August 17, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



135 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 





Average 













Clock 



Day 



ol 



of 



AUGUST 17—23, 1876. 



Temperature near 





Sets. 









before 



01 



Month 



Week. 





London. 













Sun. 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m- 



h. m. 



Days. 



m. s. 





17 



Th 



Ledbury Show. 



72.7 



50.1 



61.4 



4 51 



7 17 



1 17 



6 42 



27 



3 45 



230 



18 



P 



Norton (Stockton-on-Tees) Show. 



73.2 



50.7 



62.0 



4 52 



7 14 



2 50 



7 7 



28 



8 82 



231 



19 



B 



Mirfield Show. 



73.1 



49 2 



61.2 



4 54 



7 12 



4 24 



7 24 



O 



3 19 



232 



20 



Sun 



10 Sunday, aeteb Tbinitt. 



72.8 



506 



61.7 



4 56 



7 10 



5 55 



7 88 



1 



S 5 



233 



21 



M 





72.6 



49-7 



61.2 



4 57 



7 8 



7 21 



7 50 



2 



2 50 



234 



22 



Tu 



Calne, Newbury, and Bawtry Shows. 



71.6 



49.7 



55.6 



4 59 



7 6 



8 45 



8 1 



3 



2 35 



235 



23 



W 



Burton-on-Trent, Dorchester, and Chepstow Shows. 



71.8 



49.0 



60.4 



5 



7 4 



10 6 



8 14 



4 



2 20 



236 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years 



the average day temperature of the week is 72.5 3 ; and its night temperature 



49.8 3 . 











PLANTING VINES. 



INES are planted in nearly every month of 

 the year. Some approve of plantingin early 

 spring ; others in summer and autumn. 

 Success to a certain extent may be secured 

 at all times, but there are some periods pre- 

 ferable to others. Planting in spring before 

 growth begins, is perhaps the system most 

 practised. Both root and branch are then 

 in an inactive state, and after planting it 

 often takes a considerable time before the 

 Vines are fully started into growth. Very frequently when 

 they do begin to grow it is very irregular. One will start 

 a few buds at the bottom of the cane, another will push 

 from tbe extreme end, and a third may grow freely from 

 every eye. From this it would appear tbat it all depends 

 on how the roots start into action. 'Where the whole 

 roots start into growth vigorously robust top growth soon 

 follows ; but, on the otber hand, where only a few of the 

 roots live and- the others perish, as is not unfrequently 

 the case, weak and imperfect leaf and wood develop- 

 ment is the result. Of course there are instances where 

 housefuls of spring-planted Vines do well, but cases oppo- 

 site to this could be mentioned. 



May is th9 month when Vines are generally planted in 

 a " growing state." The Vines are propagated from eyes 

 in February, and grown on until they have a stem a 

 number of feet in length. At this stage the roots are 

 generally in a free-growing condition, and when planted 

 carefully growth continues without ever receiving the 

 slightest check. By autumn the roots have become esta- 

 blished in the border, and when heat is applied the 

 following spring every root is ready to bagin action with- 

 out having to settle or find its way into a place. Vines 

 treated in this way are generally as far forward by the 

 end of the first season aa spring-planted Vines are by 

 the end of the second season. The present is also an 

 excellent time to plant Vines. Vines which were pro- 

 pagated from eyes in spring will have been stopped long 

 before this, and the lateral growths will be growing 

 freely. At this time the roots are nearly as active as in 

 spring, and to turn them out of the pots and plant them 

 now the roots push into the border and become esta- 

 blished before growth ceases. Two vineries which were 

 planted the third week in August last year have made 

 most satisfactory progress this season. The varieties are 

 chiefly the Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alexandria, Lady 

 Downe's Seedling, Gros Oolman, Alicante, and others. 

 Golden Queen, although a weak cane when planted, is 

 one of the strongest now. Duke of Buccleuch (two canes 

 from a root) has been stopped at the top of the house 

 long ago, and is now putting out lateral growths as strong 

 as many leading rods. 



After they were planted a few fresh leaves formed on 

 each shoot before ripening off. The lateral shoots were 

 pruned-in close to the main stem about midwinter, and 

 the principal canes were left their full length. When 

 they were tied to the wires, instead of taking them straight 

 No. 80S.— Vol. XXXI., New Sebtes. 



up, each cane was turned off in a slanting direction at 

 about 2 feet from the ground. In spring every bud started 

 into growth without any trouble. The two shoots nearest 

 the bend of the cane were trained up as rods for next 

 year, and each shoot along the slanting part of the cane 

 was stopped when about a foot long. Bunches of fruit 

 appeared on many of them, and from two to five were left 

 on each cane. These are ripe and in good condition, and 

 are being cut now. The old. wood up to where the top 

 leading shoot branches away has swelled four times the 

 thickness it was last year, but beyond this shoot it has 

 not thickened an eighth part of an inch. Although the 

 fruit has swelled as on ordinary Vines, the sap appears 

 to have been drained into the leading shoots. 



All Vines that I have to deal with in future will be 

 treated in this way. Planting in autnnin when the wood 

 and leaves have become well hardened there is little 

 danger of the Vines receiving a check ; whereas in spring 

 or early in summer, if they are subjected to the least 

 cold or anything of that sort it may spoil their whole 

 season's progress. By planting now, there are more roots 

 to disentangle than earlier in the season. The long roots 

 should be laid straight out, and none of the small fibres 

 must be broken. I do not plant deeper than will just 

 keep the top of the ball under the soil. In autumn a 

 thorough watering to settle the roots is found sufficient, 

 but I never allow the soil to become dust-dry about the 

 roots throughout the winter, and with plenty of drainage 

 underneath Vines cannot have too much water in sum- 

 mer. — Vine-Ghowbe. 



LESSONS OF THE SEASON.— No. 2. 



SPRING. 



In watching the changes of the seasons and in striving 

 to leam the lessons which they teach, one cannot fail to be 

 strongly impressed with the intimate relation of season 

 with season and the important effect of one upon another. 

 A cold spring with its sluggish sap-action, and tardy, often 

 weakly, growth is more than counterbalanced by the addi- 

 tional vigour of the ensuing midsummer shoot ; the value 

 of the stunted but thoroughly matured growth of a hot 

 dry summer is not fully appreciated till its clouds of blos- 

 som and clusters of fruit render thinning necessary in the 

 following season. The alternating clouds and Bunshine 

 of autumn and the frost and snow of winter are all causes 

 of certain future effects — primary sources of good or evil 

 to come. A knowledge of these facts renders us more 

 keenly alive to the equally important one — that almost 

 everything we do is for a future time and not for the 

 immediate present. 



To apply this reasoning let us take the Potato : as we 

 lift the crop the seed is selected and not thrown in heaps, 

 but is at once laid carefully on end upon shelves in single 

 layers with the eyes uppermost, our present object being 

 to prevent premature sprouting ; our future one to induce 

 such a slow and vigorous development of the sprouts that 

 planting need not be hurried on nor done at all till the 

 soil is in a suitable condition. This spring the seed of the 



No. 1455.— Vol. LVL, Old Series. 



