October 18, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



303 



little air top and bottom all night, and keep on increasing the 

 amount little by little till the cracking period arrives, by which 

 time I have no trouble at all with ventilating, aa I leave on 

 just as much at night a3 I do in the day, and I manage to 

 grow several of the leading varietiea in this way, including 

 Muscat of Alexandria, Muscat Hamburgh, Madresfield Court, 

 Black Hamburgh, Lady Downe's, Alicante, and Frontignan. 

 I might add I never use a syringe in any vinery, not even 

 sprinkle a rod when they are breaking, although I have had 

 from fifteen to twenty years' teaching to do ao by aeveral good 

 Grape-growers. I provide all moisture required by sprinkling 

 water on the floor of the house, and I am not troubled with 

 red spider, as you will see by the leaves sent. No doubt the 

 " fixed temperature " growers will disagree with what I say, 

 but the proof of the pudding is in eating it; and I have two 

 or three vineries yet with Grapes in, which I should not have 

 the least heaitation to show any Grape-grower, grown with the 

 wind blowing through the houses. — T. T., Eastbourne. 



[The foliage sent is clean and healthy, the bunch of good 

 form, not a berry cracked, and the bloom excellent. — Ens.] 



COMPANY SHOWS. 



Being one of tho3e who have always understood that the 

 primary object of horticultural exhibitions is to benefit horti- 

 culture, I cannot but regret the tendency which is becoming 

 established of societies selling themselves to public companies, 

 gaining, it may be, a Bmall immediate pecuniary advantage, 

 but running the risk of humiliation, and not attaining in a 

 certain and substantial manner the object desired. Some dis- 

 satisfaction has been expressed and much more felt at visitors 

 having been excluded from the Aquarium Potato Show ; but it 

 must be remembered that the object of the Aquarium Managers 

 was different from that of the Potato Show Committee. The de- 

 sire of the promoters of the Show was to attract public interest 

 towards their object, and this object a worthy one — namely, to 

 foster improvement in Potato culture, and to encourage the 

 production of superior varieties. The object of the Aquarium 

 Company was to make money. They simply regard the Potato 

 or any other society of a horticultural nature as meanB to that 

 end : hence they bid for their prestige, buy them for the time 

 being, and make the best of them. The matter of company 

 shows is one which seriously requires to be considered ; and 

 I hope there is sufficient of the true horticultural spirit left to 

 prevent the craft or science, call it what you like, with which 

 bo many are identified being made subservient to the purpose 

 cf any company who have no sympathy for an object beyond 

 what they can extract from it for raising their dividends. I 

 consider an alliance of horticulture and acrobats unseemly, 

 unnatural, and incongruous. What do others eay ? — An Old 

 Exhibitor. 



THE EOSELESS AUTUMN. 

 Both Mr. D. T. Fish and Mr. W. Paul have publicly referred 

 to the passing season as the Roseless autumn. Is it bo ? I, in 

 common with most gardeners, dabble in a few Roses (my col- 

 lection does not exceed four hundred), and with me in Surrey 

 the supply has been abundant and the quality most excellent, 

 especially with the darker varieties. I send you (October 1st) 

 a dozen varieties, in order that you may see that we are not 

 yet "Roseless" — viz., Madame Victor Verdier, Charles Le- 

 febvre, Duke of Wellington, Mrs. Veitch, Victor Verdier, 

 Madame Charles Crapelet, Senateur Vaisse, Vicomte Vigier, 

 Sir Joseph Paxton (from a wall of which I could cut many 

 clusters), Madame Berard, Souvenir de la Malmaison, and the 

 never-failing Gloire de Dijon ; this latter will supply many 

 blooms yet. Aa for the Old Monthly or China Rose, I can 

 safely say there has not been such a profusion of bloom on 

 them any time before thia aeason. On Thursday, September 

 27th, I cut quite eighty blooms from my Perpetuals, and have 

 been continually cutting since June, and judging from what 

 I have seen there are many other placea where Robos have been 

 in glorious profusion. I am an utter stranger to the looality 

 in which Mr. Fish lives, and the sunless autumn, together with 

 the large amount of rain which has fallen in several parts of 

 England, may have had much to do with theRose's shortcomings 

 in that situation ; but with Mr. W. Paul the case is very diffe- 

 rent, and the corroboration of Mr. Fish's statement perfectly 

 aBtounded me after seeing the extensive collections which have 

 been voluntarily exhibited both at the Alexandra and Crystal 

 Palaces, on September 13th and 21st respectively. At the 



Alexandra Palace fourteen boxes, representing nearly 350 Roses, 

 came from Messrs. Cranston & Co., Hereford ; a great number 

 alBo came from Messrs. Paul & Son, Cheshunt; others from 

 Mr. Ramsey of Waltham Cross and Mr. Corp of Oxford, making 

 on the whole a very extensive display. Was this an indication 

 of scarceness ? At the Crystal Palace there were collections 

 from Meaars. Paul & Son, Mr. Turner, Mr. Cranston, Mr. Corp, 

 and from Meaare. William Paul & Son. Was there any indi- 

 cation of a scaroity even on the 21st ? On September 12th I 

 was at Brighton. Messrs. Mitchell & Son staged forty-eight 

 varieties in trebles ; two other competitors also competed in 

 this class. Teas were also numerously represented, not only 

 by the trade, but by several amateurs. Altogether there were 

 considerably over a thousand blooms exhibited, the majority 

 of whiob, both nurserymen's and amateurs', were of very good 

 quality. 



With me the late frost during May did much damage to the 

 forwardest buds, and a yellowiBh green caterpillar and the 

 Rose maggot destroyed others, so that I had not such an 

 influx at one time as I might otherwise have had, and posBibly 

 I have been repaid by a subsequent and unusually fine autumn 

 display. Besides those sent Marquise de Castellane, La France, 

 Baronne de Rothschild, and Madame and Marie Finger have 

 been very fine during the present autumn. — J. W. Mookman. 



[The blooms received were extremely fine, and at the exhi- 

 bitions referred to Roses were exhibited in greater numbers and 

 of better quality than we ever remember having seen at pre- 

 vious autumn shows. — Eds.] 



NOTES ON MILDEW. 



"Herefordshire Incumbent's" generalisms on mildew on 

 pp. 263 and 264 contain a quotation whioh says that mildew 

 is the result of a peculiar state of the atmosphere. As regards 

 Vines in vineries I am of opinion that a close moist atmosphere 

 will produce mildew. I believe this from two caaes which have 

 come under my own observation. In both cases close confined 

 atmosphere started it, and when once the Vine mildew becomes 

 established there is the risk of its spreading through every 

 vinery, and may reach Vines also in other places in the vicinity 

 of those affeoted. Proper ventilation of vineries is most im- 

 portant in order to prevent it. If it should make its appear- 

 ance dusting the bunches or the house with salus is better 

 than sulphur. It is lighter than Bulphur, and if dusted on 

 the bunches can easily be blown off again, and whenever it 

 touches the mildew it destroys it, but although this is the case 

 it still leaves the mark where the mildew has been. 



Vine mildew is very different to the kind that affects the 

 Roae and Peach tree, though no doubt the same kind of influ- 

 ences will generate either. Peach trees sometimoa may only 

 be affected in one or two cases in a garden, and the variety 

 Royal George is a likely one to be affected. It may be con- 

 sidered singular how one Peach tree may be much affected with 

 mildew and another beside it not touched. The probability 

 ia that the case would be different in a vinery, for aa I have 

 just noted, the mildew would go over the whole houBe. With 

 Roses in pots in a Peach house 1 have observed that with want 

 of ventilation the mildew soon makes its appearance and curls 

 up and whitens the leaves of the Rose plants when the Peaches 

 are not affected. Thia shows that Roses are more liable to 

 mildew under a close atmosphere than Peach trees, being 

 affected with it in an atmosphere in which Peaches are ex- 

 empt. — R. M. 



STRAWBERRIES. 

 No doubt Mr. Luckhurst is right in saying that Strawberries 

 will grow in sound rioh loam, but it is, nevertheless, a fact 

 that some sorts will grow in such soil better than others. It 

 ia just possible that my experience aa a cultivator of Straw- 

 berries is equal to that of your correspondent, and my success 

 also may have nearly equalled hia. I have tried , I think, all 

 eetablished varieties in cultivation, and have given such at- 

 tention to the soil that my experience suggested was requisite, 

 and I think, but of course I may be wrong in this point, that 

 Mr. Luckhurst could not have done more. But after all I 

 could do, LaConstante, for instance, was comparatively worth- 

 less, while President was magnificent ; Rivers' Eliza was very 

 unsatisfactory, Sir Joseph Paxton was splendid ; Amateur 

 was only moderate, Lucas extremely fine ; British Queen and 

 Dr. Hogg I could also grow well. A Wile from me was a 

 clergyman's garden with soil of better Btaple than mine — 



