180 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ Fobruaij 20, 187-1. 



rabbits, and still live, altbougli I need hardly say that such 

 treatment is very bad for them. 



Occasionally reference has been made to the relative merits 

 of the single «nd double varieties of the Snowdrop, but it I were 

 to give an ojiiuion it would certainly bo in favour of the single 

 one, which is earlier, more free-flowering, and increases more 

 rapidly. In connection with the last-named property I would 

 ask if anyone has managed to obtain bulbs of this plant from 

 seed. Many years ago, having a quantity growing in a situation 

 that appeared to suit them, I had the seed gathered when it 

 appeared ripe, and sowed it at once amongst shrubs, on rough 

 ground in plantations, orchards, &a., expecting that at least a 

 part might vegetate ; but I have not been able to trace a single 

 plant to this half-natural sowing, and there was no lack of 

 seed, for nearly a couple of quarts were so thrown about. I 

 did not at the time examine the seed, which I have since 

 thought might be imperfect, yet it had all the appearance of 

 being. well matured. The question then arises in my mind. 

 Does the Snowdrop ripen its seeds in this country, or does it 

 not ? — J. EoBSON. 



MKS. PINCE'S BLACK MUSCAT GEAPE. 



Theee is certainly something very mysterious about this 

 Grape, and I am not surprised it has been hinted that there 

 are two varieties under the same name. I do not at all think, 

 however, such is the case. My opinion is that, Mke many 

 other new things, its constitution was partially ruined by very 

 rapid propagation, and that in course of time it will get all right. 

 I believe I can see signs of improvement in it. It is certainly 

 very desirable it should have a good constitution, for it is the 

 best-flavoured late Grape I am acquainted with. I have this 

 day (February 13th) tasted it in comparison with Lady Downe's 

 and Alicante, and it is far superior in point of flavour ; but I 

 am obliged to confess I have not yet been able to grow it satis- 

 factorily, and had almost condemned it before I saw the beau- 

 tiful examples of it at Chatsworth last autumn, and then I 

 made up my mind to try again. 



It may not be known to all of your readers that a Vine when 

 sent out new is sometimes procured early in autumn by the 

 trade, planted and forced into a most unnatural growth in the 

 same season, and from this second growth (which has to be 

 matured as far as it is possible to mature it in the late autumn 

 and early winter months by strong fire heat) hundreds of plants 

 are raised and distributed over the country. It is reasonable 

 to suppose that plants so raised cannot have such a constitu- 

 tion as those raised in a more natural manner, although they 

 may be vigorous and healthy to look at, and no eye can detect 

 the difference. Then, again, see the crowded w.ay in which 

 young Yiues are grown in most nurseries, they cannot possibly 

 be all ripened ; and remember that unripe eyes will grow as 

 fast as ripe ones. Those not even brown will grow, and make 

 healthy plants to look at, but they cannot be so in reality. 



If my theory is right as regards Mrs. Pince, may it not be 

 the same with other new Grapes which have been perhaps too 

 hastily condemned ? and some of which were sent out by men 

 who know all that is at present Icnown about Grapes and Grape 

 culture, and whose honour is above the slightest suspicion, yet 

 whose much-lauded productions are at the present time pro- 

 nounced by the public to be worthless. 



It is said that everyone thinks his own geese are swans, but 

 that only holds good of enthusiastic beginners. Practice and 

 daily disappointments such as the most successful gardener 

 always meets with make him able to compare impartially his 

 own productions with those of other people, and I cannot 

 believe but that some of the new things were better before 

 they were grown at express speed for distribution than they 

 have proved to be since that time, or their own raisers would 

 never have allowed them to be distributed. — William Taylok. 



DIG-UP POTATOES BEFOBE RIPE. 

 I AM glad the inquiry concerning the rubbing off the skin of 

 young PotatOLS has been made, as I have inadvertently omitted 

 any mention of it in the papers on this subject. When the 

 Potatoes cease to swell the skin begins to harden or ripen ; 

 then, as I have before staled, the crop of such kinds as Vic- 

 toria may be lifted with perfect success. Never mind about 

 rubbing off portions of the skin, the economy of the tuber will 

 repair all that, and what is of more importance, the quality of 

 the Potato will sustain no harm. I have now about a dozen 

 sacks of Victorias that are as excellent in appearance as they 



are in quality, which, when they were taken up on the 14th of 

 last August, were so tender that the skins were very much 

 torn. So also were some Flukes, Kegents, and other sorts, 

 and yet all have been good after their kind. I can speak with 

 confidence about this important matter, for I have practised 

 early-lifting most successfully for several years ; and had 

 " D., Deal," taken up his Potatoes as he first intended he 

 would not have had to revert to baked Potatoes, as he appears 

 to have done; for, after aU, it is the Potato that boils well 

 that is most valuable. 



When the early lifting — which I hope to see more generally 

 followed — is practised, it will not answer to throw the tubers 

 in a heap, and then leave them alone. On the contrary, most 

 careful tending in the storehouse is necessary. It will, per- 

 haps, be best to describe the entire process of lifting and store- 

 age. On a bright sunny morning the diggers, each with a 

 four-tined steel fork, begin lifting at 6 a.m. ; but the collecting 

 does not begin till four hours later, which gives the diggers a 

 good start, so that by the time the Potatoes are put into the 

 sacks the skins are tolerably dry. In taking them to the store- 

 house due care is to be exercised to handle them as gently as 

 possible. They are spread in layers of about a foot thick, and 

 sHghtly covered with straw, every window being kept open day 

 and night. Once a-week each layer is examined closely for 

 bUghted or rotten tubers. The ripening process still goes on, 

 and when the Potatoes are f uUy matured — that is to say, when 

 the skin will not rub, they may be stored in much closer com- 

 pass for the winter. — Edwakd Ldckhubst. 



EOTAL HOBTICULTUB.il SOCIETY'S COUNTEY 



SHOWS. 



As we were going to press we received from the Secretary of 

 the Eoyal Horticultural Society copies of a correspondence 

 which has taken place on the presentation of a memorial to 

 the Council regarding the holding of a country show this year, 

 and we have only space for his reply, which will indicate the 

 nature of the correspondence. 



" Royal Horticultural Society, Soutli Kensington, S.W. 

 " 25th February, 1874. 

 *' Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, King's Road, Ctielsea, ft.AV. 

 " Gentlemen, — In reply to your letter of the 20tli inst., the Council, far 

 from having any desire to put a stop to provincial shows, are, on the contrary, 

 most anxious to promote and encourage them. 



'• Until veiy recently they were in negotiation with the authorities of an im- 

 portant town on the coast, and of one in Scotland, with a view to holding 

 shows, but without beiu^ able to come to any satisfactory arrangement. 



" The Council will be most happy to receive proposals or suggestions for a 

 show during the ensuing summer, and will give such proi^osals their earUest 

 and best consideration. 



" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 



(Signed) " W. A. Lindsay, Secretary," 



LEE'S VICTOEIA REGINA VIOLET. 



Many inquuies have arisen about my obtaining the Victoria 

 Eegina Violet, and in reply I disclaim all merit or skill in its 

 production. The flower was naturally fertihsed by the bee or 

 some other insect ; the seed was carried by a mouse and de- 

 posited, at least 15 yards from where it grew, in a Strawberry 

 bed, and was discovered by me in December, 1871, having 

 grown there a year or more previously. The Victoria Eegina 

 could at that time be covered with a dinner plate, and the 

 other plant (Prince Consort), about 15 inches distant, was still 

 smaller. There was, I think, one fully expanded bloom on 

 Prince Consort ; others had been, but were past. 



Strawberries and weeds were carefvilly cleared away, a little 

 good BoU placed round the plants, and each protected by a 

 hand-Ught. As the flowers came up they were caiefuUy fer- 

 tUised ; each pod was attentively watched, gathered when 

 matured, and, as I thought, carefully stored. The seeds wers 

 sown in the autumn, but not one vegetated. 



The following statement gives the order of the origin and 

 progress of the plant : — 



Summer of 1870.— Seed sown by a mouse. 



Spring of 1871. — Plants probably appeared. 



Summer of 1871. — Plants produced summer flowers. 



December, 1871. — Plants discovered as narrated above. 



Spi-ing of 1872. — Thirty plants sprung-up around the parent 

 plant from flowers of the previous summer. 



The summer flowers of 1872 were taken no notice of, or 

 perhaps some hundreds of seeds might have been secured. A 

 few pods were taken from the young plants (these also from 

 summer flowers), and the seed at once sown in a pan ; they 



