 

 I HATE been reading with great interest Mr. J. Wright's very 

 able articles on the " Vine Pruning and Winter Dressing," in 

 No. 717, page 559 and 560, and I am very happy to see that he 

 does not advocate peeling or scraping oS the loose bark ; but 

 still, I am embarrassed when reading in No. 719, page 4, a 

 piece signed " H.," denouncing not only peeling off loose 

 bark, but also the use of paints made of sulphur, soot, soft 

 Eoap, clay, &a., and substituting clean water for all. Now, I 

 wish he would tell how I could apply clean water to clean and 

 clear my Vines of red spider and mealy bug, which were so 

 plentiful the year before I got charge that they gummed the 

 Grapes all over and made them unfit for use; and I may 

 safely say it was only by the use of " H.'s " obnoxious mixture 

 I was enabled to have a crop, and now the Vines are almost 

 clean by close watching and close painting with " H.'s " ob- 

 noxious mixture. Nevertheless, I would dispense with the 

 painting if I were advised to something better and not ob- 

 noxious. — B. G. 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 



Recent articles on Strawberries have been very interesting ; 

 but I have not seen a word from any correspondent in favour 

 of Viscountess Hcricart de Thury as an early kind for forcing in 

 pots. I have a few of this Strawberry now fit to send to 

 tible from runners early in last June, which were laid in 

 Urge GO-sized pots, and plunged to the rim the second week in 

 July. They were well rooted in the pots, and then out from 

 the old plants, and the Ist of August potted into 48-sized pots 

 and placed in full sunshine. At the end of August a frame 

 was put over them, and the plants kept dry through September. 

 The lights were drawn-oiif all day when fine weather, and put 

 on at night. At the end of September the plants were watered, 

 the frame shut-up early in the afternoon, and the plants soon 

 began to make new growth and throw-up flowers. At the end 

 of October the plants were placed on a back shelf in a warm 

 greenhouse near the glass, and I have picked some ripe fruit 

 for dessert to-day (January 18th), and have the promise of a 

 fair crop.— -G. S., Hadlow, Kent. 



PACKING GRAPES. 



SoiiETiiiES a great fuss is made about the packing of Grapes, 

 such as wrapping them up in tissue paper and cotton wool all 

 round them — treatment which only removes the bloom more 

 effectually, which is the great disfigurement to avoid. 



I have a great quantity of Grapes to pack and send off every 

 year, and the arrangement I find to answer the best are square 

 baskets with a handle and a lid. I first line with fine shavings, 

 or in the absence of them a little soft hay ; this lining I cover 

 with paper, and the baskets are then ready for the Grapes. I 

 take the basket to the vinery and place it on its end in a 

 sloping position, cut the bunch from the Vine, and remove 

 any decayed or defective berries, place the bunch at the end of 

 the basket stalk uppermost, and so on until the basket is full ; 

 I thee take the basket by the handle and give it a gentle shake, 

 and the operation is complete. The Grapes will travel safely 

 and unpack with very little loss of bloom. 



The bunches must be cut from the Vines and placed at once 

 in the basket in which they are to travel. Oar baskets hold 

 about 20 lbs. of Grapes, and so packed I never hear any com- 

 plaints, which would very soon be made by the fruiterers if the 

 Grapes were the least damaged. — J. Anderson, lliU Grove 

 Gardens. 



Marie Baumann Rose. — I am astonished at the Rev. Mr. 

 Radclyffe not being able to recommend Marie Baumaun. Here, 

 with a wretched climate, a rainfall nearly equal to that of 

 Kendal, and the atmosphere fall of smoke, there is ao Rose 



like it for perfume, oolour, beauty of sh'ape, and profuseness of 

 blooming. Its only faults are, that it is a weak grower on the 

 Manetti, but not so on Mr. Prince's cultivated seedling Briar ; 

 and then it hangs its head like a young maiden blushing at 

 her own loveliness, but thus hanging only in windy weather or 

 after a shower of rain. — T. Watson, Manchester. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



The. Amateur's Vinery. — Undoubtedly this is one of the most 

 useful and interesting houses that can be attached to a suburban 

 residence — that is, if it is constructed internally with a view to 

 its be^ng used for other purposes besides that of growing Grapes. 

 There ought to be either a stage or a brick pit under the roof; 

 but the question is, which of the two would be the handiest or 

 most useful during the season ? If to economise space as well 

 as allow convenience for other things, I should say a stage, be- 

 cause not only might the stage be used for bringing plants into 

 bloom at this time of the year, but it also affords more space 

 for storing plants during the winter ; and again, the room under 

 it might l)e used either for storing plants when dried off, or for 

 the bringing-on of such things as Rhubarb, Sea-kale, and Aspa- 

 ragus — at this time of the year, therefore, a great saving of 

 labour in making-up separate beds elsewhere, and the beat 

 which is necessary to bring on the Vines serves for the other 

 things also. The pit would, in one sense, be more useful just 

 now and for a few weeks to come, because it would be more 

 beneficial to the Vines if filled with heating material, and in 

 which plants to be forced into bloom might be plunged, and 

 would no doubt do better than in the dry heat on a stage ; and 

 again, part of it would be required on which to place a hand- 

 light or two for propagating bedding and other plants, unless if 

 the pipes run round the front of the house and a portion of one 

 end of them bricked-up, with lights on the top, bo as to form a 

 small heated frame, then propagation might be carried on there. 

 If this were done it would be another reason why a pit would 

 not be so useful as a stage, because there would be no need to 

 use it for propagating purposes, and a pit takes up much room 

 that cannot be so s'erviceablo when not wanted for particular 

 purposes. February is upon us with its increased daylight, and 

 I hope plenty of sun, and those who have such a house as I 

 describe may put it into working order and start the things in a 

 gentle heat at first ; but as the season is advancing they may 

 reasonably expect these things to do fairly without very much 

 additional labour, but they must be attended to at all times, or 

 it is better not to attempt anything at all, but just let the Vines 

 and plants come on naturally. 



Now let us see what the house is to be filled with. As I have 

 mentioned above. Rhubarb, Seakale, and Asparagus are the prin- 

 cipal things to occupy the space under the stage. The former 

 must be dug-up from the open ground as whole as possible, and 

 placed on a bed of earth prepared for it in the house, the roots 

 and crowns just covered with earth aud watered to settle it 

 about them ; and the same for Asparagus — I may say done in 

 exactly the same way ; but when the Sea-kale is takeu-up from 

 the open ground it should be put thickly into pots and covered 

 over with another oue so as to blanch it properly, or the roots 

 may be planted in a bed of earth the same as for Rhubarb, and 

 then covered over with hoops and mats so as to be in total dark- 

 ness. On the back stage may have the tallest of the plants to 

 be forced, such as Azaleas, Begonias, Rosea, Lilacs, Deutzias, 

 Spirseas, Fachsias, Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Weigela rosea, 

 Acacias, Forsythia viridissima, aud the other tall-growing 

 things ; while the front stage ought to be taken-up with the 

 dwarfer-growing, such as the Dielytra spectabilis, Richardia 

 ethiopica, some of the strongest and most advanced of the Ciue- 

 rariag, dwarf-growing Ferns and Lycopods, then come the dif- 

 ferent sorts of Dutch bulbs, all of which if they have been well 

 prepared as before advised, will have their pots full of roots 

 aud will force well. Some of the best-ripened bulbs of Amaryllis, 

 and a few pots of Achimenes, Gloxinias, and Gesneras, as well 

 as LUy of the Valley, must not be omitted. At the same time 

 as occasion requires, a few pots of Verbenas, Heliotropes, 

 Lobelias, and most other sorts of softwooded bedding plants to 

 produce cuttings for propagation. Indeed such a house as I 

 have described, if worked very carefully and filled with the 

 above-named plants, will not only afford a grand show during 

 the spring for the conservatory, but it will be the groundwork 

 of all the decoration to be done by plants, both bedding and 

 otherwise, during the whole season that is before us. 



All plants for forcing should have a season's good preparation 

 beforehand. I allude particularly to hardwooded plants, which 

 should be in a good state at the roots, have made a good growth 

 with plenty of buds, and the whole well ripened before they are 

 fit for the ordeal of pruning. Those plants that need it should 

 have a top-dressing of the same sort of soil mostly used for their 

 growth the year previous, and the drainage of every plant so 

 established should be examined, and if necessary renewed, so as 

 to leave a free escape for the water. The house with its ocou- 



