354 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 25, 1883. 
thrips and red spider, and a close, moist, and cold one some of the forms 
of mildew. 
But I have another calamity to record—viz., the prevalence this 
season of the Cabbage caterpillar. The white butterflies were assiduous 
in their attentions to the quarters of Broccoli, Savoy, and the different 
crops of Brassicas, not omitting Turnips. Soon after the butterflies had 
disappeared sparrows commenced an attack on the eggs, and many 
leaves of the Brassicas were soon cleared. When the caterpillars appear 
the sparrows quit the quarters, but then the thrush appeared and 
devoured the caterpillars with avidity. 
Another point. I have a batch of Brussels Sprouts (about a thousand), 
and these were not infested with caterpillar. Was it due to their being 
manured with native guano, whilst those that suffered most had ordinary 
stable and farmyard manure?—G. Abbey. 
THE MADRESFIELD COURT BLACK MUSCAT GRAPE. 
Judging from the numerous complaints which are still being made by 
many cultivators respecting the tendency of the berries of this Grape to 
crack during the ripening process, it is evident that the cause of this 
peculiarity is either imperfectly understood or ignored by those who fail 
to grow it free from this defect. Many years ago, soon after it was sent 
out, I chanced in company with a friend to visit the Horticultural Gardens 
at Chiswick, where in a small house hung some medium-sized bunches of 
this Grape perfect in shape, size, colour, and flavour, and without a 
blemish. The border was dry, the house was freely ventilated, and the 
atmosphere was cool and dry. A half-hour’s walk from Chiswick brought 
us to another vinery in which were hanging some very fine Black Ham- 
burglis and some Madresfield Court, marvellous in size, but alas! the 
contents of one-half the berries was on the stage and the floor underneath 
them. In colour they resembled Prunes, and the flavour was also very 
similar to that fruit. The border, an inside one and newly made, was 
wet, the temperature high, and the atmosphere moist. The gardener 
directed our attention to the Hamburghs with just and pardonable 
pride, but to the Madresfields he pointed with contempt. My friend 
smiled, and quietly remarked that the same conditions of treatment 
were evidently not suited to the two varieties. These two practical 
lessons learned in so short a time were neither ignored nor forgotten 
by either of us. 
My practice has since been to withhold water almost entirely from 
the border after the berries attain that transparency which invariably 
precedes the colouring period. The h use is also ventilated as freely as 
possible, without unduly lowering the temperature, and if the border be 
an outside one it is carefully protected from rain. Should the weather 
prove unusually bright at this time, and the foliage exhibits symptoms of 
exhaustion, sufficient water is given to prevent injury, care being taken if 
the border is inside not to saturate the whole surface, but to apply it at 
intervals of about 4 feet, wetting the surface as little as possible, and 
immediately covering the saturated part with dry mulch. If possible a 
fine day is chosen for the operation, free ventilation is allowed, and a 
brisk atmosphere maintained by a moderate artificial heat. Under these 
conditions this exquisite Grape may be cultivated to perfection, and 
seldom, unless the weather be unusually humid, does it show signs of 
cracking; should it do so, however, a brisker fire heat and somewhat freer 
ventilation will immediately arrest its progress. It matters not whether 
the border be rich or the soil heavy, provided it is neither cold nor wet; 
nor is there any necessity either to allow the laterals to grow unduly or 
to resort to the somewhat unnatural practice of nearly severing the shoots 
below the bunches. It is, however, of the utmost importance that the 
pruning at this period consist only in pinching out the terminal points, 
.also to expose every leaf to the action of air and light.—C. W. 
THE GARDENERS’ ROYAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. 
Like many other gardeners I have held aloof from becoming a 
subscriber to the above Institution because I could not see my way clear 
enough to warrant me in taking such a step without knowing more about 
the working of the Society. I hope that Mr. Cutler will throw all the 
light he can on the subject. A few plain questions seem to me to require 
some explanation. Suppose a gardener is in a position to pay £10 105. 
at once as a life subscriber ; if disabled would he be entitled to any 
benefit from the Institution before the one who had been a subscriber 
of £1 \s. for ten years? For instance, if a gardener at the age of 
sixty becomes a life subscriber of £10 105., and the one who has sub¬ 
scribed £1 Is, for ten years, and is of the same age as the life sub- 
s riber, which of the two would be considered the most eligible for 
the charity? Suppose A had been a spendthrift and had no nest 
egg, and B, who had been provident and had paid his life subscrip¬ 
tion of £10 105., and who had also made some provision for de¬ 
clining years, and suppose the two were to be candidates for the 
charity at the same time, which of them would be considered the 
most eligible ? Here seems to be the difficulty. I, with several other 
gardeners, have been led to believe it does not much matter how many 
years a gardener may have been a subscriber ; and as regards age he 
would not be looked upon as eligible for the charity unless he was almost 
reduced to beggary. This idea is anything but cheering to those who 
would be subscribers. These are questions that require to be thoroughly 
ventilated. Suppose a gardener becomes an annual subscriber of £1 1*., 
say, at the age of fifty, and he is now seventy, and he feels that he is 
nit able to follow his calling ; he may have been a hard-working pro¬ 
vident man, and saved a few pounds, and that he naturally feels that 
he is entitled to some help from the charity he has so long been a sub¬ 
scriber to. Suppose another gardener, No. 2, is the same age as No. 1, 
and has been a subscriber the same number of years, he may have been 
in better situations and received better pay than No. 1, but he may have 
been improvident, and has no little banking account to fall back on ; 
which would be considered the most eligible of the two to be placed 
on the pension list? I send my name and address in proof of my 
sincerity to the Editor, and with the object of eliciting information that 
is required by hundreds besides myself, and if Mr. Cutler does not choose 
to reply because I do not choose to publish my name the Institution will 
suffer more than I shall.— A Bedfordshire Gardener. 
CONGRESS APPLES. 
The two Apples now figured have hitherto been considered identical 
by many growers, and there is little doubt that a large number of trees 
of both varieties are growing in many gardens under wrong names. 
It did not need, however, a very close examination of the numerous 
dishes of them staged at Chiswick to determine the undoubted dis¬ 
tinctness of the two Apples. As will be seen by the engraving, Lord 
Grosvenor is decidedly the larger of the two, and totally dissimilar in 
form, being distinctly angular ; the fruit is 3 inches high and 3| wide. 
Jolly Beggar, on the contrary, is only 2| inches high and is 3 inches 
wide, being of symmetrical outline ; in fact, the two Apples are alike 
in colour—yellow, but there the resemblance ends. Both, however, are 
useful varieties, and whoever possesses either will not be greatly dis¬ 
appointed. Lord Grosvenor has a general resemblance to Lord Suffield, 
but the fruit is more dense and heavy—no small advantage, and trees 
bear heavily in a small state ; the fruit also keeps longer than that of 
Lord Suffield. Jolly Beggar is still firmer, also a better keeper, and is 
a very productive variety either as a bush tree on the Paradise stock 
or a standard on the Crab. What is the origin of Lord Grosvenor ? 
Is it the good old Shepherd’s Fame under a new name ? Certainly 
the two varieties as seen at the Congress were identical. 
NEW ROSES. 
October is the opening month of the rosarian’s year. Then the 
catalogues arrive. “Then should the Rose-grower” (I quote a high 
authority) “ examine stock to see if any plants of the past two years 
are, in his opinion, worth adding to his collection ; if any, order those at 
once.” I propose to take the first part of this advice. It is, on the whole, 
much easier to carry out than the second. Mr. Hinton has told us how 
to decide on a good Rose—“ What I cannot be without 1 ” The present 
suggestions may be taken as “ What I have or should like to have.” And 
first about the Bennett Roses. I may be pardoned a triumph in pre¬ 
dictions come true. When Her Majesty is in commerce there are not 
many who saw her this year at South Kensington and elsewhere who 
