12(1 



JOURNAL OP aORTICULTtJItE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Febraary 11, 1973. 



for semi-woodland decoration, may be had by Bowing in June 

 and transplanting less thinly, to be again put-in expeditiously 

 with the spade in the hope of their continuing, as they often 

 will, to haunt their home for many after-years with Uttle or 

 no assistance. 



Because we look upon this plant as a very old friend, and, 

 as such, possesses many good tiualities with very little fuss 

 attached, we do not hesitate to aid it from the comparative 

 obscurity in which it has too long been suffered to continue. 



COEDYLINE INDIVISA— SNOWS WINTEK 

 WHITE BROCCOLI— MEALY BUG. 



I FANCY the plant known to " R. P." (page 93) as Cordyline 

 indivisa is not what is generally known by that name, and 

 consequently his testimony to the hardiness of that particular 

 kind is not so valuable as it would appear to be ; but Cordy- 

 lines are all handsome, scarcely inferior to Palms for their 

 graceful habit, and any of them that prove to be sufficiently 

 hardy for planting as specimens on lawns, or by the side of 

 walks in semi-natural pleasure grounds, will be very welcome. 

 The plant I know as C. indivisa has leaves 2 inches or more 

 in width, with conspicuous red veins. The testimony I can 

 offer will go a long way to prove the hardiness of it, but it 

 is not quite conclusive. It has stood in a pot, not plunged 

 or covered iu any way, on the north side of a wall since 

 midsummer to the present time (February 5th), apparently 

 uninjured. Standing in a pot above ground its roots as 

 well as its top would be exposed to the frost, and we had 25° 

 December 31st. It had very little sun to ripen it, as from its 

 position the sun could only reach it a little iu the evening 

 during the summer months. But on the other hand it is in a 

 comparatively small pot, and did not make much growth, and 

 its position is a sheltered one. I have no room for it indoors, 

 and intend planting it out when time permits. Another Cor- 

 dyline, which I take to be C. austraUe, has stood outside four 

 years, and is a very handsome object. Is not the plant de- 

 scribed by "R. P." CordyUue Veitchii? 



Either Mr. G. Abbey has not got the true Snow's Winter 

 White Broccoli or his cultivation differs materially from 

 mine. I consider Snow's Winter White Broccoli, as supplied 

 guaranteed by Messrs. Veitoh, the most useful vegetable in the 

 kitchen garden. Sown here in April and May it comes into 

 use in November, and with management lasts till February, 

 when it is followed by CooUng's Matchless. It is not so hardy 

 as some kinds — it requires protection. No Broccoli that I am 

 acquainted with will, when the head is formed, bear 25° frost ; 

 yet I had some of the variety in question, with heads as large 

 as teacups, merely covered with snow during the late severe 

 weather, that were perfectly uninjured. Most of the crop, 

 however, had been taken up and replanted in pits. I have 

 seen many varieties grown under the name of Snow's, most of 

 them good, but still not the true kind. It is very difficult to 

 save seed of this variety from its habit of turning-in at mid- 

 winter, and consequently it is always dear and scarce. Even 

 the Messrs. Veitch have or had another stock besides the 

 guaranteed one. 



I am afraid "H.," who gives advice about getting rid of 

 mealy bug off Vines by means of a spoke brush and clear 

 water, can never have had much to do with that terrible pest. 

 I do not recommend peeling bark off Vines, and had almost 

 forgotten that such a practice existed till reminded by Mr. 

 Wright in his excellent articles ; but if I had mealy bug on 

 the Vines I should certainly pull off the loose bark and then 

 wash, not with pure water, but with hot soapsuds. Mealy 

 bug has a great dislike to soft soap ; it is within the bounds of 

 possibility to exterminate it by this means, but it is extremely 

 diffioult. The soap must be kept off the glass, or at least not 

 allowed to remain on. — Wa. Taylok. 



small pots, according to the size of the plant. When the pots 

 are full of roots then feed them with hquid manure, but clear 

 water given at first, and place them on a shelf near the glass. — 



WiLLUM DODGSON. 



OVERPOTTING GERANIDMS. 

 As the season is now at hand for potting I wish to say a 

 tew words against overpotting Zona! (ieraniums for green- 

 house decoration. It is very well if you want to grow them 

 for exhibition to give large shifts, but not without ; they never 

 throw lip a quantity of bloom, but all leaves and strong growth, 

 which makes your greenhouse look very green through the 

 summer. Now, if you want abundance of flower shake all the 

 old soil from the roots, and pot them in clean pots, with three 

 parts loam, tvo parts leaf mould, and a little silver sand, in 



TRANSPLANTING VINES. 

 I AM delighted to hear of Mr. Blackburn's success (page 72) 

 in Vine-growing. His is a striking instance of what may be 

 done iu the work of renovation when intelligently performed. 

 Mr. Blackburn's Vines, it may be remembered, were twenty 

 years old in 1872 ; their growth was weakly, and their produce 

 altogether unsatisfactory. He decided to remove the house 

 and the Vines too. How many, or how few, who, when making 

 a new border on a new site, would not have had new Vines 

 also ? Who but Mr. Blackburn would have preferred the re- 

 moval of Vines twenty years old confessedly in a miserable 

 state, to the planting of healthy young canes, which would 

 have been in accordance with good practice and sound pru- 

 dence ? Yet he deliberately pinned his faith on his old friends, 

 and they have not deceived him. 



His experience is very valuable, and is another instance of 

 the sound lessons which can be, and are frequently, given by 

 amateur cultivators on the different subjects to which they 

 give attention. The Vines in question were removed iu No- 

 vember, 1872, but in the February preceding (admittedly too 

 late, as proved by excessive bleeding) were each cut down to 

 within a foot of the surface of the ground. That was a bold 

 proceeding on the part of one who had had no similar practice 

 to guide him, the stems being cut where there were no visible 

 eyes to form new canes ; yet canes followed the same season, of 

 vastly superior growth to that of the years preceding— in fact 

 the growth, it seems, was of extraordinary vigour. These old 

 cut-backs were replanted iu a border " half a yard deep of 

 good, kindly, but rather light loam, without a particle of 

 manure or dressing of any kind ; this border covered with 

 stable manure, never to be dug, but the Vines to be fed by 

 repeated top-dressings." Such is the mode of culture adopted 

 in 1872. We now have the results of it iu 1874. The two are 

 worthy of being joined together. " Vines all that could be 

 desired, vigorous growth, a sufficient number of moderately- 

 sized bunches, berries as fine as ever seen by cultivator under 

 same circumstances, in colour, bloom, and condition scarcely 

 to be surpassed ; structure unheated." That is what Vines 

 will do — have done, under common-sense practice. Here is no 

 extravagant outlay in border, no technicality, no elaborate 

 structural aid, no artificial heat, but plenty of Grapes. 



I have had — everybody has had, abundance of proof that 

 good, useful, serviceable Grapes are producible — fruit fitted 

 for a nobleman's table — by simple means. Give a Vine fair 

 play, and in nine eases out of ten good Grapes will follow ; 

 yet there are the tenths where they will not come at the call of 

 gardeners whose experience and 'success in other branches 

 entitle them to respect, and, it must be added, sympathy. 

 Nothing is more disheartening than for an able man to 

 struggle to produce Grapes, and who yet fails, while others, 

 without any seeming trouble, have them, as it were, at their 

 bidding. There is nothing for it but to go on chronicling 

 successes with the means producing them, and, peradventure, 

 some missing link may be picked up by those who struggle, 

 but struggle in vain, to produce good fruit. 



Now, in the case of Mr. Blackburn's Grapes wo must not 

 lose sight of the cutting-down process. That was undoubtedly 

 an important item in the account of success. Had his soil, 

 site, and general system of culture been exactly applied to 

 Vines lifted without being cut down, he would not now rejoice 

 in such Grapes which he has just cause to T)e proud of. But 

 another question arises, What would those cut-down Vines 

 have done if they had not been removed ? Previous to the 

 heading they were confessedly worthless, making weakly wood 

 and small cickly foliage. Of course, no fruit could follow under 

 such circumstances ; but after the heading-down, in the same 

 border and house they made splendid canes, which duly ripened. 

 Would not those canes have produced good Grapes if the 

 Vines had not been removed ? I venture to assert that they 

 would have given Grapes as superior to those previous to the 

 heading as were the canes and foliage. But why should this 

 be so ? To a great extent it is due to the new, free, unob- 

 structed sap-passages which the young growth has provided. 

 In the old canes the sap vessels were restricted and tortuous. 

 The natural result of that is small wood, small foliage, and 

 small fruit. Thus, Mr. Blackburn's Grapes by the mere pro- 



