May 13, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



365 



I am enabled to preserve a healthy collection of plants in a 

 locality where smoke and dust are plentiful. 



It is a common custom to colour the pota in window gardens 

 with red lead or other pigments in order to give them a bright 

 and neat appearance, but this practice is especially detrimental 

 to the health of the plants, the pores of the pots being closed 

 and the evaporation stopped. If the pots stand in saucers 

 care should be taken to allow no water to remain in them, as 

 it would soon injure the roots by stopping the drainage. The 

 best pots are those which are slightly under-burnt, and conse- 

 quently soft and porous. 



The soil in town gardens is generally unfit for potting pur- 

 poses, having a tendency to set hard if allowed to become dry, 

 and by contracting to crush and tear the tender rootlets of the 

 plant growing in it. I would, therefore, strongly recommend 

 readers to purchase their potting soil from the nearest nur- 

 seryman, who will supply them with the proper mixture at a 

 trifling charge. 



In conclusion I would warn all amateur gardeners against 

 purchasing plants in bloom from hawkers in the streets ; such 

 plants are generally forced into bloom, are sold at a high 

 price, and last but a very brief period, whereas strong healthy 

 plants of Geraniums, Calceolarias, etc., can be purchased in 

 the market, or from nurserymen, for 2s. Gd. per dozen, and 

 after being repotted will come into bloom and last the whole 

 eeason. — Edwd. Geo. Eivees. 





"^V. 



'Bi 



Fig. 88.— Ball's Window Conservatory. 



[To avoid exposing plants to the destruction of a gas-heated 

 room we commend to the attention of our readers " a window 

 conservatory." This is a contrivance of Mr. F. W. Ball's, con- 

 tractor, Sussex Street, Norwich. It can be made of any size, 

 and is easily fixed to the outside of a window-frame. The 

 comfort of the room is increased in winter by its shutting-out 

 the cold, and is cooling in summer, a contiuutd current of 

 air being kept-up outside the window by the ventilation of 

 the conservatory. — Eds.] 



LATE-KEEPING GRAPES. 

 If twenty Grape-growers, taken at random, were asked to 

 name the best late-keeping black Grape, it is very probable 

 that nineteen of them would select Lady Downe's Seedling, 

 but it is questionable if all of them could give a satisfactory 

 reason for doing so. I have been much puzzled to account 

 for the popularity of this Grape, and have come to the con- 

 clusion that it is simply owing to its being better known than 

 some other kinds, one or two of which are, in my opinion, 

 very superior to it. Let us look at its merits, and then try 

 the effect of comparison with others. It is vigorous in growth, 

 with stem, branches, and foliage large and of great substance. 

 It starts into growth freely and well, is very prolific; the 

 berries set freely, are large, colour well, continuing plump and 

 in excellent condition till spring. So many points of excellence 

 ought, of course, to receive the attention which they merit, 

 and they have undoubtedly done so; but then, on the other 

 hand, the bunches, though so numerous, are neither large nor 



handsome ; they are long and slender, with very slight 

 shoulders. I ought not, perhaps, to say this is invariably the 

 case, for I once had a bunch with really fine shoulders, but I 

 have never had or seen another, and slender bunches are cer- 

 tainly the correct type. It is not, however, from the size of 

 the bunches that I would condemn this Grape, but for its 

 tendency to suffer from the scalding of the green berries, aud 

 which is only to be cured, or rather checked, by letting in 

 fresh air freely and constantly for a week or more, and con- 

 sequently reducing the temperature. This treatment is all 

 very well if there are no other sorts of Grapes in the same 

 house, but in mixed vineries it is very objectionable, espe- 

 cially if there are any Gros Guillaume or MuEcats, all of 

 which are so liable to suffer serious harm by being thus 

 suddenly subjected to a sustained low temperature when the 

 fruit is swelling. 



In a late vinery I have Lady Downe's Seedling, Black 

 Alicante, or Black Tokay as it is sometimes called ; Gros Guil- 

 laume, Mrs. Pince's Muscat, Madresfield Court Muscat, and 

 Frankenthal, all planted inside, but with the roots passing 

 under arches in the front wall into an outer border. The 

 Vines are in excellent condition, and have been in full bear- 

 ing for two years, so that the estimate which I have made of 

 their relative merits will prove a safe guide for future 

 measures. 



The sort which, in my opinion, bears the palm as the best 

 late-keeping Grape for the general prac- 

 titioner is Black Alicante ; it is equal to Lady 

 Downe's Seedling in the vigour of its growth, 

 while the size of its fruit is altogether superior 

 to that variety in its large heavily-shouldered 

 bunches, and its perfect immunity from scald 

 or shanking. The bunches are invariably too 

 numerous, a considerable number always 

 having to be taken off, and every berry ap- 

 pears to set and swell. I am inclined to 

 think that this fine Grape would long ago 

 have taken the place of Lady Downe's if its 

 value was better known. That is the point. 

 The true kind is not well known, and there 

 is no donbt that Black Morocco or Kempsey 

 Alicante has crept into many vineries under 

 the title of Black Alicante, only to disappoint 

 those who, supposing it to be the real Simon 

 Pare, conclude that they have been misled 

 by a fanciful and untruthful description, and 

 discard it in disgust ; for although Black 

 Morocco is a fine-looking Grape and hangs 

 well, there can be no greater contrast than in 

 the setting properties of the two kinds, the 

 true Black Alicante setting its fruit most 

 freely, while it is a very difficult matter to 

 induce the other variety to set at all. The 

 whole of the Vines under my care were had from Mr. Pearson 

 of the Chilwell Nurseries, near Nottingham, and being certain 

 that I have the true Black Alicante, I append Mr. Pearson's 

 description of it in bis valuable little book on Vine culture :^ 

 " Black Alicante. A noble variety when well grown. As several 

 inferior Grapes are grown under this name, I will describe the 

 true sort: A vigorous grower, with large downy foliage. Bunches 

 large, heavily shouldered like the Black Hamburgh. The foot- 

 stalks of the berries very strong and thick. Berries very large 

 and black, covered with a fine bloom. Skin thick. Requires 

 almost as much heat as a Muscat of Alexandria, and is then a 

 first-rate Grape and one of the best keepers." 



I would call especial attention to what Mr. Pearson says 

 about heat, because it is owing to a deficiency in this re- 

 spect that late Grapes so often lack flavour and keep so 

 badly. Take for example that noble Grape Gros Guillaume. 

 In the temperature of a Muscat house its large handsome 

 foliage borne on wonderfully vigorous wood that is laden with 

 magnificent bunches, often measuring 18 inches in length and 

 1.5 inches across the shoulders, the berries very large, of a 

 deep black colour, and of a singularly piquant rich flavour, 

 mark it for a king among the late Grapes. Without the ad- 

 vantage of the high temperature its fruit is comparatively 

 worthless — nay more, there is often no fruit at all. A com- 

 parison of the two methods of treatment will serve to explain 

 this. 



By the first the application of artificial heat follows the first 

 signs of growths, but does not precede it, and a steadily in- 

 creasing temperatare is maintained till the bunches are m 



