2B8 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t September is, issi 
table ; Maidenhair Fern, Anemone Honorine Jobert, and 
white Begonia flowers being all that are required with it to 
form a chaste combination that lights up well. Some shades 
of pink are not liked so well as others, the deep purplish-pink 
of Anemone japonica being avoided for brighter shades, such 
as we have in the flowers of the old variegated bedding Pelar¬ 
gonium Manglesii. Insignificant as these are in a bed, yet 
they are of so much use for all arrangements of cut flowers 
as to be eagerly sought after whenever they are in bloom. 
Nothing can be more lovely than a groundwork of pure white 
Poses with Pelargonium Manglesii flowers mingled with and 
springing out of it. For the dinner-table it, perhaps, is most 
liked in tall slender glasses managed in this way : Each glass 
first has four sprays of Selaginella caesia put in so as to be 
gracefully pendant, and most of it long enough to rest upon 
the tablecloth, then come six or eight of the small pink Pelar¬ 
gonium trusses, two or three very choice little fronds of 
Maidenhair, and half a dozen clusters of dried Briza. Sufficient 
slender glasses must be so dressed to form a double chain 
around a cup or whatever is used for the centre of the table. 
Care is taken not to crowd the glasses, and the pendant chain 
is formed by twining two sprays of Selaginella together, so as 
to gracefully connect the glasses. The last time I so used 
them was for a small table, and only about a dozen glasses 
were required, but above them five small transparent fish¬ 
bowls were suspended by very fine wire from a chandelier, 
four of them forming a circle, with the fifth suspended a little 
lower from the centre. Much longer streamers of Selaginella 
were used in the bowls, a pendant chain being made from 
bowl to bowl just as from the glasses below, only it was much 
bolder in character. White Fuchsias with bright pink corollas 
were used with Maidenhair Fern in the four outer bowls, and 
another Fuchsia with large rosy pink flowers in the central 
one. Briza maxima was used in the suspended globes instead 
of the smaller variety, to give due importance to the central 
group. 
Of white flowers there are many which are found most 
useful whenever they are to be had. Lily of the Valley is so 
exquisitely graceful that it would seem impossible to arrange 
it badly, and yet it may sometimes be seen woefully crowded. 
Roman Hyacinths, too, are very lovely and answer admirably 
for slender glasses. Stephanotis reigns supreme from spring 
till autumn, and maybe used in a variety of ways. What can 
be more suitable for a boudoir-table than a basketful of its 
sweet-scented flowers mingled with delicate Fern fronds? 
Not long ago I used it for a small dinner-table successfully in 
a somewhat novel manner. Three small transparent glass 
bowls were put in the form of a triangle upon a flat stand 
covered with crimson plush, a fourth glass was placed on the 
top of the others in the centre, and then they were dressed 
with Selaginella caesia, Stephanotis, and dried spikes of Briza 
minima. Four flowers only of Stephanotis were required for 
each of the three lower glasses, and six flowers for the upper 
one. Four of these little groups were prepared, each upon its 
crimson stand, and they were so placed upon the table that 
the Selaginella sprays met upon the cloth. The effect was 
very chaste and lovely.— Edward Luckhurst. 
HARVESTING ONIONS. 
Some Onions which were sown early in spring and formed good 
bulbs in July and August now have their top growths bent over 
and the bulbs hard and dry. All such should be drawn from the 
soil at once, but they should not be taken under cover yet. Some 
allow them to lie on the ground where they were grown, but we 
think they do not dry quite so well or quickly as if spread out on 
a gravel walk, especially in wet weather. The bulbs should be 
removed to the walk and be placed in a single layer. After re¬ 
maining in their first position for two dry days they should be 
turned over, and this operation may be repeated until they are all 
firm and dry. Those which are smallest in the neck at drawing 
time will dry first, and if really good winter-keeping Onions are 
wanted it is well to select the smallest-necked bulbs, drying and 
storing them by themselves. Those with very thick green sappy 
necks should have a good part of the top growth cut away, and 
the remainder well twisted round to press the sap out. These 
thick necks are easily selected from the others, and they are easily 
seen in the beds, as they remain standing straight up after the 
others have fallen. Some weeks before the roots are to be drawn 
it is a good plan to examine the beds and bend all the thick 
growths. This stops their growth and assists the ripening. Those 
who give a little attention to Onion culture, however, have 
seldom many of these objectionable thick-necked bulbs in their 
beds by the autumn, as many are taken out at the spring thinnings 
and for use throughout the growing season. 
A dry day should be chosen for removing the Onions from the 
ground, anil it is better to leave them out far into September to 
secure this than to take them in wet. When suitable weather 
cannot he secured the best way of dealing with them is to take 
them into some open shed or loft and dry them there. They are 
improved by being exposed to the sun, if it is only for a few days 
at first, and they may be finished off in sheds afterwards. In any 
case they ought to be well dried before being placed in their 
winter quarters, and the larger the bulbs the more drying they 
require. Green tops should never be seen on them when being 
stored. I daresay others besides myself have noticed that the 
flavour of Onions in winter is influenced greatly by the way they 
are harvested. If not properly dried and they are afterwards 
stored in heaps or in a close place they appear to ferment to a 
certain extent, and lose much of their original flavour. 
As to the length of time needed to dry Onions thoroughly, much 
depends on the state of the bulbs and the weather. As before 
binted, small-necked bulbs are often nearly dry and ripe before 
being pulled, and they do not require to lie loDg before being ready 
for storing. As a rule we allow our Onions to remain in the open 
from eight to fourteen days, and if the weather is dry at the end 
of the time they are moved in at once. 
As to the best keeping Onions, no variety we have tried has lasted 
in good condition so long as James’s Keeping. Improved kinds of 
Onions we have in numbers, but their introducers have evidently 
had nothing but size in view when they were selecting them. 
The place to store .Onions in winter generally depends on the 
accommodation each cultivator has ; some having excellent places 
for them, others having to do the best they can. Any shed, 
whether it be well lighted or nearly dark, is suited for keeping 
Onions in, always providing it is dry and cool. Frost or a high 
temperature soon causes decay, and heat does more harm than 
cold. In the spring of 1880 we sowed some favourite Onion seed 
along the bottom of a wall with the intention of securing bulbs 
from which to save seed, and these remained out all last winter, 
exposed to 20° or more of frost without being injured, as at the 
present time we have a fine lot of seed on them. In winter our 
Onions are given much the same treatment as our Apples and 
Pears, and we always manage to keep them well until they are 
plentiful in the open quarters again.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
THE ART OF COLOURING GRAPES. 
The principal art, it appears to me, that is requisite in im¬ 
parting to Grapes a rich dark bloom, consists in the negative 
exercise of following Nature. “ Single-handed ” is undoubtedly 
right in presuming that a full and free circulation of air is 
necessary during the colouring process. The condition of outdoor 
Grapes in autumn tells us this ; and they tell us further, as plain as 
berries black as Sloes can speak, that a high night temperature is 
not so essential as we artists think for finishing black Grapes, at 
least so far as regards their appearance. What is really essential 
is powerful root-action, and this, in the case of outdoor Vines, is in 
fullest force when colouring commences. Some shade, too, is also 
needful, for black Grapes that are shaded by the foliage are ■ 
almost invariably better coloured than those exposed to the sun— 
hence the reason of the general want of colour on Grapes this 
year that ripened during June and July. No one visiting the 
exhibitions that were held during the hot period could have failed 
to observe the brown or mahogany hue that was visible on most 
dark Grapes, and the same character was apparent in the windows 
of the best fruiterers’ shops. Those who were “ on the move,” too, 
during the period indicated would find that the Grapes, as a rule, 
were much better coloured in the western counties than in the 
eastern, the reason of this being that the heat in the former 
district was not nearly so prolonged as in the latter. 
The Vine, it may be well to remember, is not a climbing plant 
as many suppose, but a trailer, and its fruit hangs beneath the 
leaves and is not exposed to the sun. This fact ought to teach us 
that it is a very easy matter to remove too many laterals from 
Vines just before the Grapes change for ripening. If the weather 
proves very hot it is far better to remove no sub-laterals at that 
time, and if there is a fear of these unduly shading the principal 
leaves, let the laterals be drawn downwards and hang down 
among the bunches, and down the back wall. These growths 
have not an exhausting effect but rather the reverse, for they 
