December 6, 1S77. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



431 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



of of 



Month Week. 



DECEMBER 6—12, 1877. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rities. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 beiore 

 Son. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



6 



7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12 



Th 



F 



S 



Sun 



M 



To 



W 



Royal Society at S.30 p.m. 



Eoyal Botanic Society at 3.45 p.ir. 



2 Sunday in Advent. 



Royal Geographical Society at 8.30 P.3I. 



Michelins born, 1697. 



Society of Arts at 8 p.m. 



Day. 

 4S.2 

 4S.4 

 46.9 

 46.7 

 40.7 

 46.5 

 48.0 



Nisrht. 

 36.7 

 38.5 

 33.6 

 34.9 

 32.S 

 32.6 

 37.0 



Mean- 

 42.4 

 43.5 

 40 3 

 40 8 

 39.9 

 39.5 

 42.5 



h. m. 



7 53 

 7 54 

 7 55 

 7 56 

 7 58 

 7 59 

 S 



h. in. 

 3 50 

 3 49 

 3 49 

 3 49 

 3 49 

 3 49 

 S 49 



h. ra. 



9 57 



10 37 



11 4 

 11 24 

 11 39 

 11 53 



a 2 



fc. m. 



4 41 



5 53 



7 8 



8 22 



9 34 



10 44 



11 54 



Days. 

 2 

 S 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 5 



m. «. 

 8 39 

 8 13 

 7 46 

 7 19 

 6 52 

 6 24 

 5 36 



■ 



340 

 341 

 342 

 343 

 314 

 345 

 316 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, 

 35.1 c . 



the average day temperature of the week is 45.6 5 ; and its night 



temperature 



ROOTS AND LEAVES. 



> T is not sufficiently borne in mind that there 

 is a close sympathetic feeling between the 

 two extremities of a plant. The leaves can- 

 not be injured materially without the roots 

 being checked, and vice versa. Generally 

 speaking, but there are exceptions, while a 

 leaf has the smallest particle of green colour 

 in it, it has a duty to perform in the plant's 

 economy, and to remove it by force is to 

 upset the natural arrangements for assimi- 

 lation. Sometimes this is admissible, as the benefits 

 arising therefrom more than counterbalance the injury 

 done ; but there are times when the injury would pre- 

 ponderate, and I think this is especially so when the 

 circulation is becoming sluggish as in autumn, or when 

 a plant is unhealthy and short of good foliage. 



There are people I know who do not like to see the 

 " sere and yellow leaf," but they must endeavour to put 

 their dislikes on one side if they would become skilful 

 cultivators. Depend upon it half a leaf in the growing 

 season is better than no leaf at all, even as half a lung 

 would be better than none at all ; and remember also that 

 when the wood is ripening the roots are, or ought to be, 

 doing the same thing, but they are both dependant on 

 the foliage, and no real ripening can take place after it 

 is gone. We know that people, and good gardeners 

 amongst them, do brush-off the loose leaves from their 

 Peach trees in autumn with the idea of admitting sun- 

 light to the wood to ripen -it. But is not this a fallacy ? 

 The wood may get a little coloured, but it never gets the 

 least harder after the foliage is gone. Ripening can be 

 assisted considerably by stopping the young growths in 

 July and August and by exposing the foliage as much as 

 possible at that time to the light ; but if anyone supposes 

 he can assist the ripening of the wood of the current 

 season by mutilating the trees at either end after Septem- 

 ber, however fine the autumn may be, I think he is 

 mistaken. 



There are many people, too, who trim off leaves for 

 the sake of tidiness when they begin to look a little dingy ; 

 herbaceous plants sometimes have not only their leaves 

 trimmed off, but their sterns also, before they are any- 

 thing like ripe or have made provision for forming fresh 

 stems. This is clearly a mistake. "We must put up with 

 a little unsightliness at times and allow the plants to 

 ripen naturally as much as the season will admit, only 

 cutting off that which is actually dead, especially when 

 dealing with weak or tender subjects. Ferns are some- 

 times cut clean down when they are past their best. 

 " Yes," says some successful village exhibitor, " by those 

 who grow them better than you do." Granted ; but that 

 does not prove the plants could not be grown better by 

 leaving the fronds on, in the case of evergreen sorts, till 

 the young fronds had grown up and become fitted for 

 their work. 



With regard to deciduous plants either for flowering or 

 fruiting, macy people would seem to think that if they 



No. 671.— Vol. XXXIII., New Series. 



can by any means — let it be by starvation, freezing, or 

 scorching — but get rid of the foliage all must be right 

 and that the wood is ripe as a matter of course. But the 

 fall of the leaf is not an infallible sign of perfect ripeness. 

 The natural fall of the leaf is early this year, and I have 

 no doubt many are consoling themselves that the wood 

 of their fruit trees is, owing to the fine September and 

 the light crop of fruit, matured better than usual, but 

 such is certainly not the case. We will endeavour to be 

 very grateful for the fine September ; it did an immense 

 deal of good in many ways, but it could not counteract 

 all the bad effects of a cold dull summer, and it still left 

 much of the wood unripe, therefore it will be necessary 

 to prune hard. I think it will be generally found that a 

 period of hot weather coming just after the spring growth 

 is made is best calculated to ripen outdoor fruit trees, and 

 to bring good flavour and well-coloured fruit ; and I also 

 think that when the wood is well ripened the autumnal 

 colours of the foliage are brightest. There has been a 

 great lack of colour this autumn. — Welllam Taylor. 



SELECTIONS OF GRAPE VINES. 



Now is the time to select Vines for planting during 

 winter and spring, and those who have them to buy can- 

 not do better, nor purchase cheaper, than by obtaining 

 them from a respectable nurseryman. Sometimes some 

 people are induced to purchase a few half-grown things 

 from a neighbour because they get them cheap ; but 

 cheap inferior Vices for planting are very much more 

 expensive in the end than purchasing almost at any rea- 

 sonable cost first-class Vines. Small badly-grown Vines 

 are a long time in making good fruiting canes or rods ; 

 whereas when good Vines are planted they bear fruit the 

 second year and good crops the third. First-class canes 

 for planting of all Vines that have been in commerce for 

 some years may be bought from os. to 7-s. 6d. each. Vines 

 at this price should be nearly as thick as one's little finger, 

 from 4 to 6 feet long, every inch of wood hard and brown, 

 and, above all, the roots should be wiry and so plentiful 

 that they will hold the ball of soil together when lifted 

 out of the pot and swung about with the hand. As to 

 insects no warning need be given, as I do not suppose 

 anyone would be so foolish as to plant Vines covered 

 with any kind of injurious insect ; but at the same time 

 when Vines are ordered without seeing them it should 

 always be on condition that they are perfectly free from 

 every pest. 



Vines are generally required of three classes — for a cool 

 house, a temperate house, and a hothouse. A cool house 

 may be a proper vinery not heated, a greenhouse, or con- 

 servatory ; a temperate house is generally a vinery with 

 two or three rows of pipes in it; while the hothouse is 

 one with strong forcing power, such as that which Muscats 

 are grown in. To meet each of these frequent require- 

 ments I will arrange the Vines as follows : — 



Vines for a Cool House. — Black Hamburgh and its 

 varieties, Royal Muscadine, Mrs. Piuee's Black Muscat, 

 and Lady Downe's — that is, two early and two late sorts. 



No. 1523.— Vol. LVM., Old Series. 



