August 31, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



191 



Wellingtonia gigantea half a mile long, about 10 or 12 feet 

 high, but they will never equal in beauty the splendid avenue 

 of Limes. — R. 



PYROLA ROTUNDLFOLIA. 



Our figure represents one of the most charming families of 

 dwarf-growing hardy plants in cultivation. They are by no 

 meanB a numerous race, 

 but it sometimes hap- 

 pens that the less in 

 number are the species 

 the greater is the in- 

 terest attaching to them. 

 The greater number of 

 these plants are natives 

 of Britain, while some 

 are from North America 

 and the Pyrenees ; but 

 no matter where they 

 are from, they form one 

 of the choicest groups of 

 plants that we possess. 

 Why they have remained 

 so long in background 

 and been excluded from 

 our rockeries and other 

 shaded situations is to 

 me incomprehensible. 

 Their evergreen pear- 

 shaped foliage is a suffi- 

 cient recommendation 

 for them , to say nothing 

 of their spikes of white 

 and other coloured flow- 

 ers. They are met with 

 in Bhaded and sheltered 

 alpine regions among 

 decaying vegetable mat- 

 ter. They are very ac- 

 commodating when tak- 

 en in hand for decora- 

 tive purposes, and they 

 are fine for exhibition 

 in the spring and sum- 

 mer. Afford them the 

 elements under which 

 they are found, and then 

 success is almost a cer- 

 tainty. 



They are admirable 

 plants for cool ferneries 

 under glass in the shade, 

 but they are impatient 

 of wet, and must be pro- 

 vided with efficient 

 drainage. A mixture of 

 peat, leaf soil, and coarse 

 grit is a suitable com- 

 post for them to grow 

 in, but with the best at- 

 tention we sometimes 

 have the reward of foli- 

 age only, or accompanied 

 with only very few flow- 

 ers, while at other times we are richly rewarded with a full 

 supply of beautiful flowers. They are charming flowers for 

 the bouquet and any other decorative purpose for which cut 

 flowers are adapted. 



They are increased by seed and division, which is best done 

 when the plants have done flowering. The kinds most gene- 

 rally met with are P. media, P. minor, P. rotundifolia, P. se- 

 cunda, and P. elliptica, but they are all worthy of culture, and 

 ought to have a place in all collections of rock and border 

 plants. — N. 



GRAPES AT KEDDLESTON HALL. 



Your correspondent " E. C." was perfectly right in last 



week's Journal when he said the Grapes of this place were very 



noteworthy. I saw them the other day, and I must say they 



are the most remarkable crop of Black Hamburgh Grapes I 



have ever seen. There are a good many vineries about the 

 place, but at present I will only notice two of them, or one in 

 particular. This one is 40 feet long by 8A in width. Sixteen 

 years ago it was planted with Peach trees. The border was 

 made to suit them with common garden soil mixed with a 

 quantity of decayed vegetable matter from the rubbish heap. 

 This border was only made 2 feet deep and 8h wide. Peaches 

 were planted on the back wall, and still grow and do well there. 



As the exposure is due 

 south it was found in- 

 tensely hot inside in the 

 summer time. To se- 

 cure a partial shade Mr. 

 Jackson the gardener 

 planted a Black Ham- 

 burgh Vine at the front 

 and in the centre of the 

 house. At first the canes 

 were trained along each 

 way from the centre to 

 the two ends of the 

 house, and when this 

 was accomplished a rod 

 was taken up each of 

 thell-feetrafters.which 

 are 9 in number. This 

 is the form of the Vine 

 at the present time. It 

 has invariably produced 

 and finished splendid 

 crops since it came into 

 a bearing state some 

 twelve years ago. Near- 

 ly every year there have 

 been bunches cut weigh- 

 ing over 6 lbs. This 

 year there are fifty 

 bunches on the Vine ; 

 one or two of them have 

 been cut which weighed 

 5 J lbs. each. About half 

 the number on the Vine 

 will reach this weight, 

 and the remainder will 

 at least run from 3 .} to 

 4 lbs. Altogether the 

 bunches must average 

 4 lbs. each, which brings 

 the entire crop on the 

 one Vine over 14 stones. 

 The bunches are all well 

 formed; the berries very 

 large, well coloured, and 

 not the remotest Bign of 

 Bhanking or any other 

 kind of disease about 

 them. The leaves, too, 

 are healthy and green 

 and of great substance. 



From the first to the 

 last the border is water- 

 ed with manure water 

 drained from rotten 

 dung. In the hot wea- 

 ther the border was co- 

 vered to the depth of a few inches with cut grass from the 

 lawn. No doubt the roots must have passed into the outside 

 border, which is 8 feet wide ; but this has no special treatment 

 for the benefit of the Vine, as it is cropped with Potatoes or 

 some other kind of vegetable annually. 



It may be as well to remark that the Vine is started slowly 

 into growth in March. There is only a flow-and-return 4-inch 

 pipe in the house, therefore a strong heat cannot be maintained 

 early in the season or in cold weather. The only time the 

 Vine is syringed is during the period it is in bloom. 



The other house to which I have referred is the same width, 

 but 45 feet in length. Peaches are also growing in this one, 

 and there are two Black Hamburgh Vines planted in the front. 

 They are trained in the same way as the single one. The 

 bunches in this house will average from 3 to 4 lbs., and they 

 are equally as well finished as those in the first house. The 

 treatment they receive in this house is precisely the same as 



Pteola eotdndifolia. 



