446 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t November ig, isss. 
until the season is well advanced and it is safe to ventilate the 
frame all night. When daily or frequent syringings become 
necessary about 2 lbs. of soft soap should be boiled for about 
half an hour, then mixed with four gallons of water. Half a 
pint of this should be placed in each large canful of water 
every time syringing is done. The soft soap will leave no 
stain upon the foliage, but impart to it a fine dark green colour, 
and the plants will be free from mildew, red spider, and 
green fly. 
Roses while growing require liberal supplies of water, as, if 
the soil is allowed to become dust dry, the roots soon suffer. 
When the pots are full of roots liberal treatment should be 
resorted to ; we generally commence giving weak stimulants 
as soon as the flower buds can be seen. 
When the plants are grown in cool frames freely ventilated 
on all favourable occasions but little staking is needed the 
first year. Staking, however, is necessary after the first season 
in order to regulate the head of bloom, as some shoots will 
grow much longer than others before they show bloom, and if 
they are not neatly staked they present an irregular appearance 
when in flower. When all fear of frosts are past the plants 
should be thoroughly hardened and placed outside. The 
summer treatment consists of syringing and watering. 
When potting is done care must be taken that the drainage 
is good, and the soil should be pressed firmly into the pots. 
Roses in pots can be repotted at almost any time during the 
summer, and sooner than allow the plants to become root- 
bound in their first pots we prefer transferring them into 
others 2 inches larger. This can be done after flowering, or as 
soon as their pots are well filled with roots. We have found 
the plants do better under this system the following year than 
if allowed to grow in their first pots until autumn, as their 
roots would then require to be disentangled, which must be 
done very carefully, or the plants may be seriously checked. 
Plants of good size can be grown in 10 inch pots, but plenty 
of root room should be given them in their early stages, as they 
make greater progress than if confined in very small pots. 
After the plants have attained to a fair size and are growing 
in 10-inch pots, which are large enough for all ordinary .deco¬ 
rative purposes, they should be repotted annually. The old 
ball may be partially reduced and the plants placed again in 
the same size pots. When the plants are once established the 
time repotting should be done entirely depends upon when the 
plants are wanted to bloom. For instance, those required to 
produce flowers towards the end of February should be attended 
to towards the end of July, others in August, and none later 
than the month of September, which gives the plants ample 
time to become thoroughly established in their pots before they 
are required for forcing. 
The soil most suitable is a strong fibry loam, to which should 
be added an 8-inch potful of bonedust, and the same or nearly 
as much soot to each barrowful of soil, with sufficient coarse 
sand to render the whole porous. If sandy loam only can be 
procured clay should be spread out to dry during the summer 
and crushed into dust, by which means it can best be incor¬ 
porated with the loam. If plants are divided into two batches, 
and one lot potted in light sandy loam, and the other with a 
fair quantity of clay mixed with the same kind of material, 
the wood, quality, and colour of the flowers from the plants 
growing in the latter will show a marked superiority over those 
produced by plants grown in the former. 
The following are twenty-four useful varieties that thrive 
well in pots :—La France, Abel Grand, Anna Alexieff, Comtesse 
d'Oxford, Marie Baumann, Victor Verdier, Charles Verdier, 
Annie Laxton, Charles Margottin, Jules Margottin, Duke of 
Edinburgh, Alfred Colomb, Glory of Waltham, Baronne de 
Rothschild, Senateur Vaisse, Duke of Wellington, John Hopper, 
Madame Lacharme, General Jacqueminot,Coquette des Blanches, 
Mdlle. Eugenie Verdier, Hippolyte Jamain, Capitaine Christy, 
and Magna Charta. — W. Bardney. 
ALNWICK SEEDLING GRAPE. 
I had a Vine of this variety direct from Mr. Bell, and my ex¬ 
perience of it last year, when it was allowed to carry a few bunches, 
was exactly that of Mr. S. Castle—a very few large berries and a 
host of small ones. This year it is everything that can be desired— 
fine in berry, bunch, and colour. The colour is as deep as Black 
Alicante (which I find one of the best Grapes for colouring), and 
the flavour is far superior to that well-known variety. The way 
I attained the desired end was by dusting the Alnwick Seed¬ 
ling with the pollen from Trebbiano, care having been taken 
to perform the operation in the middle of the day when the pollen 
was dry, ventilation being afforded by the back and front lights 
to facilitate this. I may mention that I left one bunch unfer¬ 
tilised for trial, and this one was exactly the same as the whole of 
the bunches in the previous year—viz., a number of small berries 
and a few large ones. I have no doubt the Alicante would be a 
good variety to fertilise the Alnwick Seedling with. We have it 
planted in a late house with only a flow and return pipe.— George 
Cooke, Nannan Park Gardens. 
So much has been written about Alnwick Seedling Grape in 
respect of its setting qualities that I have sent you a bunch of it 
to show its character here. I bought the Vine in January, 1879, 
and planted it in a late vinery well heated, and where there are 
Vines ten years old of Black Alicante, Lady Downe’s, Black Ham¬ 
burgh, White Frontignan, and Buckland Sweetwater all fruiting 
well. My employer is so disgusted with the Black Currant type 
of Alnwick Seedling Grape that he has condemned it; therefore 
I inarched Black Alicante on the rod last March, and it is doing 
well.—F. Bezant, St. Peter's Hill, Caversham. 
[There were seven full-sized berries on the bunch sent, and 
upwards of a hundred like Black Currants.] 
CULTURE OF GARDENIAS. 
It is surprising that in many good gardens these beautiful 
flowering plants are so much neglected, as their culture is simple, 
and the fragrant pure white flowers under proper treatment are 
produced in abundance nearly the whole year round. The proper 
flowering season is during the months of April and May, and 
almost equally profusely in September and October, yet there need 
scarcely be a week during the whole year when a few blooms can¬ 
not be had. Cuttings of the half-ripened wood can be taken in 
January or February ; three being inserted in a 60-sized pot and 
placed in a close moist heat will strike root readily. They should 
be potted before the roots become matted, and be again placed in 
strong heat till they are established in the new soil. It is best to 
strike a few in this way every year to maintain a stock of young 
plants. The most suitable soil is a mixture of about one-sixth 
well-decayed cow manure, the same quantity of broken bones, 
charcoal, and coarse sand, the remainder to be good fibrous loam. 
A well-heated pit having a south aspect is the best structure for 
Gardenias either in pots or planted out at discretion, but for con¬ 
venience I advise that they be grown in pots, as the plants may 
then be taken out to be cleaned, and the pit may also be cleansed 
with greater facility than when planted out. This is a very im¬ 
portant point in their culture, as they are very subject to attacks 
of green fly, scale, and mealy bug. The latter when once esta¬ 
blished is very troublesome, and the only effectual way of dealing 
with it is to grow-on a batch of clean young plants in another 
house or pit, and as soon as possible to destroy the old stock; 
then thoroughly cleanse the pit, and introduce the young plants. 
For scale and fly syringe the plants during the summer months 
about once a week with a solution of fir-tree oil insecticide in the 
proportion of about a wineglassful to four gallons of tepid water. 
The plants should be plunged in leaves, as this will lessen the 
labour of watering, and during the growing period they must 
be liberally supplied with water, giving weak liquid manure on 
alternate days. 
A light shading is necessary during the spring and summer 
months on bright days, with sufficient ventilation to maintain a 
circulation and no more, as these plants delight in a strong moist 
heat whilst making their growth. When the shading is removed 
and the pit closed for the day they should be syringed heavily 
with tepid water. The best season for repotting is immediately 
after they have flowered in spring, which will be about the first 
week in June. 
Provided the plants have done well the shift needed will be into 
pots a couple of sizes larger than those they have occupied, as 
they are very quick-growing plants. The drainage should be care¬ 
fully formed of broken pots, pieces of charcoal, and bones, perfect 
drainage being of the utmost importance, as the quantity of water 
they require is so large. The larger roots round the outside of the 
ball should be loosened with a pointed stick to enable them the 
more readily to take to the new soil, the compost to be the same 
as that previously advised, and be pressed firmly in the pots, for if 
this be not done the water will pass away through the new soil, 
having very little effect on the old ball. The leaves in which they 
