380 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 2, 1876" 



withheld syringing as soon as the bunches showed signs of 

 coining into flower, and I must confess that a decided im- 

 provement resulted in the bloom and finish of the Grapes. 



I have now the means of heating the water and liquids that 

 I feed with, which is a great advantage ; and it may be well to 

 explain that I procured an old engine boiler holding about four 

 Lundred gallons of water, and erected it over the furnace at 

 the back of the vineries, considerably above the level, so as to 

 have a good pressure. As soon as the liquid is of the desired 

 heat, which I vary at different stages of the Vine's growth, I 

 then screw on the hose, keep the fire going gently, so as to 

 bave the water at about the same heat, as I have a supply pipe 

 running cold water in as fast as the warmed water runs out. 

 By this mode of procedure one man can with ease give the 

 borders a good soaking in half a day, and to greater advantage 

 than by the old system of carrying it in water-pots ; or, in 

 other words, one man will do the work of three, which is no 

 slight consideration, besides the water being much better for 

 the growth of the Vines than are cold applications. Watering 

 the inside borders with warm water also saves firing for several 

 days, and the heat from the soil is more natural than that 

 given off by hot-water pipes ; also by this process guano and 

 other ingredients are more thoroughly dissolved, and prepared 

 as it were for the food of the Vines. 



I am fully convinced that the majority of Vine borders are 

 made up with too rich soil. I do not think that they should be 

 all of the same compound — that is, I would prefer having them 

 richer on the top than at the bottom, so as to keep the roots 

 near the surface, hence my reasons for giving a little fresh 

 compost every year. By having a border that is not too rich 

 stimulants can be applied in a liquid state more freely, and 

 that at a time when the Vines require assistance, and no doubt 

 the food of the Vine is the most directly available when in a 

 fluid state, hence a healthy root-action should be maintained, 

 which may be done by studying the condition and requirements 

 of the Vines. 



I have during the past season used various liquids with very 

 satisfactory results, such as manure water taken from the farm- 

 yard where there are horses, pigs, and cows ; guano water, 

 soot water, and nitrate of soda. With the latter I am very 

 careful, as it is a very powerful stimulant towards accelerating 

 the growth of Vines. — Jaues Dickson, Arkleton. 



HARDY PLANTS FOR CARPET BEDDING. 



I am glad to see that carpet bedding is takiog a new turn, 

 and that hardy plants are largely employed, and I should not 

 be sorry to see it entirely limited to this class of plants ; at all 

 events a few beds might be devoted to them in every garden 

 where carpet bedding is adopted. ' 



In a general way the London parks and other public gardens 

 present us with some of the best examples of flower gardening, 

 but they are mostly of the class of showy plants of certain 

 popular kinds ; new, and especially hardy, plants being rarely 

 met with. The latter are more likely to be forthcoming in 

 country gardens where attention has been paid to alpine and 

 hardy herbaceous plants, and it is surprising what good results 

 can be obtained by the use of them alone. 



In a very fine garden I visited a year or two ago in Dorsetshire 

 there was an Italian garden glowing in all the colours of the 

 rainbow, a series of large beds being well filled with the most 

 fashionable and popular plants of the day ; but a little way 

 from them was a large ciroular bed arranged in a pleasing 

 design with alpine and other low-growing plants, all hardy and 

 thriving in the greatest luxuriance, and I was told it was more 

 admired than the others with their glittering display. In the 

 bed alluded to were many species of Saxifrage, Sedum, Semper- 

 vivum, and other low-growing plants displaying various forms 

 of growth, and a very good contrast was made with the various 

 ahades of green and white, from the dense emerald green of 

 Saxifragra caaspitosa and S. hirta to the soft grey of some of 

 the Sedums and Sempervivums and the white of Cerastium 

 tomentosum, as well as all the neutral colours and pleasing 

 forms of the various silver-grey Saxifrages, &o. 



Since writing the above 1 see in a recent article attention is 

 called to two hardy plants that are said to be adapted for carpet 

 bedding, one of them being a Pennyroyal. This reminds me of 

 a plant I had in use some half-dozen years ago for a similar 

 purpose. I called attention to it at the time, and have seen 

 no reason to depart from the good opinion I then held of it as 

 a neat, dwarf, hardy plant of much beauty. It is a Thyme 

 instead of a Mint, Thymus (angustifoliuB) micans. It is per- 



fectly hardy, and better adapted for groundwork or covering a 

 large space than for narrow lines, but it could easily be made 

 to confine itself to the latter. It is a very neat-growing plan*, 

 and deserving of a place in every collection of alpine plants. 

 Sedum Lydium used with me to have a brown, almost red, 

 appearance; and it would appear to be still prone to assume 

 that colour. The prettiest green cushion plant of years gone 

 by was Saxifraga Standishii, an improved form of S. cffispitosa, 

 it being perhaps the prettiest green to be met with in autumn 

 and winter ; it is also suitable for summer if its flower stems 

 are removed. I hope due attention will be paid to plants of 

 this class by those having the means of doing so, as their 

 diversity of form and other features entitle them to as much 

 attention as is now devoted to Ferns. — J. Robson. 



THE AMATEURS' UNIVERSAL HAND AND 

 "WHEEL BARROW. 



The inventor of this barrow states that " all who have 

 gardens and greenhouses and cannot afford the expensive 

 luxuries of gardeners, and all who live some little distance 

 from a railway station and are not able to keep a pony and 

 trap, and cannot hire a conveyance, will find that the posses- 

 sion of such a barrow as here described and figured is a great 

 acquisition, and after a short use almost a necessity." 



Fig. 54 is an ordinary handbarrow, the use of which in con- 

 veying plants to and from greenhouses and at flower shows has 

 ever been acknowledged ; but as this necessitated the presence 

 of a second person, which was often inconvenient to say no 



Fig. 54. 



more, a stout bicycle wheel (2 feet 10i inches high) was added, 

 also a pair of legs, all adjustable with the greatest ease, and 

 then placing a shallow box (sides 4 or 5 inches high) upon the 

 bed of the barrow. This — fitting into iron sockets, and being 

 held firm with two pins attached to the tray, and going through 

 the bed of the framework, and secured on the other side by 



Fig. 55. 



two nuts — forms fig. 55, and is for preventing flower pots from 

 falling off. Let anyone wheel or two persons carry a few dozen 

 plants in thumb pots without these sides over uneven ground 

 and he will quickly perceive the advantage. 

 Fig. 56.— This is a deep box fitted to the framework exactly 



Fig. 56. 



in the same way as the ehallow one, the deep sides being most 

 useful for the removal of grass or leaves from a lawn. 



