February 23, 1885. ]J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
169 
the following summer as I recommended a short time ago, when 
they will be ready for forcing the following season with some 
certainty of success. 
Another and a general cause of failure is the fact that Roses 
are forced in too warm and too confined an atmosphere. Strong 
heat is ruinous to the Rose, and a higher night temperature 
than 50° or 55° should never be attempted during any stage of 
growth. During the day a rise of 5° or 10° by sun heat will be 
ample. The young tender foliage must be protected from cold 
draughts, and sooner than allow cutting winds to strike upon the 
plants the temperature may be allowed to rise considerably higher, 
for this will prove the least disastrous of the two and may be 
ractised occasionally without the slightest injury. I do not 
now any plant that is sooner started into growth than the Rose. 
When the plants are well established and the wood ripe they 
very quickly commence activity, even in a cool house, if kept close 
and the plants syringed once or twice daily when the weather is 
favourable. 
When the plants are first started they should not be intro¬ 
duced into a higher night temperature than 45°, with a rise of 5° 
by day, until their growth buds are bursting. The night tem¬ 
perature should be gradually increased 5° by the time the young 
shoots are about 2 inches in length, with a higher day tem¬ 
perature in mild weather when the flower buds are visible and 
developing rapidly. Directly these plants have commenced 
growth they must be given a light position and be kept as near to 
the glass as possible to insure dwarf, firm, and sturdy shoots. 
Where low houses or pits are available a bed of leaves can be 
made and the plants placed upon them. The less fire heat used 
the better, but the gentle moist heat thrown off by the leaves is 
very beneficial. After the plants have well advanced in growth 
the pots may with advantage be plunged in the leaves, and the 
gentle heat derived from them will stimulate the roots, in¬ 
creasing their vigour. A little air must be admitted daily 
whenever the weather is favourable, for only by this means can 
sturdy growth, bold and well-developed foliage, be ensured. This 
must not only be practised in the early stages of growth, but 
until the plants flower. In order to have well-coloured fragrant 
flowers, the plants should be removed to a cool structure before 
the buds develope. Not only are the flowers richer and finer 
when opened under cool treatment, but they last much longer. 
To insure a regular head of bloom some attention is needed 
during the season of growth, for unless the shoots are trained 
into position while they are young it is impossible to do it after¬ 
wards. When the flower buds have developed to a good size 
and the wood is firm, it is yery liable to break when the shoots 
are twisted into position, but when soft and growing they can 
be trained into any position by means of a portion of matting 
and a small stake. The shoots can be tied into position as they 
extend in growth, and the foliage then assumes a natural appear¬ 
ance. Training the shoots while green and soft has other advan¬ 
tages than those of arranging the flowers evenly, for the lower 
wood buds plump freely towards the base of the shoots and 
frequently break into growth while the plant is in flower or 
directly afterwards, and thus materially increases the size and 
formation of the plant. If strong shoots issue from the base 
during the operation of forcing, and they do not show signs of 
flowering, they should be trained as they grow in a similar 
manner to those that have flower buds at their extremity. 
When they have extended a good length and gained some 
degree of firmness, they should be well cut back—removing, say, 
6 or 8 inches from the growing end. By this means four or six 
shoots have been produced from one strong one, which before the 
end of the season have become sufficiently ripe to produce flowers 
the following season. A little attention in this respect assists 
wonderfully in increasing the size of the plants and prevents a 
vigorous growth drawing support from the weaker portion 
of the plant, which would certainly be the case if allowed to 
grow undisturbed.— William Bardney. 
(To be continued.) 
LIFUNG OR ROOT-PRUNING VINES. 
When is the best time for these operations as regards Vines that had 
the crop of Grapes hanging up to first week in January ? If they were 
Black Hamburgh Grapes and the crop cut, say, in September I should not 
hesitate to lift or root-prune the Vines at once if the foliage is at all green. 
In the case of Vines with Grapes hanging without foliage I firmly believe 
the first, second, or third week in March to be very suitable, so that the 
roots may not decay in the soil. My experience of lifting Vines is, that 
no matter how carefully it is done, roots will he damaged, and even where 
they are cut they will die. 1 lifted some Black Hamburgh Vines the 
first week in March, 1884, which had been planted four years, and the 
Vines have certainly improved. The following week I treated some 
Muscats the same, and I was satisfied with the results. On examination 
of the roots I find invariably where they are either cut, broken, or 
damaged they are dead for a distance, but at the live portion they have 
formed two or three new roots ; in some cases the newly formed roots run 
a foot or more long. Supposing I had done the lifting at any earlier 
period would they have succeeded as well ? Until I have evidence to the 
contrary I shall believe that the later in spring this work is done the better, 
provided it be before there is any sign of the buds swelling. 
I have some Gros Colman I wish to lift and replant in a smaller border, 
and purpose doing this the first week in March, then the house will be 
closed and gently heated as soon as the buds generally show signs of 
starting, and I intend cropping as usual. This is a subject that is well 
worth discussion, so I hope to glean something from others’experience. 
To lift and replant Vines in borders less than half the original width and 
crop them the same season without injuring the Vinos, but, on the contrary, 
improving them, is not bad. True the Vines were only young (four years 
planted), yet 1 did expect a little check in the growing season, as I cut a 
good portion of the roots away, and then in lifting some were lost. 
Gros Maroc Grape. —Mr. Mclndoe is very sweeping in his remarks 
as to the keeping qualities of this Grape, and I am the more surprised at 
this, as I should have thought it would have kept well with him being 
late ripened, judging from what I have seen of his Grapes when exhibited 
in September. I believe there is no Grape that will carry the crop, finish 
well, and hang till Christmas like this variety. This was once considered 
rather late ; now to keep pace with the times it must be February or 
March. It is the easiest grown large-berried black Grape I have, and will 
displace the Black Hamburgh for Christmas use.— Stephen Castle, 
West Lynn. 
The Committee of the Kingston and Surbiton Chrysan¬ 
themum Society met on Wednesday evening, the 18th inst., and passed 
the proof of schedule and proposed judges for next exhibition, &e. After 
obtaining theconsent of the judges, the schedules will be put in the printer’s 
hands and will soon be issued. Nearly £30 have been added to the 
prize list and pretty well distributed through the schedule, making a new 
class for twelve Anemone Japanese, not less than four varieties, and some 
new classes in the amateur division. A new class has been provided 
for Epiphyllums, as an experiment to try to get plants suitable for deco¬ 
rating the centre of the tables in combination with Primulas and Cycla¬ 
mens. The disbudding of the Pompons is prohibited, as growers are apt 
to get them too near small reflexed flowers. It is allowed in the Anemone 
Pompons, as the better they are grown the more fully developed are their 
centres. 
- An esteemed correspondent informs us of the death of Mr. 
Alexander Meiklejohn in the following note :—“ Mr. Alexander 
Meiklejohn died at his residence, Raploch-by-Stirling, on the 18th inst., in 
his 88th year. A lover and cultivator of several florists’ flowers, he is 
most widely known as an ardent grower and raiser of the Auricula. Many 
in all parts of the kingdom will hear with regret of his death, and one 
who had frequent opportunities of meeting him would in the pages of the 
Journal, of which he was a constant reader, express sincere sorrow at the 
severance of a friendship cemented by kindred tastes. Recurring attacks 
of bronchitis broughthim sadly down of recent years ; yet at the beginning 
of the present one he was surprisingly hale and hearty. He has at last 
succumbed to a severe illness of a few weeks. He and a daughter, who 
has been, and still is, seriously ill, were tended by loving hands of 
the members of the familv, who have the sympathy of many friends in 
their sorrows and bereavement.” 
- At a time when all the hardy Irises are prisoners in the ground 
outside, the beautiful and graceful greenhouse species, Iris rrMBiuATA, 
is gay with blossom, its arching branching spikes lying over the dark 
green shining foliage, and bearing a profusion of flowers for several 
weeks in January and February. .Unlike the hardy Flags, I. fimbriata 
is evergreen, and its leaves are quite handsome enough to make it worthy 
of a place in the greenhouse. It has a hardy constitution, thriving on 
the meanest fare and in the most untoward position. Still, like every 
other hard-lived plant, this Iris is all the better for a little kindness 
in regard to soil and light. At Kew it has been an inmate of the suc¬ 
culent house for many years, flowering every year to the admiration of 
all who Bee it. It maybe seen in fine flowering condition there now. 
