442 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
{ December 12, 1878. 
Plumbago rosea is a very accommodating plant, and for 
the greater part of the season will flourish under the shade 
of Melons and Cucumbers; but we do not recommend that the 
plants remain in such a situation the whole season, or they 
would not bloom satisfactorily. A few details of our system 
of growing this useful plant may be useful to some readers. 
The plants are propagated in March and April; they root 
freely and quickly from cuttings of the soft young wood, and 
should be placed in a temperature of 65°, and shaded from 
the sun. They can either be inserted singly in small pots or 
eight or nine ina5-inch pot. The former plan we prefer, for, 
the spring being a busy season of the’ year, if a number of 
cuttings are inserted together they are liable to remain too 
long and receive a check when separated. When the small 
pots are full of roots the plants are shifted as they require it 
until they are placed in 5 and 6-inch pots—this size being large 
enough for our purpose—using rich fibry loam, a seventh of 
well-decomposed manure, and sufficient sand to make the whole 
porous, as the plants require liberal supplies of water in all 
stages of their growth. 
Being of upright habit old plants require to be cut back into 
the hard wood to cause them to break freely. When so treated 
they produce young shoots freely, six to ten of which may be 
left for flowering on plantsin 6-inch pots. The growths should 
not be stopped after August. We remove our plants from the 
Melon house about the end of July or beginning of August 
and place themin cool frames, keeping them close for a time ; 
there they obtain more air and light than in the house, yet 
they are benefited by slight shace during the hottest part of 
the day. They are well syringed morning and afternoon, 
closing the frames early so that the sun raises the temperature 
considerably. ‘There they remain until the end of September, 
when they are removed to a house and placed as near to the 
glass as possible, where the temperature can be kept from 55° 
to 60° at night. After this their flower spikes soon appear : the 
plants are then liberally supplied with liquid manure. 
One important point of culture is not to starve the plants 
while growing. If the growth show signs of being short- 
jointed it at once indicates that more heat is needed ; this is 
during the time they are in cool frames. If the wood presents 
a stunted appearance the flower spikes are very short com- 
pared with those on plants more liberally treated. If well 
grown the plants produce small flower spikes for 1 foot or 
18 inches down the stem, independently of the principal spike 
at the ends of the shoots. 
Thrips and red spider are two enemies which attack them, 
but if the plants are kept growing freely and the syringe is well 
used the insects will do little or no injury—WM, BARDNEY, 
Norris Green, West Derby. 
GROWING GRAPES IN COOL HOUSES. 
I VENTURE to remark that the ripening, not only of early 
but of second early, varieties of Grapes in cool houses has never 
been doubted by experienced Grape-growers. How could it 
be when it is well known that Grapes ripen out of doors in 
England as far north as the midland counties, and occasion- 
ally even farther north? A very slight rise in the mean tem- 
perature of this country will, it is well known, bring even our 
later kinds of Grapes to perfection, and with the aid of a glass 
house alone no one should have any difficulty in economising 
the natural heat to that extent; but the question is, Is it 
advisable to dispense with fire heat altogether ? 
I am not an advocate for artificial heat, and I dispense with 
it whenever I can do so with safety, but I confess the atmo- 
sphere of a cold glass house does not appear to me to be con- 
genial to the Vine. 
an open wall. 
I never tried to ripen Grapes without fire heat, but I have 
seen them ripened often enough, both in the north and south, 
in cool houses, in greenhouses, and such like structures, but the 
success as a rule was not of an encouraging kind, 
That terrible scourge mildew is the bane of cool houses; 
the damp muggy atmosphere generated in a cool house during 
cold weather is just the very condition necessary to produce 
it. JI remember, a number of years ago, being told by a well- 
known London nurseryman who grew Grapes on the roof of his 
show house next the street, and which was never fired except to 
exclude frost, that he had no difficulty in haying good crops of 
fruit, but they were always ruined by mildew. It was in July 
when I saw the Vines; a more distressing example of mildew 
Inevyer saw, and I put it down to nothing else but the cold 
I would much rather have the Vines on |, 
muggy atmosphere of the house, reckoning from what I had 
seen of the disease elsewhere, Therefore, while not attempt- 
ing to dissuade your readers from trying the “cool system” 
(for the saying in fuel is a great consideration) I would advise 
them to prepare for emergencies by haying hot-water pipes in 
the vineries to be used if needful.—J. 8. 
PRUNING AND TRAINING WALL TREES. 
ALTHOUGH it may not contribute to the fruitfulness of the 
trees whether they are trained with the branches straight or 
curved in zigzag fashion, yet a well-trained tree is an orna- 
ment, and ornament combined with fruitfulness should be the 
aim of the cultivator. The operation of pruning and nailing 
trees is often put off until midwinter (January onwards), 
which is neither suitable for the trees nor comfortable for the 
workmen. The work cannot now be done too soon. 
In pruning Apricots any long bare branches should be cut 
clean out, not retaining more branches than can be trained-in 
without crowding, it being a common practice in Apricot cul- 
ture to lay in an excess of young wood; the trees are then 
often only so many bare shoots with a few fruit buds at the 
end. The barest of these should be removed and the young 
growths spread out, so as to induce young fruitful wood and 
the formation of spurs. All young shoots should be trained in 
their full length, forerights cut back to within an inch of their 
base, and the short stubby shoots or spurs not shortened, the 
object being to keep the trees well furnished with spurs and 
young bearing wood as close to the wall as practicable. This 
will necessitate the renailing of the trees, a practice far too 
uncommon, and the re-arrangement of the branches, which 
often become bound by the shreds, the branches also growing 
round the nails, and gumming results. 
Plums and Cherries produce fruit from spurs from the main 
branches, which are usually trained a foot apart. It is only 
necessary to cut back any wood growths to within an inch of 
the base and retain those 1 to 2 inches in length, these being 
mostly studded with bloom buds with a wood bud at the apex. 
Old trees are improved by a good thinning of the’ spurs, never 
losing an opportunity of replacing an old long spur by cutting 
back to growth nearer the base ; but avoid anything like 
wholesale reduction, as that may not only reduce the prospect 
of next year’s crop, but induce a quantity of spray difficult of 
being restrained. The thinning and shortening of the spurs 
must therefore be moderate. 
Pears require to haye all the wood shoots cut back closely, 
but any that have been stopped and have not pushed more 
than an inch or so of fresh growth may be retained, always 
presuming they are not more than that length from the branch 
they originate from. The spurs must not be touched, except 
they are much grown from the wall and crowded, when a 
judicious shortening and thinning is advisable. All exten- 
sions should be trained-in their full length, but the leaders 
must be cut back to 12 or 13 inches, so as to originate shoots 
at the proper distance apart. If the trees are not unnailed 
examine the shredsand nails, making sure that no branches are 
held too tightly and that the nails are not likely to injure them. 
If the trees show any signs of enfeeblement remove the soil 
down to the roots, picking it from among them with a fork, 
and replace with fresh turfy loam, with a fourth of well- 
decayed manure added and a sprinkling of half-inch bones 
(about a twentieth part), and if the soil be deficient in cal- 
careous matter add a tenth part of old mortar rubbish or chalk 
well incorporated, the roots being laid in it and the soil made 
tolerably firm. If a good watering is given with liquid 
manure the trees will start all the more strongly in spring. 
Tf, on the other hand, there are more wood than fruit buds, bare 
the roots and sever some of the longest, retaining the fibres, 
covering them with the compost above named, omitting the 
manure, and giving a good watering.—A. G. P. 
EXHIBITING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Mr. TUNNINGTON’S letter on page 426 reminds me of the 
old proverb— If you goto Rome do the same as the Romans.” 
There is not, in my opinion, anything wrong in an exhibitor 
arranging his flowers on papers, but a dozen flowers so set up 
among hundreds without papers haye a conspicuous appear- 
ance, and the stand alluded to at the Westminster Aquarium, 
to use a mild term, looked extremely unattractive. This was 
in part because the blooms were rough and of various sizes, 
and partly, perhaps, on account of the paper collars. No one, 
