818 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ October e, issi. 
rather famous Grape-growing establishments just at the time of 
the Edinburgh Show, and not many of them could have shown 
much better set bunches : indeed, most were not so good. As 
s >me of the growers at these places have, at one time or other, 
advocated the high-night temperature system, we presume they 
practise what they preach. If so, the results do not seem to an 
ordinary observer to be so much better, if indeed so good, as that 
attained under the system they have condemned. So far in the 
discussion in the Scotsman, few or none of the famous growers 
have deigned to say a word. Why ? Simply this : systems must 
be judged by the results, and few could show better or even as 
good results, 60 far as setting is concerned, as shown by the 
bunches from Wortley. 
The fact is, and we have proved it, that Grapes may be set 
under very varying night temperatures if other conditions are 
right. One of these conditions we hold to be thoroughly ripened 
wood, and this cannot be done so well in October as in August. 
The application of fire heat at night to the extent it is usually 
done is, without any doubt, weakening in its result*, and Vines 
under such treatment cannot perfect the same amount of fruit as 
they could under more natural conditions. The question is, as we 
look at it, not so much the amount of coal necessary for a given 
extent of vinery, but when to apply it. I think we are pretty 
generally agreed that unless Grapes and wood are ripe by the 
middle of September they are never properly ripened at all, at 
least in the northern counties of England and in Scotland. 
Grapes which are green at the beginning of September must, if 
they are to be ripened at all, be 
subjected to a regular course of 
fire heat at a time of the year when 
coal is least profitably used to assist 
Vines. We think few will think 
otherwise ; indeed, this part of 
Grape-growing is a settled one 
among all good growers. This being 
so, it will be conceded that unripe 
Grapes in September are a mistake. 
There are two ways of having 
Grapes ripe by the end of August 
or beginning of September. One 
way is to allow the Vine to start 
“naturally,” as it is called, and 
then to keep them going smartly by 
means of high temperatures night 
and day. 
This system we think wrong and 
wasteful—wasteful, not so much of 
coal, as of the energy of the Vines. 
The amount of coal necessary under 
the different systems we do not 
consider varies much, but the re¬ 
sults are not equal, and we are sure, 
for orrselves at least, that the most 
economical way is to assist the Vines 
to start early, so that wood and fruit 
may be ripened while the day is 
long and the sun bright. While 
Vine leaves and shoots are young 
they may be forwarded with fire 
heat nearly as rapidly as with sun heat, but they cannot be ripened 
to perfection so late as the end of September or October. Vines 
started in February may be allowed to proceed leisurely through 
the summer, and will benefit greatly by being treated to a refresh¬ 
ing coolness at night; but if they are allowed to start late in 
spring there is nothing for it but high temperature night and day, 
especially in such seasons as the present has been in the north, 
if we are not to be caught with green Grapes in September. 
When this is the case fires must be kept on then, and not to the 
best purpose. 
Judging from the examples staged at Edinburgh this is Mr. 
Simpson’s position. His Grapes were green. How does Mr. 
Simpson ripen them ? He must burn coal, in no stinted quan¬ 
tities either, for weeks after other peoples’ fires are out. The 
majority burn their coal at night, and so have their crop ripe 
early. Mr. Simpson, in order to have his ripe, burns the coal late 
in autumn. Neither system we consider right. Low night tem¬ 
peratures we decidedly favour, but when this system is to be 
followed early starting is necessary to ensure the best results. 
We know some have tried low night temperatures and have ulti¬ 
mately abandoned them for the reasons we have given. To all 
such, and to others who may wish to give the system a fair trial, 
we say, Start Vines early ; at least, not later than the beginning 
of March, and never fail to maintain good day temperatures, 
especially with bright sunshine. Do not imagine you are going 
to save coal, though. Saving a ton or two in spring or summer, 
to be compelled to burn as much or more to little purpose late in 
autumn, is not saving coal but wasting it, and spoiling the Grapes 
beside. It is well if such a system does not eventually end in 
having the Vines also spoilt, for ill-ripened Vines not only do not 
fruit freely, they are extremely liable to fail altogether, and that 
prematurely.— Single-handed. 
TREE-LIFTING IN SUSSEX. 
As the season for transplanting trees and shrubs is approaching 
it becomes important to gather experience on the subject, with the 
object of ascertaining the safest and most expeditious methods of 
doing the work. As I was aware that some tree-lifting implements 
had been added to other important inventions of an occasional corre¬ 
spondent of the Journal, “ Philodendron,” and learning that these 
implements could be seen in use in Dr. Newington’s garden near 
Ticehurst, I recently visited the garden in question; and now, having 
had the opportunity of inspecting the working of the method, I 
unhesitatingly pronounce it excellent. The combined strong curved 
prongs, tubular lever, and fulcrum represented in the annexed en¬ 
graving, constitute a garden appliance of substantial utility. Shrubs, 
Conifers, fiuit and forest trees that have attained a considerable size 
can be lifted far more quickly and satisfactorily than by digging 
them up in the ordinary manner; indeed, it is placing a moderate 
estimate on the capacity of the implements by stating that the three 
Fig. 53.—Tree-lifting Implements. 
men who were working them could do more work in a day than it 
would be possible for them to accomplish in a week with spades and 
ordinary digging forks, and the great extent of roots secuied by the 
new system fully accounts for the remarkable growth of the 
specimens that have been removed. Spruces 10 feet high have 
received no check whatever. In a large plantation of Larches 
there were only two failures ; and the trees forming a Holly hedge, 
more than fifty years old, removed last year, are now quite estab¬ 
lished and growing in their new position. The prongs are made in 
different sizes for lifting moderate and large trees, and two or three 
of them can be inserted round a specimen 10 or 12 feet high and 
the tree be raised out of the ground in two minutes, the maximum 
quantity of roots being drawn out and soil retained, as the curved 
prongs meet under the ball and lift it out as if it had been cast in a 
mould. This new tree-lifting apparatus cannot fail to be of great 
service on private estates and in public plantations in this and other 
countries where the work of tree-lifting involves such a large annual 
expenditure. 
The following instructions for using the implements, prepared by 
the inventor, will render the subject plain to all. 
Place the fork c at ficm 2 to b or 4 feet from the trunk of the 
tree, take the handle in the hands and move it from side to side, 
and backwards and forwards : this movement will cause the curved 
tines to penetrate under the trunk of the tree; now slip on the 
