158 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 1, 1670. 



sear the sea it is qnite at home, and must prove invaluable 

 in such localities. There is a variety with white and another 

 with purple berries. I believe it is a native of several parts of 

 the south of Europe. Those who do not already possess it 

 should next autumn add a mass of it to their shrubberies. It 

 is not particular in regard to soil and situation, and is easy 

 of propagation by cuttings of the ripe shoots and by seeds. 

 — G. Abbey. 



POT VINES. 



The economical value of pot Vines has often been called in 

 question ; indeed, I have often heard people say, " Grapes 

 produced on pot Vines are never worth eating." It is quite 

 true they are often very inferior, nor is it surprising that such 

 should be the case. Badly grown and badly ripened canes are 

 often fruited in pots ; and frequently where no fault can be 

 found with the Vines they are expected to bear far too many 

 bunches, and are not half fed nor attended to during their growth. 



Gardening must generally be considered a luxury except in 

 the case of the commonest vegetables. Supposing the problem 

 to solve be how to get Grapes when they are worth, say, from 

 7s. to 10s. a-pouud in the market, I think it is a great question 

 whether this cannot be done more cheaply by growing pot 

 Vines than by forcing permanent ones ; besides which, nothing 

 is more beautiful than a pot Vine loaded with well-ripened 

 fruit. 



Having seen at Chatsworth la6t spring the best house of pot 

 Vines I ever saw grown, I asked Mr. Speed to tell me how they 

 had been managed. They were standing on a shelf covered 

 with white spar, such as is brought out of the Derbyshire lead 

 mines, consequently not a root had grown out of the pots. 

 Every eye had been allowed to break and produce a shoot, and 

 each shoot had made six leives before being stopped. From the 

 time leaves were produced, till the fruit began to colour, the 

 Vines had never had water without guano in it, the plan being 

 to give very weak doses constantly in place of stronger ones at 

 longer intervals. A quantity of Peru\ian guano broken small 

 and passed through a line sieve stood in a large pot, and the 

 foreman put as much as his closed hand grasped into a large 

 watering-pan each time he filled it. I have never weighed this 

 quantity, but it must be a small amount to the gallon. 



One thing Btruck me — that was the very careful way the 

 watering was performed. The man had in his left hand a small 

 wooden hammer with which each pot was struck, and if the 

 sound produced did not indicate a want of water the plant was 

 passed by. During the hot weather the pots were examined 

 twice a-day, so that no plant could suffer from want of water, 

 or receive it before it was required. 



I should think the Vines carried on an' average 8 lbs. of 

 Grapes, and yet many of them had only four bunches, and none 

 more than five, and they were as well coloured as one would 

 wish to see. As the Vines were trained to meet in the centre 

 of a narrow double-roofed house, and the leaves of the Vines 

 just met all the way up, the whole roof was covered by foliage, 

 and the crop looked a very heavy one. It was one of the pret- 

 tiest Bights I ever saw. Where less skill and attention can be 

 bestowed on pot Vines, it is a question if they had not better 

 be placed on a rich bed of soil and be allowed to root through ; 

 but as I never before saw so good a lot of pot Vines as these 

 were, I thought some of your readers might like to know how 

 they were cultivated. — J. R. Peabsox, Chilwell. 



A FEW SUPERIOR BEDDING PLANTS. 



I have read with interest what your correspondent, Mr. 

 Peach, and others have lately written in the Journal on bed- 

 ding plants, especially Geraniums, and I have a wish to recom- 

 mend to your readers two which are by far the best that I have 

 ever tried or seen — namely, Vesuvius and Glorious, raised and 

 sent out by the Messrs. Smith, of Dulwich. 



I have tried all the most highly commended varieties sent 

 out during the last twelve years, and these two are the most 

 effective bedders that have ever come under my notice. Taking 

 into consideration habit and wonderful productiveness of 

 bloom, in combination with substance of petal as points of 

 merit, they have no equals that I know of. For distant effeot, 

 Vesuvius in particular, from its lively shade of scarlet, is most 

 valuable. Contraiy to the habit of most Geraniums, the more 

 they grow the more productive are they of their fine trusses of 

 bloom, borne on stiff stalks. When forced in moist stoves in 

 viiater their blooming powers are m^st conspicuous, as they 



throw np a truss from nearly every leaf. Glow, raised by the 

 same firm, is also a gool bedder, but compared to the two 

 referred to only second-rate. 



Imperial Blue Ageratum sent out this year I regard as one of 

 the finest bedding plants introduced for many years. There 

 are four beds of it here, and they are a perfect sheet of beau- 

 tiful lavender, while its habit is all that can be wished. In the 

 distance it is much more effective than Viola cornuta or Lobelia 

 speciosa, while its habit is preferable to either of these. Tro- 

 paolum Cooperi for a sheet of orange scarlet, and its adaptation 

 for scroll work, has no equal that I know. Golden Feather 

 Pyrethrum, so severely condemned by eome, surpasses any of 

 the golden-leaved Geraniums. If raised from seed it seldom 

 blooms much the first year. It requires, like most bedding 

 plants, liberal culture. — D. Thomson, Drumlanrig, 



A TRIAL OF PEAS. 



I enclose a statement of the results of a trial of Peas, mostly 

 well-known sorts, thinking it may be interesting and useful to 

 some of your readers to know how they have behaved in such 

 a season as the past on a heavy soil in the cool moist valley of 

 the Lea. The first two Bort3 were sown on the ll'h of March, 

 the remainder on the 23rd of March. They were hoed fre- 

 quently, but never watered. 



Sutton's Ringleader. — Sown March 11th ; fit for use June 10th. 

 Height, 2.J feet. 



Sangster's No. 1. — Sown March 11th ; fit for use June 12th. 

 Height, 24 feet. Pods rather larger than Sutton's Ringleader. 



Multum in Parvo. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 16th. 

 Height, 1 foot. Pods large and well filled. 



Nutting's No. 1. Wrinkled Mairoio. — Sown March 23rd; fit 

 for use June 16tl . H ight, 15 inches. 



Advancer (McLaau'.-). — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 

 23rd. Height, 2 feet. Long, well-filled pods, and good cropper. 



Champion of England. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 

 25ih. Height, 4J feet. Heavy cropper ; pods of good length 

 and well filled. 



Hundredfold. — S nvn March 23rd ; fit for use June 25th. 

 Height, 4.J feet. Heavy cropper ; pods large and well filled ; 

 hard, and of indifferent flavour. 



McLean's Wonderful. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 

 25th. Height, 3 feet. Good cropper; pods of good length, 

 but not well filled. 



McLean's Dwarf Prolific. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use 

 June 27th. Height, 3| feet. Good cropper; pods of good 

 length, but not quite full. 



Cullingford's Champion. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 

 27th. Height, ih feet. Feir cropper, bearing most towards 

 the top ; pods of medium length, four or five peas in each. 



Laxton's Supreme. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 27th. 

 Height, 4 feet. Medium cropper ; pods large, but not well filled. 



Princess Royal. — Sown March 23rd; fit for use June 27th. 

 Height, 3 feet. Heavy cropper ; pods large and well filled. 



Yorkshire Hero. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 28th. 

 Height, 2J feet. Fair cropper; pods of medium length, four 

 or five peas in each. 



Ne Plus Ultra.— Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 30th. 

 Height, 5i feet. Pods large and well filled, good cropper. 



McLean's Premier. — Sown March 23rd ; fit for use June 30th. 

 Height, 3 feet. Pods of good length and well filled ; a good 

 cropper ; fine flavour. 



Veitch's Perfection. — Sjwn March 23rd ; fit for use July 2nd. 

 Height, 3 feet. Heavy oropper ; pods of good length, and very 

 well filled. 



The Prince.— Sown March 23rd ; fit for ue July 3rd. Height, 

 3 feet. Good cropper ; pods medium length, five or six peas 

 in each. 



British Queen. — Sown March 23rd ; fife for use July 4th. 

 Height, 6 feet. Good cropper ; pods large and well filled. — 

 William Paul, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Cross, N. 



Le Bott'3 Hand Dbill. — Among the helps to gardens which 

 the ingenuity of inventors has placed within our reach, a 

 good place must be given to the hand drill, which has been 

 already highly recommended, but of which I had no experience 

 until this season. One knows the sort of haphazard way in 

 whioh seeds are too often sown, patches of plants coming up in 

 one place, while there is a blank in another. Sometimes we see 

 peed sown through a quill placed in the cork of a bottle contain- 

 ing the seed, but this is a poor way of endeavouring to counter- 



