45G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 20, 1884. 
fruit of a remarkable number of seedlings resulting. All appeared 
to inherit the vigorous growth of Ferdinand de Lesseps, and the 
colour of this variety also predominated, as, if 1 remember 
rightly, there was not a black Grape among them, but some of 
them were curiously variegated—that is to say, the berries were 
half black and half yellow. The best of the batch is undoubtedly 
that named Mrs. Pearson, and it is my belief this useful Grape will 
yet become popular. Unfortunately the berries, round in shape, 
are rather small, but the bunches are compact, and the quality is 
e jual to any Muscat grown. Added to this it is robust, yet very 
fruitful, and no difficulty is experienced in setting the berries. 
If given fire heat, say about what is given to Alicantes, plenty of 
light and time to ripen, it will finish off a rich amber colour, give 
off a pleasing aroma, and keep well. 
Pearson’s Golden Queen, of the same parentage as Mrs. 
Pearson, is equally, or perhaps more robust, quite as fruitful, 
and quite as easy to cultivate, but at its best the quality is 
inferior. I have had it very fine from pot plants, the colour 
being equal to any yellow Grape ever grown, and in this case the 
flavour was pronounced ‘‘much better than usual” by an expe¬ 
rienced connoisseur. It is a very thick-skinned sort, and plenty 
of heat and light is required to ripen it properly. Doubtless 
several growers, after having eiven it a trial, have used it as a 
stock for some other sort, and it would be instructive if some of 
them would state what effect this stock has had upon the consti¬ 
tution and quality of the scion. 
Calabrian Raisin I have had remarkably good on the back 
wall of a Hamburgh house, and those amateurs who prefer 
appearance to fine flavour should give this variety a trial. It 
is very vigorous, but ripens its wood well, and very rarely fails 
to crop heavily. It qiroduces extra large and rather loose bunches 
and medium-sized round berries, which are whitish in colour at 
first, and then if kept long become tinged with red, but the 
flavour and flesh is only equal to the Sweetwater’s. Trebbiano 
much resembles it as far as the habit of growth and fruitfulness 
is concerned, but requires more heat to finish it properly. This 
also produces large bunches, fairly compact, and the berries are 
approaching to oval shape. It is a fairly good keeper, but the 
quality is only second-rate. White Tokay is another vigorous- 
growing variety, and produces crops of fine bunches under Ham¬ 
burgh treatment, and may well be grown with it by those who 
like variety in their only vinery. It is very refreshing and 
sweet, but according to my experience does not keep particularly 
well. 
The most valuable white Grape in cultivation is the Muscat 
of Alexandria, but unfortunately it cannot be termed an amateur’s 
variety, as it is, on the whole, one of the most difficult to grow to 
perfection. Mr. Taylor, when at Longleat, used to say that per¬ 
fection never had been reached, or at any rate that it was possible 
to grow it better than it had evei' been previously recorded, and 
though I used to think he was not serious in the matter, sub¬ 
sequent results have proved that he was correct in his opinion, 
and he must be awarded a full share of the honours gained by 
his successor. It appears to me that the naturally fine consti¬ 
tution of the Muscat of Alexandria is more easily impaired by 
overcropping than most other sorts, and that is why we so 
frequently hear of Mr. So-and-So’s house of Muscats, from which 
so many prize bunches were cut, being past its best, this simply 
meaning that they are become too weak to set even buches of 
berries. The framework is there, but the setting has failed. 
The Longleat Yines, thanks to Mr. Taylor’s supe^r treatment, 
are at their best when about fourteen years old, tins being about 
double the age of many growers’ Yines that have achieved a 
short-lived reputation and then failed. This season we expe¬ 
rienced no difficulty in setting bunches on a vigorous young 
Yine qplanted in 1883, but on debilitated old Yines the case was 
very different, and on the whole I think I am justified in express¬ 
ing the opinion that if the Yines are sufiiciently vigorous they 
will set equally well either in a high or comparatively low tem¬ 
perature, and if started early will not require a great amount of 
fire heat to finish it properly. When well grown it is very grand 
in appearance, and the large Heshy berries are of excellent quality. 
If ripened early in September, they will, as a rule, keep better 
than if ripened three weeks or a month later. I would still 
advise intelligent amateurs to include a V^ine of this variety in 
their mixed house, giving it the warmest or sunniest end, but on 
no account should it be crowded, and each rod ought at least to 
be allowed a clear space of 42 inches. Thei'e are several pre¬ 
sumably distinct forms of this Grape, but it is, I believe, now 
generally considered that those named respectively Bowood and 
Tynninghame Muscats are synonymous with it. 
Canon Hall Muscat is perfectly distinct from the Muscat of 
Alexandria, and when well grown is perhaps, if we take into 
consideration the relative quality, the grandest of all Grapes. 
The greatest difficulty is generally experienced in ripening the 
wood and setting the berries of this variety. The best examples 
of it that have ever come under my notice were cut from a Yine 
growing in one of the large vineries at Elvaston Castle. It was 
planted at the warmest end of a Muscat house, and the rod that 
produced the best bunches was directly over four hot-water 
pipes taken across the end of the house. Those berries that 
contained their full complement of seeds were enormous in size, 
but unfortunately they were few in number, and various sized 
berries on each bunch were nearly always to be seen. I do 
not remember having read of any bunches of this variety being 
staged at any exhibition for the past two seasons. At Old Sneyd 
Park, near Bristol, Mr. Miller has a Yine said to be a seedling 
raised from Canon Hall, and this, when I saw it last season, was 
carrying a heavy crop of fairly well-set berries. It closely re¬ 
sembles Canon Hall, and of late years has become equally as 
difficult to set. Would not some of our new fruit-raisers do well 
to take Canon Hall Muscat in hand, and cross it, say with 
Golden Queen ? A white or golden companion for Gros Colman 
would be a boon to market growers.—W. Iggulden. 
THE CAUSE OF MILDEW. 
Perhaps the following observations will assist Mr. Clayton in 
finding the cause of mildew. We grow a quantity of the Marechal 
Niel Rose here under glass, a variety which is very liable to be 
attacked at any time. Some of them are planted along the south 
side of a span-roofed house which runs from east to west, and is 
about 12 feet high at the ridge, 16 feet wide, and lOOfeetlong. The 
Roses are trained to a wire trellis about 12 inches from the glass. I 
find on inquiry they are planted here (inside) in the natural soil, 
without any drainage or preparation, and last spring they were 
evidently cut back too far in many places right into the old wood, 
consequently they made a very weak start, and ever since the begin¬ 
ning of August mildew has been very troublesome on them. There 
is no means of applying fire heat to this house. Running parallel 
with it, and about 12 feet from it, is another house, span-roofed, 
257 feet long, 28 feet wide, 16 feet high at the ridge. The west 
end of this house is planted on both north and south sides for some 
distance with the same kind of Rose. These are younger plants 
than the others, being only two years from the bud, and are also 
trained to wires right up the roof. They have grown very strong 
and healthy this season, many of them having long since passed the 
centre of the roof, and all started from 3 to 4 feet from the ground 
level together. The border these are growing in was made of good 
turfy loam, and thoroughly drained. No mildew was to be seen on 
these for many wetks after the others were attacked, and only 
a very little at present, although growing within a few yards 
of the others which are badly infested. I should add, this place, 
being at the bottom of a valley close to water, is very damp generally, 
and favourable for mildew, also the plants in the last-mentioned 
instance had the advantage of fire heat to start them early in the 
spring, but none since. 
I agree with what Mr. Clayton sajs as to sulphur, &c., and in my 
opinion the origin of the evil is at the root of the plant principally, 
and secondly, in the atmosphere surrounding the plant. I would 
undertake to keep the mildew away in any house, with plenty of 
light, ventilation, and fire heat when required, where I had the roots 
perfectly under control and in healthy condition.—W. H. Divers, 
Ketton Hall. 
ABBOTI’S MAGNUM BONQM SOARLET RUNNER BEAN. 
There is now on view in the seed shop of Messrs. Fisher, Son, and 
Sibray, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, a plant of this fine new variety twined 
around a Larch pole upon which it has grown, and of which I enclose to 
you a photograph taken November 3rd, whilst it was still in its natural 
position in the row as grown. The plant is carrying 175 pods, many of 
which are from 8 to 9 inches long and remarkably thick and stout. This, 
the peculiar thickness of the sides and back of the pod and the smallness 
of the beans or seeds, even when ripe, is one of the most valuable features 
of the variety, and give to the green pods when young a peculiar rounded 
appearance, insomuch that when thus gathered they have been by expe¬ 
rienced men mistaken for large pods of peas. The 175 pods now hanging 
upon the plant above referred to is not the whole of the crop the plant has 
produced, as Mr. Abbott tells me young Beans were freely gathered off it 
in the early part of the season. The clusters are large, frequently 
branching, and sometimes as many as fifteen in a cluster. Fourteen of the 
largest pods weighed 1 Ih. I send to you by the same post sample 
clusters of dried pods, and also young green pods freshly gathered. 
The variety is the result of very close and careful selection by Mr. 
Abbott for the past nearly ten years, and from my own observations of it 
during the last five or six years I fully believe it is superior to any 
variety in general cultivation, and that whenever distributed it will 
speedily become very popular, and will be found to excel all others 
