February 23, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 151 
Vines planted inside to find their way into an outside border 
which I made at the same time of good turf and a fair admixture 
of bones. This I planted in 1875 with Muscat of Alexandria, 
Muscat Hamburgh, Dr. Hogg, Black Hamburgh, and Black Alicante. 
I have only left three, the first three named, and intend to let the 
Muscat of Alexandria, which is extending from the south part of 
the border, take the chief part of the upper portion of the roof, 
much in the same way as the Black Hamburgh in the cooler house. 
The temperature of this house ranges from 55° to 65° during the 
daytime, and often rises much higher during sunny weather, but 
we do not keep a high night temperature, though I do not like it 
to fall below 45°, and it rarely does. 
The glass is never shaded, and the rafters are 20 inches apart, 
or rather glazed with 21 oz. glass 20 by 16 put on the widest way. 
The rafters are 3 deep by If inch— i.e., six cut out of an 11 by 3 
inch deal, the glass laid in putty, but not puttied above. 
Artificial heat is generally discontinued as soon as May is over, 
and we seldom begin fires again (unless there is very dull damp 
weather) till the end of August or beginning of September. As 
one boiler heats both houses and also another small plant house 
16 by 10 feet lean-to, and two propagating houses behind the north 
wall of the other two houses, this, as regards artificial heat, applies 
to both houses. The Vines in the warmer house seldom begin 
growing before the middle of March, and those in the cooler 
about the third week in April. The canes are not taken outside, 
nor do I even take the trouble of tyiDg them down. 
In the warmer house I grow Abutilons, winter-flowering Bego¬ 
nia?, Heliotropes, &c. It is rather too warm for Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, but Primulas and Cyclamens do well in the winter till 
the Vines begin growing in spring. Stephanotis floribunda is 
planted in the border over the centre tank. Although it is only 
a young plant about two years old it covers a trellis about 14 feet 
long by 3ij feet wide, and blooms well and is kept growing most 
of the winter months. Such plants as Clerodendron Balfouri- 
anum, Allamanda Hendersoni and A. nereifolia, Dracaenas, Bou¬ 
gainvillea glabra, Eucharis amazonica, &c., have succeeded very 
well in this warmer house, and small plants of Euphorbia jac- 
quiniaeflora are now in bloom. 
I send a drawing on a scale of one-eighth of an inch to a foot 
of the cross section of a house west to east in order to make 
my remarks more clear to your readers. What I have said does 
not refer to houses exclusively kept for Vines, as my chief 
object was to try to induce the two to grow together—that is 
to say, Vines that should not interfere with my plants, and at the 
same time to obtain a fair amount of Grapes. We had rather 
too many bunches on the Black Hamburgh in the cooler house last 
year—nearly two hundred, and owing to unusually dull, wet, and 
cold weather in August and September they did not colour as well 
as I should have liked. The main rod is carried along under the 
centre of the roof under the iron cross bars which tie the sash 
bars of the roof together, and there are also two other stems 
running parallel to the other with side spurs. In the warmer 
house Muscat of Alexandria ripened the Grapes well and made 
some very strong canes from 15 to 20 feet long each. I have cut 
away only lately a Black Hamburgh from the cooler part of this 
house in order to make more room for Dr. Hogg, as it made three 
canes from 18 to 20 feet long from nearly the base ; and as we 
have plenty of Black Hamburghs in the coolest house, and it is a 
Fig. 30.— Vine and plant structures. 
A—Itoof Ventilators. V—Ventilators in the Brickwork. B B—Brick Walls o£ Vine Border. 
Grape I do not much appreciate, or at all events do not care for 
it as much as the Grapes in the warmer house, I have sacrificed it 
for the others. 
Your readers will, I think, understand from these remarks that 
in the cooler house the Black Hamburgh occupies the upper part 
of the house and extends from south to north along the roof under 
the iron cross braces which fasten and connect the rafters together. 
The leaves are about 12 to 18 inches from the glass, but as I never 
shade or whitewash the glass the canes become thoroughly ripened, 
and the shade from the foliage of the Vines interferes but very 
little with the plants. In the warmer house the Vines which are 
planted in the east side of the house run up to the top, a distance 
of about 20 feet from the border to the roof, and then are allowed 
to grow as far as the path on the opposite side of the house—• 
i.e., about 6 feet of roof, but do not interfere with the south light 
except quite at the upper portion. I find generally the Vines in 
this warmer house have ripened and lose their leaves by the 
middle of October, and in the cooler house about three weeks or 
so later. Very often we have no fires during June, July, and 
August. I had none this year till the end of August, when, owing 
to damp and dull weather, it was advisable to start the fires to 
ripen the later Grapes and to mature the wood.—C. P. Peach. 
Donald Beaton on the Gladiolus. —“A Victim” (page 114), 
refers to my observations on Gladiolus culture, and quotes Donald 
Beaton of twenty years since with seeming approval. I think I 
may fairly summarise the rather long quotation referred to by say¬ 
ing Donald Beaton commends planting-out and leaving the conns in 
the bed or borders, protected by leaves in winter, but it is strange he 
would plant in “ cocoa-nut fibre refuse,” which I never considered a 
feeding material. What would Mr. Kelway or any large grower 
think of growing their beautiful and expensive hybrids of Ganda- 
vensis in an open border in cocoa-nut fibre, and for “seven years 
undisturbed?” The last sentence of this quotation in the Journal 
deserves to he treasured up, however, by every “ victim ” to Gladiolus 
losses—“Half English-grown Gladioluses are only three parts ripe 
from the lateness of the present time of planting.” This is the great 
secret of the losses, and the remedy is early planting (for starting 
in pots in a greenhouse), and lifting those not withered, and allowing 
them to slowly ripen under full exposure. I shall almost imme¬ 
diately place my best hybrids in pots, and transfer to the open by-and- 
by. In the “ Horticultural Register ” fifty years ago the culture of 
Gladioli was described as exactly that of Hyacinths. They were 
potted in October and allowed to slowly grow on in a greenhouse. 
This would certainly give plenty of time for the foliage to ripen. 
What has become of G. pudibundus figured in the second vol. of that 
publication, and if it is lost? It seems different from any known 
variety now.—W. J. M. 
THE PROPAGATION OF AUCUBAS. 
Not many years ago Aucubas were propagated by means of 
layering during the autumn, winter, and spring months—those 
rooted being planted out during the following planting season. 
For this purpose a stock of large plants was generally kept. Ihe 
plants produced by this means were not always shapely young 
specimens, and the system on the whole has nothing to recommend 
it, and in consequence has entirely died out. Propagating is now 
