342 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



ApiUL 27, 1912 



SUPERNUMERARY VINES- 



When planting a vinery it is an excel- 

 lent plan to put ni a row of supernumerary' 

 canes at a reasonable distance from the 

 front, and permanent, row, so that tlie 

 vinery may be fully utilised, and a double 

 crop of fruit obtained for several years. 

 The permanent vines need not be cropped 

 so heavily when this is done, and this is 

 in their favour for the future, remember- 

 ing that the vines should bear continuously 

 and well for forty years, at least. 



The planting of an extra row of canes 

 means making a special border for their 

 use for a few years; this is easily done 

 by using freshly-cut turves as a retaining 

 wall. The extra canes need not have so 

 much space as the permanent rods, and 

 three feet apart will suffice. They will 

 fruit heavily and well for ten years if 

 necessary. I need hardly say the length 

 of these vines depends upon the width of 

 the vinery ; if this is eighteen feet wide 

 then the life of the extra vines is pro- 

 longed. Tile point to attend to ami to 

 guide the grower is how the permanent 

 vines are extending, for as these progress 

 the lower spurs of the extra rods should 



be removed. 



One of the best examples of the use of 

 supernumerary vines I liave seen for a 

 long time was at Aldenham House last 

 year, where Mr. Beckett had replanted an 

 old vinery mainly with Musc^ats. From the 

 extra canes he obtained from six to eight 

 bunches of very fine grapes, and at the 

 same time his i>ermanent vines were grow- 

 ing away sturdily with a good promise for 



the future. 



For supernumerary vines stout year-old 



plants should l^e employed, and instead of 

 cutting them down to within a couple of 

 eyes of the base, as is the best plan in 

 pruning the permanent rods, the canes are 

 left long enough to give three shoots on 

 the wires ; a pair of side growths and a 

 leader. There may be exceptions to this 

 method of pruning, such as an extra high 

 roof, when the vine rods might not be long 

 enough. The remedy then is to prune to 

 a suitable eye, and train the leading shoot 

 upwards on to the wire. In this case there 

 is a probable loss of a season's fruiting, 

 therefore in selecting the canes preference 

 should l>e given to the special circum- 

 stances. 



When planting new vineries, especially 

 where the structure is a span-roofed one, 

 and devoted entirely to grapes, and perhaps 

 one hundred feet long, and about twenty 

 feet wide, the plan of curtailing the num- 

 ber of plants and training the vines after- 

 wards on the extension principle is on 

 the increase, and rightly so, because the 

 method has many advantages. For in- 

 stance, the cost of plants to furnish both 

 sides of a house of the dimensions noted, 

 on the older plan of one vine to every 

 yard or four feet, is a considerable item. 

 No f(^wer than fifty canes will l>e needled 

 at the wider distance apart. In the case 

 of the extension principle six vines will 

 suffice, or at the most eight, four on each 

 side. The saving, too, in border making 

 is considerable, especially when we con- 

 sider how difficult it is to procure suitable 

 soil in some localities. ^Vlien planting on 

 the single ro<l system a continuous lK)rder 

 is necessary the whole length of the house 

 and on both asides; it nee<l not l>e more 

 than a yard wide the first year, but it will 

 require extending the next. In the case 

 of the six or eight vines for extension, a 

 })<>rfler for each plant, eight feet long, will 

 last several vears. 



tlie bottom wire at right angles from the 

 main stem, and from this basal, horizontal 

 rod taking up other ixkIs resulting from 

 the growths selected at not less than four 

 feet apart. It is surprising how quickly 

 a house can be furnished with vines under 

 this system of training, for in a few 

 years as many as one himdred bunches 

 can be taken from each vine, ranging in 

 weight from three poiuids to six pounds 

 in the case of sucli sorts as Alicante. 

 Madresfield Court and Muscat of Alexan- 

 dria, which succeed admirably on this prin- 

 ciple. I well remember the original vine 

 from which the late Mr. J. Meredith, Gar- 

 ston Vineyard, cut the bunches that were 

 the means of illuvstrating the value of this 

 grape, and thus l>ringing it prominently 

 before the public. The vine was planted 

 at one end of a vinery, with a partition 

 in, and as the vine grew the partition was 

 removed to allow of extension, and right 

 well did it succeed. This was in the year 



1872, or thereabouts. 

 Swanmore Park. 



E. MOLYNI 



THINNING AND STAKING 



ANNUALS. 



Early thinning is one of the most impor- 

 tant points in the culture of annvials when 

 they are sown outside. Immediately the 

 seedlings are large enough to handle they 

 should be slightly thinned out, and then 

 in a short time, when they have 

 close together again, the 



mplished 



grown 

 final thinning 



i allowed 



for the development of each plant must be 

 governed by the size it is likely to attain. 

 Take, for instance, a single plant of the 

 blue cornflower^ which, when given swffi- 

 cient space, grows into a bvish of fine 

 dimensions, and the Shirley poppies make 

 large plants when provided with plenty of 

 room. Not only is thinning conducive to 

 large-sized plants, but the flowering season 

 is considerably lengthened. AVhen the seed- 

 lings are allowed to remain in the beds 

 or clumps just as they come up, the result 

 is thin growth, small flowers, and a very 

 short season. 



The coi^nflowers and tall coreopsis, and, 

 in fact, all annuals of similar growth, re- 

 quire from eighteen inches to two feet of 

 space to attain full development. The 

 smaller-growing kinds, such as godetias, 

 clarkias, etc., must be thinned according 

 to their habit. Careful thought is neces- 

 sary when thinning a bed or clump of mixed 

 colours of, any particular kind. Among 

 mixed larkspuis the plants of one colour 

 are stronger growing than those of another 

 colour, therefore, when dealing with them 

 it is highly important that neither all the 

 large nor all the small seedlings are re- 

 moved, otherwise only one colour w411 be 

 the result from a packet of mixed seeds. 



Many annuals require support of some 

 kind, and how to obtain a natural effect 

 vfc^hile giving this necessary support is, 

 in many cases, a difficult problem to solve. 

 The principal idea shoukl l>e to provide 

 something of sufficient strength to keep 

 the plants in an upright position, and to 

 allow ihem to grow as naturally as pos- 

 sible. Anything in the shape of formality 

 should always be avoided, for nothmg looks 



I nless the 



worse than b\uiched-up plants, 

 plants al>solutely require staking, the latter 

 should not be attempted. Gadlardias, 



MESSRS- WILLIAM BULL AND 



SONS' NURSERIES. 



The name of William Bull has been asso- 

 ciated with the introduction of new plants 

 over a long series of years, and it would 

 be an. easy matter to compile a very long' list 

 of subjects that have been distributed from 

 the establishment in King's Road, Chelsea. 

 In the earlier years of the firm's historv 

 stove plants, economic plants and species of 

 orchids, were the principal novelties, though 

 other subjects were not omitted ; and, if 

 memory serves us aright, Mr. Wni. Bull sent 

 out the first new sweet pea — Bronze Prince — 

 raised by the late Mr. Henry P^ckford. 



But other times bring other manners, and 

 at present the firm, now conducted by Mr. 

 E. Bull, the younger son of the late Mr. 

 William Bull, is very largely occupied in 

 producing hybrid orchids. Fifteen years or 

 so ago many of the houses at Chelsea were 

 filled with large batches of orchid species, 

 whereas to-day no fewer than eleven houses 

 are devoted to seedling orchid^s that range 

 in size from the merest little green blob that 

 indicates a fully germinated seed, up to 

 goodly plants carrying numerous spikes of 

 elegant flowers. 



Any doubts as to the possibility of cultivat- 

 ing orchids in London would be immediately 

 set at rest by a visit to Messrs. Bull's e8tab- 

 lishment at Chelsea. Only one difficulty 

 seems to arise in this orchid manufactory, 

 and it is the one of opening the flowers of 

 some kinds, notably the cattleyas and their 

 hybrids, during the dull months of the year. 

 Judging by the wonderfully healthy appear- 

 ance of the almost innumerable seedlings, and 

 the fine growth and spikes made by the young 

 plants just reaching their time of first 

 flowering, one might be tempted to assert 

 that the subdued light of London town is 

 altogether conducive to the best results iu 

 connection with the vastly interesting work 

 of raising orchids from seeds. 



It was in 1903 that Messrs. William Bull 

 and Sons commenced in real earnest to raise 

 new orchids by cross-fertilisation and hybridi- 

 sation, and in the person of Mr. J. Lakin 

 they have found a clever raiser and a capable* 

 grower. It is of interest to learn that at 

 Cheleea there seems to be no Hpecially suit- 

 able time of the year for sowing orchid seeds, 

 and even those that germinate late in the 

 year only i^emain somnolent, as it were, until 

 the new year arrives, and then they grow 

 awav capitally. The seeds ara kept for a 

 little while after ripening, and are then 

 sown, no matter what the time of year. An- 

 other point of great interest is that the seeds 

 are never sown in or on a specially prepared 

 medium, but always on the surface of the 

 compost around a newly-established plant of 

 several years old, which will not need 

 repotting for some little time. 



With the help of a magnifying glass the 

 seeds mav be seen in various stages of ger- 

 mination^ while, of course, it is quite easy 

 to follow the development of seedlings troin 

 the time thev make a first tiny leat. Mr 

 Lakin has no" faith in the use of the various 

 fern fibres for quite voung seedlings, be- 

 lieving that good peat fibre is far better un- 

 til the plants are approaching the flowering 

 stage, when the various peat substitutes may 

 be used with advantage. The batches oi 

 seedling odontoglossuniis and odontiodas are 

 a fascinating studv, and one may reaau 

 pick out those derived from Odontoglossuni 

 Edwardi, O. Rossi, and, at a certain stage. 

 O. crispum. Odontoglossums are most 

 tensivcly grown, and of special importance ou 

 the occncsion of a rec(Mit visit was a lars 

 batch just opening their flowers, and dern^^ 

 from crossing O. crispum I'raiiz ^^^/'^^\ 

 O. c. Alphonso. The ca.licst nf these Jiave 



alonsoas, and others with similar habit, pro- - t nZS. of very finely blotched forjn^ 



vide a more plea.sing effect when they are ^ ^^^^^ ^een a poor yanetj 



allowed to ^row naturally. balpigKxssis, rpj^^ rjlants are about three and a.-!l»^L y,:^. 



The metho<l of extending the vines is 

 that of enoonragincr a vigorous growth on 

 each of tbe main stems, laying a rod along 



g 



cosmeas etc., which produce a single stem 

 and branch from it, require one stick, and 

 when the side shoots l>ecome heavy they 

 must be looped up. For the nY>j<'»''ty, the 

 twisKV ends of pea sticks wdl be found 

 mostusefuL E. C. Pooley. 



The plants are about three and a^;*^*'* ^ 

 old. O. Zena (O. sceptrum X O. 

 armni), with l)right vellow and brovvu tlo^^ , 

 is a very effective hybrid. O. ^pl/'^.J'ti b 

 mum, obtained by crossing 0. Pescatore W 



0. ardentissimum, is giving a Y^^^lrs of 

 large, shapely, and well-marked aower 



