118 GARDENING DIFFICULTIES SOLVED 



condition. I do not force them at all just have a little heat when 

 they begin to grow, generally about March, until warm weather sets 

 in. Is it lack of heat 1 Gros Colmar and a white Muscat do well in 

 same house. I shall have had them nine or ten years. A Lady 

 Gardener, Suffolk. 



A. Your Vines are affected with what is known as scald. It is 

 caused through inefficient ventilation, especially on bright, sunny 

 mornings whilst the vinery and even the berries are damp with con- 

 densed moisture. It usually attacks Grapes when they have nearly 

 finished stoning. There is no cure for the berries once affected. 

 The way to prevent its attack is to ventilate freely as soon as the 

 berries have commenced to stone, until they have done stoning and 

 are commencing to colour. The ventilators, both front and top, 

 should be thrown wide open in front of the Vines in warm weather 

 during the day, and a little air must be left on all night. 



Treatment of Vine 



Q. Will you please give me information as to the treatment of 

 a Black Hamburgh Vine 1 I have gathered all the Grapes and 

 the leaves are fast dying off, and I am now at a loss what to do. 

 The previous owner of the Vine advised me to lift it down from 

 the glass and lay it on the floor of the greenhouse to rest, also to 

 place a small load of cow manure on the roots in January. Is this 

 the correct treatment ? I know that the laterals should be pruned 

 back to two buds ; but when 1W.S.8., Notts. 



A. The Vine needs little or no attention now. Its chief need is 

 fresh air, so that the growth may ripen well ; therefore keep the 

 house cold by opening the ventilators wide. Pruning may be done 

 in December or January. Each of the side shoots is cut back to 

 the two lowest buds on the past summer's growth. A dressing of 

 cow manure on the outside border in January would be advisable ; 

 strawy litter would be better, putting on and forking in the cow 

 manure in March. The strawy litter would be warmer as a winter 

 covering. 



Sulphuring Hot Water Pipes in a Vinery for 

 the Destruction of Red Spider 



Q. Would you kindly advise me if it would be safe to use sulphur 

 and lime on the hot water pipes in a vinery in which the Grapes are 

 ripe and in which there is a lot of Maidenhair Ferns and other 

 plants ? I have no other house for plants, and later on there will be 



