91 



JOXmNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February S, 1876. 



able aud uncertain climate. However, the first planted Vines 

 were so mnch enperior to the last planted canes that the worthy 

 Rector last spring resolved to nproot the latter, make a fresh 

 border, ai;d conamence with new Vines. The roots of some 

 adjoining Beech trees had also fonnd their way into the 

 border, and they were appropriating the food which otherwise 

 onght to have gone to the sustenance of the Vines. 



The new border is formed of much the same material as the 

 old one, being composed of good sound turf, broken bones, 

 charcoal, and old mortar rubbish. To one load of turf was 

 added one peck of bones, half a peck of charcoal, and a pro- 

 portionate (luantily of old mortar. The border is concreted 

 underneath, that is covered with 1 foot thick of broken stones, 

 and then the above coinpoEt. The new Vines were struck from 

 eyes in February, planted in May, and after they had reached 

 the top of the house and gone to rest they were cut down 

 within several inches of the ground. The sorts planted were 

 one Golden Queen, two Black Hamburghs, one Madreslield 

 Court, and one Gros Colmau. Among those that remain are 

 Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alexandria, Canon Hall Muscat, 

 Pearson's Alicante, and Barbarossa. 



When the Vines were young it was not unusual for the 

 bunches of Barbarossa to wei;,'h or 10 lbs. each, Muscat of 

 Alexandria 8 lbs., and Alicante C or 7 lbs. On the 18th of 

 January there were some fine bunches still hanging. The 

 Muscats were a fine amber colour, and the bunches would be 

 nearly -ilbs. each, Alicante.'! lis. each, and the Barbarossa would 

 be about 7 lbs. each; the berries plump and perfect, and they 

 looked as if they would bang for mouths to come. Mr. Cotting- 

 ham evidently brings a vast amount of skill to bear upon the 

 culture of the Vine. He treats it in a common-sense sort of 

 way, and duly receives his reward. I have many times visited 

 places of much larger pretensions, but never where more satis- 

 factory results were accomplished. — B. 



P.S. — The engraving represents the Vines when both houses 

 were in full bearing. 



TEAINING YOUNG FBUIT TREES. 



Mb. Douglas on page 59 has given instructions on the train- 

 ing of young Pear trees on the horizontal cordon system, 

 recommending it as the best mode of training for these trees. 

 His instrnctiorJB are to take the central shoot upwards and to 

 train the side shoots along the brick courses, stopping also the 

 leading shoot in the summer, and so obtaining two or more 

 pairs of side shoots the same season. That is a valuable hint 

 which will not be lost by those who have healthy young wall 

 trees. Too often the tall central shoot is left until the winter 

 pruning, then to be cut away after having done its work by 

 appropriating the strength from the side shoots and wasting 

 the energies cf the trees. 



Bat yet I think it is not well that the instructions given by 

 Mr. Douglas be followed literally. The horizontal system may 

 be the best mode of training the branches of Pear trees, but is 

 not the best, I think, when the trees are young. With some 

 trees of exceptional vigour the system is perhaps not very ob- 

 jectionable, but with ordinary trees it is not the quickest, but 

 perhaps the slowest mode of covering a wall to train the 

 branches of young trees horizontally. 



The first trees that I nailed were young Pears trained along 

 the seam-courses, and after seven years the wall was not half 

 covered. To induce a free growth the fan system of training 

 is much preferable to the horizontal, lowering the branches by 

 degrees as the trees gain strength. I have very little doubt — 

 indeed I have tested it by direct experiment — that by training 

 the branches more or less upright for the first four or five 

 years of the tree's growth that a great gain is effected in cover- 

 ing a given space of wall. The branches can be brought down 

 as required, and when the trees have attained a considerable 

 size, and the depression will probably expedite their fruit- 

 fulness. 



In training young trees a point of the greatest moment is to 

 secure the extension of the lower branches and to keep them 

 in advance of the branches above them. It is very difficult to 

 do this by a rigid adherence to the horizontal training of the 

 branches along the seams of the wall, and especially when the 

 trees are young. If, as is often the case, the lower pairs of 

 branches do not make the same lateral extension as the 

 branches above them when the trees are young, the wall cannot 

 be well furniihed afterwards. The most effectual way to pre- 

 vent this is to train the weaker branches more or less upright, 

 depressing the stronger growers. By a systematic mode of 



elevation and depression a correct balance of the tree can be 

 attained, and I am not aware that it can be secured by any 

 other means. 



To induce a free growth of wall trees in their young state, 

 and to cover space in the quickest manner, I have invariably 

 found great advantage in training on the fan-shape system, 

 keeping the weaker parts more or less upright and giving special 

 attention that the lower branches are kept well in advance of 

 the parts above them. By five years' training on this system 

 with a wall of Pear trees, and then bringing the branches to 

 the horizontal positions, I have produced much larger and 

 healthier trees than some others that were trained horizontally 

 from the time of planting. 



I have no doubt that many others have also noted the ad- 

 vantage of the fan over the horizontal training of Pear trees 

 in their young state, for there can be no doubt that it does 

 possess advantages of practical importance and which should 

 not be overlooked. — A Nobthern Gardeneb. 



NEW BOOK. 



Domestic Floriculture, Whidou- Gardening, and Floral Decora- 



tionn. By F. W. Bcebidoe. With Illustrations. 



This second edition is enlarged, and is deserving of purchase 

 by everyone who wishes for good information on the subjects 

 of which it treats. We shall only extract an historical por- 

 tion : — 



" The science and art of window gardening, as well as the use 

 of decorative plants in apartments, is, as yet, in its infancy, and 

 its early history seems shrouded in obscurity, although fifty 

 years ago plants were commonly grown in cottage windows, 

 those more generally employed being Fuchsia globosa. Fair 

 Helen Geranium, Musk, several Mesembryanthemums, Cdct'jEeSi 

 and crimson China Roses. More recently, the newer varieties 

 of Calceolarias, Fuchsias, Campanulas, Balaams, and Pelargo- 

 niums have been employed ; while, at the present time, we 

 employ Figs, Palms, Ferns, and the very choicest of exotic 

 plants for the indoor decoration of our dwellings, amid the dust 

 and bustle of the busy city. Domestic floriculture exerts an 

 influence that contributes much to our comfort and happiness 

 in the smoky atmosphere of a town residence. Looking at the 

 subject from a commercial point of view, we find many large 

 establishments devoted entirely to the culture of decorative 

 plants in small pots, while thousands of pounds are spent yearly 

 in London for the pretty little decorative plants so often met 

 with in the window cases and apartments of town mansions. 

 Wo look on the decoration of our dwelliogs with healthy plants 

 and fragrant blossoms as the sign of a more healthy appreciation 

 of nature, as the embodiment of all that is beautiful and attain- 

 able in art. 



"Amongst the oldest and best-known window plants used in 

 this country of late years, we may mention Fuchsias and 

 Hydrangeas (which latter occasionally astonished their posses- 

 sors by bearing blue flowers in place of rose-coloured ones). 

 Tnssilago fragrans is also mentioned as being " planted in pots 

 for the purpose of perfuming winter apartments ;" while Cycla- 

 mens, Auriculas, and Myrtles were common many years ago. 

 Richardia fethiopica, or Lily of the Nile, was grown by Miller in 

 the Chelsea Botanic Garden as early as 1731 ; and in the ' Flora 

 Historica ' (1824) we read that ' the more polished part of society 

 admit the Ethiopian Calla, a species of Arum, into their most 

 embellished saloons, where its alabaster calyx expands into so 

 elegant a vase- like shape, that Flora seems to have intended it 

 for the hand of Hebe, when she presents the imperial nectar to 

 Jove,' adding that ' the fashion of ornamenting the houses in 

 London with plants when routs are given greatly contributed 

 to bring it into celebrity, and as a conspicuous candle-light 

 plant it was therefore increased by all rout-furnishing florists." 

 Campanula pyramidalis was also an extremely popular window 

 plant fifty or sixty years ago, being frequently employed by 

 country people-tiien as now to decorate their windows ; or when 

 trained round a hoop, or into the shape of a fan, it sometimes 

 served as a screen ' to the rustic grate of a country parlour.' 

 This is the ' Steeple Milky Bell-flower' of Gerard, and has been 

 grown in our gardens nearly three hundred years. 



" Cowper, in the ' Task,' celebrates Mignonette as a favourite 

 window plant in London during the latter part of the last 

 century— 



* ' The Bashes fronted with a range 

 0( Oi*ange, Myrtle, or thf fragrant ircrrf;' 



and Philips in his ' Flora Historica ' says, ' We have frequently 

 fonnd the perfume of the Mignonette so powerful in some of 

 the better streets of London, that we have considered it suffi- 

 cient to protect the inhabitants from those effluvias which bring 

 disorders in the ah:.' The latter statement is remarkable, inas- 

 much as recent researches prove the beneficial influence exerted 

 not only by this but by many other odorous flowers; aud we 



