512 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ November 30, 1882. 
is a good time for pruning the trees. Pyramids shorten similarly—that is, the 
leading branches; the side growths from those branches prune to one or two 
buds. If in the course of two or three years the trees grow too strongly you can 
check their luxuriance by root-pruning. 
Pine Leaves Decaying (F. C .).—We shall be glad if you can quote 
the page on which we recommended liquid manure of the nature you describe 
diluted with half water, as unless it was advised under exceptional circum¬ 
stances and special conditions there must have been a misprint, which needs 
rectification or explanation. If your Pine plants are not very large and the 
pots small, also crowded with roots, the stimulant would be too strong, and by 
checking root-action would lead to results similar to those indicated. Although 
water may not have lodged in the crowns we suspect it has accumulated at 
some time or other in the axils of the leaves, and thus aggravated the evil of 
which you complain. If you had informed us of the age and size of the Pines, 
the size of the pots, and whether filled with roots or not, together with the 
bottom and top heat to which the plants are subjected, in all probability we 
should have better comprehended the state of the plants and the best treatment 
to adopt under the circumstances. If you do not possess Mr. David Thomson’s 
work on the Pine Apple, published by Blackwood it Sons, you will do well to 
procure it. It is a small volume, in which is recorded the experience of one of 
the most successful cultivators in Great Britain, and could not fail to be of 
service to you. 
Cutting Down Vines (Idem ).—If we remember rightly the Vines are 
very small, and we advised you to but them down, with the object of producing 
strong fruiting canes another year. You had better place them in a cooler 
house. A Pine stove is certainly not the proper place for them at this season of 
the year, as their growth will be excited while rest is needed. When the leaves 
have fallen from at least two-thirds of the length of the cane, and the others 
are quite yellow and ready to drop off, cut down the Vines to a bold eye as near 
the soil as possible. The incipient growths to which you refer must be trimmed 
off, and the canes severed at a prominent bud that has not produced growth. 
Winter them in a perfectly cool place, and in the spring, when they commence 
growing, they will probably be better for being shaken out of the pots and the 
roots placed in fresh soil, as we apprehend the present pots, being large, are not 
filled with roots to the extent that is desirable, otherwise the canes would be as 
thick as your finger, short-jointed, hard, and studded with bold eyes, in which 
case cutting down would not be required. In all probability the variety to 
which you refer is the Black Muscat of Alexandria, a richly flavoured Grape, but 
not easy to produce in satisfactory condition. 
Grape Vagaries (M I)., Inverness ).—The first matter that perplexes yon 
is that the Grapes in No. 1 division of your range, which is heated with eight 
rows of 4-inch pipes, are little, if any, earlier than those of the same kind (Black 
Hamburghs) in divisions Nos. 2 and' 3 that are heated with four rows of pipes, 
all the Vines being started at the same time—namely, about March 1st. Our 
reply on this point is that the heat afforded by the eight rows of pipes is need¬ 
lessly, and even injuriously high, and that the necessarily lower temperature in 
the other divisions is ample for ripening Black Hamburghs. When more heat 
than is requisite is maintained the growth of the Vines is unduly excited, which 
leads to debility sooner or later—that is to say, the Vines will fail to properly 
finish their crops sooner than others will that are grown under somewhat cooler 
treatment. That this is so your own Vines testify, as you say those in No. 1 
division are '■ always ill coloured, better in No. 2, and pretty decent in No 3.” 
This indicates that the fire heat in No. 1 is excessive, drying the atmosphere 
unduly, and just as the artificial heat decreases in the range the Grapes improve. 
The Vines in the hottest division will start into growth the quickest, and will 
make a greater extension of growth before root-action commences than in the 
case of the others, to the certain disadvantage of the former as affecting the 
colouring process. Or, to put the matter in other words, the Vines in the cooler 
divisions will finish heavier crops than the others that ai'e overheated can do, 
simply because the growth in the cooler structures is more steady at the first, 
and there is not the same delay in free root-action. The colouring of Grapes is 
not a question of ventilation so much as of support. If ventilation were the 
chief factor.in colouring Grapes, then the crops in your three divisions would 
be finished alike, inasmuch as ventilation is similar throughout. The differ¬ 
ence in the condition of the produce is entirely a question of support. The crop 
in the first house is too heavy, of that we have no doubt. But you may say it 
is not heavier than the weight of fruit in the others. It may not be, but the 
Vines are weaker, and 10 lbs. of Grapes on a debilitated Vine are far more ex¬ 
haustive than twice that weight would be in the case of a strong and vigorous 
Vine. You must either reduce the weight of Grapes where the berries do not 
colour, or increase the root-action and the supply of food, for the want of colour 
is evidence of the want of support. We will now refer to your next perplexity, 
which you state as follows:—“ A conservatory joins vinery No. 1, and a shoot of 
the Black Hamburgh was taken through and trained, for affording shade, under 
the conservatory roof, this structure being kept as cool as possible all the summer 
with air on night and day. The same Vine that gives light brown Grapes in 
No. 1—the house with eight rows of pipes—in August, gives jet black Grapes 
in the conservatory in October, very sweet, and their skins are leather compared 
with their fellows in No. 1,” and you conclude by saying “ there are some things 
no fella can understand.” This, however, is not one of them. If you consider 
for a moment you will perceive that nearly two months elapsed between the 
brown Grapes and the black Grapes ripening. All this time the Vine was 
increasing its roots, and we do not hesitate saying that they had at the least twice 
the food-absorbing power early in October that they had early in August. This 
is the simple solution of the problem of the brown and black Grapes on the same 
Vine. "V ery naturally you ask how you can have black Grapes in the vinery 
instead of brown, and suggest that you w 11 owe us a bunch or two if we can 
inform you how to produce them next year. At once procure some fresh turfy- 
loam inclining to be heavy instead of light. To each cartload add half a 
bushel each of bone meal and half-inch bones, also, if procurable, two or three 
bushels of wood ashes, mixing all well together, then remove much of the inert 
and ungenial soil from the roots, and place them in the fresh compost. If you 
notch some of them and shorten others you will find fresh roots form more 
readily, and take possession of the new soil. Keep the Vines cool, and let them 
start naturally in the spring ; let the crops be lighter than before, ripen the fruit 
in September instead of August, and we think you will be able to send us a 
bunch of really black Hamburghs. If we have not made the matter clear to 
you, please write again. 
Names of Plants (77. TT.).—The plant is Adhatoda cydonisefolia. See 
reply above. Seeds of the Hierochloe borealis, also known as Holcus borealis, 
could doubtlessly be procured from any of the principal seedsmen. 
A Weak Hive (Odysseus ').—As the hive which you have just bought con¬ 
tains only a small handful of bees and about 15 lbs. of honey it will probably 
die during the winter. The bees in such cases generally perish in a cluster 
from cold. If the hive has three small seams of bees it may be preserved by 
closing the door and taking the hive into a house or room and keeping it there 
till spring, say end of February. You are probably right in thinking that mice 
have had access to the bees. They are great pests, and destroy many hives by 
killing the bees in autumn and winter. The doors of all hives should be con¬ 
tracted to keep them out. Feeding would not now cause the bees to breed. 
Balance Sheets of Bee-keeping (IF. T. Garnett). —We do not remember 
the numbers in which these appeared ; but in the “ Handy Book of Bees ” (second 
edition) Mr. Pettigrew states that from 1878 to 1874 his profits were £220, after 
deducting the expense of lOi. per hive annually. 
Making Mead (A. Keeling). —There are several methods of making mead, 
the following being recommended by an authority on the subject as simple and 
good :—To a gallon of water put 2 ibi of honey and 1 tb. of sugar ; boil for an 
hour, put in the whites of four eggs to clarify, and skim it quite clear whilst 
boiling ; then put it into a clean tub, and let it stand for a week, putting in a 
toast with honey to make it work ; then tun it, put in the peels of three or four 
lemons, let it stand for a month, and then, if it is not sufficiently fine, put in 
more honey, and let it stand longer. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— November 20tu. 
The character of the trade remains the same as recorded last week. 
FRUIT. 
8 . 
d. 
8 . 
d. 
8 . 
d. 
8 . 
d 
2 
0 tn 7 
0 
20 
(it <>30 
0 
Apricots. 
doz. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Melons . 
each 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Cherries. 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts.. 
bushel 10 
0 
12 
0 
Oranges . 
100 
6 
0 
10 
0 
Currants, Black.. 
j sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ Red.... 
4 sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pears.kitchen .. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
dessert . 
dozen 
i 
0 
2 
0 
Filbertg. 
ft. 
0 
# 
0 
0 
Pine Apples, English lb. 
2 
0 
S 
0 
Cobs. 
100 lb. 
45 
0 
50 
0 
Raspberries. 
lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
4 sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Strawberries .... 
lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Grapes . 
lb. 
X 
0 
5 
e 
VEGETABLES. 
8 
d. 
8 . 
d. 
8 . 
d. 
8 . 
d 
dozen 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
score 
1 
0 to 1 
6 
Asparnvus. 
bundle 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Mushrooms . 
punnet 
A 
0 
1 
6 
Beans, Kidney .... 
100 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard & Cress . 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Ouions. 
heh. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
i 
6 
Parsley. doz 
bunohts 
s 
0 
4 
0 
Brussels Sprouts.. 
$ sieve 
i 
6 
2 
0 
Parsnips . 
dozen 
I 
0 
2 
0 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
6 
0 
7 
0 
Carrots . 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Kidney. 
cwt. 
6 
0 
8 
0 
Gnu 11 flowers. 
dozen 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Radishes.... doz. bunches 
i 
0 
0 
6 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
0 
4 
0 
G 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
each 
0 
i 
0 
8 
Scoraouera . 
bundle 
I 
H 
0 
0 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
u 
9 
6 
3 
0 
Fennel. 
bunch 
0 
s 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
tb. 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Girlie . 
lb. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
8 
0 
0 
8 
Herbs . 
hunch 
o 
2 
0 
0 
tb. 
0 
4 
0 
Leeks. 
bunc 
0 
s 
0 
4 
Turnips . 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
4 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
NEGLECTED PASTURES AND WASTE LANDS. 
( Continued from page 490.) 
From quotations and observations we have endeavoured, to 
make it apparent that the earthworm is a very valuable assistant 
to the farmer in every attempt which he may make to form or 
improve by renovating or manuring either old or new permanent 
pastures. There are, however, some operations of worms to 
which we may not have alluded, but which are fully treated of in 
the work written by the late Mr. Darwin. In it is an important 
allusion which had escaped our notice, and which has not gene¬ 
rally received that attention which it deserves—namely, whether 
or not some of our most pungent and, we may almost say, caustic 
manures which we employ may prove to be destructive or dis¬ 
tasteful to this valuable but humble assistant. We recollect that 
couch with earthy matters adhering to it proved to favour their 
operations more than fresh and active manures, like strong box or 
stall-made manure and town or farmyard dung. 
Some reference is now needed to neglected pastures which first 
came under our notice about ten or twelve years ago, as illus¬ 
trating valuable points. We had known this farm for more than 
forty years as consisting of a strong clay loam resting upon strong 
