November 2, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICOLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE, 



331 







WEEKLY 



CAL 



ENDAR. 















Day 



Day 











Snn 









Clock 



Day 



Month 



Week. 



NOVEMBER 2-S, 1871.' 



tare near London. 



iS years. 



Kises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



of 

 Year. 









Day. 



NiKht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



ra. g. 





2 



Th 



Michaelmas Term begins. 



54.4 



S7.S 



45.8 



19 



57af6 



31af4 



41af7 



noon. 



19 



16 19 



306 



3 



F 





58.5 



35.9 



44.7 



19 



69 6 



29 4 



35 8 



60 af 



20 



16 19 



307 



4 



S 



Length of day, 9h. 27m. 



52.1 



36.6 



44.8 



22 



7 



27 4 



36 9 



29 1 



21 



16 19 



308 



5 



SCN 



22 SUNDAI AFTER TRINITY. 



62.9 



37.2 



45.0 



20 



2 7 



25 4 



45 10 



2 



c 



16 18 



309 



6 



M 





52.4 



36.9 



4t.7 



19 



4 7 



24 4 



56 11 



27 2 



23 



16 16 



310 



7 



Tn 



Twilight ends 6.19 p.m. 



62.1 



8S.7 



44.4 



20 



5 7 



23 4 



morn. 



48 2 



24 



16 12 



311 



8 



W 



Meeting of Royal Microscopical Society. 



52.0 



84.3 



43.1 



19 



7 7 



22 4 



11 1 



8 8 



25 



16 9 



812 



From obserYations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week ig 52 8* 



, and its 



night tern- 



perature 86,4°. The greatest heat was 68", on the 5th and 6th, 18a4 ; and the lowest cold 20°, on the 5th and 6th, 1868 



The greatest fall of I 



rain was 1.02 inch. 









VINE-CULTUKE UNDER GLASS. 



HE subject of Vines and their culture lias 

 been repeatedly discussed in these columns 

 by the ablest gardeners in Britain ; all the 

 phases of culture have been explained, the 

 arrangement and composition of the borders 

 have been treated of in the most lucid man- 

 ner, and yet scarcely a week passes in which 

 information is not asked for on some of the 

 details of this important branch of gardening. 

 I purpose, therefore, to oiler a few cultural 

 remarks, adding any recent information which I have 

 obtained from my own practice, or seen in that of others. 



Bobbers. — First in order is the border, and it is as well 

 to state that no mysterious composition is required in its 

 formation. It was only lately that a correspondent wished 

 to know whether he could not utilise an old horse in the 

 composition of his Vine border, and whether damaged 

 cases of Australian meat could not be turned to profitable 

 account for the same purpose. Masses of decaying animal 

 or vegetable matter are worse than useless, and quantities 

 of rich manure mixed with the loam do more harm than 

 good in many cases. Nothing is more easy, if manure is 

 required, than to apply it from the surface, and this after 

 all is the natural way. It is a positive fact that the most 

 magniticent Grapes are produced from Vines grown in 

 borders entirely composed of turfy loam, without a particle 

 of manure in any shape. I have a vivid recollection of a 

 range of vuieries where the borders were made of the top 

 spit of a field that had been laid down in pasture for 

 two or three years. This soU was dug up and thrown into 

 the space that had been excavated to a distance of 6 feet 

 on each side of the front wall, and the progress of the 

 Vines was wonderful. On examining the border after the 

 Vines had made one year's growth the whole of it was 

 found to be permeated with masses of branching roots in 

 the most healthy condition. The Vines were overcropped 

 at first, and through some other mismanagement they 

 failed, after thriving remarkably well for the first three or 

 four years. Six feet more should have been added to the 

 width of the borders both inside and outside after the third 

 year, but this was not done; however, I saw enough of 

 them to know that under proper management extraordinary 

 results would have been obtained. In borders made with 

 turfy loam it is interesting to watch the rapidity with which 

 the roots spread along the surface after rich top-dressings 

 have been applied. 



^ I will now give another instance of a border made in a 

 different way. In this case there was much preparation, 

 and no expense was spared, the bottom being concreted, 

 and crushed bones with manure added to the loam. The 

 drainage, consisting of brickbats or similar material, was 

 placed over the concrete. The Vines planted in this 

 border grew remarkably well at first, but the Grapes 

 which they produced never finished well, and shanking 

 was common. There was one mistake made to which I 

 wish to draw attention, and that was, although plenty of 

 drainage was placed under the border, no outlet was made 

 No, 6S3,— Vol, XXI., New Sbbibb. 



to carry away the superfluous water ; but even after this 

 was done, although there was an evident improvement, it 

 was clear that a greater mistake had been made in adding 

 too much manure in the first instance. The drainage 

 admitted of an easy remedy, but it was not so easy to cor- 

 rect the other mistake. In many soils it is not necessary to 

 place concrete at the bottom of a Vine border. la the dry 

 gravel subsoil at Loxford Hall I do not find it necessary 

 either to concrete or drain the borders. In a wet clay 

 subsoil it would be necessary to do both. 



Preparing and Planting. — Vines are very easily pro- 

 pagated from eyes, and when only a small number is 

 required it is best to plant one eye only in the centre of a 

 3-inch pot. To obtain fine planting canes the pots should 

 be placed in heat early in March ; the temperature of the 

 house should be 55° at night, and a genial bottom heat 

 should be afforded. When the young plants have grown 

 6 inches high place them in G-inch pots, using tui-fy loam 

 enriched with some decayed manure, or, in preference, 

 pulverised bones; plunge the pots again for a few days 

 until the roots reach the sides, when the young Vines are 

 better without bottom heat. As soon as they have toler- 

 ably well filled the pots with roots shift them again into 

 9 or 10 -inch pots, and maintain a rather high temperature 

 until the wood is well ripened, when they may be removed 

 to a cool house. They should not be allowed to become 

 dust dry at the roots during winter, as such a degree of 

 dryness in the soil is injurious to them. 



The best time to plant-out the Vines is in March, when 

 the young shoots have grown 2 or 3 inches. The plants 

 should be turned out of the pots, and the roots disentangled 

 and spread out on a level surface, covering them with 

 6 inches of mould. It is not easy to give precise directions 

 as to watering. If the plants as well as the border are in 

 a moist condition I prefer not giving any water for a week 

 after planting, but the house should be kept close, and 

 a moist atmosphere maintained for a few days. I think it 

 an evil to deluge either newly-planted or potted plants 

 with water, as I have repeatedly noticed that they make 

 fresh roots more freely when water is not applied for some 

 time after planting. It is desirable to wait untU the young 

 rootlets are formed ; the plant is then in a condition to 

 take up water. 



A vinery may also be planted with Vines struck from 

 eyes the same season. The plants should be prepared in 

 the way just stated, but the pots should be placed in 

 heat as soon as convenient after the middle of January. 

 The plants wiU be ready for potting into 9 -inch pots by the 

 first week of April, and will be ready for planting- out in 

 the border early in May. Such Vines, if well managed, 

 and if they experience no check, wUl grow to the top of a 

 20-feet rafter in the season in which they are planted. A 

 few of them may be grown and fruited in pots, and will 

 make canes of the strongest description. I use 13-inch 

 and 15-inch pots for fruiting them in, draining well, 

 and using sound turfy loam mixed with pulverised bones. 

 This compost should be rammed in rather firmly, and the 

 plants, when growing, should have plenty of light and air, 

 especially when the wood begins to ripen. Such plants 

 No, 1206,— Yoi.SLVI,. Old Series. 



