228 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 24, 1863. 



Christmas, as the chances would have heen more in your favour. 

 However, the fact that the buds will soon burst of themselves is 

 not so much against you as at first sight would appear, as that 

 will cause growth to take place all the sooner, and therefore you 

 will only have to assist Nature in her operations. Not a day, 

 therefore, should be lost. The first thing to do is to secure the 

 head of the Vine and keep it as cool as possible. Then begin in 

 front of the Vine-roots, and dig out a trench deeper than you 

 expect the roots to reach. With a pick carefully pull down the 

 soil and throw it behind you ; and as you come to the roots save 

 them, carefully tracing them right up to the bole or stem, and 

 wrapping the roots as you disentangle them into cloths or mats, 

 to keep the fibres you can save from being dried and killed by 

 the cold air. This is no such difficult job as it would seem 

 from our description to be. 



Having taken up and removed the Vine to its place, the 

 first object is to put the head into the desired position, and 

 the second is to lay out and .plant the roots. In such a case 

 we would depart from the above simple mode of making a 

 border, and 6 inches below the place we intended for the roots 

 we would incorporate 2 or 3 inches of freBh horse-droppings if 

 they could be found, so as to yield a mild gentle heat as well as 

 enriching qualities. Place a couple of inches of fresh light soil 

 over that compost, and on this lay out the rootB regularly, 

 packing them nicely, and cover with a couple of inches of soil. 

 Then water moderately, so as to damp the roots, with water at 

 about 140°, and as soon as settled cover with 5 inches more of 

 soil. When that is done place 15 inches of hot fermenting 

 material over the border, and, if possible, thatch the border, or 

 use hurdles or cloth, to throw off the cold rains. If the job is 

 thus done, a thermometer sunk 6 inches in the border would 

 most likely show a temperature of from 75° to 80°, which would 

 furnish a stimulus to root-action. The roots thus attended to, 

 the next point is to keep the head of the Vine as cool as possible 

 by moistening the head and keeping it Bhaded from the sun, so 

 that roots may be forming in the border before the buds are 

 much advanced. In this will consist the Buccess. Without 

 such care the old Vine had better be left alone.— R. Pish. 



CAPE BULBS. 



A ooeeespondent, writing from Liverpool, asks our advice 

 on the management of the bulbs just received from the Cape of 

 Good Hope : — Antholyza prsealta (hardy) ; Amaryllis revoluta ; 

 Agapanthus major (greenhouse) ; Albuca filifolia (greenhouse) ; 

 Brunsvigia falcata (greenhouse) ; B. eiliaris (greenhouse) ; Calla 

 sethiopica (greenhouse) ; Disagrandiflora (greenhouse) ; D. bar- 

 bata ; D. purpurea ; Ba'oiana rubra (greenhouse) ; B. purpurea 

 (greenhouse) ; B. rubrocyanea (greenhouse) ; B. mixed ; B. vil- 

 losa (greenhouse) ; Gladiolus blandus ; G. natalensis (green- 

 house) ; G. hirsutus (greenhouse) ; Hsemanthus tigrinus ; Hes- 

 perantha oicnamomea (greenhouse) ; Hypoxia flava ; GeiBso- 

 rhiza rochensis ; G. purpurea ; Satyrium fragrans ; S. cucul- 

 latum (greenhouse) ; Melanthium (greenhouse) ; Sparaxis var. ; 

 S. bieolor (greenhouse) ; S. purpurea ; S. grandiflora (green- 

 house) ; Ornithogalum caudatum (greenhouse) ; Ixia purpurea ; 

 I. eiliaris ; I. var. ; I. maculata (greenhouse) ; I. viridiflora 

 (greenhouse) ; I. versicolor ; I. flava (greenhouse) ; I. fragrans ; 

 Lachenalia purpurea (greenhouse) j L. purpurea var. ; L. alba ; 

 L. pendula (greenhouse) ; L. pendula var. ; Trichonema cru- 

 eiatum; Oxalis rosea (greenhouse) ; O. versicolor (greenhouse) ; 

 O. alba major ; O. alba minor ; Nerine sarniensis (greenhouse) ; 

 Tritonia crocata (greenhouse) ; T. feneBtrata (greenhouse) ; 

 Watsonia plantaginea (greenhouse) ; W. pi'Eecox ; W. rosea 

 major ; W. rosea minor ; W. Meriana ; Moraea bieolor ; 

 Watsonia splendens ; Wurmbea spicata ; Anomatheca juncea 

 (greenhouse) ; Babiana flava ; B. plicata (greenhouse) ; Tri- 

 tonia crispa (greenhouse) ; T. crisps var. ; Lapeyrousia purpurea 

 (greenhouse) ; Ornithogalum niveum (greenhouse) . 



In reply to the inquiry of our correspondent, we may say 

 that most of the Ixias, Sparaxis, and Antholyzas are hardy, and 

 might be planted out into a warm border after being nursed 

 awhile in a hotbed and then in a cold frame. This nursing in 

 pots, we expect, will be necessary in order to compensate in 

 some measure for the injuries sustained in the journey. Most 

 of the other bulbs will require a greenhouse, especially such as 

 the Watsonias, Hsemanthus, and others, that, iris-like, do not 

 form ripened bulbs, the foliage never entirely dying down. 

 Such bulbs as Amaryllises, Oxalis, &c., which ripen and 



require a period of rest, will nevertheless benefit much by a 

 considerable addition of heat at the growing time j for, though 

 most of Cape plants will flourish and do pretty well in our 

 greenhouses, most of them do better when subjected to the 

 heat of the stove or hotbed at one time, and they will stand 

 several degrees of frost at another. While, therefore, the bulbs 

 are growing it would be better to keep them in a hotbed, re- 

 moving them to a cooler place when they show flower ; and 

 when at rest they may be placed out of doors altogether. Those 

 acquainted with the extremes of temperature experienced at the 

 Cape will easily understand this. It would not, however, be 

 advisable to suddenly subject bulbs and pseudo-bulbs recently 

 unpacked after a long confinement to great heat. Rather let 

 them be all potted in sandy peat, and placed first under a dark 

 roof in a cool place, gradually increasing heat and light as the 

 plants begin to grow. 



FRUIT-TEEE BOEDEKS CEOPPED WITH 

 VEGETABLES. 



The following inquiries relating to this very important sub- 

 ject being of a similar kind to many others we receive, we have 

 called the attention of one of our regular correspondents to the 

 matter, and subjoin his remarks, together with that of the querist, 

 whose oase is far from being an isolated one : — 



" The garden in my oharge is divided into four squares, with 

 wire trellises round each square, on which are trained Apples, 

 Pears, and Cherries, with a flower-border 5 feet wide between 

 the trees and walk. Our wall-borders are 21 feet wide, with a 

 fall of from 18 inches to 2| feet, which are planted thus : — Half 

 of south wall Peaches, the other half Pears ; north wall, Plums ; 

 west wall, Cherries ; east wall, Pears. 



" The borders are entirely devoted to the growth of vegetables, 

 except the west- wall border, which is uuder Strawberries. 



"I think vegetables are highly injurious to trees, owing to 

 spade-work being necessary in vegetable culture. 



"I was thinking of planting two rows of fruit trees on each 

 border — that is, Pears on the south and east, Plums on the 

 north, and Cherries on the west, and training all on trellises 

 having a fall to the walk, so that neither the front trellises 

 would shade the back nor the back trellis would shade the wall 

 trees ; also, to have a flower-border in front to correspond with 

 the other Bide of the walk. The fruit trees round the squares 

 are upright espaliers about 5 feet high. — S. H." 



[So far from your case being a solitary one of being obliged to 

 crop your fruit-wall borders with vegetables, I firmly believe 

 that ninety-nine out of every hundred are in the same predica- 

 ment. That it is hurtful to the fruit trees I believe no one will 

 deny ; but the anxiety to have Peas a few days sooner, or a 

 greater certainty of Cauliflowers standing the winter well, or to 

 have Dwarf Kidney Beans in good time, or, in fact, the many 

 things required by the household in sufficient abundance in 

 season and out of Beason, induces us all to crop borders that 

 ought to be left alone ; and that very often to the permanent 

 injury of the Peach and other trees, whose roots ought to have 

 unmolested possession of the border. This, however, is one of 

 those unfortunate choices between difficulties which occur in 

 all callings, and is solved in accordance with the individual 

 requirements of each place. If a crop of Potatoes, Peas a few 

 days sooner, and the same with Cauliflowers, Lettuce, and the 

 like be of importance equal to that ox good Peaches and Necta- 

 rines, the preference given to the former must not be found fault 

 with. If, however, fruit be most wanted, some sacrifice of the 

 vegetables must be made, or a sort of compromise entered into. 

 The last-named measure is that most generally adopted, although 

 even in that vegetables are often allowed to usurp more than 

 their just share of space, and our correspondent seems disposed 

 to enter into a compromise when he suggests occupying the wall- 

 border by trellises for training fruit trees of other kinds. In 

 many cases, however, this would be objected to ; and as vege- 

 tables must be had, it is the duty of the manager to contrive to 

 injure the wall trees as little as possible in the endeavour to 

 secure both fruit and vegetables. This is often done, care being 

 taken not to crop the ground too heavily, and to manure accord- 

 ingly. It is, however, better to allot a space of 6 feet from the 

 wall to be kept free from all growth excepting that of the trees. 



Our correspondent's plan of having a trellis for trained trees, 

 instead of a vegetable-border, is not a new one. The late Mr. 



