42 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, r January so, mi. 
wrong side, they receive" too much water, and at a time when 
they are being supplied liberally with liquid manure. When 
repotted they have abundance of substantial food in all stages 
which would otherwise have to be supplied by means of the 
watering pot. If liquid manure is applied long after colouring 
commences the flavour of the Grapes is invariably deficient, 
and, if not supplied with stimulants, what have the Vines to 
feed upon in the pots in which they were grown the year pre¬ 
vious ? When repotted they do not require much feeding. A 
little can be given according to the richness of the compost 
and the size of the pots ; it can be discontinued at any time, 
so as not to be any detriment to the flavour of the Grapes. 
I must here condemn the system of starting Vines in bottom 
heat, and having their roots in advance of the top growth, if 
they are intended to be repotted afterwards. I have tried it, 
but cannot recommend it : the fresh roots are broken in carry¬ 
ing out the operation and do more harm than good, and the 
system is dangerous and uncertain. Before potting the soil 
should be in readiness, and laid for a few days before being 
used in the house in which the Vines are growing, to be well 
warmed, so that no check will be occasioned by the use of cold 
soil. The soil should be rich, and consist of good fibry loam, 
manure, and small bone dust, and a little coarse sand if needed, 
or any other ingredients Vine-growers prefer, but the compost 
given will answer the purpose well. The pots should be well 
drained and covered with the roughest of the compost or a 
few horse droppings, and then potting should be proceeded 
with, the crocks and any loose soil from the surface of the 
old ball only being removed, disturbing the roots as little as 
possible. The soil must be pressed firmly into the pots, 
gradually sloping to the Vine in the centre, and if convenient 
space should be left for further top-dressing. I have tried 
reducing the old ball, or, at least, disentangling some of the 
roots to lay into the new soil, but this is scarcely a safe plan. 
Before potting, the old balls should be in a thoroughly moist 
state, so that water will not be necessary for a few days or a 
week. After potting the Vines can be tied up where they are 
intended to fruit, and if bottom heat is to be applied after the 
Grapes are set they can be so arranged in tying that the 
pots can be drawn forward to the bottom heat without un¬ 
tying. If plunged the watering must not be left to a careless 
hand, but to one who will use the water pot judiciously, and 
apply the water with care and caution. Careful watering is 
needed in all stages, but especially until the pots are well filled 
with roots. 
Some may be inclined to think, if potting after growth has 
commenced is so beneficial to the production of better Grapes 
in pots, why not repot them in late summer or early autumn 
after they commence turning brown at the base and while the 
roots are active ? I may add the roots do not keep in such 
good and fresh condition in large pots, nor do the canes ripen 
so quickly and well. In short, they will not produce such 
satisfactory results if placed in large pots before growth is 
completed as if the operation is done as detailed above.— 
William Bardney. 
AUTUMN FLOWERING OF AURICULAS. 
I have to thank Mr. Horner for his notes on this subject at 
page 2. It is a question of some interest to me, as I intend to add 
considerably to the comparatively small number of plants which 
I possess, and as some varieties are so expensive that we wish to 
make the most of them. Further, Auriculas are not altogether a 
hobby of my own, as my employer takes a great interest in the 
plants when in flower, and I wish as many as possible to flower 
in spring. 
I will now call attention to some points in Mr. Horner’s reply 
which I consider may be further discussed. He says that “ ail 
Primulas are spring-flowering, earlier or later, and may bloom 
in autumn, whether the summer has been hot and dry or not.” 
When I wrote I was thinking of Primula japonica, P. cortusoides, 
and the varieties of P. amoena, which here flower rather in early 
summer than spring, and do not usually produce a second crop 
of flowers. With regard to a hot and dry or a cool and wet 
summer making no difference in this respect, we have the summer 
of 1879 and 1880 for comparison. Spring flowers did not flower 
a second time in the former year. Last year second flowering 
was quite common. What have others to say in this matter ? 
With regard to Auriculas, I saw it stated in one of the gardening 
papers some time since that Auriculas were flowering more freely 
out of season in 1880 thnn in 1879. If this is the general ex¬ 
perience it would prove that a hot or wet summer has a bearing 
on the question. It was for that reason that I had our Auriculas 
watered the same as other plants are. I wrote, “ I give them 
abundance of water.” Mr. Horner wrongly conceives this to mean 
keeping them “ wet,” and how far this idea finds a place in his 
mind is seen when he condemns keeping them “ very wet.” No 
plant unless a native of bogs will thrive if kept in a wet con¬ 
dition at the root. Plants kept in a cool condition and protected 
from sunshine do not require as often to be watered as other 
flowers growing in the open ; but letting that be understood, our 
Auriculas received water under like conditions. Mr. Horner has 
so often obtained high positions at the metropolitan Auricula 
shows that his dictum rightly carries the greatest weight with it. 
It will consequently be of interest to be told the exact meaning 
he gives to the phrase keeping the plants “ but very moderately 
moist.” And again, “ through the summer I have found them 
always crisper, stouter, quieter, and greener without much water 
or exposure to sun.” The crispness of the foliage would imply 
that the flagging stage is not allowed to be arrived at before 
water is applied, and the state of quietness hinted at would imply 
that the amount of water Mr. Horner gives his plants has to do 
with the production or non-production of autumn flowers. I may 
say we have a capital position for our plants—perfectly open, and 
yet protected from the sun by thick Holly hedges on the south 
and west.—E. P. B, 
VEGETABLES TRIED AT THE EXPERIMENTAL 
GARDEN AT GIRTFORD. 
Amongst some hundreds of varieties of vegetables tested at 
the Girtford Garden during the past season, many of them novel¬ 
ties, a few came conspicuously to the front, and others would 
doubtless have obtained prominence but for the exceptionally 
wet and sunless summer of 1880. This especially applied to out¬ 
door Cucumbers, the trials of which were quite as unsuccessful 
as in 1879. On the other hand, French Beans, except where 
affected by the disease recently described by the Rev. M. J. 
Berkeley in a contemporary, were fairly satisfactory. Potatoes, 
too, were decidedly better than in the previous year, the crops 
being large and good, and the early varieties quite free from 
disease, but some of the second earlies and late sorts, including 
Magnum Bonum, were a good deal affected; in the case of the 
latter variety arising, doubtless, from the spores being present in 
the seed tubers which had been grown the previous year on strong 
and wettish land, and consequently at least half the seed became 
diseased during the winter, although repeatedly looked over. 
Tomatoes planted out under a south fence were quite free from 
disease, ripened well, and furnished an excellent supply, which 
was only checked by the early frosts of October. Vegetable 
Marrows and Squashes were a wonderful crop, so much so that 
they became valuable as pig food, and notwithstanding that the 
young growth was much affected by the fly, the outcome of checks 
the plants sustained from the cold drying east winds of May. 
Carrots were, however, much injured by the grub. Turnips, as a 
rule, were stringy and not of the usual quality ; and Onions, 
especially the autumn-sown varieties, suffered from excess of wet 
and have not kept well; the crop, however, being large. 
The manure used in addition to London stable dung and soot 
was Clay’s fertiliser, which was most effective with Asparagus, 
French Beans, Vegetable Marrows, Onions, Cauliflowers, and 
Tomatoes. For Potatoes the best rounds were obtained by apply¬ 
ing the fertiliser in combination with burnt rubbish mixed with a 
small quantity of soot ; the rows in which the combination was 
used showing unmistakeably better results than where the con¬ 
stituent stimulants were employed separately. For Peas its effects 
were more conspicuous in the increase of actual produce than in 
the vigour and appearance of the plant. Soot and dung, on the 
other hand, appear, on the light sandy soil of the district, rather to 
increase the amount of straw and foliage at the expense of pro¬ 
duce. I find, however, an application of soot as soon as tbe 
plants appear above ground of great advantage, as it tends to 
promote growth in the early stage, and thereby to protect the 
young plant from the destructive attacks of the weevil. 
The following vegetables deserved especially noting :— 
Asparagus. —Cne-year-old imported plants of the Early Purple 
Argenteuil, planted in April, 1879, on the wide-apart or French 
system, produced during the past season shoots upwards of half 
an inch in diameter, and quite equal to the best ordinary grass ” 
from beds several years old. Growers will find this variety both 
earlier, quicker in coming to market, of better flavour, and quite 
