JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
252 
[ March ZO 1882. 
tensively cultivated ; it is always in flower, even in the middle 
of winter. 
The above are only a few of the many good plants that may 
be seen in flower at Kew, as the usual flowers that are to be 
seen at this season are abundantly represented by healthy 
specimens, such as Primulas, Cinerarias, Mignonette, Orobus 
vernus (forced), Cyclamens, double and single Hyacinths, 
double and single Tulips, Lachenalia tricolor, Scilla siberica, 
Jonquils, Triteleia uniflora, very pretty with its star-shaped 
flowers ; Deutzias, Aucubas, Salvias, Chrysanthemum frutes- 
cens, Libonia floribunda and L. Rheedii, Strobilanthes iso- 
phylla, Lily of the Valley, Sweet Scabious, Veltheimia viridi- 
folia, the flowers of which are produced like Tritoma; Poly¬ 
anthus and pot Roses. It is an easy matter with a good 
supply of these to keep a house bright through the winter 
months, but not so easy to keep such a great variety of plants 
as are grown at Kew always healthy and attractive in their 
season, and the condition of those noted, with thousands more 
not mentioned, are equally worthy of the establishment and 
creditable to the cultivators. 
The brief time at my disposal unfortunately precluded any¬ 
thing more than a very cursory view of the other departments ; 
but in all alike I observed considerable improvement since a 
former visit some years ago, the condition of the plants in 
the new range and the Palm house being especially satisfactory, 
while the temperate house is evidently as well managed as 
could be desired.— Country Visitor. 
VINES AT LONGLEAT. 
(Continued from page 211.') 
Having gone through the historical part of my essay, 
taking my readers “ behind the scenes,” and showing 
them as plainly as possible every blunder I have made 
or at least every one I can at present think of, and 
telling them how the difficulties brought on by such 
blunders have been overcome, and thus relieving 
myself of the feeling that the tale of these Vines as 
told by other people of late has been all on one side, 
and that a little something in the shape of an antidote 
was necessary, I pass on to more minute details of 
cultivation. 
TEMPERATURES. 
Much divergence of opinion exists on this subject 
among Grape-growers. Some maintain that fire heat 
is altogether unnecessary for the production of good 
fruit. Others say that fruit cannot be properly finished 
without a minimum temperature of at least 70°. As 
usual in the case of controverted questions, a medium 
between the two will be found to be correct. Enthusiasts 
on each side of an argument, although they always 
fail to satisfy themselves on any point, are no doubt 
useful in this respect that they never fail to convince 
thoughtful outsiders that both are wrong, and it be¬ 
hoves such people as are capable of doing it to weed 
out all superfluous verbiage, get at the points made 
by each side, balance them, and work out the proofs 
for themselves. But there is one thing indispensable 
before a person can constitute himself a judge of such 
points, and that is, he must at least know what good 
quality is, and be able to discern it in other people’s 
products as well as he can in those of his own. 
There are many who constitute themselves judges of 
Grapes who do not really know the high state of excel¬ 
lence to which this fruit has been brought within the 
last few years by our best growers. Such persons may 
have attended some of our largest shows and seen good 
fruit there, but it must be remembered that all the 
fruit they saw there was in good company, and it is 
impossible to compare it with the fruit we so often hear 
about at such times in something like the following 
terms, “ Oh, I could have beaten that if I had brought 
mine.” Many an exhibitor could tell a tale of how the 
estimate of his own fruit fell in his imagination when 
once it found its way on to the exhibition table. It is 
not enough, then, that people should grow Grapes at 
home sufficiently good to please themselves (I have 
not even attained that yet), and suppose that what 
satisfies them would satisfy everybody else, and then 
describe their mode of cultivation as the proper one to 
follow. 
I will now attempt to describe some of the qualities 
a house of Grapes should possess before it can be called 
good. We will suppose that Grapes are of the first 
consequence, that the house is well adapted in every 
respect to their cultivation, and that, whatever else may 
be in it, nothing takes precedence of the Grapes as 
regards the attention of the cultivator. Where the 
management has to be such that it will give the best 
all-round accommodation to a great variety of subjects 
the case is entirely different, and fruit of the quality 
seen at exhibitions cannot be expected, but I am sup¬ 
posing now that the well-being of the Grapes alone has 
to be considered. We will suppose it is a house of 
Hamburghs, as that sort is most generally known and, 
next to Muscats, the worst cultivated. The bunches 
should be regularly disposed, at least so far as there is 
any wood older than that of the current year’s growth. 
They should be well shaped, and none of them less 
than a pound in weight (2 lbs. is a better minimum 
standard). The berries should nearly hide the footstalk 
of the bunch ; they must have strong stems to do this, 
weak stems always fall with the weight of the berry. 
The berries must be regular in size, none of them less 
than 3£ inches in circumference. I have seen many 
Hamburgh berries 3f inches, or lp inch through, but I 
shall be satisfied as to size for the present if the aver¬ 
age is 3^ inches, one berry of which will balance a half¬ 
ounce weight or nearly so. They must be blue-black 
after the manner of Sloes, and with a similar bloom to 
that handsome fruit, no tinge of red whatever showing 
unless the berries are held up to a bright light, when 
of course, the skin being somewhat transparent, the 
colour of the flesh will show, but there must be no 
tinge of red on the skin. 
When all the signs I have enumerated present them¬ 
selves in a house of Hamburghs I would not ask any 
further questions as to quality, because, although those 
pointed out will appear before the fruit is sweet, both 
sweetness and flavour are sure to follow. If anyone 
has grown Hamburgh Grapes without fire heat possess¬ 
ing all the points I have named^ he has a right to say 
that good Grapes can be grown in his district in an 
unlieated house, but even then it is not proved that 
they can be so grown everyAvliere in his county, much 
less three or four hundred miles away. The signs I 
have named would not indicate perfection in the thick- 
skinned or winter Grapes unless they appeared as 
early as the end of July, for this class of Grapes is 
much easier to colour than Hamburghs; but so far 
from being ripe when first coloured, they are not 
actually fully grown, and their treatment at the time 
of colouring and for some time afterwards makes all 
the difference between Grapes which will keep till May 
and those which will rot before the new year. 
The question of temperatures for growing any par¬ 
ticular class of plants is a more complicated one than 
