December 11, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURF AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
531 
staged amongst liis handsome gi*oup of specimens at the late 
Southampton Show, As the majority of Chrysanthemums are 
not suited for cultui’e as specimen plants, this variety is all the 
more welcome. I commend it strongly to all lovers of Chrys¬ 
anthemums who grow for any'purpose, be it for cut blooms or 
home decoration.—E. Molyneux. 
MUSCATS GROWN IN A COLD HOUSE. 
When on a visit to Clifton a short time ago I had the pleasure of see¬ 
ing one of the most perfect examples of young Muscats and other late 
varieties of Vines cultivated without artificial heat that I ever remember 
to have seen. This was in the recently formed nursery and market gar¬ 
den of Mr. V. Down of Clifton, to whose skilful cultivation the Clifton 
Horticultural Society was a few years ago largely indebted for many of 
the magnificent examples of fruit, specimen plants, and flowers for which 
it then was and still is so justly noted. This nursery is situated in the 
village of Failand, about four miles W. or S.W. of Clifton, on an elevated 
and exposed plateau about six or eight miles from the Bristol Channel, 
the briny softening breezes from which tend no doubt in some degree to 
temper the harsh and violent blasts to which this locality would otherwise 
he subjected. The surface soil is a strong adhesive loam apparently 
composed Drgely of the disintegrated mountain limestone peculiar to the 
neighbourhood, with a slight admixture of the old red sandstone, and in 
some places its bright colour is also clearly indicative of the presence of 
iron. It varies in depth from 6 inches to 2 feet, and rests upon the lime¬ 
stone rock, from which it is chiefly formed. I mention these matters be¬ 
cause I venture to think, after making due allowance for the undoubted 
skill and ability with which these Vines have been cultivated, their present 
satisfactory condition is in no inconsiderable degree due to the favourable 
soil and situation. I am further supported in this opinion, not only by the 
magnificent examples of Grapes which have been produced for years past 
at Ashton Court, which is near and similarly situated, under the skilful 
management of Mr. Dodds, and more recently by that of Mr. Austin, but 
also by the great and invariable excellence of the Grapes and hardy fruits 
exhibited at the Clifton shows by the gardeners in the neighbourhood, 
who are similarly situated in respect to soil and position. 
The house in which these Vines are grown is a rather flat-roofed 
lean-to structure, about 60 feet long and 10 or 12 feet wide, facing S. or 
nearly so. Although provision has been made for heating it with hot 
water by means of pipes arranged along the front, yet I understood from 
Mr. Down that the apparatus had not been used only on a few rare 
occasions. In describing the condition of the Vines I do not wish to 
point out prominently their unusual strength, because I think that great 
strength in young Vines is frequently synonymous with grossness and ill- 
elaborated sap, or, in other words, the presence of a superabundance of 
pith and water; hut in this case it is great strength combined with perfect 
development and maturation of foliage, wood, and bud. 
In preparing the border, which at present is confined to the inside of 
the house, there was no necessity for artificial drainage or any expensive 
foundation, because the loose crust of the rock and the numerous clefts 
which pierce it freely in a perpendicular direction render such provision 
needless. The border is simply formed of the natural soil without the 
addition of any artificial and with very little animal or vegetable manures. 
They were planted in July, 1883, and were wholly or chiefly struck from 
eyes the same year. They were cut back last autumn to within about 
2 feet from the ground. At the present time they extend nearly to the 
top of the rafters, at which point they have been stopped. With one or 
two exceptions they are so strong, so uniform, so hard and short-jointed, 
so massive, so thoroughly developed and matured, that I venture to think 
as well-built Vines of eighteen months’ growth they have seldom been 
excelled. They show evident signs of careful and skilful cultivation; 
and although the border has not been converted into a mixen, the con¬ 
venient position of a liquid manure and soapsuds tank as well as their 
appearance, although alas! so young, both strongly suggest that they 
have not been pure water drinkers. 
Now arises the important question—the one for which I have chiefly 
ventured to pen these lines, for doing which without first asking Mr. 
Down’s permis-ion I must beg to apologise—is. If young Vines of Muscat, 
Gros, Colman, Lady Downe’s, and other late varieties can be so exception¬ 
ally well grown and so perfectly matured and consolidated without the aid 
of artificial heat in ordinary seasons, cannot fruit of the same varieties 
also be produced and ripened of the finest quality in similar seasons and 
positions by the same means at much less expense in fuel than is gene¬ 
rally incurred ? In conclusion, I most earnestly wish, as I am sure all 
who know Mr. Down also wish, him, great success in his new undertaking; 
and if his young Vines are not entitled to wear the distinctive badge of 
Good Templarism, I doubt not they will ere long if cultivated with 
the same skill as hitherto, be fully entitled to bear the blue badge of suc¬ 
cess at many provincial and metropolitan exhibitions.— Visitor. 
INDIGOFERA GERARDIANA. 
There are few gardens nowadays even of small dimensions without a 
wall against which could be grown plants that are reputed tender in the 
open ground, or are too rare or beautiful to be risked in such situations 
without a knowledge of their capabilities for standiog cold in an average 
Eoglish winter. The fancy for trying plants outside from other than 
climates nearly analogous to our own h-as cast, but the experience gained 
show us that a vast number with the slight prelection afforded by a wall 
pass the winter unscathed, and which would certainly be destroyed in the 
open, or even as standards in sheltered places. An instance of the cold- 
enduring capacity of a plant may be given in that of Choisya ternata, 
which we have seen in the stove doing fairly well. It also makes a good 
greenhouse plant, a very choice wall plant, and stands like an evergreen 
Oak in the open ground. The same in a lesser degree applies to the 
handsome Embothrium coccineum, and also to the Mutisias, all of which 
may stand well against a warm south wall, and such places are not hard 
to find in gardens where houses are numerous. The fronts of which, 
generally of stone or brick, may be utilised in this way by covering bare 
spaces and giving more room in the cool houses to plants of a more tender 
character, necessitating as it does no more trouble in covering the walls 
with good bright flowering plants than with those grown only for their 
foliage. 
Indigofera Gerardiana (fig. 90), distributed both under the names 
of I, coronilliefolia and I. floribunda—the latter, however, being a most 
appropriate, and partly descriptive one—is also one of those ill-used 
shrubs that will bid defiance to a severe winter when sheltered by a wall; 
and indeed there is little reason why it should not be grown in the open 
air where the winter must be above the average to affect it radically, 
especially in the southern counties. It was introduced to this country 
from the Himalayas over forty years ago, and is notwithstanding very 
scarce in cultivation, although one of the most beautiful wall shrubs we 
have seen. Its bears profusely its long racemes of bright rosy red pea-like 
flowers—a colour almost unique in this class of plants. The branches on 
which the flowers are borne have all a graceful drooping habit; the leaves 
pinnate with eight to ten pairs of blunt ovate leaflets, which are very 
handsome. It flowers in July and August, and is a rapid grower, 
attaining from 8 to 12 feet in height against a wall.—M. S. 
THE BEST ROSES. 
“ A. F. M.,” page 475 of “ our Journal,” regrets that Mr. Mawley did 
not append a list of Roses having most often won individually to his 
valuable and very interesting tables. I am inclined to think this was 
hardly within the scope of his purpose, but the idea is valuable and worth 
1 working out. Having been connected with two Rose Associations for the 
