June 25, 187J. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



503 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



Month 



27 

 28 

 29 

 30 

 1 



Day 



of 

 Week. 



Th 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



To 



W 



JUNE 25— JULY 1, 1874. 



Ipswich Horticultural Show. 

 Cimbridge Term ends. 



4 SoNDAY AFTER Trtnity. Coronation Day. 



Stratford ITorticultural Show. 

 Royal Horticultural Society's and National 

 [ Rose Show. 



Averape Tempera- 

 ture near Loudon. 



Rain in | 

 43 years. 



Dnv. 

 7.3.0 

 74 S 

 72.8 

 73.7 

 73 2 

 781 

 74.8 



Niaht. 

 49.2 

 49.2 

 48-2 

 49.1 

 48.5 

 48 3 

 50.8 



Mpftn 

 lU.l 

 01.7 

 (50.5 

 (51.4 

 60.8 

 f,0.7 

 62.8 



S'ln 

 Rises 



Days. 

 20 

 20 

 15 

 16 

 12 

 15 

 20 



. h. 

 46 at 8 



Sun 



Sets. 



rn b, 

 19 at 8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



19 8 



18 8 



18 8 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon*8 

 Age. 



Days. 

 U 

 12 

 )8 

 14 

 O 

 16 

 17 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day 

 of 



Year. 



2 16 



2 29 



2 41 



2 53 

 8 5 

 8 17 



3 29 



176 

 177 

 178 

 17ft 

 180 

 181 

 182 



From obsoryations 

 49.0'. The greatest heat 



taken near London during forty-three years, the ayerage day temperature of the week i»J3^5!;,,«'* ""?;«", JS™""" 

 at was 93^ on the 27th, 1823 ; and the lowest cold 31^ on the 28th and 30th, 1863. The greatest fall of ram was 1.18 rnoh. 



GKAPE VINES IN POTS. 



;T is bardly necessarj' to explain, even to the 

 denizen of a crowded city who lias spent 

 the whole of his life there, how much a 

 plant in a pot has to depend on its attendant 

 for the means of its existence. Inattention 

 in giving it water when it is wanted will not j 

 unfrequently result in the death of the plant, 

 especially if the neglect be carried too far, 

 and even the delay of a couple of hours in ; 

 certain conditions of a plant's existence is ' 

 attended with bad consequences. Although the Vine is 

 not by any means a delicate plant, and will even endure 

 a great amount of bad usage before it succumbs, yet, 

 as the object is to grow it to the greatest possible state 

 of perfection, merely keeping it in a state of existence 

 will not do — the plant must flourish; and there are 

 few plants cultivated in pots which are looked upon 

 with greater pride than a well-grown pot Vine. Though 

 the cultivation of the Vine in that way is, perhaps, one 

 of the most simple processes of plant culture, it is not 

 always that a successful result follows. It is a severe 

 ordeal for pot Vines to ripen their fruit very early in the 

 season — say in the beginning of April, and one which 

 acts as a test of the previous year's management. Very 

 different is the state of things when ripe fruit is only 

 ■wanted by the middle of June or later — the test of 

 the past year's treatment is not half so trying, as may 

 easily be understood on growing plants for both purposes. 

 Supposing a number of canes have been grown and ripened 

 during the summer, and it was desh-able to have ripe 

 Grapes by Easter, a few of the best Vines are selected 

 and placed in heat in October, first gradual, and then 

 warmer ; let them be attended to in the most skilful way, 

 aU mishaps and other misfortunes avoided, and nothing 

 omitted that is necessary to secure success, and let another 

 batch of the same Vines, in every respect like those pre- 

 viously acted upon, but which had rested undisturbed by 

 heat or other excitement, be placed in the forcing house 

 in February, and mark the result — the Vines last intro- 

 duced will sliow much finer bunches, and will also bring 

 them to perfection better than the early Vines. This is, 

 of course, subject to the condition that they have been 

 attended to in their growing period ; but even here less 

 care and attention are required than for the earlier batch, 

 and in very many instances the fruit bears no resemblance 

 to the other, although the canes may have been as nearly 

 alike as possible in the preceding autumn, or if there was 

 any difference, those intended for early forcing were the 

 better. 



Now, as it has been shown that it requires the best 

 canes that can possibly be procured to produce the earliest 

 Grapes, the question arises. How are such canes to be 

 had '? and on this question hinges what is often thought 

 to be one of the greatest feats of gardening skill. One 

 gi'ower insists on its being possible to produce such canes 

 in one year, while another takes two years to do it, and 

 affirms it is accomplished with less difficulty and with 



No. 631.-VOL. XXVI., New Series 



greater certainty in two years than in one. Hence arises 

 the question, Is Aright, who insists one year is sufficient / 

 or is the method of B, who accomplishes his object with 

 much le.-^s forcing, to bo preferred? This subject has 

 been again and again discussed at gardeners' meetings, 

 and to those not versed iu the practical working ot such 

 things it would appear that Abas the best of it—' having 

 a year," he says; but experience does not always prove 

 that there is a saving. A good well-grown cane is not 

 like a Mushroom; it does not spring from the bud ot the 

 previous year into the well-proportioned and well-ripened 

 cane of some 6 or 8 feet long in one night, or it may be 

 two or three times that length. True, there is no diffi- 

 culty in getting it of almost any length that is wanted, but 

 is such a cane suitable for early forcing '? As far as my 

 own practice is concerned I give the preference for very 

 early forcing to canes that have been grown m two years, 

 as there is a greater certainty of success than where they 

 have been hurried to make their growth m one ; and i 

 base my opinion on the following reasons, which it may 

 not be too much to say are the result of many years 

 practice, and I also believe the course of treatment is the 

 same as that recommended by some of the most successful 

 growers of very early Grapes. 



Where ripe Grapes are wanted at Easter, or as early 

 as it is possible to have them, the necessity of commencmg 

 forcing as early in the autumn as can be done is apparent 

 to everyone. It is of no use saying that nothing is gained 

 by beginning so early; and it is true that nothmg is 

 gained, but, on the contrary, something is lost by be- 

 ginning too soon if the Vines are not in a condition to 

 bear forcing and produce fruit, and perfect it accordmgly. 

 Now, to accomplish the latter they must not only have 

 been well grown during the preceding year, or rather 

 season, but they must also have had a " rest ; ^ and as it 

 is advisable very often to put them into their lorcmg 

 quarters in OctoJaer. how much rest has a one-yeav-grown 

 cane had before that time ; or, in other words, is it pos- 

 sible to perfectly ripen a cane in one year as early m the 

 season as it can be done in two '? I confess I have never 

 been able to do so, and I much question whether those 

 who say it can bo done ever tried the two-years plan 

 with the same amount of skill and determination to suc- 

 ceed which they have thi'own mto the matter when they 

 accomplished the object iu one year. True, A, with 

 superior means, may produce better canes m one year 

 than B can do in twice that time, for the reason that 

 B's means are defective ; but this is not the way to put 

 the question. Cannot A, who is possessed of a number 

 of small healthy young Vines early in the autumn, con- 

 vert these small canes into large ones sooner than he can 

 the unrooted head '? and if he can do so, and produce by 

 that means a cane which will perfectly ripen its wood a 

 month carher than one that has to start from the begin- 

 ning, well, then, that month tells its tale throughout the 

 whole of the next forcing season, everything else being 

 the same, and I am not sure but more than a month is 

 gained in this way. My own practice would often point 

 out that very much more than a month is gamed. For 



No. 1S13.— Vol. LI„ Old Series. 



