264 General Notices. 



allowed to make as much wood as they please, and I will venture to predict 

 a very different result. {Gard. Chron., 1846, p. 359.) 



[We commend these remarks to the attention of grape growers; for we 

 believe that the lateral shoots of vines are often stopped too soon and too 

 short. Much judgment is necessary to do this judiciously, but it is best to 

 leave too much wood rather than too little. — Ed.] 



Syringing Grapes. — The preservation of a fine bloom on grapes is in 

 general deemed of the highest importance , in fact, they cannot be consid- 

 ered first rate, however large or well colored, unless they possess an untar- 

 nished bloom. The constant use of the syringe will be sure to destroy it ; 

 but some people have an impression that this cannot be dispensed with, on 

 account of that destructive insect, the red spider. Such, however, is not 

 the case, as I have proved for years. Those who persist in the use of sul- 

 phur on the pipes or flues according to directions in the Calendar a few 

 weeks since, and add to that a cleanly system of cultivation, accompanied 

 by an abundant use of water on all walls, floors, or other cool surfaces, 

 will seldom or never be troubled with red spider. The syringe, however, 

 ought in my opinion to be most liberally applied during the budding of the 

 vines, and up to the period of flowering, after which it should be entirely 

 dispensed with. {Gard. Chron., 1846, p. 287.) 



O' xalis floribimda. — This beautiful plant which is generally grown in the 

 greenhouse, forms a beautiful object in the open ground, and the following 

 on its treatment vvill, we hope, induce cultivators to make a trial of it as a 

 border plant in summer. 



Were I desired to select the most picturesque plant, yielding a long con- 

 tinued and profuse crop of flowers without artificial attention to its after- 

 growth, I should without hesitation fix upon this. It is a dwarf, tuberous, 

 herbaceous plant, rising from two to four inches in height, each plant form- 

 ing a terminal crown of leaves (similar to a small-growing clover,) from the 

 centre of which arises a profusion of bright rose-colored flowers, continuing 

 in succession from June until September. 



The principal precaution required for its successful management consists 

 in adapting the soil to the tuberous structure of its roots, which differ from 

 most others in their thick, fleshy, unbranched form, capable of absorbing 

 an excessive amount of fluid, beyond what is required for the support of 

 the simple crown of leaves upon their summit. Stiif and retentive soils 

 (when not absolutely cold) are generally favorable to an excess of growth^ 

 and vice versa. A diminished circulation of fluid, by a restricted supply of 

 nutritive stimulants, or by a lower temperature, less favorable to growth, 

 are necessary means to be taken where great fertility is sought, especially 

 in those plants whose organs (whether roots or otherwise,) are remarkably 

 adapted for assimilating an excess of food under ordinary means of culture. 



As a general rule, the amount of soil, and the nutritive properties which 

 it contains (when applied to plants) should always bear a strict relation to 

 the extent of growth which they are capable of maturing during the current 

 year. Every degree beyond this is an evil, which lessens the vital energy 

 of their organs. 



