October 5,1882.1 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 321 
houses being planted, and these have been in use since February last ; 
many of them now are pulled up, the crops having been gathered, 
and are cleared away. Mushroom-growing is also practised on a large 
scale here.” 
- A SMALL HERBARIUM OF PLANTS THIRTY-FIVE CEN¬ 
TURIES old must be an object of considerable interest. Such a 
one has recently been formed by Dr. Schweinfurth from garlands 
found on the breasts of mummies discovered last year at Deir el 
Bahari by MM. Brugsch and Maspero. Two garlands on the 
body of the King Aames I. consisted (according to a letter of the 
Doctor’s published in “ Archives des Sciences ”) of leaves of 
Egyptian Willow (Salix safsaf), folded twice, and sewed side by 
side along a branch of the Date Palm, so forming clasps for 
separate flowers inserted in the folds. The flowers were those 
of Acacia nilotica, of Nymphsea casrulea, with isolated petals of 
Alcea ficifolia, and of a Delphinium believed to be orientale. 
The garlands of the other kings contained flowers of Carthamus 
tinctorius, and the folded leaves were those of Mimusops Kummel. 
Leaves of the common Water Melon (Cucumis citrullus) were 
also found on the body of Neb-Seni, a high priest of the twentieth 
dynasty. Dr. Schweinfurth managed to preserve many of the 
leaves and flowers by moistening them, then putting in alcohol, 
then spreading out and drying. A remarkable thing is the pre¬ 
servation of colour of the chlorophyl, violet in Delphinium, 
green in the Water Melon leaves. All the species named are 
still found in the East; and they afford examples of both spon¬ 
taneous and cultivated plants continuing for many centuries 
without variation.— (Nature.') 
-In regard to giving liquid manure to Orchids a 
correspondent of the “ Gardener ” writes as follows :— 
“ The question of whether liquid manure is beneficial or injurious 
to Orchids is far from settled ; but my own plan is to give pure 
rain water to all Orchids which have permanent or long-lived roots. 
Those Orchids which produce annual roots only—such as deciduous 
Calanthes, Pleiones, and Phajus—may not be injured, indeed I am 
quite sure Calanthes are benefited by liquid manure waterings : 
and I am equally confident that Yandas, Cattleyas, and many other 
Orchids of a similar habit, have been much injured by its application 
to their roots. Only the other day I saw a plant of Yanda Bate- 
mannii 4 feet high, and once the picture of health, spotted and dis¬ 
figured by a dose of liquid manure having been given to it by a man 
who was deputed to water some Gardenias in a stove wherein it grew. 
When we think of the splendid specimens of Orchids which a 
judicious use of pure water has sufficed to produce, the wonder is that 
anyone can be found willing to risk valuable plants by making ex¬ 
periments of this kind. I even question whether throwing an occa¬ 
sional can of weak liquid manure on the flooring or stages of the 
Orchid house is productive of any peimanent good, albeit that a 
deeper tint of verdure may thus be gained. Mere greenness in Orchids, 
however, is no sure test of healthy long life or of free flowering, 
and I earnestly advise all who grow Orchids to pause ere they even 
think of giving liquid manure to valuable Orchids.” 
RENOVATING OLD VINES. 
Many gardeners think that the best thing to do with old Vines 
is to throw them out. It may be in some instances ; but in most 
cases good results may be obtained by renovating them. In many 
gardens young Vines are planted, cropped heavily for a few years, 
the border becomes exhausted through inattention, the Grapes 
degenerate in size of bunch, berry, and colour, also shank; but 
if better attention had been paid to the Vines and borders the 
result would have been different. 
Most vineries have the borders both inside and out, and when it 
is the case good Grapes can be obtained from the same Vines for 
many years—indeed, during a lifetime, by judicious cropping, 
timely attention to the borders, lifting the roots, and relaying them 
in good fresh soil every six or seven years. It is not well to lift 
the roots both inside and out at the same time. The safe plan is 
to do one portion one year and the other two or three years after¬ 
wards ; the Vines will not then feel the check in the least, but 
continue year after year producing good Grapes. Generally when 
Grapes are a bad colour and shank the roots are in exhausted soil 
or the Vines too heavily cropped. Artificial manure in such a case 
is not like good fresh loam, which is the best remedy in the case 
of exhausted borders. Some may say that they have old Vines 
that do well and bear good Grapes annually that never have the 
roots disturbed or the border touched. In such a case the feeding 
roots are not in the original border, but have rambled outside into 
better quarters. In some places where there are several vineries, 
removing old Vines and planting young is a matter of little con¬ 
sequence, as the supply would not be diminished, but where there 
are only two or three houses and a good supply of fruit is required 
it is a different matter. 
Having had some experience in renovating old Vines that were 
pronounced worn-out I will state how I managed it with very fair 
results. The Vines are, I believe, between fifty and sixty years of 
age. The time they were lifted was from this period of the year 
onwards, as there were three or four vineries to do. The first 
thing I had done was to get some turf cut and have plenty of wood 
ashe3 and lime rubbish ready. The Vine borders were both inside 
and out, so I kept the inside border well supplied with moisture. 
To keep the roots fresh and active each border was done as the 
Grapes were cut. Where the roots were outside we did not know, 
so a trench was dug 6 feet from the front wall of the vinery, and 
a few black-looking roots were found among the drainage. We 
worked the old soil away, placed about 18 inches of brick 
rubble for drainage, and relaid the roots near the surface (which 
had been protected as well as possible during the operation by 
damp mats) in the fresh soil, notching them at intervals of 
1 foot, and covering the borders with dry litter to keep all com¬ 
fortable for the winter. The house was kept close, and the Vines 
syringed two or three times a day for a week or two. After 
they were lifted the vinery was afterwards well ventilated, 
a little fire heat being afforded to ripen the wood. After the 
leaves had fallen the roots were examined, and in all cases the 
cut parts were callused over. In some new roots were being 
emitted. Whilst the roots were being lifted the weather was dull, 
or we should have had to shade the roof, as there were not 
many roots inside to support the Vines. It is by far the best plan 
to lift the Vines whilst the fob'age is on them ; but good results 
may be obtained after they have fallen, as long as the work is 
done as soon after the fall of the leaf as possible. 
The early Vines were started in February, as a good crop of 
Grapes was expected the same year. They grew gentlj in a tem¬ 
perature about 55° at night, so as not to exhaust the stored-up sap. 
After the shoots had grown about 12 inches, and I could see by 
the appearance of the leaves that new roots were starting, 
a little more heat was employed. The shoots were not stopped 
until they had grown four or five leaves beyond the fruit, and 
those at the top of the Vines were left to ramble to keep up root- 
action. That season the berries swelled twice the size they had 
previously been, and coloured fairly well, although they had been 
regarded as a distinct variety—Bed Hamburghs. Daring the 
past two seasons they have been quite black, and are good Grapes 
for old Vines. The Muscats are a better success than the Ham- 
burghs, the bunches being of large size, and the berries very fine. 
—A. Young. 
PLEIONES. 
Our Pleiones are flowering rather early this year, although the 
treatment they have had has differed in no way from that usually 
given except in the time of potting. It is usual to repot these 
plants directly the flowers have faded, so that the shift shall not 
interfere with the growth which follows immediately after the 
flowers, nor injure the roots, which are pushed almost at the same 
time as the flowers. Thinking last year that by repotting the 
bulbs before the flowers had developed I should avoid breaking 
young roots, which almost unavoidably takes place if the potting 
is deferred until the flowers are past, I shook out the greater 
part of our pseudo-bulbs after they were ripened, and repotted 
them in the usual compost. I was careful that neither more water 
nor heat should be given than they would have under the ordinary 
method ; yet in spite of this the flowers never expanded, although 
some of the buds grew to a good size, all fading, and the growth 
pushing at once. Of course, it is possible that the treatment was 
at fault; but as far as I could make out the early shifting alone 
was the cause of the flowers failing, and in future I shall wait 
until the flowers have disappeared before I repot Pleiones. 
One species, P. Hookeriana, has not done well with me this year. 
It is a small, round, smooth pseudo-bulbed species, bearing beau¬ 
tiful little flowers, which last for at least a fortnight. A charac¬ 
teristic feature of this species is the appearance of the leaves with 
the flowers. It is a cool species, and last year succeeded very well 
on a block with sphagnum moss and suspended near the roof in a 
cool house. Another cool species and very pretty one is P. humilis, 
which has smooth bottle-shaped pseudo-bulbs about the size of 
Damsons. P. lagenaria, P. Walliehiana, and P. maculata are the 
best known kinds, all easily managed, and very free-flowering. 
We grow them in a warm stove on a shelf through the summer, 
