April 8, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE QAEDENER. 



269 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



ot of 

 Month Week.' 



APRIL 8-11, 1876. 



10 

 11 



12 

 13 

 14 



Th 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



To 



W 



Roynl Society at 8.30 p.Jl. 



Literax7 ouil Artiatic Society at 7 P M. 



Koyal Botaoic Society at 3.45 p.ai. 



2 SONDAY AFTER EaSTER. 



Royal Gtofiraphical Society at 8.30 P.M. 

 Royal Medical ami Cliirurgical at 8.30 p.m. 

 Society of Arts at 8 p ii. 



Average gun 



Temperatare near i {^^bqb 

 London. 



Day. INiKht. 

 60.1 35.8 



65.0 

 55.9 

 66 

 65.8 

 65.6 

 57.0 



35.3 

 33 5 

 35.2 

 36.4 

 33.9 

 36.1 



Mean. m. h. 



46.0 , 22af6 



45.2 I 19 6 



447 I 17 6 



45.G ' 15 5 



461 ! 13 6 



44.7 10 5 



46.6 ! 8 5 



Sun 

 Sets. 



m. h. 

 42 a( 6 



44 6 



46 6 



47 6 

 49 6 

 60 G 

 52 6 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Sal 6 26 10 



26 10 

 48 H 



7 

 7 



9 13 

 1 



57 11 

 raorn. 

 18 1 



a 



B 



29 3 



Moon's 

 A(te. 



Clock 

 San. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



98 

 99 

 100 

 101 

 102 

 103 

 104 



36.2'. 



From obseryations take'A near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 55.9''; and its night temperature 



THINNING GRAPES. 



ANY an amateur must have looked at bis 

 bunches of Grapes in bewOderment imme- 

 diately after the flowers have fallen, when 

 the berries are little larger than a pin's 

 head, and so closely packed that it seems 

 impossible to cut one away without damag- 

 ing the rest, and while he looks and wonders 

 and waits for advice, they rapidly swell to 

 the size of a pea, and every hour the task 

 before him becomes more difficult. Grapes 

 swell so rapidly at first, and every day they are left un- 

 thinned takes so much away from those which are to 

 be finally ripened, that it would be well to get a httle 

 theoretic knowledge of thinning before the time comes 

 for actual practice. 



Eules cannot be laid down for thinning perfectly every 

 bunch of Grapes, but every large practitioner has rules — 

 it may be unknown almost to himself — by which he in- 

 variably begins thinning, and beginning well is more than 

 half the battle. Thinning Grapes is not at all difficult 

 when the operator can once see clearly before him what 

 it is that he intends doing and begins methodically to 

 do it. On the other hand, if it is haphazard work — if 

 he merely begins by cutting out berries where they are 

 thickest, then leaving them for a time to see if thej' are 

 likely to be too thick again, going over a bunch three or 

 four times at intervals of several days, he will make him- 

 self a large amount of needless labour, and, after all, the 

 bunches will not be satisfactory. 



I wiU mention (from memory) what I consider the 

 principal points whereby to judge a bunch of Grapes, 

 and name them in the order of their relative importance, 

 when it will be seen at a glance that considerably more 

 than half depends on the time and manner of thinning. 



Ist, Evenness of berries as to size. 2nd, Regularity of 

 berries as to distance apart, and whether they are just so 

 close that they will neither crush each other nor fall 

 about loosely when the bunch is handled. 8rd, Colour. 

 4th, Bloom. .5th, Size of berries. Cth, Form of bunch. 

 Last and least. Size of bunch. 



Now the 1st, 2nd, 5th, aijd Cth of these points (sup- 

 posing the Vine to be in a healthy condition) depend 

 entirely on the thinning. All the other points are also 

 liable to be affected by it, the 3i-d and 7th by not thinning 

 early and sufficiently, and the 4th by rough handling. 



Thinning should be done as early as possible after the 

 berries commence sweUing, which is from ten days to 

 a fortnight after the first flower opens. By this time, if 

 the Vines are vigorous, the branchlets which bear the 

 berries on the upper portion of the bunch will have 

 raised themselves so as to be at right angles with the 

 main stem of the bunch. Supposing there is a good set, 

 it is these branchlets I commence operations on by cut- 

 ting away unflinchingly every berry from the under side 

 of them ; I mean the side nearest to the point of the 

 bunch. Next, all undersized berries are cut out ; these 

 have not been properly fertilised, and will only disappoint 



No. 732.-yol.. XXVIIl., New Sebies. 



if left in. The centre of the bunch as soon as it can be 

 done is thinned severely ; and in the case of Grapes for 

 late keeping, all berries which are not likely to be visible 

 when ripe are cut entirely out. After proceeding thus 

 far, if the berries are still too thick, leave, in preference, 

 those which stand out boldly and have the most direct 

 communication with the principal stems. The berries 

 on the upper side of the uppermost branchlets may be 

 left closer together than they are anywhere else ; it is 

 rarely they require thinning at all beyond cutting out 

 imperfect berries. These branchlets in the course of 

 growth turn up round the main stem, and if they are 

 well furnished with berries, completely hide it and give 

 a very compact appearance to the bunch. Do not be 

 too particular about the berries being at equal distances 

 apart, rather look to the berry stalks. If thinned pro- 

 perly thus early the berries when they swell will push 

 each other into their proper places, if the stalks which 

 bear them are so situated as to admit of this. 



The thinning of a bunch must as much as possible be 

 all done at one operation. The eye must be able to see 

 prospectively the full-grown berries and the position they 

 will take. A bunch cannot be thinned properly if it is 

 operated on three or four times at a week's interval ; 

 at the most there ought to be only an odd berry or two 

 to take out three or four days after the first thinning. 

 A bunch of Grapes, like an ill-fitting garment, once cut 

 wrongly can rarely be made perfect afterwards. 



The thinning of the bunches to within one or two of 

 the required number should take place before they come 

 into flower, or a loss of size in the berries of the remain- 

 ing ones will be the result. — William Taylor. 



SPEING-FLO'WEEING CLEMATIS. 



No one who saw the small plants of this gay class of 

 flowers which the Messrs. Veitch exhibited at South 

 Kensington on the 17th ult. could fail to have been 

 struck with their extreme adaptability to conservatory 

 and other purposes of decoration. Although well enough 

 known in some circles how admirably the Clematis will 

 force and bloom in a small state, the general idea is 

 undoubtedly to regard it as a summer or autumn-bloom- 

 ing plant alone for growing in the open air, or if grown 

 in pots, to consider that immense plants and large houses 

 are indispensable to bring out its beauties. That is, be- 

 yond doubt, a very prevalent idea, and many with small 

 houses are deterred from the cultivation of the Clematis 

 in pots on account of their supposed want of convenience. 

 As Messrs. Veitch's, and subsequently Mr. Paul's, plants 

 showed, they need have no such fear, for if they have 

 room to grow a Pelargonium or an Azalea in a G-inch 

 pot, they have room to grow Clematis. 



No plants are more easy to force nor are more beau- 

 tiful in March than these. Imagine a group in 7-inoh 

 pots, the plants from 15 to 18 inches high and a foot 

 through, and each clothed with from twelve to twenty 

 fine blooms of the most charming colours, and what at 

 the time can equal them ? Truly, few plants can corn- 

 No. 1384.— Vol. LIII., Old Seeies. 



