422 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 16, 1876. 



since that time his interest has hardly ever flagged in the cul- 

 ture of the Vine. 



During the past season Mr. Bell has grafted some of the late 

 sorts on to Black Hamburgh stocks, with the view of employ- 

 ing one of the houses for winter-eropping purposes, introduc- 

 ing also some newer kinds of Grapes. In this grafting he has 

 been very successful, as only two out of above fifty grafts have 

 failed. 



I have seen many good crops of Grapes, but I never 

 witnessed such an extraordinary weight of fine fuit as were 

 hanging in these houses. The Hambnrghs wanted a little 

 more colour to make them perfect, but the late sorts were all 

 that could be desired — good-sized bunches, large berries, and 

 well coloured. As proof of what I say in regard to such 

 enormous crops, I may instance that out of one span-roofed 

 house 40 feet long Mr. Bell has this season cut over 730 lbs. 

 weight of Grapes. 



The borders of these vineries have been all thoroughly 

 drained — that is, they have a good rubble bottom, with ordi- 

 nary drain pipes to carry away the water. They are raised 

 above the level of the ground, and are composed of turf taken 

 from a field near the garden, and as it was rather a heavy loam 

 it was well mixed with lime rubbish, bones, charcoal, &c. 

 Mr. Bell is a great advocate for liquid manure, and he has 

 great faith in a chaDge of food for the Vine. I may add that 

 the owner of these Vines himself does all the principal work 

 that they require, so that he is in the real sense of the term 

 an amateur Grape-grower. My motive for writing this is 

 to stimulate others to do the like, as I am certain that 

 Grape-growing if well conducted will repay for any amount of 

 trouble and expense that may be incurred in making a be- 

 ginning ; and, in addition to mere profit, there is pleasure in 

 Grape-growing. I know it is a great source of enjoyment to 

 Mr. Bell when he is relieved from the more pressing duties in 

 connection with his business to again visit his favouriteE — the 

 Vines. 



In conclusion I must admit that I have gained a wrinkle or 

 two from seeing Mr. Bell's Grapes, and also from corre- 

 spondence that I have had with him, a correspondence arising 

 out of an article in the Journal, and I have no doubt but that 

 more will yet be heard of Mr. Bell's success as a Grape-grower. 

 — James Dickson, Arkleton, Langholm. 



THE ROYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 

 On the 8 th inst., as the result of long negotiation and much 

 correspondence, some members of the committee of debenture- 

 holders of the Royal Horticultural Society waited upon the 

 Council of that body at South Kensington with a view to dis- 

 cussion, and if possible, the arrangement of their claims upon 

 the Society or the Exhibition Commissioners of 1851. Mr. 

 De Castro, the Hon. Secretary of the debenture-holders' com- 

 mittee, was present with the members. The position of the 

 debenture-holders is, that under the agreements between the 

 two contracting parties — the Royal Horticultural Society and 

 the Royal Commissioners — they lent £50,000 to be expended on 

 the Commissioners' property in making an ornamental garden 

 at South Kensington, the Commissioners expending the same 

 amount in enclosing it with arcades. In August last Lord 

 Aberdare, the President of the Society, announced at a meeting 

 of the debenture-holders, that in consequence of the inability 

 of the Council to maintain the Society as a paying concern at 

 South Kensington, the security of the debenture-holders was 

 in a perilous position. Subsequently, when applied to by the 

 committee of debenture-holders, the Royal Commissioners 

 refused to negotiate with them save through the Council of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society. Nevertheless, the debenture- 

 holders contended that they advanced their money in the 

 belief that they had the joint security of the Royal Commis- 

 sioners and the Society. A few days ago the Royal Commis- 

 sioners addressed a letter to Dr. Hogg, the Hon. Secretary to 

 the Council of the Society, offering to give power to their own 

 committee of inquiry to endeavour to arrive at some arrange- 

 ment with the Society, under which the lease of the Horticul- 

 tural Gardens at South Kensington should be terminated on 

 the payment of a given sum to the debenture-holders. Dr. 

 Hogg communicated this offer to the debenture-holders' com- 

 mittee, and the latter, with some debenture-holders, met 

 yesterday morning to consider it, the offer of the Royal Com- 

 missioners being, it is understood, less than 10s. in the pound. 

 Some of the debenture-holders had expressed themselves, it 

 appears, determined to stand out for at least 10s. in the pound, 



while a very small number thought 20s. in the pound ought to 

 be paid them. But it was stated that for this amount the 

 Commissioners were not liable, for if the Society should " last 

 out" its lease up to 1892, with the still overhanging debenture 

 debt of £50,000, the Royal Commissioners would only have to 

 pay one-half the amount. The debenture-holders' committee 

 met the Council of the Society at two o'clock yesterday, end 

 after an hour and a half's discussion the committee declared 

 the offer of the Commissioners was not satisfactory, and the 

 resolution come to was that the committee should draw up a 

 statement and submit it to a general meeting of the debenture- 

 holders to be called in a week or two. The conference had 

 no result but that, and in the meantime it is taken as inevit- 

 able that at the end of the year the Gardens at South Ken- 

 sington must pass out of the hands of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, as there are no funds either to keep them up or pay 

 the rent to the Commissioners. — {Times.) 



WELLINGTONIA GIGANTEA vae. PEHDULA. 

 This is the second variety that has occurred of the " Mam- 

 moth Tree" of California. The other variety is Vellingtonia 



Fig. 63. 



gigantea variegate, of which many of the branchlets are of 

 a pale straw colour. Of the variety of which we publish a 

 woodcut, Messrs. Little & Ballantyne write to us that "It is 

 a chance production, which appeared among a lot of seedlings 

 six years ago ;" and they add that " all who see it admit it 

 to be perfectly unique. At this time we know of no similar 

 tree." 



LATE EOSES. 



Anything about Roses emanating from Mr. Paul needs no 



confirmation; but it may possibly interest some of the maDy 



readers of our Journal, especially now we are all taking stock 



of what we have and what we want in Roses, to hear that 



