November 29, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND OOTTAGE GARDENER. 



413 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



of ! of 

 Month Week. 



NOV. 29— DEO. 5, 1877. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day 

 of J 

 Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean* 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m 



h. m. 



Days. 



m. b. 





29 



Th 



John Kay horn, 1628. 



61.3 



33.8 



42.5 



7 43 



8 54 



49 



1 4 



24 



11 26 



833 



80 



F 



St. Andrew, Apostle and Martyr. 



48.0 



34.5 



41.3 



7 45 



8 53 



2 2 



1 18 



25 



11 4 



S84 



1 



S 



Princess of Wales born, 1844. 



485 



34.9 



41.7 



7 46 



3 58 



3 87 



1 33 



26 



10 41 



385 



2 



Sun 



1 Sunday in Advent. 



47.4 



83.7 



40 5 



7 48 



8 51 



5 8 



1 52 



27 



10 IS 



8*6 



8 



M 





47.0 



35.8 



41.4 



7 49 



8 51 



6 29 



2 17 



28 



9 64 



337 



4 



Tu 





48.1 



86.4 



42.2 



7 50 



8 51 



7 50 



2 52 



o 



9 30 



8S8 



6 



W 



Sale of Balbs at Stevons'a Rooms. 



49.0 



85.2 



42.1 



7 52 



8 50 



9 1 



S 89 



1 



9 5 



839 



From observations taken near London during forfcy-three years, 

 30.6". 



iho average day temperature 



of the week is 48.6° ; and its night temperature 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON VINES. 



■ INES when properly cared for require just 

 about as much attention when they are at 

 rest as they do in the growing season. Of 

 course their requirements when leafless are 

 very different to what they are during growth ; 

 but pruning, cleaning, and surfacing the 

 borders, are of as great importance as any 

 summer necessity. 



Excepting in late vineries, all Vines will 

 have ripened their wood and cast their leaves 

 by this time. After this the Vines may be pruned at any 

 time. Cut the side shoots in to the second bud from the 

 old wood. Young leading shoots should be cut from 

 2 to 4 feet from where they started this season. It is not 

 the best plan to hurry them up rapidly, as this leaves the 

 rods smaller than desirable. We never use styptic or 

 any other dressing to stop the Vines from bleeding. This 

 I believe is unnecessary, at least I have never noticed 

 any harm follow the little sap which may be lost at 

 pruning time. Wash the canes thoroughly with soft 

 soap and water ; but unless they are overrun with in- 

 sects they need not be painted with any mixture. We 

 did not paint one of our Vines last year, and we never 

 had fewer insects on the Vines than during the past 

 summer. Wash the woodwork at the same time, and 

 when all has been cleaned thoroughly down to the border 

 remove all the surface soil from this, and in doing so do 

 not think that by removing the loose soil alone and re- 

 placing it with fresh will materially benefit the Vines. 

 In many instances the Vine roots are 3 to 6 inches from 

 the surface. If top-dressing is to benefit them it must 

 be placed in contact with the roots, therefore it is neces- 

 sary to remove the surface soil down to them, no matter 

 how far down they may be, and then add the new compost. 

 Top-dressings that are only to last for one year may 

 consist of about three-quarters of good decayed manure 

 and one-quarter of loam ; but when the top-dressing has 

 to last for several years this compost should just be 

 reversed, and it a bushel of ground bones can be added 

 to every ten barrowloads of soil so much the better. 

 When we have had no bones we have used the same 

 quantity, or a little more, of wood ashes, which we prefer 

 to most other ingredients. After top-dressing, if liquid 

 manure can be had, give the border a thorough watering 

 with it. It is a capital plan to feed Vine roots during the 

 winter. 



We stated a few weeks ago that Vine-border making 

 was included amongst our work for this winter. We 

 are going on with this now, as November is a good time 

 to do such work. The way we are doing one vinery is 

 this : The Vines are planted inside, but they have arches 

 to come through outside. Last winter and ever since 

 we have been encouraging them to root inside, and this 

 they have clone very fairly, so well indeed that they are 

 independent of any outside roots. This is just what was 

 wanted, because the outside border is cut away straight 

 with the front upright sashes of the house. The roots 



No. 870.— Vol. XXXHT., New Series. 



inside will support the old Vines for two years ; young 

 Vines will be planted outside in the new border in the 

 spring. The canes will be taken through and trained up 

 amongst the old Vines for two seasons, by that time they 



1 will be in good bearing condition. Then the old Vines 

 will be removed to give place to the young rods without 



i having the house a season without a crop. 



The outside border is taken out 3 feet deep and 7 feet 

 wide ; 1 foot of rough stones is placed at the bottom ; 

 above this is spread all over a layer of turves about 



3 inches thick, then the principal compost is put in. 

 This consists of moderately heavy loam, with one-third of 

 decayed cow dung added, the same of wood ashes, and 

 about one bushel of smashed bones to every cartload of 

 the whole. This is not trampled in, but placed about 



4 inches above the right level, and it will settle down 

 by the |time the Vines are planted in spring. I said the 

 Vine border was taken out 7 feet wide, but I must not 

 omit saying that it is not filled up this width. In a line 



5 feet from the vinery a wall of fibrous turves is built 

 perpendicularly and firrnly to the height of the border, 

 and the chopped mixture is filled-in between this and the 

 vinery. There will be sufficient soil here for the Vines 

 to grow in for about three years, and then another strip 

 of soil will be taken out along the front of this turved 

 wall, and a fresh addition added in the same way as the 

 first one was made. 



In autumn notes on Vines there must be something 

 said on covering outside Vine borders in winter. My 

 remarks on this subject must necessarily be brief, for, 

 right or wrong, I never cover a Vine border in winter. 

 I have seen far more of inferior Grapes grown when the 

 roots were coddled-up during the winter with dry straw 

 and wood shutters than where they were left exposed to 

 the weather. We have top-dressed our Vine borders as 

 directed above, and nothing more will be done to them. 



With regard to starting early Vines I need say little, 

 as with Mr. Douglas's valuable notes constantly appear- 

 ing, no one need ever go wrong. Early Vines succeed 

 best when not forced hard in bad weather, but pushed 

 sharply on during favourable occasions. — A Kitchen 

 Gardener. 



CAMELLIA CULTURE. 

 "E. M. A." has written ably on this subject on page 

 3S6, and his remarks contain evidence of having been 

 dictated by experience. If the practice there detailed is 

 carried out unhealthy examples of this handsome green- 

 house shrub will be less prevalent. To adopt a familiar 

 phrase, " I go about a good deal :" my wanderings have 

 extended over many counties, and more than once have 

 reached " over the water " — namely, to Belgium, where 

 they grow Camellias as freely and nearly as quickly as 

 we in England grow Laurels. It was by noting the 

 practice adopted in the Belgian nurseries that I was able 

 to grow Camellias at home better than before ; and yet 

 the lesson I learned was and is extremely simple. It is 

 a lesson that applies to all plants, and may be expressed 

 in a few words — Feed them well and keep them clean. 



No. 1622.— Vol. LVIII., Old Series. 



