PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
429 
it very likely that a man may be asked, not " if 
he can grow them," for he might say, yes, but 
" if he had been used to them ; " and if he 
were unable to say yes, it might be fatal; and 
if after saying so the employer found he had 
not, he would lose confidence, because a man 
used to florists' flowers. can see in an instant 
whether a man has or has not been used to 
handling them ; for it is, whatever may be 
said of it, v€ry unlike other gardening. There 
is more attention wanted, but less labour. It 
is like setting a tailor to make millinery, to set 
a regular gardener who is not used to it to 
grow floi'ists' flowers ; but they will become 
so necessary an appendage to a good establish- 
ment that it will be necessary for all gardeners 
to learn how to grow them ; and though he 
may think he can do it at any time he chooses, 
he will find himself very awkward, and his 
subject very troublesome. It is a very com- 
mon practice with first-rate gardeners to affect 
to despise florists' flowers. It would be just 
as sensible to despise an improved peach or 
pear in behalf of the wild plum. Culture has 
raised both from their humble and simple 
nature to subjects worthy of the highest re- 
gard. It is only those who cannot grow them, 
or who are ignorant of the treatment they 
require, that affect to despise them ; and no- 
thing would be more safe than to conclude 
that a man who speaks of them lightly is 
ignorant of the treatment they want, and un- 
willing to own it, as indeed all men are to 
admit they are at all deficient. We would 
engage to show that nine gentlemen's head 
gardeners out of ten would feel at a loss if a 
bed of tulips, or a collection of auriculas, or 
carnations and picotees, were placed in their 
care to be grown for exhibition ; and it is 
sheer nonsense to speak slightingly of them 
on this account : it will be far better to buy a 
few and to grow them, and thus make them- 
selves acquainted with them, than to remain 
in ignorance and pretend to despise them. 
They will find that to tie and bloom and dress 
the carnation, and to flower the auricula, will 
require some ingenuity, however apt they may 
be at learning; and that, notwithstanding close 
application, such knowledge is not to be ac- 
quired off-hand, or without some experience. 
Gardeners may rely upon it that our advice 
is not premature ; ladies and gentlemen will 
want to find in their gardens those things 
which they see at shows : there is nothing 
more certain than this, and gardeners will 
have, sooner or later, to cultivate them ; so 
that the sooner they begin the better, and by 
obtaining a few, which any gardener would 
give them, to begin, they will become gra- 
dually accustomed to them, and the care of a 
few will make it easy to superintend a good 
many, for it is mere increase of labour. 
An Abstract of Reports, Papers, and 
Proceedings of the Horticultural 
Society of London, with notes by a 
Practical Gardener. 
Shrivelling of Grapes. — It is well 
known that after the berries are formed upon 
the bunch, they advance pretty rapidly in 
size until the period when the seeds are form- 
ing, when for a time their increase seems sus- 
pended. Immediately after this it sometimes 
happens that the foot- stalks suddenly turn 
brown and shrink, and the berries, ceasing to 
increase in size, shrivel, acquire an unpleasant 
taste, and ultimately fall off. By many gar- 
deners this disease is attributed to the badness 
of the borders on which the vines are planted, 
but it will be found that it arises from a 
totally different cause. 
At the formation of the seeds, the skins of 
the berries as well as of the foot-stalks are 
remarkably tender, and consequently easily 
affected by the surrounding atmosphere. If 
fresh air is not given early in the morning, 
before the internal air becomes heated, a 
vapour rises in the house, which is perceptible 
by its condensing on the glass and walls, and 
on any ironwork that may be in the house. 
If under these circumstances the bunches of 
fruit are carefully examined, the moisture will 
be found plentifully collected on the berries, 
and more particularly on the foot-stalks. This 
is the destructive material, for as the tempera- 
ture of the house is increased, an effect equal 
to scalding is produced on the cuticle of the 
berries, and hence the diseased appearance 
which they assume, and should the sun break 
suddenly out the destruction becomes complete. 
To prevent this, one or two of the top 
sashes should be drawn down a little, early in 
the morning, and if the day opens out bright 
and sunny, the rest of them may also be drawn 
down. Unless the day be very warm, the 
front lights should not be opened, for a current 
of air is produced by this, which in cold 
weather is very liable to produce a spotting 
upon the berries, a disease scarcely less in- 
jurious than the scalding". This, however, does 
not prevent the berries from colouring, but if 
the spots become large, the berries take an 
irregular shape, and cease to improve in size. 
The first appearance of this disorder is a 
number of very minute brown spots, which 
penetrate quite through the skin, sometimes 
affecting some of the berries only, sometimes 
the whole bunch. — Letter by Mr. D. Judd. 
The cultivation of an early and a 
late variety of the pear on the same 
Tree. — The advantage of this plan in a small 
garden, where the walls are not extensive, is 
obvious ; and even where there is a great 
extent of wall, when it is considered that it is 
mostly the south exposure that is used for the 
