February 23, 1882 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 149 
more efficacious way of using it, and that is by simply 
using it in greater quantity than has been recom¬ 
mended before. Everything, however, depends on the 
time of using it, and that is immediately after the 
small and immature growths are removed, and while 
the older leaves are still green. 
There is, of course, a difficulty with late Grapes 
which it is necessary to keep hanging on the Vines, hut 
in such cases if the fruit cannot be cut before the leaves 
fall, I should try even a stronger application than what 
I here recommend, and have very little doubt of 
success. An ounce of petroleum to the gallon of water 
has been stated by some writers to be too strong, but 
I have never found any injurious effects from it when 
used at this strength and kept properly mixed, unless it 
was on the tenderest of Ferns, or when it was used 
several times in quick succession and no precaution 
had been taken to shade the plants from the sun. 
Vines, however, with thick leathery foliage, as well as 
Peach and Pear trees in autumn, just as the leaves are 
beginning to ripen will bear it much stronger than this, 
and the proportion I use and recommend for this pur¬ 
pose is 14 oz. to the gallon. 
If there is any doubt about what is meant by an ounce 
of petroleum, I may say that it is immaterial whether it 
is a weighed or a measured ounce, for as regards this 
article there is not a great difference, and again if it is 
not convenient to either weigh or measure it accurately 
a medium-sized wineglass may he taken for an ounce. 
The way I proceed is this—the water cans used holding 
about three gallons, a cup, bottle, or whatever may be 
at hand, is balanced on the scales with shot, pebbles, 
seeds, or something small, then a quarter-pound weight 
and a half-ounce one are placed with the latter, and 
petroleum is poured into the vessel till it brings it 
down, and this quantity is placed in each canful of 
water. The way of applying it is that which has been 
so often recommended—viz., to put one syringeful of 
the mixture into the can and another on to the plant. 
But you must not be satisfied with merely syringing 
the plants ; the woodwork, glass, the walls, and every¬ 
thing in the house must have a thorough drenching. 
In had cases where the surface soil cannot be removed 
I would drench that too. There is no excuse for sparing 
the mixture, for it costs next to nothing, and cannot 
harm anything at this time. The operation should be 
repeated in a week, and if the case is a very bad one it 
should be repeated more than once, and I would not 
give much for the life of an insect which was subject 
to two or three such dressings. There is no necessity 
to remove the bark even though it hangs in rags, the 
thing to do is to ply the syringe till it is all saturated. 
THE FIRST CROP. 
We have now seen the Vines through the first year 
of their existence, and all that occurs to me as likely 
to be interesting has been detailed with the exception 
of the general management of the house, and that I 
will leave out for the present and pass on to the second 
year’s starting. 
With the approach of spring, 1871, the Vines, having 
been as thoroughly ripened as it was possible to have 
them, naturally showed an inclination to he moving, 
and they were allowed to have things pretty much in 
their own way. The last year’s growth being now stiff 
and strong, stakes were dispensed with, and the Vines 
were tied afresh straight up the trellis (we never take 
even young Vines down to start them, having failed to 
see any advantage in so doing). They started growing 
I believe from every eye, from the ground upwards, with 
the exception of Lady Downe’s, which does not appear 
so amenable to this style of culture, and in most cases 
where growth started fruit also showed. Well, then, 
with such a disposition to fruit why should they not be 
allowed to fruit ? It is of course against the rules, and 
just what an amateur is so often blamed for, but there 
is no lack of vigour, and according to appearances 
there may be too much of it. Similar Vines in pots if 
well managed would produce some splendid fruit, and 
these, judging from appearances, ought certainly to 
produce some of a larger size, if not quite so well 
finished. Vines in pots, on the other hand, are grown 
only for a temporary purpose—merely to produce one 
crop of fruit, and then they are thrown away. But 
who ever saw a crop of Grapes on such Vines finished 
off as I have seen them finished, and did not think 
that the Vines, supposing they had had some chance 
of preparing stores for the future, would at least have 
borne a second crop ? And so they would if the roots 
were given a chance during the fruiting season, hut the 
small quantity of soil in which they are grown having 
become exhausted in preparing them, they have to 
depend mostly on applications to the surface for the 
perfection of their crop. To perfect this crop is about 
as much as they can do under these conditions, and by 
the time the fruit is ripe they have lost all vigour. It 
is true some cultivators plant them out, others shift 
them into larger pots or plunge them in something 
where their roots can ramify, but though there is a 
gain in size of berry it is a question if there is not a 
loss in point of time, and as Vines in pots are generally 
only grown for an early supply the time is of the greatest 
consequence. But my Vines, though they are like 
Vines in pots in appearance at the top, cannot be sup¬ 
posed to be so at the root, for they have had room and 
material unlimited. The only check they can possibly 
have had would come from keeping the top growth 
pinched; but as we know in the case of well-grown 
Vines in pots there is no deficiency of roots although 
the pinching process is severely carried out, it is 
reasonable to suppose that these Vines grown under 
more favourable conditions must at least be as well off 
in point of quantity, and having a comparatively un¬ 
limited root space they will have every chance of 
making up during the ensuing season for anything that 
a hunch of Grapes can take out of them. It is there¬ 
fore decided to leave a bunch on each; and I may here 
say that they finished them off fairly well, and I believe 
the Vines were all the better for it, for they certainly 
did not exhibit any lack of vigour. 
The temporary Vines, which it will be remembered 
form a continuous arch along the centre of the house, 
had five or six bunches left on each of them, and 
some of these did fairly well, but the large balls in 
which they were grown having been planted entire in 
the new soil there was great difficulty in keeping them 
moist, as the water preferably ran away into the sur¬ 
rounding soil which was looser; for although it was 
made as hard as such soil can fairly well be made close 
to the plants, there is a considerable amount of elasticity 
in new turf, and it was still looser than the root-bound 
material composing the old balls, and notwithstanding 
all the piercing and watering given these balls some of 
