340 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 1, 188-1. 
of it and bring it down steadily; no jerking should be indulged 
in, as the consequence may be that the shoot parts company 
with the main stem. Some varieties of Vines are more difficult 
to tie down than others. Black Alicante is often very trouble¬ 
some to get down, being when in rude health very strong and 
brittle. When such is the case they should be left as long a time 
as possible, even till they are just coming into fiower. By that 
time they are generally tougher and will endure being handled. 
Gros Colman, Lady Downe’s, Muscats, Hamburghs, Mmscadines, 
Sweetwaters, and many other varieties can all be handled freely 
in ordinary circumstances. 
Sometimes, however, when Black Hamburghs come very 
strong they require a gradual process, and must be slung to the 
wires before they can be finally brought down. When tying 
above a bunch the tie may be made tighter than when below, as 
due care must be taken not in any way to impede the flow of 
nourishment of the bunch. 
Vine shoots often swell considerably after being tied down, 
and allowance should be made for that, especially when, as 
remarked above, the tie is below the bunch. A twist of the 
raffia round the wire prevents the tie slipping along, as it will 
sometimes do when such is not done. All shoots should be as 
far as possible laid down to a wire that will bring them at right 
angles to the main stem. 
When Vine rods are too crowded this cannot easily be done, 
and I have seen many places where the laterals were tied close 
in alongside the main stem, giving the Vines not half the chance 
they should have of getting this wood well ripened. 
If these lines give confidence to any about to begin to tie 
Vine shoots for the first time the writer’s object will have been 
attained. Those who know by experience all about it will still 
be candid enough to confess that there was once a time when 
they felt nervous about tying Vine shoots.— Vitis. 
BERTOLONIAS AND SONERILAS. 
The beautiful markings of the foliage of these little Melasto- 
mads is not excelled by any of the large number of ornamental¬ 
leaved, plants at present cultivated in our gardens, and is only 
equalled by the choicest of those pretty little Orchids, the 
Anaectochili. These latter, however, from their being so exceed¬ 
ingly difficult of cultivation, might with some reason be excluded 
from the list of useful garden plants ; whereas the requirements 
of the Bertolonias and their cousins the Sonerilas are simple 
enough to be within the reach of everyone who possesses a stove. 
When in good condition the rich veinings of the Bertolonias 
never fail to win admiration, and especially may this be said of 
B. Van Houtteana, of which the thin almost transparent leaves 
are covered with a close network of a deep rose colour that, 
owing to its crystallised surface, sparkles in the sun like the 
colours of beautiful birds. Nature would appear to have exerted 
herself in the painting of these leaves, for it would be difficult 
to find any t lant in which her choicest handiwork has wrought 
with more pleasing effect. In addition to this gem we now 
possess a number of equally beautiful forms, for almost every 
one of which we are indebted to the skill in cross-breeding of 
M. Van Houtte, whose labours among these plants have yielded 
as good results as have been obtained by him in the improve¬ 
ment of the Gesneriads. 
One of the most beautiful of the seedling Bertolonias is 
B. Gibsoniana, which, if such a thing be possible, is even supe¬ 
rior to B. Van Houtteana. It is marked in precisely the same 
manner as B. Van Houtteana, but surpasses it in richness of 
colours and in the sturdier substance of its foliage. It is indeed 
a striking plant—perhaps a little overdone for some tastes. 
B. Hrubyana, another new form, is a silver-veined form of 
B. Van Houtteana; a third new one, B. Rodeckiana, is similar 
to the last-mentioned, with a tinge of purple added. Besides 
those with reticulated leaves there is a group with foliage 
thickly studded with white, pink, or bright red spots. Of these 
the best are B albo and roseo-punctata, B. superbissima, B. 
Mirandsei and B. Gladstonei. It is noteworthy that the whole 
of these distinct and beautiful varieties are the progeny of B. 
guttata, a dark bronzy-leaved species; B. maculata, almost 
similar to it ; B. marmorata, and B. margaritacea, which were 
the only species in cultivation some twenty years ago. None of 
these are so richly variegated as the seedling forms, careful 
cross - breeding, as in the case of Crotons, Dracaenas, and 
Coleuses, having brought out colours which were not shown in 
the original species. 
Sonerilas are pretty little herbs not more than 6 inches high, 
but when in good health grow rapidly in a horizontal direc¬ 
tion by means of their freely produced axillary branches or 
stolons. Their rather fleshy leaves, which are oval in shape, 
and most of them some 3 inches long by an inch in width, are 
green or bronzy, and are blotched or spotted more or less thickly 
with a sparkling silvery variegation. Jewel Plants they have 
been called, and well they deserve the name, for the foliage of 
most of them has the appearance of being inlaid with sparkling 
jewels, rather than showing evidences of a peculiar disease, to 
which the physiologists tell us all leaf-variegation must be 
attributed. In some of them the spots run into each other, so 
that almost; the whole surface of the leaves is silvered over. 
M. Linden has raised some beautiful forms of Sonerila, but has 
been unfortunate in giving names to more than possess suffi¬ 
ciently distinct characters. The first species introduced into 
our gardens was S. margaritacea, which was exhibited, by 
Messrs. Veitch in 1864. Two other species named S. speciosa 
and S. elegans, both of which have green foliage, followed 
shortly after, along with several others of comparatively little 
beauty. From these the beautifully variegated forms have 
sprung, of which B. Hendersonii, Van Houttei, Van de Sande, 
Madame V. Alesch and Devoisiana are a selection of the best. 
In addition to the attractiveness of their foliage the Sonerilas 
are very pretty flowering plants, producing when properly 
managed a profusion of little bunches of pink blossoms during 
the last three months of the year. 
The cultivation of Sonerilas is best managed in a close moist 
stove, where the plants should be suspended in pans or placed 
upon a shelf near the glass. They require shading from bright 
sunlight, but are liable to damp if shaded too heavily. A 
mixture of peat, leaf mould, and sand suits them best, and a 
liberal supply of water during the summer. It is doubtful 
whether these plants are perennial, their tendency to die in 
spite of the most watchful attention after flowering suggesting 
an annual character. To guard against total loss during winter 
it is necessary that a batch of cuttings should be struck late.in 
the autumn, and as these would most likely perish along with 
the old plants if allowed to bloom, care should be taken to pinch 
out the little bunches of flowers as they appear. A position on 
a shelf in a not over-moist stove is the safest quarter for these 
young plants until the winter is over, when they will require 
repotting and treatment similar to that advised for summer 
growth. The prettiest plants I have seen were grown in pans 
hanging close to the glass in a moist unshaded stove. Each 
pan contained half a dozen plants, which were in 3-inch pots 
and placed in the pan with sphagnum moss about them. Thus 
treated the growth they made was sturdy and the foliage well 
finished ; but it was the extraordinary production of bloom 
consequent on this treatment that proved its success, the whole 
pan looking like a closely packed bouquet of bright pink flowers, 
which hung over the sides of the pan so as to almost cover it. 
For the management of Bertolonias the same kind of treat¬ 
ment as that recommended for Sonerilas will be found to answer, 
with the exception of the amount of light, the Bertolonias 
requiring more shade and as close an atmosphere as possible. 
In large airy structures it is advisable to place these plants 
under a bellglass, which should be tilted or, better still, should 
have an open top—a kind of bellglass which for purposes of this 
kind is preferable to that usually in use. Singularly enough, if 
kept in a dry atmosphere the leaves of these plants suffer from 
what is called damp, but what is really the result of wrong 
treatment, which weakens the foliage and makes it susceptible 
to decay under the slightest change of temperature or atmo¬ 
spheric moisture. Being natives of the moist tropical forests 
of Brazil, where they grow in the light debris under the shade 
of the trees, it will be apparent how essential to their welfare 
in our houses a moist atmosphere and plenty of water at the 
root must be. Bertolonias may be propagated by means of 
cuttings inserted in small pots in sandy peat and placed in a 
close frame until rooted. The most favourable season for this 
is of course the spring. By pegging on to a pot of sand any of 
the strongest leaves a quantity of young plants may be raised, 
as these plants form little bulbils on their foliage in the same 
way as Begonia or Gloxinia leaves do. If allowed to flower 
seeds are frequently matured, which if sown and treated like 
Gloxinia seed germinate freely and often yield new varieties.— 
W. W. 
Yard Manure and Wood Ashes. — I have been asked to state the 
comparative value of unleached wood ashes and barnyard manure for 
Apple, Peach, Pear, and Cherry trees, also in regard to composting the 
two. Barnyard manure varies to so great an ext* nt that it is impossible 
to place a standard price upon it. What it may be worth depends upon 
the kind and condition of the animal, the nature of its food, the relative 
amount of litter mixed with it, and the amount of soluble materials re¬ 
moved by rain, &c. For this discussion I will take fresh horse dung as a 
standard, the horse having a mixed feed of one part Oats and three parts 
