Jonnary 8, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE, 



31 



ture of stove Ferns. Like Cinerarias they never do so well as 

 when moisture rises regularly and freely from below, and when 

 the pots look misty the Ferns grow freely. Another important 

 point is to use water at a regular temperature, say 5' above 

 that of the house. The use of water without proper regard 

 to its temperature is fraught with immense danger, especially 

 in the case of plants of sluggish growth, and those liable to the 

 attacks of insects. — Old Fbiend. 



ALriNE PLANTS FOR SPRING BEDDING. 



Me. D. Thomson's interesting letter containing most useful 

 liints on alpine plants for spring bedding, leads me to send you 

 a list of plants in a narrow winding border forming the lower 

 tier of a rockwork, which at this season have a pretty effect 

 here (Weybridge, Surrey). 



I must premise that the Mossy Saxifrages are in large 

 dumps, and most of the other plants strong ones. 



Saxifraga nervosa 

 Primula altaica 

 Saxifraga glacialis 

 Primula auriculieflora 

 Saxifraga atro-purpurea 

 Primrose 

 Saxifraga altifida 

 Primrose 

 Saxifraga palmata 

 Primrose 



Saxifraga Andrewsii 

 Primrose 



Saxifraga elongata 

 Primrose 



■Saxifraga cochleata 

 Primrose 



Saxifraga adscendens 

 Primrose 



Saxifraga marginata 

 Primrose 

 Saxifraga irrigua 

 Saxifraga pyramidalis 

 S. sponhemica [hypnoides ?] 

 Primula altaica 

 — Geokge F. Wilson. 



Saxifraga longifolia 



Primrose 



Saxifraga hypnoides 



Primrose 



Saxifraga nepalensis 



Primrose 



Saxifraga pubescens 



Primrose 



Saxifraga serratifolia 



Primrose 



Saxifraga trifida 



Primrose 



Saxifraga umbrosa iBgilopa 



Primrose 



Saxifraga geranioides 



Primrose 



Saxifraga Geum polita 



Primrose 



Saxifraga hypnoides ice- 



landica 

 Primrose 



Saxifraga serratifolia 

 S. Haworthii 

 S. Geum variety 



CARTER'S EOUND-LEAVED BATAVIAN ENDIVE. 

 EARTH-BLANCHING. 

 This is a winter-salad vegetable of great excellence. Sown in 

 July it has afforded a supply for winter use which is especially 

 esteemed. In growth it is particularly compact, less leafy 

 than many other Batavian Endives, and consequently more 

 edible in heart and midrib. Dug-np in November when per- 

 fectly dry and the outer leaves carefully folded, it was buried, 

 root uppermost, in the south slopes of Celery ridges, and a 

 month afterwards, and onwards, it turned-out in fine condition, 

 white as milk, crisp as anything could be, sweet as a nut, and 

 with no decay saving in the very outside leaves. By this 

 simple mode of blanching, anyone having a garden may have 

 a salad at Christmas that will add to the appearance of any 

 festive table, and be as good as it looks. Of course, it is 

 equally good under Mushroom-house and other modes of 

 blanching, but the main object of this note is to recommend a 

 plan, far from new, but easy and efifective. — -W. 



height at back llA feet, and at front CJ feet. We had occasion 

 to do a little improvement in the border this autumn, and 

 found that from the surface to the subsoil of irony sand, on 

 which a layer of brickbats had been placed for drainage, it was 

 only 2 feet in depth ; and that a little rain which fell during 

 the time a section of the border was open caused 2 inches o£ 

 water to rise amongst the drainage — if it may be called such. 

 It was not surprising, under these conditions, to find all the 

 roots down in that particular stratum entirely killed. The 

 heating power is measured by a flow-and-return 4-inch pipe, 

 and there are plants grown in the house the whole year. 



Our ideas with regard to the general management of late 

 vineries are that there is generally too much water thrown 

 about, even in the height of summer, and too little applied to 

 the roots. Nor are we any advocate for giving unlimited 

 ventilation when the Grapes are ripening : our plan is to give 

 air according to the state of the weather, rather inclining to 

 keep the air circulating amongst the fruit very warm than to 

 allow the temperature to fall for the sake of a rush of air 

 constantly playing through the vinery. We are of opinion 

 that to perfectly fiuieh Muscats to the highest state of per- 

 fection, it is one of the first points of importance to let the 

 bunches have as much direct sunlight as possible, though for 

 the black varieties we do not think this is so necessary. As to 

 giving air after the fruit is ripe, for days together the late 

 Grapes now hanging hero have had no direct ventilation ; 

 only on really fine days is there any ventilation given, except 

 what is almost continually on where the greater number of the 

 plants are stood : except on warm nights the pipes are kept 

 lukewarm. The latest of the fruit was ripe by the middle of 

 October, and has kept as well as any, and better than a good 

 many we have seen this season, as the almost constant cry of 

 gardeners has been that they only wished to see the last of 

 their Grapes cut. We have some Lady Downe's hanging in 

 another house which were ripe in August ; the house has beeu 

 full of bedding plants since the end of September, and conse- 

 quently the ventilation has not been stinted, yet the mouldy 

 berries cut-out would not average two at the most to each 

 bunch. The same applies to a Muscat at the Black Hamburgh 

 end of the late house : these are not entirely cut yet, and with 

 free ventilation we could wish for nothing better in the way of 

 keeping. 



We think it a great mistake for gardeners (in which term 

 amateurs are included) not to be more guided by the many 

 peculiar circumstances each one has particularly to do with, 

 and try less to shape their modes of cultivating various sub- 

 jects by hard and fast Unes, which they may either have found 

 to succeed well in one place, or have seen or read of some one 

 else having succeeded with. The most successful gardeners 

 will be found to differ essentially in their details of working 

 from others, though there are sure to be leading principles the 

 same in all cases. The subject we are more immediately in 

 hand with is no exception to this ; and we know of no better 

 mode for obtaining good results in Grape-keeping than just to 

 pick out the principles which may be enunciated by writers as 

 a framework, and to fill-in the details in practice according to 

 local circumstances. — R. B. P. (in The Gardener). 



KEEPING GRAPES IN WINTER. 



Though our experience with the Grape Vine is none of the 

 most extensive, and though our editor, aftei' asking for the 

 ideas and experiences of correspondents on this subject, goes 

 to the bottom of the matter himself, the following notes on 

 the subject may not be altogether unacceptable. 



We are fully convinced that large and airy structures are, 

 ior various reasons, better adapted for both fruit and plant 

 ■culture than those of less dimensions. The main point in 

 which large houses are superior to small ones is their capa- 

 bility of containing a large volume of air, which with ordinary 

 attention may be kept in a more equable and healthy condition 

 for the growth, ripening, and keeping of Grapes than it is 

 possible to do with contracted houses. Still, while first-rate 

 examples of Grape-growing may be found in small structures, 

 very poor results may also be found in large houses, though, 

 doubtless, the management has nearly everything to do with it. 

 None of the vineries we have to produce Grapes from are 

 ■either wide or lofty, the late one being only lOi feet in width. 



METEOROLOGY OF 1873. 

 Ticehurst, Sussex, 500 feet above sea level. 



Messks. Doi\'Nie, Laird, & Laing's Annhai, Bulb Show 

 will commence in the Crystal Palace on the 21st March, and 



