234 General Notices. 



rubble stones laid bare, or covered with moss, to give more atmospheric 

 heat, and gentle steaming when water is applied? Have you ever seen a 

 fair crop by pot culture ? Your answer and opinion will, sir, oblige your 

 humble and obedient servant, James MacLean. 



According to my experience in growing pot vines, Mr. MacLean's man- 

 agement of his is correct, both in the potting, the compost used, and the kind 

 of pit they are intended to be fruited in. I have always succeeded best with 

 young vines, say two years from the eye, in put-culture. The compost I 

 used, was tlie turf from a magnesian limestone rock, without manure of any 

 kind. The size of the pot tlie same as Mr. MacLean's. I prune the canes 

 back to about 4 feet, according to strength, and having painted them with 

 the lime and sulphur mixture, bend them circularly, tying the point of the 

 cane to a stake ; tliis makes them break more regularly, and they can be 

 tied to the rafters afterwards. I never leave more than six or eight bunches 

 on a plant, so as to have the bunches and berries fine. I am of opin- 

 ion Mr. MacLean's vines will not suffer from their roots having grown 

 through the pots into the mould where they were plunged, if they have 

 filled the pots well with young roots, and have had a good rest in the open 

 air, or in a cold house. It is a great error in forcing vines too soon, if they 

 have not been habitually prepared for it. Mr. MacLean's first query is — 

 " What is tlie length of cane to be left, and how many eyes ?" I should 

 leave the canes 4 feet long, and disbud all the smallest eyes after they break, 

 leaving about eight bunches on. I should not shift the plants into new com- 

 post, as I never found any advantage in disturbing the ball of a young vine 

 when it was intended for fruiting : they do best in the pots where they have 

 been grown all summer, and it is astonishing what a small pot will produce 

 two or three bunches of grapes, if the soil is suitable, and they make plenty 

 of fibres in it. I have no doubt, if Mr. MacLean did not want his pit for 

 anything else, that his young vines would do well in the two wooden 

 troughs, adding a top-dressing of chopped turf, and letting the roots wander 

 at pleasure. He might, then, leave his canes 6 feet long, and leave more 

 bunches on, and a little fresh compost added every year, would keep them 

 in full bearing. The part of the tank unoccupied by the troughs, if cov- 

 ered with moss, would facilitate the escape of heat and evaporation. I have 

 grown a fair crop by pot-culture ; but where vines can be planted perma- 

 nently in the borders, and in a suitable house, I do not see any utility in it, 

 except for a few very early ones in March, for a succession. Besides, to 

 succeed well with grapes in pots, a fresh supply must be got ready every 

 year, as they rarely do well after one year's forcing. To an amateur or 

 gardener, who has, perhaps, one house or pit only, and has to grow different 

 kinds of plants, vines in pots, if well managed, would be a source of great 

 gratification to them, and amply repay for all the care taken in tlieir culti- 

 vation.— W. TiLLERT.— {/rf., p. 85, 1850.) 



On the Cultivation of Achimenes. — My mode of cultivating the dif- 

 ferent species, is as follows : — As soon as they have done flowering, they are 

 placed under cover, in some convenient corner, and watered two or three 

 times, with a view to aid the swelling of the tubers ; for they grow for some 



