354 Notes on Gai'dens and Nurseries. 



were again eaten off. Disappointed thus a second time, Mr. 

 Needham found he must lose no time in his endeavor to make 

 up the loss : having a quantity of young vines on hand, which 

 had mostly been raised from eyes in the spring, he selected 

 the strongest, and planted them out. The border being rich 

 and well made, they advanced rapidly, though it was August 

 when set out ; and, in October, some of them had reached 

 quite to the top of the rafters : they were then nipped off to 

 swell up the wood, and, in the winter succeeding, were most 

 of them left with three or four feet of bearing wood. These 

 very vines we now found producmg from six to twelve bunches 

 of grapes each, some of them — the white Portugal — weighing 

 2 lbs. to the bunch. 



Mr. Needliam is an excellent grape cultivator to produce 

 these results : the bearing wood for another year is as strong 

 as could be wished, and the vines are in no way injured by 

 the crop : to the excellently prepared border, of course, this 

 growth must be attributed, though strong wood, unless prop- 

 erly ripened, will produce but little fruit. One of the main 

 points of grape treatment is the production of solid, short joint- 

 ed, thoroughly ripened wood: without this, the utmost care 

 will fail to give good results. 



We saw here m fruit the Cannon Hall muscat, which has 

 been so highly recommended for its size and beauty. Mr. 

 Needham" s plant is only a year old ; but it has one bunch of 

 noble berries upon it, which at once attest its good qualities. 

 This, and Wilmot's Black Hamburgh, will be indispensable in 

 every good collection, as the appearance of their immense ber- 

 ries contribute more to set off a dish of fruit than any other 

 varieties: the berries of each are nearly as large as good-sized 

 plums. The Chasselas Musque is also bearing here : it is a 

 fine early muscat flavored fruit, but subject to crack when 

 forced : for cold houses, it is one of the best. We hope to be 

 able to offer cultivators of the grape an article by Mr. Need- 

 ham in a futia-e number. 



In the greenhouse, the achimenes and fuchsias were bril- 

 liant objects, and some remarkably fine specimens were in 

 bloom, particularly of Achimenes picta and longiflora : a vari- 

 ety of seedling calceolarias were also flowering freely. Every 

 thing indicated the clever management of Mr. Needham. 



