December 20, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
537 
size gardens it is best to support the canes in some way, as, owing to the 
growth being more drawn than where growing in fields, the canes sway 
about more, and the fruit gets bruised, &c. My fences consist of two 
end standards of wrought iron 4 feet out of the ground, and double lines 
of wire 15 inches apart, the Raspberry canes being planted in a line right 
down the centre. I use three lines of wire, one 12 inches from the 
ground, and the other 18 and 36 inches higher. The fruiting canes are 
tied to each side about 1 foot apart all along the row. The new growth 
rising straight up does not shade the fruit. When pruning time comes 
round the old canes are cut out and the young growths tied in their place. 
It is a very cheap trainer, gives double fruiting space, yet allows for the 
young growths without crowding, and it is durable.—T. Wilkinson, 
Newton-le - Willows. 
VINES FAILING—STORED-UP SAP. 
Having read with considerable interest the discussion on stored-up 
sap in the Vine, I shall make no apology for troubling you with the 
history and description of the Vines in reference to the subject, as I 
believe it will do something to elucidate matters. In the first place I 
must take exception to the term, “ stored-up sap,” which cannot of and 
by itself produce a shoot either of a Vine or any other plant, therefore I 
should consider “latent energy ” as the more appropriate term. 
When I took charge of the gardens here (June 2nd, 1881), there were 
two small vineries of ten Vines each, which had been planted by my 
predecessor in the winter of 1880 and 1881, with Vines furnished by 
Messrs. F. & A. Dickson of Chester, and were, as far as I was able to 
judge of them when I entered on the place, well-ripened canes of good 
medium strength, in fact such as are usually sold as first-class one-year- 
old fruiting Vines. The vineries are of a peculiar construction, and not 
well adapted for the purpose to which they are applied. First, they are 
built in two spans with a glazed partition running down the centre, to 
divide the block into two houses. The roofs are glazed with Hartley’s 
rolled plate, which is very heavy. There is one ventilator in each gable 
and sliding sashes at the bottom, but no ventilation in the roof, so the 
two houses run side by side. There are two rows of Vines in each house, 
and only an inside border without any partition, so that the roots in the 
early and late house are all in the same border. 
Now for the state in which I took them in hand on the 2nd of June, 
1881. They had been planted in the winter or early spring. The canes 
had been left about 6 feet long, and were tied down to sticks in a 
horizontal position about 1 foot above the surface of the border, and had 
thrown out some four or five small yellowish leaves, from some six or seven 
eyes in each Vine, all much alike in this respect, and the appearance of 
the shoots was that of half-ripened, half-starved growing wood, with a 
leading bud in some of them very soft, scaly, and white in appearance. 
I could not at first give the Vines the examination which I had intended 
to do at the earliest opportunity, so I decided to keep the houses at 
a good and steady temperature, with plenty of atmospheric moisture, 
and relieved the Vines from the horizontal position in which they had 
been kept apparently ever since they had been planted, giving them an 
upright position. This treatment was continued for ten days, during 
which time a few showed signs of improvement. In the meantime my 
employer informed me that he had only recently purchased the place, 
that during winter and spring he had spent much money in the garden, 
and amongst the items was £25 for soil for the new Vine borders. This 
soil had a very good appearance. Nearly the whole of it was formed of 
loamy sods about 4 inches thick, very tough, full of fibre—in short, was 
the top spit of an old meadow from the neighbourhood of Liverpool, and 
of a dark brown colour. The only addition which was made to it was 
one cartload of cow’s dung to ten of the turf. As to drainage, we are on 
the blown sand, and it is quite unnecessary to think of it except to bring 
water to the place. There was a quantity of brick and mortar rubbish 
put at the bottom of the border, but the action of these are rather as 
retainers than carriers of water, therefore nothing could be wrong in this 
direct'oa. 
This was therefore a curious dilemma. It was approaching the 
middle of June and not one of the Vines had a shoot over 9 inches long. 
I at last resolved to face the difficulty in another direction, so with a 
trowel I carefully removed the soil from the roots of the poorest Vine in 
the earliest house. The result was that I found a ball of earth nearly, if 
not quite, entire, and on disentangling the roots observed some spots and 
patches of white mould, which was clinging to the dead strong roots at 
the places where fibres had been growing in the previous summer. 
There was not a live root in the ball. Following up my search through 
the first house, there were six Vines in this condition, and four showed 
signs of life in some of the strong roots with a good circle of collar 
roots. These four I replanted, well burying the collars in the good soil 
of the new border with the addition of a little leaf soil and old mortar 
broken up to encourage root-extension as quick as possible. I subse¬ 
quently learned that the Vines while in their pots had been frozen very 
hard. 
This being the history of the condition of the early house it is useless 
to say anything on the late house, except that we had six Vines showing 
a little life and only four quite dead. Two of the dead Vines after being 
divested of all roots, and, having broken only two eyes near the top 
of the canes, I tried a little experiment with. I dug a small trench 
about 4 feet long and about 8 or 10 inches deep, in which I laid the 
canes, turned their ends up and secured them to a stake, one at each end 
of the early vinery. Some fresh Vines were obtained to fill the places of 
those which had been pronounced dead. But this brings us into July, a 
curious time for planting, and how these progressed shall form the subject 
of another paper.—R. Livsey. 
POTENTILLA FRUTICOSA. 
In the Journal of Horticulture of December 6th a description is 
given of this plant, with an engraving, which conveys a good general idea 
of its habit. I have for some years grown it here on my rock border, 
and quite agree with “Herba” as to its being a very desirable addition 
there. Although its flowers are fugacious, they are very bright and well 
shaped. It may be interesting to some of the readers of the Journal to 
know that it grows in abundance on the banks of the Tees, above High 
Force, in Teesdale, Yorkshire, associated with Primula farinosa, and not 
far from the home of by far the loveliest of British alpines, Gentiana 
verna. In Scotland we sometimes see Potentilla fruticosa grown as a 
bush among shrubs, where it is entirely out of character, a grey rusty- 
looking object. On the rock garden it retains its natural dwarf habit, and 
when in flower is very distinct and attractive.— Charles Stuart, M.D., 
Hillside, Chirnside, N.B. 
Heating Small Greenhouses.—M ay I state for the information 
of your inquiring correspondents that I have just had fitted up for 
heating a greenhouse 17£ feet long by 8 feet wide, a small boiler heated 
by gas outside the house, with a 3-inch iron pipe running along the wall 
under the front stage, and as I have tried it, so far it answers to keep out 
the frost and to dry the house? I do not like to take up your space by 
writing more, but shall be happy to give any information.—GAMMA. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Hotbeds. —These are useful in every forcing garden in the spring 
months, and provision should always be made for them. As a rule they 
are not made up until after the new year, but the material for their 
formation should be collected some time before that. In October and 
November we use all the manure we get from the stables for mixing 
with vegetable refuse for digging into the soil in spring; but now 
hotbed-making is in view, and everything in the way of stable manure, 
old leaves, and spent or half-decayed vegetables are put into a heap 
ready for use early in January. In making beds thus early they ought 
to retain the heat until April at least, and to do this there must be a 
large body of material. 
Forcing Potatoes. —A fortnight or so before these are planted the seed 
tubers should be prepared. Only the earliest varieties should be dealt 
with now, and the tubers should be of a fairly good size. Those to be 
planted first, should be selected at once, and they should be put in single 
layers in shallow boxes with a little Mushroom manure or leaf soil under¬ 
neath and above them. The boxes must then be placed near to the glass 
in a cool frame or pit where they can have a temperature of 55°, and 
there they will soon begin to produce short robust growths and a few 
roots, and it is when this has been accomplished that they should be 
transferred to the frames. In growing them in frames a good hotbed 
is made, frames are placed on the top of this, and soil is added to 
about the depth of 1 foot; in this the Potatoes are planted 3 inches 
below the surface, 18 inches between the rows, and 9 inches apart. 
Where there are permanent frames for forcing they are generally from 
4 feet to 6 feet deep, and hotbed manure is put in firmly until it is 2 feet 
from the top, when 1 foot of soil is placed on and the tubers planted as 
in the other case. A few dishes of early Potatoes may also be had from 
pots or boxes, 10-inch or 12-inch pots aje the most suitable. They should 
be well drained, half filled with good soil, three seed Potatoes placed in 
each, and then more soil, until the surface is 2 inches from the rim of the 
pot. Boxes of various sizes may be filled in the same way, and they may 
all be placed in an early vinery, Peach house, or pit to grow. When 
first they begin growing Potatoes should have very little water, as they 
are not benefited by much until they have luxuriant stems and are 
forming tubers. No good produce will ever be forthcoming unless they 
are grown near the glass and in abundance of light. 
Forcing Carrots. —A manure bed and frame are the best of all means 
for forcing Carrots. The bed is made as if for Potatoes, but the soil for 
the Carrots should consist of at least one part sand, and it should be quite 
free from lumps. A little soot or lime mixed with it is also an advan¬ 
tage, as the roots are worth nothing unless they are free from worm- 
holes. French Horn is the best variety for frame culture, and the young 
roots are amongst the most delicious of spring vegetables. The seed 
should be sown very thinly broadcast, and only covered to the depth of 
1 inch. We generally make the surface of our Carrot beds all sand, as it 
is not so liable to become green and too firm on the surface as soil does. 
Stored Boots. —These should all be examined and decaying roots 
removed. In warm sheds Carrots and Beet generally commence top 
growth at this time, but in turning the heaps all this should be rubbed 
off and be re-stored in as clean and firm a state as when first taken in. 
