October 80, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
405 
Pears. —Summer Doyenne, Lammas, Windsor, Galliot Rosit, Bellissime 
d’Automne, Williams’ Bon Chretien, Yat, Autumn Bergamot, Heesle, 
Marie Louise, Beurr4 Clairgeau, Eyewood, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Comte 
de Flandre, Beurr6 Bose, Beurr6 de Capiaumont, Rondelet, Catillac, Bishop’s 
Thumb, Broompark, Winter Nelis. 
Plvms. —Early Rivers, Diamond, The Czar, Blue Prolific, Perdrigon 
Violet Hatif, Early Orleans, Corte’s Nota Bene, Dauphine, Belgian Purple, 
Grand Duke, Washington, Prince of Wales, Victoria, Prince Englebert, 
Pond’s Seedling, Coe’s Golden Drop, and Belle de Septembre. 
Damsons. —Cluster and Prune. 
Cherries. —Early Purple Gean, Early Rivers, Adams’ Crown Heart, 
Elton, White Heart, Black Heart, Waterloo, May Duke, Black Eagle, 
Flemish, Kentish, Bigarreau. 
Nuts. —Pearson’s Prolific, Kentish Cob, Rei Filbert, Cosford, Duke of 
Edinburgh. 
Gooseberries. — Whitesmith, Early Sulphur, Velvet White, Crown Bjb, 
Warrington, Lancashire Lad, Red Rifleman, Golden Drop, Monarch. 
Currants. —Red Scotch, Red Dutch, Raby Castle, Black Naples, 
Baldwin’s Black, Lee’s Prolific Black. 
Raspberries. —Carter’s Prolific, Piince of Wales, Fastolf, Red Antwerp, 
Belle de Fontenay. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Vines — Early-forced Vines in Pots. —Where very early thin-skinned 
Grapes are wanted ripe in April the house intended for them should now 
be ready for their reception if they are not already in position. Weight 
and quality being primary considerations, the apertures at the bottoms 
of the pots should be enlarged, and some rich turf placed within easy 
reach of the young roots, which will quickly follow the stimulating food 
with which the Vines are supplied. The pots, too, should be placed on 
stands that will not give way under the weight of the pots or interfere 
with the regular turning of the fermenting materials used for supplying 
bottom heat. For making the pedestals nothing answers better than 
common bricks, and for bottom heat Oak or Beech leaves are well suited, 
as they afibrd a genial heat and moisture in the early stages of growth, 
and rich food at the finish, when the Vines require all the support that 
can be given to them. The leaves should be put in rather loosely at first, 
and not brought up about the pots, so as to give a temperature of more 
than 70^ to 75“. If the canes have been shortened they should be allowed 
to depend in an horizontal position, or even lower, over the fermenting 
materials until the lowest buds have broken before being secured to 
the trellis ; but if the rods have not been shortened to the proper length 
and dressed with styptic it must not now be done, as bleeding would 
ensue, and it is easy to disbud them when they break. For early fruiting 
in pots Early Ascot, White Frontignan, Dr. Hogg, Mill Hill Ham¬ 
burgh, Black Hamburgh, and Madresfield Court are suitable. The latter 
does well in pots, and planted out in warm inside borders, the roots 
being liberally fed until the berries show signs of changing colour, when 
gradually lessened supplies and a dry atmosphere are necessary to 
prevent cracking. 
Early forced Planted-out Vines. —Permantly planted Vines from 
which ripe Grapes are to be cut ia May should be closed by the middle 
of November, or ten days earlier where the Vines are young and vigorous, 
as they do not break so quickly as old Vines that have been forced for a 
number of years. To economise fire heat, and to produce a soft humid 
atmosphere, a good ridge of fermenting material, consisting of two parts of 
leaves and one part of rather short stable litter, may be placed upon the 
border and turned over at short intervals, additions being made as the 
heat declines. Old rods may be secured to the wires immediately they 
are dressed; but young canes, to prevent disappointment, will be the 
better for being kept in a horizontal position over the fermenting 
materials, where they can be well syringed with tepid water some 10° 
warmer than that of the house, which should range from 50° at night to 
65° on bright days. 
Houses of Ripe Hamburghs. —The houses in which these are hanging 
cannot be kept too dry ; a steady temperature of 50°, with a little warmth 
in the pipes and liberal ventilation on dry days, will be suitable during 
the fall of the leaf, when, unless the house is suitable for keeping them, 
the bunches may be cut, bottled, and placed in the Grape room, or they 
will do in the Muscat or late house. 
Late Grapes. —Where these have not finished well matters will not be 
mended by keeping the fires going after the wood is ripe, neither will a 
high temperature prevent shrivelling when the leaves fall. Where the 
imperfect finish is traced to imperfect drainage, or a bad condition of the 
roots through bad border^, no time should be lost in getting out the old 
soil, putting the drainage in good order, and laying the roofs in new 
compost, but where the defect is the result of overcropping relief should 
be given to the Vines by cutting a portion of the bunches at the earliest 
convenience and bottling them. 
Cherry House.— The sashes should now be replaced, and as soon as 
the leaves have all fallen proceed to prune the trees at once. Cut back 
to within an inch or so of the base from whence the shoot started all 
those laterals which were made during the summer, and which in ordinary 
practice should be stopped at about the fifth leaf or joint. The terminal 
growths should not be shortened unless it is necessitated by want of 
space, or when it is required to increase the shoots next season for 
furnishing the trees. 'Ihe trees should then be washed with a brush and 
softsoap and water, being careful not to dislocate the buds, then tying 
together so as to expedite the washing of the woodwork, painting, and 
whitewashing. In using limewash for the walls of forcing houses it 
should not be put on too thickly, and it is well to wash them with hot 
water prior to applying the lime. When this is done the trees should be 
dressed with an insecticide and secured to the trellis, being careful not 
to tie them in too tightly, but allow space for the swelling of the branches. 
Any loose mulching or surface soil should be removed, and any soil of an 
inert character that can be removed from amongst the roots should be 
forked out and fresh supplied, which is calculated to induce a more active 
root-action. This should consist of good calcareous loam, and be made 
firm, after which put on 3 inches thickness of good decomposed manure, 
and if there were any deficiency of moisture in the border give a 
thorough soaking with water, as under no circumstances must the trees 
be allowed to become dry at the roots. Keep the house well ventilated 
at all times?, except during actual frost, continuing this until forcing is 
commenced, which, if ripe Cherries are to be fit for use early in May, 
should be at the beginning of December. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Lilacs .—The deliciously fragrant flowers of this hardy flowering 
shrub are eagerly sought after early in the year and in many establish¬ 
ments a supply of blooms for cutting and plants suitable for decoration 
has to be provided from early in the season until the flowers are plentiful 
outside. To accomplish this successfully the makeshift system of lifting 
plants from shrubbery borders and returning them to these quarters 
again after they have flowered will in time end. in disappointment. The 
best variety for forcing and yielding a supply of bloom, either white or 
its natural colour, is Charles X. In order to be successful, two batches 
of plants should be grown, so that they can be forced alternately into 
bloom. Those forced last winter and spring and retained in pots will 
not have made growth sufficiently strong to flower again this year. These 
plants should now be cut hard back, leaving only one eye of the young 
wood for the growths to start from another year. They should be turned 
out of their pots, the balls partially reduced, and then placed in 
7 or 8-inch pots according to their size and strength. The pots used 
should be fairly drained and the soil—good fibry loam and one-seventh 
of manure—pressed firmly into them, and the pots plunged outside. The 
rim of the pots should be completely covered either in ashes or with soil 
in an open sunny position. When subject to this treatment very rarely 
do the plants give any labour in watering during the summer months, 
but make short, stiff, sturdy growths varying from 9 inches to 1 foot in 
length, which by autumn are studded with large prominent flower buds. 
The plants before the end of the season are sure to root over the surface 
of their pots, but these can be cut off without the slightest injury to the 
plants. If this variety is planted out it usually grows too strongly to 
ripen its wood sufficiently. 
Prunuses .—The double varieties, such as P. sinensis flora-pleno and 
P. triloba, are amongst the most useful of hardy plants for forcing early 
in the season. The young plants rooted as advised in spring and now 
established in small pots, will have ripened the small growths made 
during the summer. These plants, to be useful for another year, should 
now be placed into 5 and 6-inch pots, according to their strength, using 
the same soil as recommended for Lilacs. It should be pressed as firmly 
as possible into the pots, and the plants afterwards plunged in ashes 
outside or, better still, in a cold frame if it can be spared for them. This 
is not important until the approach of severe weather, and not even then 
if a little protection can be given them. In early spring, if possible, 
they should be grown in a c dd frame to induce active growth as early as 
possible. By this system a better and stronger growth is made, which 
has every chance of ripening thoroughly outside. 
Deutzias .—Young stock rooted at the same time as the Prunuses and 
now in small pots or grown in boxes as advised, may be placed singly into 
5-inch pots. These may be plunged outside, entirely covering the rim of 
the pots, and if required only for flowering late the following spring may 
be grown in that condition during the spring and summer. If required 
for early forcing they should be subjected to the same treatment as the 
Prunuses. It is much better to grow these plants in p As than to plant 
them out and lift them in autumn for forcing. When lifted from the 
open borders, to do the plants full justice they should be allowed to 
establish themselves for one year in pots before they are forced. They 
produce their flowers freely under the lifting system, but after they have 
been forced the growth made the following year is puny. Old plants in 
pots that have become exhausted by being forced into flower early for 
several seasons will recruit themselves if allowed one year’s complete 
rest. They should be turned out of their pots, the old balls reduced, and 
then repotted in fresh rich soil in the same size or smaller pots, and then 
plunged in ashes or cocoa-nut fibre in a cold frame for the winter. This 
will avoid watering them until they have pushed several inches of 
growth in the spring. Plants in 6 or 8-inch pots subject to this treatment 
will produce in one season from twelve to twenty shoots, varying in 
length from 18 inches tr 2 feet; and when forced in bloom, if previously 
well ripened, will be laden with small bunches of useful white flowers. 
Viburnum Opulus (Guelder Rose).—To have good plants for forcing 
another year lift plants one year old from cuttings that have been 
growing during the summer outside where they were inserted last 
autumn. The plants that have made the shortest-jointed wood and an 
upright growth should be selected. These should be lifted with as many 
roots as possible, and placed in good soil in 6-inch pots. They may be 
pruned as close back as possible, so that four or five wood buds remain 
above the surface of the soil of the pots. After pruning and potting 
plunge them outside and treat them the same as the Lilacs, and good 
useful plants with four or five growths 18 inches long will be made and 
ripened thoroughly by autumn if the plants are given a warm sunny 
position. By this simple system grand plants for decoration can be 
