558 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 27, 18S3. 
gularities, and give the plants the atmosphere they require, if 
only the air is admitted with care and intelligence. 
Many may be ready to exclaim that it is impossible for the 
air in the house to become so confined as to prove injurious to 
the health of the plants generally. In order to prove this, we 
are told abundance of air will be admitted through the laps of 
the glass. I am afraid many ai’e led astray by this. We have 
two extremes, especially during winter, coming in contact, and 
the moisture of the house is condensed by the external atmo¬ 
sphere, and thus the laps are filled with water. How much air, 
if any, can pass in through this medium if filled by the means 
referred to ? 
Phalanopses will do as well in the stove as in the Orchid 
house proper; in fact, the temperature and conditions of the 
former appear to suit them exactly. I have generally found 
them in better condition when under the same treatment as 
regards heat, air, and moisture, as stove plants, than has been 
the case when they have occupied positions in houses entirely 
devoted to Orchids. The same may be said of all JDendrobiums 
that need heat, differing only in requiring a lighter position 
after the growth is fairly completed, and a cooler and drier 
atmosphere when at rest; but even under these conditions they 
should not be subjected to cold currents of air. The greenhouse, 
or rather a greenhouse temperature, will suit them, but not 
where air is admitted injudiciously and allowed to strike directly 
upon the plants. I have seen injurious results follow, especially 
if the flower buds along the pseudo-bulb were in an advanced 
condition, they often turn yellow. The old D. nobile, one of the 
easiest to manage and best growers of all Dendrobes, will, in the 
majority of instances, do better in the stove than in the Orchid 
house. This is proved by the many splendid examples to be seen 
that ai'e grown with stove plants, and the poor examples often to 
be seen in Orchid houses. 
We had a small house (span-roofed) constructed for plant' 
growing, and some time afterwards our Orchids were arranged 
in it, thinking that by so doing they could be given the treatment 
they required better than in the stove. I allude to those that 
require heat, for the cool varieties were never subjected to stove 
treatment. Amongst the Orchids transferred from the stove to 
the small new house was a number of plants of D. nobile, some 
of them being of a large size and all very healthy, which flowered 
profusely under stove treatment while making their growth. 
Strange to say, the whole of the plants of this variety failed to 
grow and do well in their new quarters, and gradually decreased 
in the size and strength of their pseudo-bulbs. No treatment in 
their new quarters would induce them to grow as well as they 
had previously done. At last the two best plants were taken 
back to their old quarters, in which they began to grow again 
with vigour, and in another year will have regained their former 
strength. The remainder are still decreasing in size and strength, 
and all will be placed in the stove to make their growth next 
season. ‘-What was the reason of this strange freak ?” many may 
ask. In fact, I asked myself this question many times. After 
carefully studying the conditions of the two houses I found it to 
be impossible to maintain in the small house the same uniformity 
of heat and moisture ; it presented greater irregularities in this 
respect than the larger house in which the mixed collection of 
stove plants is grown, and if this is not the cause of the evil I 
have failed to find it out. In the little house where D. nobile 
failed to grow, D. thyrsitforum, D. chrysotoxum, D densiflorum, 
D. heterocarpum, D. crassinode, D. Parishii, D. primulinum, and 
others thrive satisfactorily, including the puny but beautiful 
little D. pulchellum. The pseudo-bulbs of the first mentioned I 
have never seen surpassed, and those capable of judging have 
pronounced them wonderful growths. 
Another old inhabitant of our houses that will do better 
under the treatment of the stove than what it will in the Orchid 
house is Phajus grandifolius. Formerly I grew them in the 
stove, and when in flower placed them in the conservatory. 
These were placed in the new house, and when in flower were 
taken into the stove and arranged with Eucliaris in full bloom. 
They were removed from the small house while in flower, because 
there was not room for their flower spikes, and the reason they 
did not go to the conservatory as usual was because we had 
abundance of flowering material without them. Ever since they 
have failed to do well. The reason in this case we ought to have 
discovered long before we did. By their removal to the stove 
while in flower instead of the conservatory, where the temperature 
was much lower, the plants were deprived of their season of rest. 
A season of rest is all that is necessary to recruit these plants, 
but they will not grow with the same robustness and vigour in 
their new as in their old quarters.— Wm. Bardney. 
NOTES FROM A SCOTTISH GARDEN. 
Peach Tree Borders. —It may safely be presumed that turf for 
border-making is not to be had for the asking on every estate. I, at 
least, have found it so. Therefore, when planting a Peach tree in a new 
house two years ago I had to use common soil, but as I had the privilege 
of some turf for other purposes I was not so badly off. The way this 
border was made was simply to employ the ordinary soil up to the level 
where the roots of the Peaches were spread out, and above the roots a 
thick layer of turf was placed. This year the trees have filled the 
trellises, and some plants that would not be permanently required had 
to be lifted. I make a note of this because of the good effects shown by 
merely employing a layer of turves on the surface of the roots, and 
because it may be useful just now to others whose turf supply is limited 
and who have borders to make. Well, the trees lifted without exception 
—and one of them was of large size—had the main leading roots on an 
exact level with the top of the ordinary soil, very few roots of any kind 
having penetrated downwards. The surface turves on the other hand 
were netted with the smaller roots, which had branched upwards. I 
have little doubt that the under-layer of soil will also in time be 
penetrated by the roots, but the result up to the present is as above 
stated. 
On the remaining permanent trees another layer of fresh turves have 
been placed, the surface of the others having been pared off in the first 
place. The crop of fruit in the past season was good, and the fruit of 
extra size, some Victoria Nectarines being more like Peaches in size than 
ordinary Nectarines. Large as these were not one of them cracked. 
Growths like osiers, 6 to 8 feet in length are covered from base to tip with 
healthy flower buds. The stronger-growing trees, however, were partially 
lifted in early autumn in order to induce the formation of buds in these 
strong shoots. While writing of Peaches it may be noted that they are 
extremely liable to be injured through insufficient supplies of water. It 
would, perhaps, be speaking too widely to say that no commonly culti¬ 
vated fruit tree requires more of that very necessary element; but this it 
is safe to state, that trees in healthy growth and in a border with good 
drainage are more liable to be under-supplied than the other way. 
Chrysanthemum Lady Selborne. —I purchased a stock of this 
variety in spring, expecting it to come a little earlier than Mrs. Rundle. 
The result is, however, that both have opened at the same time, and a 
little later than James Salter. I am also disappointed in the shade—if 
such an expression is correct—of the white, it being inferior to Mrs. 
Bundle in that quality, and much inferior to Elaine from a decorative 
point of view. I do not know whether others have noticed this fact with 
regard to Chrysanthemums. It is this. So long as the weather continues 
open and fine the buds come on more rapidly with the plants standing 
out of doors than when housed. Our plants were abnormally late in 
budding this year, but as the weather was exceptionally fine the plants 
were left out a fortnight later, and the result is that early varieties have 
opened quicker than usual. At a certain stage of the bud, when placed 
in a house and freely ventilated, they almost stand still; and I find that 
it is only by applying heat to the plants, both early and late sorts, that 
the side growths will develope into useful flowers ; while later still in the 
season a mild stove temperature induces the stems to break, and a supply 
of blooms is secured in spring. As a matter of course, healthy plants 
must be kept in health in order to insure these results. 
Tea Roses and Mildew. —Our stock of Tea Boses for blooming 
from January onwards has been placed into a temperature to induce 
them to break. Mildew, when it attacks the foliage, is most difficult to 
deal with. I have found that if the plants, from the time they are started 
into growth until they are no longer wanted in early spring are kept 
growing in a pit without any ventilation, they keep quite free from 
mildew. Immediately it is necessary to give air in spring mildew 
appears on the young foliage. Where I imagine many people fail with 
plants in pots during the winter months is, first, by keeping them too 
cool, and allowing their soil to become too dry. We never find any 
difficulty in keeping such things as Pelargoniums, Callas, Bouvardias, 
and Begonias in continuous and uninterrupted bloom, nor in getting 
Primulas, Pelargoniums, and bedding plants such as Lobelias and 
Verbenas to make healthy growth provided these two points are attended 
to. Too much heat, however, is perhaps more harmful than if a too cool 
temperature were kept up. The safe medium is that which gives a slow 
firm growth with a root-action requiring a good supply of water.—X. 
PRUNING AND DRESSING GRAPE VINES. 
MR. Iggulden has communicated a most excellent article on this sub¬ 
ject at a time when it will be particularly acceptable to many who may be 
in doubt as to the best method to adopt in the important work in 
question. No greater mistake can be made than in pruning all Vines 
alike regardless of their condition. There is not a doubt that many very 
strong Vines are too closely pruned so far as regards the ensuing crop, 
and, on the other hand, many young canes that are weak are not suffi¬ 
ciently shortened. In a word, the very strong canes should be left 
longer and the weak cut shorter if the best crops in one case and most 
satisfactory rods in the other are desired and expected. 
How many gardeners are there who have not been disappointed with 
the produce of vigorous young Vines ? They have been grown well and 
pruned in the orthodox manner. Grand canes, perhaps 20 feet long, 
have been shortened to within a foot or two of the base of the rafters, 
and a bunch or two allowed on the resulting laterals, the leader again 
