502 



JOtJBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



( Decembet' 9, 1876. 



Email border inside are not sufficient to maintain the top in 

 a becoming way, the plant pushes out roots from its stem 

 and BO feeds on the atmosphere, deriving a kind of spurious 

 nourishment therefrom that fails it later on in the season 

 when that moisture is withheld. Now this all points to the 

 propriety of an outer covering, and we may now consider what 

 that covering should be. 



Before entering on this subject I may say that I am no 

 advocate for costly appliances if simple and inexpensive modes 

 can be found to effect the same object, and in the matter of 

 Vine-border covering I do not know that I would make any 

 great sacrifice in the way of appearance so called, because they 

 have usually to be put in use where external tidiness is of less 

 importance than in summer. Nevertheless, to those to whom 

 the looks of a thing is of much consequence, and who do not 

 object to expense, a waterproof covering of some kind that can 

 be removed when necessary will no doubt be found the best 

 for such a purpose ; and galvanised iron, wooden shutters, 

 zinc or asphalt frames, or glass lights have all and each their 

 claims to notice, the great thing being to shut off the bulk of 

 the autumn rains and keep out the frost and snow, and, in 

 fact, to retain as' much of the heat that may be in the soU in 

 September as can be until as late a period as possible. We 

 have been for several years in the habit of covering-up the 

 border of our earliest-forced vinery with dry leaves when we 

 could obtain them, and generally we have endeavoured to do 

 so early in October before the heavy autumn rains had wetted 

 it to any depth, and as we have made it a point to try and 

 get the leaves dry and the job finished before any great 

 amount of rain fell, the result has in our opinion been satis- 

 factory. We have usually heaped the leaves on for nearly 

 3 feet high, treading them well, and finished oft by coating the 

 whole with a covering of turf, and as the leaves are mostly 

 Beech or Sweet Chestnut, they give off and retain a little 

 warmth all winter. But it is only fair to state here that 

 although the border may be covered when it is in a nice dry 

 mellow state, and the leaves themselves as dry as leaves can 

 well be outdoors, yet when the covering is taken off in April 

 the ground is invariably found wet and soddened, and no 

 doubt would be in a worse condition as a seed bed than one 

 that had encountered all the changes of the winter. I mention 

 this as, notwithstanding the gentle warmth the mass of leaves 

 may have imparted to the ground below them, I am far from 

 certain that the fertile power of the ground is not impaired 

 by its being denied the benefit of the winter's frost and con- 

 stant contact with the air; but whether the Grapes inside 

 would be quite so early or not is a question on which I have 

 no hesitation in answering in the negative, and must therefore 

 leave for others to say how much they are willing to sacrifice 

 to attain such a result by adopting the more costly covering of 

 glass, or something approaching it, and a more gradual ex- 

 posure to the atmosphere in early spring. In our case we 

 seldom take the leaves off until the first or second week in 

 April, and invariably let the ground dry a day or two before it 

 is slightly dug, and we expect the sun will supply the heat at 

 that time which the leaves had been doing through the winter. 

 Having said so much on covering-up the borders of Grape 

 houses intended for early fruit, I fear I must curtail what ought 

 to be said on covers for those who endeavour to keep them 

 late. I am the more anxious in this to hear the opinions of 

 others, as I confess at once of never having practised it ; but 

 it is possibly the more important of the two, only in this case 

 I should say that a perfect shulting-off the rain was nacessary, 

 and furthermore that coveriug-up with dry leaves, fern, straw, 

 and such things are not sufficient here, as the present autumn 

 has given some lessons that way which I daresay many readers 

 have learned to thfir cost. But in my case I may say that I 

 never knew Black Hamburgh Grapes keep so badly as they 

 have done this autumn ; they ripened well, wore fleshy, 

 coloured well, and not at all thin-skinned, and certainly not 

 watery. Well, we all know that September was on the whole 

 a fine month, and the rain not remarkable until after the 

 middle of October, long before which the Grapes had been 

 duly ripened ; but being required to hang, it soon became per- 

 ceptible that the moisture the border was receiving was com- 

 municated through the system to the fruit, which swelled I 

 believe, and the juice was forced through the skin and decay 

 set in. Such is my opinion, and if it has been noticed by 

 others possibly some inference may be drawn that may be 

 useful another time. The season, I need hardly say, has been 

 a moist one, but not more so than some others in which our 

 Grapes have kept tolerably well, and the time decay set in was 



sooner than it has been customary for us to cut them and put 

 them in bottles ; but I attribute their defective keeping to the 

 lack of water I imagine they sufi'ered from in July and August : 

 hence a sort of premature ripening, or rather a ripening-ofit, 

 before they had attained the full size they might have done 

 if moisture had been more plentifully supplied to their roots ; 

 this, unfortunately, we had not the means of giving at the 

 time, and the recent experience of those producing remarkably 

 fine Grapes point to the conclusion that water if of the suit- 

 able kind can hardly be given in too large quantities at that 

 time if the border be properly made. But I do not remember 

 of ever noticing Grapes in so promising a condition go off so 

 rapidly from the causes stated above or some other of a likely 

 kind. Whether this could have been averted by an outside 

 covering or not is a matter open to opinion, my own being 

 that it could ; but of this I would like to have that of others, 

 more especially of those who have lost Grapes by the late damp 

 weather, and if anyone has had experience of the beneficial 

 effects of an outer covering as tending to preserve their fruit 

 well, then so much the better ; as amongst the opinions then 

 given something useful will most likely be forthcoming, and 

 the more likely to be so if those having been unfortunate 

 would record their misfortune as freely as they do their suc- 

 cesses, the one affording as much instruction as the other, 

 and in many instances more. — J. Boeson. 



CARNATIONS IN "WINTER. 



Theee has been already much written on the subject of 

 growing winter-flowering Carnations ; but as I have been toler- 

 ably successful in their culture for several years, and as my 

 practice differs in some of its details from that of your other 

 correspondents, I may be permitted to say a few words on the 

 subject. 



There is an idea in many minds that Perpetual Carnations 

 are difficult to propagate, and that when propagated they are 

 difficult to grow, and that after all they only supply a few odd 

 flowers for cutting. This is not in accordance with my expe- 

 rience. Managed rightly they strike as freely as Verbenas, 

 grow luxuriantly, and produce plants in nine months such as 

 might be called specimens. The only secret in their cultiva- 

 tion is that they must never receive a check so as to be at all 

 stunted. From the time they are put in as cuttings tUl they 

 are in full flower they must be kept steadily moving. Let 

 them stand about in small pots for three or four months, and 

 they will never afterwards be worth their room. 



February is the best time to strike them if they are intended 

 for large plants, but they may with advantage be struck later 

 if only small plants are wanted. There are numerous little 

 side-shoots formed all the way up the flower-stem ; these when 

 they are IJ or 2 inches in length should be pulled away from 

 the stem with the finger and thumb ; generally it will be 

 necessary to puU the leaf at their base off with them, as they 

 can be split away better by doing so. Sometimes they will 

 be fit for inserting without using the knife at all ; but if the 

 bottom of the slip is at all ragged it should be cut even and 

 then inserted firmly into light loamy soil. Those who prefer 

 to use sand may do so at this stage; it will do no harm, but 

 it is not necessary. Water heavily so as to settle the soil very 

 firmly about the cuttings, and then cover with glass. The 

 glass should not be removed even for a minute till the cut- 

 tings are rooted, which in an average temperature of 60' will 

 take about a fortnight. They must then be very gradually 

 hardened by leaving at first a very small opening while there 

 is no air on the house, shutting up closely when the house is 

 ventilated. In about three weeks or a month from the time 

 of inserting, the glass may be removed altogether. 



The simplest kind of propagating-box I know, and which I 

 use extensively, is like those used by many people for grow- 

 ing Geraniums but deeper, and is covered by laying a pane of 

 glass on the top. As soon as the cuttings have fairly com- 

 menced to grow they should be potted singly in 4-inch pots 

 and kept in warmth for a few days till they recover, when 

 they may bo placed in a close cold frame or one with a slight 

 bottom heat, and gradually hardened till by the middle of May, 

 when they will do without any more protection. As soon as 

 possible after this time they should be potted in their flowering 

 pots, the fast-growing kinds into 10 or 12-inch, and others of 

 less robust habit into pots of 8 inches diameter. 



The soil used is simply a light fibry loam and charcoal. 

 No manure either liquid or solid is ever given them. I do not 

 think they like it. By the end of September they will have 



