494 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t November so, uss. 
for an orchard, plant standards. All the pruning that stand¬ 
ards require is to keep the centre open and not let the branches 
become crowded.—A. Young. 
LAPAGERIAS. 
The Lapageria is certainly king of greenhouse climbers. Every¬ 
body who admires flowers admires its large waxy bells. The red 
kinds are most plentiful, and indeed the most beautiful, but the 
white is an exquisite flower, plentiful now, but long scarce. 
For dressing vases where the flowers may hang in a natural 
way Lapageria sprays are useful, and add at once to the grace 
and the richness of any arrangement. For bouquets they are by 
no means to be despised. The most beautiful bouquet we ever 
saw was made of a groundwork of scarlet Begonias more than 
half hidden by single blooms of Odontoglossum Alexandras, and 
a single bloom for a centre of Lapageria alba half protruding 
from the mass. Through the crystalline purity of the Lapageria 
and the Orchids the Begonias were seen, giving all an exquisitely 
charming appearance. Of course the only positive colour was 
complemented with its only proper complement—green. The 
green also added grace ; it was furnished by fronds of Adiantum 
cuneatum all over the bouquet, and as a fringe around it. 
Lapagerias are strong-rooting plants, and like good living. Few 
plants make a greater number of roots for the size of the plants, 
and this should be borne in mind. Not unfrequently I have 
seen plants not doing well, and all that was wanted was more 
root room. 
No soil suits them better than very fibry rather light loam. In 
large pots pieces of freestone or charcoal may be mixed in the 
body of the soil with advantage. Some I know use peat largely 
or even exclusively fcr soil, but that is a mistake. The plant 
certainly likes the soil first named best; indeed, it is not particular 
about soil at all, as the different composts recommended by 
successful growers prove. At the same time it is well worth some 
trouble to secure a good soil for such a plant. 
They like water, and when the roots have taken possession of 
the soil liquid manure ; but a sourness is fatal to them. To guard 
against this the drainage must be ample and carefully arranged, 
and the soil porous and open. 
Its great enemy is green fly, which is sure to settle in the points 
of the young shoots. If green fly is allowed to have its own way 
the shoots will make no progress, and if crushed between the 
fingers and thumb the shoot is likely to be injured. The best 
plan to keep it free is to occasionally damp the young leaves and 
shoots with liquid insecticide applied by means of a sprayer. 
Nicotine soap we have found efficacious. Scale is apt to infest 
the older leaves, and is easily disposed of by means of the sponge 
and soapy water. 
A cool moist greenhouse temperature suits it best, and it will 
do well in a shady place. In favoured localities it does well out¬ 
side. Curiously enough the white variety is hardier than the red, 
although scarcely so vigorous. Possibly the greater vigour of many 
red-flowered plants is the cause of their being more susceptible to 
cold.—S ingle-handed. 
MUSCAT OF ALEXANDRIA GRAPES. 
During recent years I have inspected many grand houses of 
Muscats in various parts of the country, but never remember 
having seen such superbly finished examples as at Knowsley Hall 
gardens a short time ago. I have seen larger bunches in many 
instances, but the crop was heavy and even throughout, and the 
bunches of most suitable size for table. That beautiful amber 
colour so desirable in this Grape was excellent, and not one 
berry could be found in the two houses (the two being 70 or 
SO feet in length and proportionately wide) that were not highly 
finished. It is seldom, indeed, that we have the pleasure of seeing 
such general excellence throughout a house of Muscats. In the 
majority of instances there are individual Vines carrying bunches 
of fine quality, while other Vines or bunches do not attain the 
same high finish. The Vines in question are comparatively young, 
and were lifted two or three years ago and replanted—not because 
the new border was exhausted, but because it had never been 
fully made. When the Vines were first planted only a narrow 
border was made for them, with the intention of adding to it in a 
season or two ; but the large amount of renovation required to be 
done in other vineries, Peach, and numerous other fruit houses, 
prevented Mr. Harrison doing so as early as he originally in¬ 
tended. When removing the remaining portion of the old border 
it was found that the roots of the Vines bad extended through it 
just below the surface, and found their way beneath the flags at 
the back of the house which formed the walk. The flags were 
resting upon sand, which was crowded with nearly all the feeding 
roots the Vines possessed. They bore, however, grand crops of 
first-rate Grapes every season whilst their roots were rambling 
amongst the sand, which to all appearance is only poor material 
for Vines. I have invariably noticed that when a quantity of 
sand is deposited by any means on the surface of a Vine border 
the roots soon find it, and rapidly form quantities of fibres in it. 
Vines evidently like sand. Is it because it retains moisture ? 
The roof was well covered with moderate-sized healthy leaves, 
more being allowed to develope than are generally seen in Muscat 
houses. The opinion prevalent is that the sun must strike direct 
upon the bunches, otherwise a fine amber colour cannot be ob¬ 
tained. In many instances we find the foliage tied on one side or 
entirely removed, so that the sun will act with full force upon the 
bunches. Grapes ripened under these conditions generally com¬ 
mence shrivelling earlier than those ripened under the shade of 
moderate foliage. The system of exposing the bunches to full 
sunshine in order to finish them thoroughly is unnecessary. The 
condition of the Muscats at Knowsley this year is alone sufficient 
to prove that they will colour to perfection under a good roof of 
foliage, and in a season that has been remarkable for the absence 
of sun, in this part of Lancashire at least.—W. Bardney. 
PLANTING ROSES—SPRING v. AUTUMN. 
My view of this question is that there is room for both systems. 
In the case of any alterations that might be contemplated which 
necessitated the removal of Rose trees from one part of a garden 
to another, I should prefer early autumn planting, say during the 
last week in September or the first week in October. I do not 
think there is anything to fear from a few sappy points withering 
or a few leaves turning brown, for while this is going on the 
roots will be taking to the new soil, and the plants will be in a 
better condition to withstand frost than if they had not been 
disturbed, owing to the check hardening the wood. But at this 
season care must be taken that the plants do not remain long out 
of the ground, neither laying in by their roots nor covering them 
in any way ; but as soon as they are lifted place them where they 
are to remain, properly secure them, and in some autumns pro¬ 
bably a little water to settle the soil about the roots might be 
attended with advantage, but unhappily not such autumns as the 
one we are now experiencing. 
The young vigorous trees from the nurseries are never at rest 
until they have been exposed to a sharp frost, thus it is generally 
late in the season before they will bear transit safely. Even at 
that late season, if the weather were open and the ground in fair 
order I should prefer planting them as soon as received, and 
should the winter prove mild they would have a great advantage 
over spring-planted Roses ; of course all autumn or any newly 
planted trees should be mulched as soon as the operation is 
performed.— C. Warden, Clarendon. 
My experience in regard to this subject is in distinct oppo¬ 
sition to that of “A North Countryman” where he says that 
“ the plants thus laid-in in November have never commenced 
rooting until spring.” I have had convincing proof in several 
instances that they soon begin to make root-action after removal 
in the autumn. 
Some few years ago, when standard Roses were more the fashion 
than they are at the present time, we purchased a quantity of 
Briar stocks for standards. These were received before the ground 
was prepared for them, their roots were attended to, and they 
were laid-in in bundles of fifties until the ground was ready to 
receive them. During the operation severe frost set in, which 
delayed the planting for more than a month, and these hocky 
sticks of Briars were then found to have made young roots, some 
of which were an inch in length. And again this autumn I had 
occasion to move some Roses which were laid-in from October 25th 
until November 4th, and even in that short time some of them 
had begun root-action, although the ground is this season so 
extremely wet and cold. 
Being convinced that roots after removal make progress during 
autumn—and the table of the mean temperature of the earth 
given recently by Mr. Mawley certainly favours that view—it is 
evident that plants having this partial re-establishment must 
under any circumstances start with greater vigour in the spring 
than those planted at that season of the year, provided they 
are protected from severe frost, which, in the case of dwarfs, can 
easily be done ; in fact it is advisable to mulch newly-planted 
Roses in order to check radiation, whereby the earth loses its 
heat. This same mulching drawn to the base of the plants will 
serve also as a protection against frost, and as the practice of 
