September 27, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIOULTDBB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



245 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



of 1 or 

 Month Week. 



SEPTEMBER 27— OCTOBER 3, 1877. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 RiBes. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 











27 



Th 





65.3 



44 6 



65.0 



6 56 



6 46 



7 9 



11 43 



20 



9 8 



270 



28 



F 





65.1 



44.0 



54.5 



5 58 



5 43 



7 51 



0a57 



21 



9 28 



271 



29 



S 



Michaelmas Day. 



65.5 



44.3 



64 9 



5 59 



5 41 



8 50 



2 1 



22 



9 48 



272 



80 



Sun 



18 Sunday after Trinity. 



65.0 



48.3 



54.2 



6 2 



5 36 



10 5 



2 60 



< 



10 27 



273 



1 



M 



Cambridge Michaelmas Term commences. 



63.4 



44.7 



54.1 



6 4 



5 84 



11 81 



3 25 



24 



10 86 



274 



2 



To 



Royal Horticultural Society— Fruit and Floral Corn- 



64.4 



43.9 



54.1 



6 6 



5 32 



morn. 



8 51 



25 



11 4 



275 



S 



W 



Westminster Aquarium Potato Show, [mitteesat 11a.m. 



63.7 



44.S 



62.6 



6 8 



5 80 



1 2 



4 10 



26 



11 20 



276 



Prom observations taken near London during forty-three years, 



the average day temperature 



of the week is 65.6° ; and 



its nighl 



temperature 



34.2=. 











AUTUMN NOTES ON VINES. 



RAPES, it is to be feared, will not keep well 

 this winter. Being thoroughly matured be- 

 fore the short days set in is the most essen- 

 tial point to insure their preservation, but 

 late Grapes I hear from many places are 

 far behind in ripening, and in some instances 

 they are actually refusing to colour. When 

 this is the case with good Grape growers of 

 extensile experience it is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that amateurs and those with a limited 

 knowledge of how best to assist the Grapes in ripening 

 must now be labouring under considerable difficulty, and 

 no doubt a few remarks on this matter and a few others 

 relating to the autumn treatment of the Vine will be 

 acceptable at the present time. 



Grapes will colour as much in one week of bright 

 weather as they will in three Bunless weeks. Should the 

 latter part of September and all through October turn 

 out fine, as it is to be hoped they will, there is yet a 

 chance of Grapes being in good keeping order by the 

 beginning of November; but, on the other hand, if the 

 weather does not at once make a change for the better 

 artificial means must be resorted to, to make up for the 

 want of sun heat ; and although this will be both ex- 

 pensive and imperfect to a certain extent, it will be cheaper 

 and more satisfactory than complete failure. 



The best time to apply fire heat to ripen Grapes is 

 during the day. In dull days raise the temperature to 

 65° or 70°, with a little air on at top and bottom. Let 

 the fire go very low at night when the house is dark, and 

 little air being admitted. When there is only a bright 

 day once or twice a-week do not let the fire go out be- 

 cause it is fine, but, on the contrary, keep the fire as 

 strong as on a dull day, give more air, and let the tempe- 

 rature rise to 80°, 85°, or 90°. This is the time they will 

 colour quickly, and not only colour but flavour, which 

 is more desirable than a fine appearance. Worked as 

 above described it is surprising the progress Grapes will 

 make towards maturity in three or four weeks. Of 

 course when day after day is bright and warm it is un- 

 necessary to use any fire heat. Then do not admit too 

 much air. Always keep the heat up about 80° during 

 the day, and close the ventilators early enough in the 

 afternoon to maintain a temperature throughout the night 

 of 65° or 70°. These are the best ways of working the 

 heat, but other assistance may be given. 



In the summer time when the Vines are growing fast 

 and strong, the laterals are generally pinched at the first 

 leaf. A shoot soon pushes away from this again, and 

 very often it is not pinched back to this base again but 

 at the next leaf, and when it is treated like this three 

 or four times the laterals at this time are bearing more 

 leaves than the principal rods, and running into one 

 another they form a dense mass of foliage. This inter- 

 feres very much with the air circulating about the fruit, 

 and it also obstructs the light ; and it does more, and 

 perhaps worse than this — it prevents the bearing wood of 

 No. 861,-Vot. XXXin., New Sebies. 



next year from becoming ripe. It will thus be seen that 

 these lateral shoots may do much harm to the Vines 

 after this time and should therefore be removed. To 

 remove them early in the season when the wood is green 

 and the sap flowing rapidly would give the Vines a severe 

 check, and would probably produce shanking and other 

 maladies ; but now, when the wood is mostly hard and 

 becoming ripe, I have never been able to see that taking 

 off the side shoots did any harm to the Vine afterwards. 

 Every one of our Vines were gone over like this the other 

 day ; both those with fruit and without it. Before, the 

 glass could not be seen in many parts inside ; now, the 

 bunches can be seen looking in from the outside clown 

 through the leaves. Every berry is exposed to the light, 

 and every inch of wood is the same. In our case the 

 shoots were not removed so much to let the Grapes 

 ripen as the wood. This, although brown and might be 

 considered quite ripe by some, is still sappy; and I am 

 a firm believer in ripening the wood to the fullest possible 

 extent. This accomplished, let the wood be small or 

 thick, next year's crop is secured. 



Apart from giving the wood and fruit a better chance 

 of ripening, cutting the laterals off now has another re- 

 commendation. It is well known that nothing condenses 

 moisture so much as a thick covering of leaves against 

 the glass or above the fruit. Grapes begin to damp now ; 

 when the foliage clusters round them it is impossible to 

 prevent this, and much decay may be traced solely to 

 this cause. When the leaves are removed the moisture 

 which rises from underneath passes direct to the glass 

 and runs down it without ever resting on the Grapes. 

 When the Vines are so far advanced in ripening that the 

 leaves are dropping, do not let them he about the floor, 

 but gather them with the hand every morning, and this 

 will not only keep the house tidy, but the atmosphere 

 sweet and free from moisture. 



Where Vine roots are wholly in outside borders there 

 is not much danger of the roots bocoming dry — this year 

 at any rate ; but inside borders very often become dust- 

 dry through receiving no water from the time the fruit 

 begins colouring until it is all cut. I do not think it is 

 wise to let the soil become so dry ; Vines with their roots 

 outside in wet borders just ripen their fruit as well and 

 as finely flavoured as those dried off inside. Where 

 borders have been kept dry, and the fruit now cut, give 

 them a thorough watering at once, or many of the young 

 fibrous roots will perish, the wood shrivel, and the leaves 

 wither up prematurely. 



These notes apply chiefly to work that must be done 

 from now up to the beginning of November. By that 

 time bedding and other plants will have been put into 

 many vineries, and notes on what to do then will appear 

 about that time. — A Kitchen Gardener. 



THREE YEABS' EXPEBIENOE IN A 

 GBEENHOUSE. 

 Having decided to build my house I set about it at once. 

 Striking the iron while it is hot, is an old saying and a good 

 No.lElS.— Vol. LVIII., Old Seeies. 



