186 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ August 26, 1880. 
In March, when vacant ground is more plentiful than in August, 
another bed is prepared, using plenty of manure. Drills are 
made a foot apart, and enough young Onions drawn from the 
seed bed to plant 6 inches apart in the rows, not inserting them 
too deeply. These come in for kitchen use in early summer after 
the old stock of store Onions are over, and before the young 
Onions sown in March are ready. The young Onions in the seed 
bed from which these are drawn are used in a small state for 
saladings. The rows can be cleared as wanted, the ground hoed, 
and Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower planted in it without being 
dug. If the ground is firm and solid so much the better, as, if too 
hard for making the holes with a wooden dibber, an iron crowbar 
can be used. 
It is not a bad plan to sow half the Onion crop in August, and 
if large Onions for use in summer are in much request, the Tripoli 
kinds and Giant Kocca may be sown as well as the White Lisbon. 
The last-named is grown largely for bunching as young Onions in 
March, April, and May, to send to Co vent Garden and other 
markets. 
SPRING LETTUCE. 
The old Bath or Brown Cos when well blanched in April and 
May is admitted by most gardeners to be one of the hardiest and 
best eating Lettuces grown, and such I ka'te found it. As last 
winter was a pretty good test respecting their hardihood, two 
other varieties were sown at the same time (the 20th of August) 
with it—the Early Paris Market Cabbage Lettuce and Hick’s 
Hardy White, 'ihese two proved to be equally as hardy, the 
Early Paris Market coming into use first, Hick’s Hardy White 
second, and the Bath Cos next, keeping up a supply till the 
spring-sown Lettuce came in. The Paris Market hearts a little 
quicker than that useful variety All the Year Bound ; and as early 
Lettuces in spring are much sought after, these notes may not be 
out of place, as there is yet time to sow the seed on a warm 
border. The Paris Market, too, if sown in February at the foot 
of a wall, in a warm position, and thinned to 5 or G inches apart, 
is fit for use quicker than any variety I know of. At all times as 
opportunity occurs the hoe should be kept at work between them, 
not so much for the sake of destroying weeds as to promote free 
growth, thus causing the crops to come into use earlier than 
would be the case if the ground was not touched.—A. Harding. 
CUTTING VINES IN SUMMER. 
Of all the plants in our gardens few or none will bear cutting 
or pinching while in a growing state better than the Grape Vine. 
If a leading rod or a side shoot is stopped or taken off at any 
part, the bud below this sends forth a fresh shoot in a remark¬ 
ably short time, and it only takes a few weeks for this to attain 
the full dimensions of the original growth ; and further, a green 
Vine stopped all over on one day soon becomes a flourishing mass 
of young shoots again without showing the slightest injury. 
Taking these facts into consideration, it is surprising that many 
should regard cutting the ripe wood of Vines as being so ruinous 
to the Vine’s constitution. After the wood begins to turn brown 
it is very seldom touched with the knife, and at pruning time the 
utmost care is taken to prevent the smallest wound bleeding. 
Whether this may be necessary or not I will not argue at the 
present time, but I wish to state that, so long as the leaves are on 
the Vines, any part of the wood may be cut without any sap 
escaping or injury being done. 
In these days of economy, and as many Vines are now grown, 
the summer growths are so interlaced, and the leaves so crowded 
over the shoots, that the wood lias no fair chance of ripening until 
the best weather for accomplishing this is over, and all the fullest 
and best buds are formed at the extreme or wrong end of the 
shoot, as it is those buds nearest the main stem which produce the 
fruit the following year. To swell up and ripen these buds 
thoroughly may be regarded as one of the arts of Grape-growing, 
and to secure this very desirable end the present time should be 
taken advantage of to cut in all Vine shoots made this season. 
Shoots from which the fruit may have been cut may be shortened 
back to 8 or 10 inches from the main stem, and those bearing 
fruit to one eye beyond the bunch. All wood intended to ripen 
may be treated in this way without incurring any danger of 
starting a second growth, and the advantage of the operation will 
be distinctly visible next season by the free way in which the 
Vines start into growth, and the profusion of bunches as well as 
the general improvement of the Vines.— A Kitchen Gardener. 
Rose Progress.—I was recently looking over a full catalogue 
of Rosei of 186E-6, and think your readers may be interested to 
know that out of 270 H.P.’s quoted there only thirty-five are at 
present in cultivation by the trade, and that out of this thirty- 
five only some twenty-five would rank as exhibition flowers. This 
shows 235 discarded in fourteen years— i.e., replaced by superior 
blooms. As really good, new, and distinct Roses are scarce this 
seems to point to a rapid progress, and the difficulty with growers 
now is to keep down the number of varieties, as old favourites are 
hard to discard.— George Bunyard, Maidstone. 
P.S.—The Teas of that day are still our best varieties. 
DISA GRANDIFLORA. 
It appears from the excellent notes (page 109) of my friend Mr. 
Tymons that this lovely Orchid is again coming to the front. I 
say again, for I can recollect when nearly twenty years ago there 
was a tremendous furore about it. At the grand opening day of 
the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens Donald Beaton wrote 
thus, and whoever wrote such reports of flower shows as he did ?— 
“ At the extreme east stood two large pans of Disa grandiflorn, 
from the top of Table Mountain behind Cape Town, from Mr. 
Leach, the greatest effort of prize gardening of all that was at 
this Show. No one in Britain has yet succeeded in growing this 
plant to perfection except Mr. Leach hinself, and he says it is as 
easy as any other plant when the right treatment is given—say a 
mountain plant from a bog as hardy as any Cape Geranium. I 
have patronised this plant from the first to test the skill and 
patience of our craft, and now I am happy to be able to record 
that all the difficulties have been entirely got rid of.” In a num¬ 
ber of the Journal later on, in recording the first grand Rose show 
held at the Horticultural Gardens he said, “ C. Leach, Esq., 
Heys Road, Clapham Park, sent three large pan-pots full of his 
glorious Disa grandiflora, the very finest terrestrial Orchid in the 
world, and there is none in the air to compare with it; more¬ 
over, it was in full perfection as it was never seen before in 
Europe.” 
It was a month or so after that—desirous of obtaining a 
drawing of it for the “ Floral Magazine,” which I then edited— 
that I paid a visit to Mr. Leach, and described in the Journal 
my impressions of it “ at home,” and these were my words. 
The “ Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary ” in describing it had said 
it has hitherto baffled the skill of British cultivators. I said this 
can be no longer said. “ Mr. Leach had been in the habit of receiv¬ 
ing it from the Cape, and believing, as all the world did, that 
it required its season of rest, he allowed it to dry off in the winter, 
and as a necessary result lost it ; but one autumn, noticing , 
that a plant still retained its verdure, he determined to see 
whether keeping in a growing state would suit it. This was 
the very point to hit, for when the shoots of the present year 
die down—yea, before they do so, the bud is springing up along¬ 
side of it that is to form the new plant.” Mr. Leach made 
no secret of his culture. He told it to all who were interested. 
He gave one of his largest plants to the Royal Horticultural 
Society. He presented twenty plants to the Gardeners' Benevolent 
Society, which w T ere sold by auction for its benefit, and he gave 
plants to friends ; yet for one reason or another persons did not 
succeed with it. I have generally when visiting collections of 
Orchids asked to see it, but it has usually been in very poor 
condition. I have known large quantities of it to be imported by 
some of our largest growers, but they have failed. I saw it a few 
years ago at Glasnevin in fine condition. It was admirably grown 
by Mr. Salt ; and I also saw it very well grown at Chatswmrth. 
For some years I grew it well, Mr. Leach having kindly given me 
a plant; but when I came out here twelve years ago it dwindled 
away and I lost it altogether. As I in no way altered my treat¬ 
ment of it I could not account for this, but a friend to whom I 
w r as speaking about it suggested it was probably owing to the 
chalky nature of the water. Two years ago I purchased a clump 
of it from the Colchester Bulb Company, and was disappointed, 
knowing its history, to find that it was a dry lump. However, it 
started, grew well, and this year I have had the satisfaction of 
seeing it once again in flower, the plant having thrown up two 
flowering stems with a couple of flowers on each. I have as far 
as possible w-atered it with rain water, and the last two years have 
not often left us without a supply of that. But I am more inclined 
to think that the character of the peat has something to say to 
its success. Mine was procured from Mr. Epps, and in that it has 
thriven well. The present year’s shoots are beginning to show 
symptoms of decay, but I see at their base strong sturdy shoots 
ready, I hope, for next year’s work. I have nothing but a cool 
greenhouse from which frost is excluded ; in this I keep it through 
the winter. When spring advances I bring it near the door, 
the position in which I saw it at Chatsworth. I have a syringe 
lying close by it, and I syringe the plant every time I go into the 
greenhouse. I should add that I prefer a pan to a deep pot for 
