October 81, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



311 



substance than those of the old one. To show L. splendens 

 in all its glory it ought to be trained on the south side of the 

 house, so that the sun may shine though it to the spectator, 

 and in that position the flowers are superb. 



I observe a curious difference in the shape of the fruit of 

 the two varieties ; the cross section of the fruit of L. rosea 

 is nearly a circle, that of L. splendens a triangle rounded 

 at the angles. — L. 



POT CULTUEE OP THE GBAPE VINE. 



This method of Vine culture has not recently been touched 

 upon by any of the contributors to the Journal. It is not the 

 method one would recommend to supply Grapes of the very 

 best quality " all the year round," but it is sometimes very 

 desirable to grow them in this way. For instance, when a new 

 vinery is planted there is generally an opportunity to grow a 

 number of pot Vines to afford a supply of fruit without crop- 

 ping the permanent Vines too heavily at first. In Cucumber 

 houses, and in unoccupied corners, pot Vines may be intro- 

 duced when the supply of Grapes is not equal to the demand. 

 It was my practice here, before the vineries came into full 

 bearing, to grow and fruit a large number of pot Vines annu- 

 ally, and after the first season I grew all my own fruiting 

 canes. I found it was the best practice to grow them in one 

 year from eyes, as canes of the strongest description can be 

 obtained in this way without the aid of bottom heat, except 

 for a very short time in the earlier stages of their growth. 



To obtain good fruiting canes the eyes must be put in early 

 in the season. I save some of the best eyes when pruning the 

 earliest vinery, and lay them in somewhere out of doors until 

 the middle of January, when they can be inserted singly in 

 the centre of a 3-inch pot. The pots should be placed in a 

 cool house until the first week in February ; about that time 

 introduce them to a gentle bottom heat in a house where the 

 night temperature ranges from about 50° to 55°. Under these 

 circumstances the roots will soon be in active growth, and the 

 shoots will appear above ground. Until the young Vines are 

 growing freely it is as well not to give too much water, as it 

 would cause them to damp-off. I generally plant the eyes in 

 moderately damp compost, and plunged in a moist bottom 

 heat they do not generally require water at the roots until 

 the shoots are above ground. 



The plants should be shifted into larger-sized pots imme- 

 diately the roots show through the hole in the bottom of the 

 pot ; plunge in the bottom heat again for a week or ten days, 

 after which they are as well without bottom heat. The night 

 temperature at this time should be 65°, with a proportionate 

 rise by day. When the pots are full of roots shift again, 

 and do not allow the plants to experience any check ; water 

 freely, and keep them clean by syringing twice daily. The 

 best of all composts is sound turfy loam, with a fair proportion 

 of clay ; if it is cut six weeks previous to use that will be long 

 enough, as it is not so good if the loam has lain until the 

 fibre has decayed. The turf should be torn to pieces by the 

 hand. To every barrowload of this turf add one 9-inch potful 

 of half-inch bones. In potting, ram-in the compost firmly. 



If the plants have thriven well they will be ready to shift 

 into the fruiting-pots by the end of July. It is well not to 

 delay the final shift, in order that they may be firmly esta- 

 blished before autumn. As long as the leaves continue green 

 give plenty of water, using it more sparingly when the leaves 

 near the base of the plant show signs of decay ; at the same 

 time ventilate the house more freely, and allow a little air to 

 be admitted all night. 



Pruning should be performed as soon as all the leaves are 

 off ; it consists in cutting back the main rod to from 6 to 

 9 feet from the surface of the pot, and cutting back all the 

 laterals closely. The pots may then be removed to a cool and 

 airy house with a dry atmosphere until they are wanted for 

 forcing. They do not require a long rest, they may be started 

 very shortly after they are pruned ; but when it is necessary 

 to start them into growth before the shortest day, a mild 

 bottom heat is desirable ; this will push the roots into active 

 growth, the buds will then break regularly and strongly, and 

 show plenty of bunches. 



Pot Vines maybe trained in two ways. One is to place three 

 or four stout sticks in the pot and train the rod spirally round 

 the sticks ; this is the method usually adopted, and it answers 

 very well. Another mode in which I have trained them for a 

 number of years, and which has obtained many admirers, is 

 this : A stout iron rod has three prongs fixed on one end — this 



is to steady the trellis in the pot — on the other end is fixed a 

 circular' trellis, consisting of an outer and inner ring, about 

 2 feet 6 inches in diameter ; the stem of the Vine is trained up 

 the iron rod, which is from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches high, and 

 the rod is then bent round between the outer and inner rings, 

 and the young shoots are trained to the trellis, from which the 

 clusters of Grapes hang down, and have a fine effect. 



In no case ought the Vines to be started in a high tempe- 

 rature ; one of 45° is sufficiently high for the first ten days, 

 when 50° may be maintained as a night temperature. With a 

 slight bottom heat the temperature may be higher at night as 

 well as by day, as then the roots will be in more active growth. 



Free-bearing, free-setting varieties are best adapted for pot 

 culture. I have tried many different varieties, and the follow- 

 ing, all points considered, I think the most desirable — viz., 

 Black Hamburgh, Foster's White Seedling, Alicante, Muscat of 

 Alexandria, Muscat Hamburgh, and Buckland Sweetwater. 



There is one matter in connection with Vino culture to 

 which I wish to draw attention, as I think it of much im- 

 portance, and that is the amount of artificial heat required to 

 ripen Grapes of the Muscat class. Messrs. Lane & Son, of 

 Berkhampstead, grow magnificent Muscats, I believe with 

 very little artificial heat ; and Mr. Barron has also shown us 

 what can be done at Chiswick in the way of ripening such 

 Grapes as Alicante and Madi-esfield Court Muscat in a house 

 which is not furnished with any heating apparatus. The 

 last two seasons have been very unfavourable for ripening 

 Grapes well, and yet the examples he exhibited were well 

 coloured and of exceedingly fine flavour. The last season has 

 been one which required much firing, and with coke at a guinea 

 a-chaldron, and coal 35s. a-ton, it is a serious matter to some 

 employers. From my own experience this season I am in- 

 clined to advise less artificial heat for Muscat Grapes during 

 the summer and early autumn months. I allowed the fire to 

 go out shortly after the Grapes were set in a house containing 

 such sorts as Muscat of Alexandria, Alicante, Gros Guillaume, 

 and White Tokay, and the Grapes are much superior in quality 

 to what they were last year with heat applied nearly all the 

 season, and red spider has not been so troublesome. This is a 

 matter of much importance, and one on which information is 

 wanted. — J. Douglas. 



STANDAED GEEANIUMS. 



Few plants grown for flower-garden decoration will repay 

 the cultivator more satisfactorily than standards of the different 

 sorts of Geraniums now under cultivation. They not only 

 flower more freely than plants grown in the ordinary way, but 

 are also very unique and attractive objects during the whole 

 of the flower-garden season, and when this is over they are 

 equally valuable for the rich display of flowers. After being 

 housed, if kept in an airy temperature of 45° to 55°, they 

 will continue flowering throughout the winter. This free 

 and late flowering no doubt arises from the thorough ripening 

 of the wood, principally owing to the cramped and matted 

 state of the roots in the pots, and to the free and full exposure 

 of the whole plant to the sun and ah'. I find that late flower- 

 ing is stimulated by keeping the plants out of doors as far on 

 in the autumn as can be done with safety ; the falling tempera- 

 ture of the shortening day gives a check to growth, which 

 renders the plant more susceptible of being excited into growth 

 when put again under glass. 



We have here a few dozen good established plants on stems 

 from 2J to 3J feet in height, principally of the variegated- 

 leaved sorts. They are turned out annually, the pots being 

 plunged to the rim in the centre of small flower-beds, and 

 singly in the turf. My method has been to shift the plants 

 in February or March, taking off all round about an inch of 

 the ball and roots, in the case of those which are large, and to 

 place them in the same sized pots. The soil is enriched with 

 a good quantity of sheep's dung. Smaller-sized plants are 

 shifted into larger pots, and a succession of these is always 

 kept under glass in training, to attain the desired height in 

 order to take the place of failures. I may here remark that 

 the Cloth of Gold Geranium, which grew so badly everywhere 

 in 1865, was perfection here last season, and so was the much- 

 decried Iresine Herbstii, which improved weekly after the 

 middle of July. Coleus Versehaffelti, however, was quite a 

 failure. — J. Websteb, Gordon Castle. 



Renfkew Leek and Onion Show. — This Show, which was 

 open to all competitors, was held in the Queen's Hall, Ren- 



