Anguat 17, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



117 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 



ot 



Month 



Week. 





Average Tempera- Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 





Moon's 



Clook 



before 



Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 





ture near London. 43 years. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Bets. 



Age. 









Day. 



Nisht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. 8. 





17 



Th 





72.7 



50.1 



61.4 



23 



49af4 



17af7 



44af5 



15af 8 



1 



3 56 



229 



18 



F 



Keighley Horticultural Show. 



73.2 



50.7 



62.0 



16 



51 4 



15 7 



69 fi 



36 8 



2 



3 43 



280 



19 



S 





73,1 



49.2 



61.2 



21 



52 4 



13 7 



15 8 



55 8 



3 



3 30 



231 



20 



Son 



11 Sunday after Trinitt. 



72.8 



50.6 



61.7 



2) 



53 4 ! 11 7 



31 9 



12 9 



4 



3 17 



232 



21 



M 



Twilight ends 9.29 p.m. 



72.6 



49.7 



61.2 



14 



55 4 



9 7 



50 10 



33 9 



o 



3 2 



233 



22 



To 



Malvern Horticultural Show. 



71.6 



49.7 



60.6 



17 



57 4 



7 7 



after. 



55 9 



6 



2 48 



234 



2a 



W 



Burton-on-Trent Horticultural Show. 



71.8 



49.0 



60.4 



21 



59 4 



5 7 



31 1 



24 10 



7 



2 33 



235 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 72.5 



% and its night tem- 



perature 49.9". The greatest heat was 92 ', on the 18th, 1812 ; and the lowest cold 33°, on the IBth, 1866. The greatest faU of rain was | 



0.81 inch. 







1 



VINE BOKDERS AND YOUNG VINES. 



O set of rules or directions, however compre- 

 hensive, cun be framed to meet all require- 

 ments or to suit every case, no matter for 

 what particular purpose or process of culti- 

 vation they may be required. In the very 

 numerous articles published in the pages of 

 " our Journal," and the varied directions 

 given in separate works on the culture of 

 the Grape Vine, each writer appears to, and 

 undoubtedly does, put forth cultural rules 

 deduced from his own experience. Some are brief, com- 

 prehensive, and to the point, while others are more dis- 

 cursive, and even go so far as to enter into the most 

 minute details, each kind of soil for the border being 

 weighed and measured to a nicety. The latter method 

 is all very well as far as it goes ; but such advice is only 

 really valuable to those who are able to procure the sorts 

 and quantities of soil indicated. Where it is not so, such 

 strict rules must often prove very puzzling to those who, 

 knowing little, if anything, of the accommodating nature 

 of the Vine, and the ease with which it may be cultivated 

 successfully, are left in doubt whether, in the event of 

 their not having the desired materials, they may venture 

 to infringe these rules by substituting the best soil they 

 can command. I think, therefore, that in laying down 

 such rules whUe naming the most suitable soils, it would 

 be well to state in what a variety of soils the Vine is known 

 to iiourish, and that if the border is so made that the roots 

 may have an abundance of sweet fertile soil to ramble in 

 and feed upon, with ordinary care in culture success is 

 almost sure to follow. 



The large number of young Vines planted every year is 

 surprising. One of our largest growers of pot Vines told 

 me last season that his stock, numbering many thousands, 

 was nearly exhausted long before the season for planting 

 was over. It is therefore certain that there are every 

 season numerous beginners in Vine- culture ; and having 

 made a border for a range of vineries last season, in which 

 the Vines have grown in a very satisfactory manner, it 

 may be useful to some if I give a few of the chief details of 

 the work. 



The soil and subsoil on the site of the border were first 

 of all thoroughly examined. The soil proved to be a poor 

 shallow loam, and the subsoil a very stiff retentive clay 

 saturated with moistm-e. It was, therefore, quite evident 

 that the soil was worthless for the purpose, and that means 

 must be adopted to guard the roots from contact with the 

 cold wet subsoil. In making the border I was allowed to 

 use an abundance of turf taken fresh from a bed of red loam 

 strongly impregnated with oxide of iron ; a large heap of 

 old pond mud was also at my disposal. This had had a 

 quantity of lime mixed with it ; it had been lying in a 

 sunny corner for a number of years, had been turned once 

 or twice, and had become so thoroughly pulverised and 

 sweetened that it was in reality an excellent, strong, friable 

 soil. To these two kinds of soil was added a quantity of 

 bricks, which, from some cause — probably from being badly 

 No. 542.— Vol. XXI., New Sbehs. 



tempered — had become completely shattered to fragments 

 in the burning, and were therefore useless for building ; 

 but they were, I thought, admirably adapted for mixing 

 with the Vine soil, which would thus be prevented from ever 

 settling down into a close inert mass. In mixing the soil 

 no stated quantity of either kind was used, but care was 

 taken to let the turf largely predominate. Crushed bones 

 were used at the rate of 1 cwt. to each foot in length of 

 the border, which, I should state, is 20 feet wide, 3 feet 

 6 inches deep at the back, and 2 feet deep in front. This 

 quantity of bones may appear excessive, but I do not think 

 it will be thought so when I have explained how they were 

 used, as I mil now proceed to do. 



The bottom of the border was concreted in the usual 

 way, and made to slope well from the back to the front. 

 Rows of 2 -inch drain-pipes were laid upon and across the 

 concrete at regular distances, and connected with a row of 

 pipes running along the front of the border ; then came a 

 layer of rubble several inches deep — among this a few 

 bones were cast; and instead of covering it with rough 

 sods, as has been so often advised, enough bones were 

 scattered over it to keep the soil from working down among 

 the stones. My motive for doing this was, that although 

 the turf at first prevents the soil from mixing with the 

 rubble, yet as the turf decays, so surely does the soil 

 gradually settle down among the stones. The bones, 

 while preventing all this, will ofi'er a rich store of food 

 to the roots for a long time. It is well known how soon 

 Vine roots reach the bottom of a border ; it seemed to me, 

 therefore, that by using some crushed bones as I have 

 stated, the border would be more thoroughly drained and 

 more durable. The quantity of bones given will afford 

 enough for this purpose, and a fair quantity for mixing 

 with the soil. 



In selecting Vines for planting care should be taken that 

 each plant is as vigorous and healthy as possible; they 

 cannot well be too strong. Stout fruiting canes are alto- 

 gether preferable to the weakly " planting canes " as they 

 are called, and which are so frequently used, though cost- 

 ing nearly as much as the stronger plants. Fine fruiting 

 plants of the choicest kinds can now be had for 7s. dd. 

 each ; it must therefore be granted, I think, that it is true 

 economy to purchase such in preference to others costing 

 nearly as much, and yet so weak as to require at least an 

 additional season to bring them into a fit state for pro- 

 ducing good fruit. 



Whatever kind of canes are used, it is of the highest 

 importance that the whole of them should be uniform in 

 size and strength, because the treatment under which 

 strong Vines with plenty of sound roots will flourish, is often 

 very hurtful to weakly plants. The cause of this is very 

 apparent. The fine prominent buds of the strong Vines, 

 excited by the steadily-increasing temperature, break 

 forth into vigorous growth ; and the abundant healthy roots 

 form spongioles so quickly that when the stored-up sap in 

 the canes is exhausted, or nearly so, the roots are ready 

 to supply the demand made upon them. So the Vines, 

 sustaining no check, mount the trellis quickly and with 

 surprising vigoiu'. Not so the weaker plants ; they wiU 



No. 11S4.— Vei. XLVI., OlD Seeibs. 



