Encyclopaedia of Gardening I 5 I 



Muscat of Alexandria is superior in flavour, but requires more heat. 

 Gros Maroc is a large Grape of fair flavour. For late use Alicante 

 is the most useful. Other well-known sorts are Alnwick Seedling 

 and Lady Downe's Seedling. Gros Colman is very large, but the 

 flavour is not remarkable, while it is bad to colour. If Grapes are 

 wanted for outdoor culture, Ascot Citronelle and Miller's Burgundy 

 may be chosen. To keep Grapes : Grapes can be kept fresh and 

 sweet for a long time if the bunches are cut with a piece of lateral 

 and this is fixed in a bottle of water. The store should be cool, dry, 

 and airy. Grapes in mixed greenhouses : It is hardly feasible to 

 grow good Grapes in a general greenhouse unless the plants are 

 restricted to kinds which do not want much heat in winter and can 

 endure shade in summer. If a house is kept warm for plants in 

 winter it starts the Vines too early. It is best to work on plants 

 which spend the summer outdoors and need little heat in winter. 

 The Chrysanthemum is a notable instance. 



Loganberry. A hybrid fruit, raised in America, perhaps by in- 

 tercrossing a Blackberry and a Raspberry. In Great Britain the 

 Loganberry has been crossed with the Raspberry in the hope of 

 getting a sub-hybrid of the same vigour and cropping power as the 

 Loganberry, but with better flavour. Poor quality is, indeed, the 

 great defect of the Loganberry. It is a tremendous grower, espe- 

 cially in moist clay land or rich loam, making shoots 10 ft. long or 

 more, and nearly an inch thick, in a season. The fruit is much 

 larger than that of either Blackberries or Raspberries, and is borne 

 profusely. It may be stewed, preserved as jam, or canned in 

 syrup. It is for the last purpose that it is now being largely planted. 

 The shoots are trained horizontally or diagonally to horizontal 

 wires, of which there are generally 4 lengths, each a foot above the 

 other, strained on stout posts. The plants should be 12 ft. apart, 

 and the rows may be 7 ft. apart. Plants may be rooted from tips 

 pegged down towards the end of summer, and will bear well in the 

 third year. Three tons to the acre is a satisfactory crop. In 

 private gardens the Loganberry is suitable for planting against 

 arches or pillars. It may be planted in deeply dug and manured 

 soil between November and March inclusive. The clumps should 

 not be allowed to get crowded with old wood, but should be kept 

 thin by pruning out in early autumn shoots which have fruited. 



Medlar (Mespilus Germanica). An unimportant fruit, and one 

 that need only be given space in large gardens. The twisted growth 

 is peculiar and the flowers are not without beauty, so that it may be 

 planted in extensive shrubberies. It will succeed in well-drained 

 loamy soil. Fruit dealers bud their Medlars on to Quince or other 

 stocks. Beyond a little early shaping not much pruning is re- 

 quired. The fruit should be gathered at the end of summer, and 

 stored until it begins to decay. It is then in what is known as the 

 " bletted " stage and ready for use. 



Melon (Cucumis Melo). A large, juicy, and delicious fruit, 

 grown in practically every large garden and in a good many small 

 ones. It is not a difficult plant to grow, given heat and glass. The 

 French gardeners grow Canteloupe Melons in small frames. Melons 

 are grown in span-roof houses, in pits, and in frames. They thrive 



