General Notices. 277 



plants is very elegant : two or three leaves emerge from the soil, and from 

 the centre of these arises an erect stem, varying in height, in the different 

 kinds which are most worth cultivating, from six inches to a foot ; two- 

 thirds of this stem is covered with blossoms, which are tube-like, and hang 

 nearly perpendicular, one above another, all round the stem : remaining a 

 considerable time in perfection, and opening so that nearly the whole spike 

 of flowers is expanded at one time. They are easily grown. About Au- 

 gust, the roots, having for some time been in a dry, dormant condition, 

 should be repotted — singly, or two or three in a pot, according to taste — in 

 a compost of turfy peat and loam, well drained ; they will soon begin to 

 grow, and must be moderately supplied with water ; they may be wintered 

 on a shelf in the greenhouse. About April, and early in May, they will 

 naturally come into bloom, and may be had earlier by accelerating their 

 development in a gentle heat. The species that we should prefer are Lach- 

 enalia pendula, tricolor, and luteola, all of which bear yellow blossoms, 

 the latter having, in addition, a touch of green, and the two former a belt- 

 ing of red. — {Gard. Journ., 1848, p. 184.) 



Results of the Successful Cultivation of the Grape. — The vineries are 

 each 40 feet by 18 wide ; the borders inside the houses are 12 feet wide, 

 and outside 18 feet ; and, as the fiont walls are built on arches, the vines 

 have a border of 30 feet to luxuriate in. The borders are made as follows : 

 1 foot 6 inches of brickbats and lime rubbish at the bottom, with cross 

 drains every twelve feet ; each is connected with a general drain in front of 

 the border ; this drain is 18 inches deeper than the bottom of the border. 

 The soil is a rich loam, (the top soil of a meadow,) mixed with about one- 

 fourth of lime rubbish, a little night-soil, and two horse-loads of rotten ma- 

 nure. The borders are two feet and a half in depth. The vines are 

 planted inside, one house with Hamburghs, and the other with the differ- 

 ent kinds of Muscats. Both houses were planted in March, 1846. The 

 principal part of the vines were raised from eyes the January preceding, 

 and the rest were weak vines from eyes in 1845, except three or four that 

 had been forced the year previous ; these latter have not done nearly so 

 well as the former. The vines grew finely the first season, making strong 

 wood, short-jointed, and ripened well ; they were pruned to about half the 

 length of each rafter. Forcing was commenced in both houses on the 10th 

 of February, 1847. I saw them in August following, and a finer crop, or 

 better fruit, I never witnessed, as far as they were pruned. The bunches 

 were large, the berries well swelled, and all a good color — not one of them 

 being shanked. The greatest number of bunches on one vine was twenty- 

 six, the least number, fourteen. The weight of the bunches was from lib. 

 to 2ilb. each ; the entire weight being nearly three hundred weight from 

 the thirty vines with which the houses were planted. This, your readers 

 will say, was a surprising crop for the second year after planting, and so, 

 no doubt, it was ; and now comes a very important question. Was it pru- 

 dent, on the part of Mr. Gerrie, to allow so many to remain on the first 

 season 1 and was he justified in so doing ? The result showed that he was. 

 The vines did their duty nobly. He was aware that the material in which 



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