December 28, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



557 



and Fulham. Putney Vale must be dismissed in the fewest 

 words possible. It is devoted almost entirely to Roses, for 

 which it was chosen from the strong nature of the soil. Some 

 idea of the extent of this branch of the business is gathered 

 from the fact that sixty thousand standard Briars are being 

 planted for next year's budding, special prices having been 

 given for stocks which are specially good. The boundary slip 

 around this nursery is planted with Planes, Limes, and weep- 

 ing trees. There are also collections of Pasonies and other her- 

 baceous plants, but the body of the nursery (10 acres) is de- 

 voted wholly to Roses. 



Fulham. — This is not far from Chelsea, and is the depot for 

 fruit trees. Twenty acres of fruit trees, and evidently not one 

 too many. There are trees of all forms — standards trained and 

 untrained, pyramids, bushes, and cordons. There are many 

 vacancies, for the demand has been great ; but there are plenty 

 left, the policy being to grow in numbers sufficient to always 

 secure a supply. Strawberries are also grown here, every 

 variety being widely separated to prevent the chance of inter- 

 mixing. The nursery is sheltered with a belt of young Planes. 

 The demand for this, the " tree of trees " for towns, is very 

 great, and provision is made to meet it. There are sundry 

 glass structures — narrow houses for Oranges, Figs, &c, and a 

 noble orchard house erected by Dennis of Chelmsford — a 

 spacious and light structure, which grows Peach trees in pots 

 to perfection. 



Only one other feature of this nursery remains to be noticed, 

 but this an important one. A prominent department of the 

 business of the firm is the seed trade. All great firms dealing 

 in seeds do something more than sell them. They prove them 

 — prove not only their germinating properties, but their truth- 

 fulness to name and the quality of their produce. It is so here. 

 Everything sold is proved, a staff of men being specially set 

 apart for the work. Every stock is kept separate, and its 

 quality is determined. Adjacent to this nursery is the root 

 ground, where forty thousand crowns of Seakale and the same 

 number of Asparagus are grown and sold annually. 



Such is a sketch of the outlying branches of Messrs. Veitch's 

 business, a business every section of which is conducted by 

 men of proved competency, acting under the personal super- 

 vision of the active proprietors. — Visitor. 



LATE-HANGING GRAPES. 



In my greenhouse I have several rods of Black Hamburgh 

 Grapes, one of White Frontignan, one of Chasselas Napoleon 

 (so called), and two of Lady Downe's. All have borne good 

 crops this year. The Black Hamburghs have kept better than 

 in any preceding year (under a new gardener), and not a few 

 bunches are still hanging in exoellent condition. The Chasselas 

 Napoleon has also kept until now ; but many of the berries of 

 Lady Downe's are shrivelled and more or less disfigured with 

 a sort of dull green mould, not in the least like that found 

 on the few berries of the Black Hamburghs which have been 

 attacked. I am unable to account for this, and shall be glad 

 of information in order that I may guard against the recur- 

 rence of the mischief. I will state a few facts which may 

 possibly have a bearing on the matter. 



Towards the end of September I observed tiny drops of 

 moisture like dewdrops on some of the berries in the morning. 

 On calling the gardener's attention to this moisture he said the 

 drops were the result of cracks in the Grapes. In accordance 

 with some remarks which appeared in your Journal about that 

 time I suggested that he might have kept the house too close 

 at night. He now says the drops were only on a few of the 

 berries, whereas many of them are shrivelled and disfigured 

 by the dirty-looking mould. In summer, as a few of the 

 berries were spoilt by spot, the lights were limewaBhed. The 

 lime continued to adhere to the glass to the end of autumn, 

 and I think injuriously intercepted the sun's rays and retarded 

 the due ripening of the berries. Cracking is usually, I believe, 

 attributed to excess of moisture at the roots ; but the state of 

 the border (inside the house) suited the Black Hamburghs. 

 My impression is that the remedy against the " spot " unduly 

 retarded the ripening process ; but I cannot explain the con- 

 nection between this and the cracking and the shrivelled and 

 disfigured berries. 



The White Frontignan bore a good crop, and its leaves 

 seemed healthy, but most of the stems " shanked " before the 

 Grapes were ripe ; the shanking, moreover, occurred at a some- 

 what earlier stage than in previous years. I purpose cutting 

 the rod down and grafting it with some other white sort less 



difficult to manage, a sort with more flavour than Foster's 

 Seedling. I am in doubt whether to graft, insert an eye, or 

 plant a young Vine, and what Vine to have. I can give arti- 

 ficial heat. I shall be glad if some of your Vine-growing 

 correspondents would give me the benefit of their experience 

 and advice. — S. M. L. Cakin, The Close, Salisbury. 



JASMINUM SAMBAC FLORE-PLENO. 

 Mk. Abbey's notes on indoor early winter flowers were very 

 acceptable to me, as my chief want and desire is to have plenty 

 of indoor flowers to cut during November and December. 

 Many of the plants mentioned which I have not in my pos- 

 session I will have at once. One plant which he names, how- 

 ever, I am very familiar with, and that is the one which heads 

 this note. Of all flowering stove plants it is certainly the 

 most worthy I know, as it not only flowers in early winter, but 

 in every month of the year. Some time ago I had only one 

 plant of it, and I can hardly remember seeing it out of bloom; 

 and what is of equal importance the flowers are of great value, 

 for they are pure white in colour and as sweetly Bcented as any 

 of the Gardenias. In form the blooms are very like some of 

 the Bouvardias. When grown in pots the plant must be 

 trained to a trellis, but where cut flowers are the object it 

 Bhould be planted out and allowed to run in all directions. I 

 have grown it in nothing but peat and sand, but lately I have 

 tried a little decayed manure and loam in the mixture while 

 potting, and I am beginning to think this is the best kind of 

 compost to grow it in. — Amateub. 



THE DECORATION OF CHURCHES. 



It is of floral decoration that I am writing chiefly ; but at 

 the same time it might be well combined with a limited number 

 of evergreens in pots placed on either side of the chancel, and 

 the same may be done down the aisles and the transepts, and 

 they may not be out of place nearly in the centre of the church, 

 as it is here they will produce a good effect if ranging from 

 1£ to 3 or even i feet in height, and placed tastefully. This 

 I "think may do away with nailing, tying, and wiring wreaths 

 of evergreens to the walls and pillars and other places, which 

 looked most suitable as in the anoient practice ; but now in 

 the modern praotice I think more care and thought Bhould be 

 taken as to where driving of naila and looping of evergreen 

 wreaths so as to deface and hide the beautiful work of ancient 

 and modern carvers. 



I find most effective scarlet and white if mixed together with 

 taste, so as to form crosses, oircles, and triangles ; but whatever 

 the form may be they must be flat or nearly so, and of any size, 

 according to taste. For instance, if there be one vase only, I 

 find that a scarlet centre margined with white in a triangular 

 or pyramid form, backed up with Cypress or Juniper, with a 

 few fronds of Maiden-hair Fern (Adiantum cuneatum) mixed in 

 with them, has a good effect. The flowers used might be, for 

 the centre, scarlet Pelargoniums, margined with Empress of 

 India Chrysanthemum or ChristmaB Rose (Helleborus niger) ; 

 or the centre may be Bouvardia Hogarth, with margin of 

 B. Vreelandii, which are more lasting. The same may be said 

 of Ericas and Epacrises of their respective colours, and the 

 white Camellias mixed with the soarlet Bouvardia Hogarth; 

 or if only one colour is used take the white Camellia or 

 Christmas Rose set in the form of a cross, backed up with the 

 above if there is only one vase used. But if there are three 

 vases in use take for the centre one of the above, placing the 

 other two on either side, which may be put up so as to form a 

 white cross, with the corners (or groundwork) scarlet, and a 

 backing-up of Cypress or Juniper, with a few fronds of Maiden- 

 hair Fern. These look very effective ; but avoid using blues or 

 purples.- — W. Rowe, Gardener, Manor House, Histon. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 Few winter-flowering stove plants are more dazzling in 

 colour, not even Poinsettias, than Gesneeas, especially G. cin- 

 nabarina and G. exoniensis. The former is perhaps the most 

 UBeful, seeing that its flowers expand in a lower temperature, 

 and they are also more fiery in colour than those of G. exoni- 

 ensis. The foliage of both is of great substance, and is hand- 

 some from its plush-like appearance. Both are worthy of ex- 

 tensive cultivation where a temperature of 60° can be main- 

 tained. For flowering in winter the tubers require to be 

 potted in June. 



