JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 13,1882. ] 
when the Vines are growing in the richest of borders, 
and it may be prevented when they are in the poorest. 
The leaves of a plant are not only its respiratory organs, 
they are also the organs by which digestion is mainly 
effected, and it is of no more use to apply rich manure 
to a plant, the foliage of which is unhealthy or in¬ 
sufficient, than it is to feed a bedridden and dyspeptic 
person with turtle soup. The way to prevent shanking, 
then, is to follow the instructions I have given for the 
production and sustenance of healthy foliage. If the 
foliage suffers from scorching or the ravages of insects, 
especially red spider, it cannot perform its work effi¬ 
ciently, and of course if the soil in which the roots are 
working becomes too dry at any time the effect will be 
similar. In mild cases of shanking the backwardest 
and most imperfect berries only suffer, but in severe 
cases whole bunches will go at once. There is no cure 
during the current season for this, but when it happens 
the cause should be sought out, and steps should be 
immediately taken to prevent its recurrence. 
MILDEW AND ITS CUBE. 
As far as I know Vines are always liable to attacks 
of mildew. It is not, like shanking, a trouble which we 
create for ourselves; it is, however, most likely to come 
when the soil is dry and the atmosphere humid, and 
these conditions favour its rapid development. A con¬ 
stant look-out must be kept for it, and when it does 
appear an immediate check must be given. It gene¬ 
rally comes first in the shape of small round mealy- 
looking spots little larger than the head of a pin, and 
scarcely visible to any but the most practised eye, but 
if left unchecked it will in a few days spread over a 
whole house. Sulphur is the most effectual remedy. 
The pipes are made hot while the ventilators are open; 
a wet rag is wiped along a couple of yards at a time, 
and sulphur is dusted on while the pipe is wet from a 
piece of muslin rag or hexagon netting doubled. In 
the evening, after the sun heat is mostly gone and the 
pipes have been made as hot as possible, the house is 
closed, when a bluish mist may be seen to rise from 
the heated sulphur, such as will make one’s eyes smart, 
and will in the course of two hours kill all the spores 
of the mildew. It is scarcely safe to use such a severe 
measure before the Grapes have grown to the size of 
a pea, nor yet after they are ripe. In these cases 
sulphur can only be used locally by dusting it on to the 
parts affected; but sulphur tells tales, and although I 
am sometimes obliged to use it on the pipes, it never 
remains there more than forty-eight hours. 
KEEPING THE FRUIT. 
All fruit should be cleared off the Vines by the 
middle of January, and the Vines should be imme¬ 
diately pruned. The conditions for keeping it after 
cutting are the same as those named for keeping it on 
the Vines—viz., an even temperature with constant 
ventilation. About 45° is the temperature I generally 
aim at, but in a more northern latitude I should prefer 
5°, or even 10°, lower. The best general advice is 
perhaps to have a little warmth and a current of air 
constantly. The stems should be inserted in the 
bottles or tubes containing water as quickly as possible 
after they are severed from the Vines, and they w T ill do 
as well upside down as any way. No charcoal is 
needed, as the Vine stem itself, so long as it touches 
27 
the water, will keep it perfectly sweet; and it is un¬ 
necessary to close up the space in the neck, for the 
presence of water is not inimical to the keeping of the 
fruit here any more than in the vinery. A very dry 
atmosphere indeed should be avoided. —Wm. Taylor. 
NOTES ON THE AURICULA. 
From all quarters we hear that the day of the Auricula has 
come, and that new growers are taking it on hand all over the 
kingdom. Much attention has always been given in this Journal 
to these lovely spring flowers, and now that they are more gene¬ 
rally grown and better understood it is only fitting that notes 
should be increased on certain points in its cultivation. As one 
glad to pick up hints by the way, I am always pleased to see 
anything from experienced growers ; and though I can claim only 
to be a young grower, yet the subjoined notes may be of interest 
to some who have been puzzled by conflicting teachings. 
The operation of potting is of importance just now, as autumn 
flowering is held by some to be affected by potting early in the 
summer or later on. Practically I do not see that the time of 
potting has any appreciable effect on the plants throwing up 
flower trusses in autumn, and when I state the conditions of 
growth of the Auricula this point may be more clearly under¬ 
stood. With the lengthening of the day in earliest spring the 
Auricula commences growth—top growth first, and then activity 
at the roots commences. Up till the time the flowers are deve¬ 
loped the root-action is merely an extension of the roots made 
the previous season ; but about the time of flowering, there being 
a noticeable difference in different varieties, fresh roots are pro¬ 
truded from the neck of the plant, and these roots may be said 
to take on themselves the main burden of the maintenance of 
the plants. It is very plain that if the plant is to have the full 
benefit of the fresh soil the earlier it is potted the better, for by 
August root-action is virtually at a standstill, and plants left 
later than the beginning of June do not benefit by the repotting 
until the following spring. 
Autumn-flowering, I am much afraid, is greatly dependant 
upon the weather, and to a great extent uncontrollable. What 
appears to me the best means of at least mitigating this evil 
would be to keep the plants as cool as possible during autumn 
the season they are so susceptible to a term of genial weather. 
If the winter is open, as last was for instance, the plants may be 
kept very dry at the roots without harm, and under such treat¬ 
ment the trusses do not come too early. From the time growth 
commences in spring until August, however, insufficient water is 
hurtful. 
As compost I like a good loam, with some fresh but dry manure 
rubbed fine, in the proportion of one-third to one-fourth of the 
loam. I use cinders for drainage—a much better material than 
broken pots. The soil is pressed very firmly ; in fact the firmer 
the soil the better the plants seem to thrive. The collar of 
the plant should be kept well down in the pot. Tap-roots 1 
find are best dispensed with. The youDger roots are the food- 
purveyors, and, believing that, we cut the “ taps ” pretty hard 
in, and use small pots, most of our flowering plants being in 
3 and 4-inch pots, a very few extra strong well-rooted plants 
being in 5-inch pots. Offsets are best left on the parent plants 
until they are strong ; small offsets are easily enough brought on 
with care, but I consider it is better to leave them as a rule until 
they are fit to bear the severance without hurt. I have just 
turned out some plants repotted four weeks from the time of 
writing, and I find them rapidly forming a ball of roots ; had 
they been left till now how different the result would have been 1 
—A Young Grower. 
THE ALEXANDRA PALACE ROSE SHOW. 
This Show was held on Saturday last, and was far from being 
equal to former exhibitions held in the same building; indeed, in 
comparison with the National Rose Show at South Kensington it 
really was disappointing to see such vacant spaces and such relatively 
poor exhibits. There were, of course, exceptions, for such great 
growers as Cant, Cranston, Paul, and Turner were represented ; while 
Mr. Whitwell from Darlington, Mr. John Wakeley, and Mr. Pemberton 
showed very fairly: but after all it can only be properly described as 
a ghost of a Rose show 1 Mr. Cant was again first in seventy-two, 
also in forty-eight trebles and twenty-four singles, followed by 
Messrs. Cranston & Co., and Paul &■ Son of Cheshunt. Mr. Cant’s 
Roses showed signs of the inclement weather we have been lately 
having, but although they were inferior to those shown by him at 
the National yet his stands were very good. His best blooms were 
A. K. Williams, Baronne de Rothschild, Niphetos, Madame Gabriel 
