302 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. c September so, isso, 
in the Hotel Gardens 4 feet high, and with trusses of flowers 
14 inches through. The plants were not protected in winter, 
while Fuchsias are much commoner used as hedges than Furze, 
especially on the road to Kvlemore Castle.—W. J. M. 
GRAPES SHANKING. 
I cannot accept the theory of Mr. Weir that shanking is caused 
by a fungus. My opinion so far as my experience goes, which is 
over thirty years, is that there are three causes that induce Grapes 
to shank. First, badly made, undrained, and over-rich borders ; 
second, growing the Vines in the early stages ®f growth in a high 
and moist temperature, and when signs of colouring take place 
water is withheld, syringing is abandoned, the floors are not 
damped, and more air is given to colour the berries ; third, in¬ 
judicious stopping at the period of colouring. 
My remedy tor shanking is a higher and drier day temperature. 
Grapes never shank on the open wall. Why ? Because they have 
plenty of air, and, as a rule, a high day temperature, with a corre¬ 
sponding low night temperature. Following out this it will be 
plain that for Vines to be grown in a vapour bath for nine or ten 
weeks, and then in a drying room, is contrary to Nature’s teach¬ 
ing. By raising the temperature early in the morning, and 
ventilating by six o’clock, or earlier if practicable, and maintain¬ 
ing a high temperature during the brightest part of the day, with 
plenty of ventilation at the top of the house and moderate open¬ 
ings of the windows in front, a healthy circulation of air will be 
insured, which will result in dark green foliage, firm short-jointed 
wood, highly coloured berries, with very little or no shanking. 
The condition of the borders must be considered, and unless 
they receive proper attention it will be impossible to grow good 
Grapes. Moderately shallow borders of good loam with a liberal 
admixture of old mortar rubbish and half-inch bones, good 
drainage, and a liberal supply of water during the time they are 
stoning and colouring, with judicious inside management, will be 
found the best treatment to produce Grapes without shanking.— 
John Gadd, Thorndon. 
[The Grapes received were excellent both in appearance and 
quality.—E ds.] 
FUNGI A RESULT, NOT A CAUSE OF DISEASE. 
The attempt of “ S.” (p. 280) to refute my statements by a 
series of assertions unsupported by a single fact or deduction 
drawn from his own experience throws no light upon the subject, 
nor does it shake my position in the slightest degree. Evidently 
he has not been able to detect the presence of fungus spores, or 
rather mycelium, before the appearance of plague spots ; and my 
reply to his query is simply that I have never been able to detect 
it till after the disease has laid hold of the foliage, and I have 
reason to suppose that the microscope which 1 have used for 
nearly twenty years is sufficiently powerful to enable me to do so 
if it were there. It would be rash to assert that the spores were 
not present upon the surface of the plant before the appearance of 
disease, for I am strongly of opinion that they are, and remain 
quite harmless till the diseased epidermis affords a suitable nidus 
for their vegetation and growth. Let it not be forgotten that the 
haulm is invariably free from disease till the legitimate growth of 
the tubers ceases. I may explain that by legitimate growth the 
swelling of the young tubers is meant; once checked, this never 
goes on again. It is true that a second growth often happens, but 
it is a lateral growth in the haulm and supertuberation in the 
tubers, which are then spoilt. When the first growth ceases, the 
work of sap-elaboiation in the foliage is finished, and decay may 
be said to begin, and go on for a time imperceptibly. The gradual 
drying-up of the tissue of the plant would then appear to render it 
susceptible to the attacks of a disease which it has hitherto been 
able to withstand. If at this critical time no rain falls the natural 
process of decay goes steadily on without disease, and a con¬ 
tinuance of dry weather brings the crop to maturity without loss. 
But if rain falls, what I have termed plague spots soon appear, 
the spores of the fungus vegetate upon them, the mycelium 
spreads in and from them on all sides with marvellous rapidity, 
and nothing we then do can avert the loss of a certain portion of 
the tubers—often the largest and best. 
Regarding Peach blister “ S.” says, “ The only evidence ad¬ 
duced in support of the view that the blister is not the result of a 
fungus attacking the foliage was the generally admitted fact that 
it is confined to trees occupying exposed positions. This is all 
that Mr. Luckhurst now advances, and yet it is by no means 
sufficient to satisfy an unprejudiced mind that his view is correct.'’ 
Assuming from this statement that “ S.” is really open to con¬ 
viction, I may tell him it is no mere view or opinion, but positive 
assurance that enables me to say that the blister is caused by cold 
wind and nothing else. Plant two Peach trees of the same variety 
side by side, screen one from the wind, but let it be fully open to_ 
the air, and there will be no blister. Let the other tree have no 
screen, so that the cold north-eastern blasts assail its foliage, and it 
will be blistered precisely in proportion to its degree of exposure. 
Observe any branch of this blistered tree that has the advantage 
of any shelter, and you will see it has escaped untouched. So 
also if one leaf overlaps and covers another, the under covered 
leaf is unscathed, while the outer protecting leaf is blistered. Do 
you require further proof? Unfasten a branch of the sheltered 
tree and pull it outside the screen, so that the wind may play 
upon it, and its foliage will be blistered, while that behind the 
screen, and yet fully open to the air, will remain sound and green. 
All this I have actually done, not simply with two trees, but with 
many more of various sorts ; and 1 can point to the vigour and 
productiveness of sheltered trees that are never checked by blister 
as affording the best proof that fungi never precedes blister ; and 
I deny the right of “ S.” to assume that microscopic observation is 
requisite to decide a matter so simple and so clear. 
The existence of an analogy between plants and animals is so 
fully established, and has obtained recognition from so many of 
our leading scientific authorities, that it can serve no useful purpose 
to pursue the subject farther here. Niceties of distinction, or 
rather difference, may be advanced to support individual opinion 
in opposition to scientific deductions, but such a mode of argu¬ 
ment serves rather to confuse than enlighten. — Edward 
Luckhurst. 
HAMPTON COURT GARDENS. 
With lawns and pleasure grounds of 65 acres, and a hundred 
flower beds, the majority of them of great size, there is plenty to 
see at Hampton Court, and much to admire during a fine season. 
The grand old Palace, with its historical associations, appears to 
have a perennial charm. Trains and steamboats are ever passing 
to and from the metropolis during “ the season,” while travellers 
from America and the Antipodes, now so numerous, always 
appear to make a point of visitiner the old Palace on the Thames. 
The State apartments of the building, the fine parks and magnifi¬ 
cent trees, the maze, the wilderness, the Vine, the extensive and 
excellently kept lawns, and the gay and highly finished flower 
beds, are a combination of attractions not to be found in any other 
place of public resort. 
It is late to see the flowers now, yet while the freshness of 
summer is over there is still much to be admired. Save that the 
Alternantheras have lost much of their brilliancy the carpet beds 
are yet attractive, and with the aid of canvas coverings will 
remain so until November. Herbaceous borders have a desolate 
appearance now, Pelargoniums are nearly flowerless, and Calceo¬ 
larias, &c., are fast fading, yet the carpet beds are fresh, bright, 
and greatly admired. Mr. Graham being a skilled draughts¬ 
man he has no difficulty in producing fresh designs each season, 
while he undoubtedly possesses taste to display them effectively. 
Gaudiness and overcolouring are terms not infrequently applied 
to carpet beds ; but these terms do not apply to the beds here, 
some of which are chaste almost to a fault by the predominance 
of neutral colours. It were useless attempting a description of 
these beds ; suffice it to say that of their kind they are excellent, 
and the designs of some of them and the modes of planting them 
all can be seen in Mr. Graham’s pamphlet. It may be said, how¬ 
ever, that the popular Mentha, or Gibraltar Pennyroyal, is doomed 
as a carpet plant at Hampton Court. It is the only plant that 
has proved unsatisfactory, and this by having been infested with 
mealy bug. The stems have been quite white with the pest, a 
remnant of which is left yet notwithstanding the late drenching 
rains. The green dwarf plant of the future in these gardens is 
Herniaria glabra. It is deep green in colour, free in growth, 
requires no clipping or pluckiDg, and is perfectly hardy. 
Many of the Pelargonium beds have been very fine, and some 
of them are even attractive yet, notably those with variegated 
foliage associated with Violas. No one employs these cheerful 
hardy flowers in the public parks so freely as Mr. Graham does. 
The varieties of which he has the largest stock are V. cornuta 
splendens, The Tory, Favourite, and Blue King. They associate 
equally well with silver or gold variegated Pelargoniums, and 
impart a variety and a charm to those beds that must be seen to 
be fully understood. Some large beds planted with Bijou Pelar¬ 
goniums, for instance, mixed with one of these Violas and sur¬ 
rounded with a broad band of Iresine Lindeni and a margin of 
the Golden Chickweed, leaves nothing to be desired. As this is 
the season for propagating Violas, and as their culture is so easy, 
requiring little or no glass accommodation, those who desire to add 
a charm to their gardens should grow these plants, if for no other 
purpose than for mixing with Pelargoniums of the type indicated. 
