148 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t February ss. 1882 
fork, after which replace the frame. The bed being thus pre¬ 
pared, the surface is to be covered 6 inches thick with a mixture 
of one-half sandy loam and one half leaf mould, and if intended 
for the cultivation of Cucumbers or Melons there should be a 
mound 8 or 10 inches high in the centre of each light, on which 
the plants are to be placed. 
“After the bed has been some time in operation, and the heat 
has begun to decline, it must be renewed by means of linings, 
which is done by laying hot dung at each end, 18 inches thick at 
the bottom, and gradually tapering towards the top. If this 
should prove insufficient to reproduce the heat required, then the 
sides are to be similarly treated. When the heat from the first 
linings is gone they are to be removed, and others put in their 
place. 
“ It has already been remarked that those hotbeds formed of 
tan, refuse hops, and leaves, require to be boxed in with boards ; 
but there is a pit of simple and very economical construction, 
which may be advantageously adopted in such cases, and also as 
a protection for tender plants and crops during winter. It is 
constructed by driving down four stakes as directed for the 
hotbed, and building the sides of the pit the required height with 
sound firm sods or turf from a common or some old pasture. The 
sods should be a foot or 15 inches wide, 3 inches thick, and as 
long as they can conveniently be obtained. A pit so constructed 
will be found of great service for many purposes where economy 
is the consideration.” 
Now I am satisfied (that is, if the letter is printed). It is 
about exhaustive on making hotbeds. But in all probability 
if linings are needed it will suffice to place them on the wide 
margin of the bed. At the time when the bed is made we may 
expect the bottom heat to be ample without building the linings 
from the ground ; indeed, the front at least will not need 
lining, and on the wide margin then a few inches of soil can 
be placed, to be held up with boards and covered with glass, 
and Stocks, Asters, and Celery, &c., can be raised better than 
in pots and boxes. Further, if the heat is sufficient without 
linings at all, the margin all round can be similarly turned to 
account, and no one knows the value of such a warm ledge but 
those who have proved it. 
I am thankful to say we have no fogs here, but our “ beauti¬ 
ful hills" are tipped, not with gold, but with snow.—A 
Northern Gardener. 
[With pleasure we accede to the request of our able corre¬ 
spondent, and the more so since the letter he desires us to 
publish is so seasonable and good. But while we disclaim any 
recollection of having received the paper alluded to, we must 
still point out that our friend is in error as to the authorship of 
the article, and he will perceive that further contributions are 
requisite for his attaining to the fanciful pinnacle to which he 
aspires of being on “ a level with an editor.” We accept his 
Boland, and in return trust he will appreciate a quid pro quo. 
—Ed.]' 
VINES AT LONGLEAT. 
( Continued from page 127.) 
THE TIME FOE PRUNING. 
I have pointed out that the encouragement of new 
growths late in the season must have a prejudicial 
effect on the roots, inasmuch as those roots which are 
called into existence out of their natural season cannot 
have much chance of becoming mature; but I must 
here say, that on the other hand no amount of pinch¬ 
ing will prevent a healthy Vine making some late roots, 
ml as it is its nature to do so we need not try to 
prevent it, for doubtless it is for the purpose of fully 
preparing for its work in spring the organised material 
which I have already said is stored in its stems both 
above and below the ground. 
This habit, too, as far as I know is peculiar to the 
Vine. All other fruit trees finish their root-growth with 
or before the fall of the leaf, and often before the Vine 
has finished its autumn work the roots of other trees 
are ready to start again on their new year’s task. 
Knowing this I preserve the principal leaves of the 
Vine as long as possible. When the top growth appears 
to have ceased on the yearling Vines, say in September, 
they are cut to the length they are intended to he left, 
and then after a week or two the laterals are cut off 
close to the stem, and this finishes the pruning, the 
leaves on the main stem being allowed to continue on 
as long as they will. 
MAKING SURE WORK OF INJECTS. 
After pruning, the next thing to be done according to 
the old routine of Vine management, as the canes are 
to remain, and as they have already made more than 
an ordinary outer bark, and the house has been used 
for all sorts of plants, some of which I must admit had 
some insects on them, would be to see if it is possible to 
scrape some of their outer bark off, and then to paint 
the nude stems with some never-failing compound. It 
is to be hoped that this plan has now become almost 
obsolete, but as I have lately found out there are many 
practices in the culture of the Vine which I had thought 
obsolete are still in force, I think it better to say a word 
on this point in case there may be one of my readers 
who still thinks this a necessity. 
To the boy who entered a garden some thirty years 
ago with the view of learning our ancient profession, 
and saw for the first time this terrible peeling and 
scraping, it would seem that the Vine was of the same 
character as the Plane tree, but somehow its cultiva¬ 
tion had so advanced that Dame Nature had not 
been able to keep pace with it, so it was necessary for 
its very existence that its outer bark should be removed 
by force. I may state, however, that in inexperienced 
hands a stop was not always made where the outer 
bark ended. Next there was the washing and scrub¬ 
bing, then the painting with some mysterious mixture, 
the preparation of which was only known to one 
individual, whose idea seemed to be that by making it 
as unpleasant as possible to those who used it, he would 
of a certainty frighten all the insects away for the next 
twelve months. Suffice it to say that as the houses 
w r ere not always new or newly painted, and as the 
woodwork, walls, surface of the soil, &c., were not 
operated on in so thorough-going a manner as the Vines 
xvere, the insects did show themselves again, and the 
operation had to be repeated in the following winter. 
Some of the ingredients in this terrible mixture I 
have since found out did no great harm to either insects 
or Vines while they were both comparatively dormant, 
and amongst them may be mentioned sulphur (undis¬ 
solved), soot, clay, and urine, but I have little doubt 
that softsoap or anything containing a strong alkali is 
injurious when applied in quantity to the inner bark of 
a Vine. Now I know very well that insects will some¬ 
times attack Vines managed with the greatest skill 
when the houses are used, as they always may be, for 
other purposes than growing Grapes, and I will give 
what I believe to be the best and safest as well as the 
cheapest remedy yet introduced for making a clearance 
of insect pests in autumn ; but I am afraid my readers 
will be a little disappointed when they are told that it 
is our old friend generally known by the name of 
paraffin oil, but more properly petroleum, as paraffin 
oil, which is a native production, is not much in use in 
this country now, it being superseded by the imported 
article called petroleum, and many of us know paraffin 
oil only in name. Although I am not making known 
a new insect-killer, I am, I believe, making known a 
