JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ January 4, 1883. 
manure, and through this the roots travelled after they had 
occupied the portion of new border to the sand. The houses in 
which the Vines were planted were very old and in bad condition, 
of various widths, and of different, levels. Their removal and the 
building of the present structures necessitated lifting the Vines and 
finishing the new borders. 
The Vines looked rather unsatisfactory for a time after lifting, but 
soon rallied, and have done well since. As regards temperature, 
Mr. Harrison believes in giving tropical plants tropical treatment 
in order to bring them to perfection, and remarks, “ All Vines must 
be in first-rate health before we can reasonably expect to see a 
highly finished crop on them. My own opinion is that the ‘ crack ’ 
of air, the damping down, the manipulation of the foliage, and 
other set rules are not of primary importance in the colouring of 
Grapes if only the Vines are in the best of health and fairly 
cropped.”— Wm. Bardney. 
NEW CARNATIONS. 
think it worth trying ? An answer will oblige, also names of the 
weeds of which 1 give an outline of leaves, if the outline is 
sufficient for you to identify them.— Hortus. 
[No. 1 is Ranunculus bulbosus ; No. 2, probably R. acris ; and 
3, Potentilla Tormentilla—all abundant in meadows.] 
In answer to inquiries as to what are the best varieties of 
Carnations and Picotees, I now take the opportunity of naming 
what are the best of those already sent out which I have seen 
during the last season. Of those sent out last spring, beginning 
with the scarlet bizarres, I find that Edward Adams (Dodwell) 
is the best. With me the flowers were large and good. It is a 
high-coloured flower of the largest size, large broad petals with 
good markings, and moderately full. It is better for a little 
shading, as, like most high-coloured flowers, it is liable to flush 
in the white : this, no doubt, will disappear with age. The next 
good variety I have seen is Fred, sent out in the autumn of 1880 
and in 1881. It is a noble flower of fine proportions, possessing 
the best white ground of any S.B. sent out by Mr. Dodwell. The 
petals are large, with perfectly smooth edges and markings. A 
few more petals would greatly add to its value as an exhibition 
flower. 
Ot the new crimson b'zarres the bes-t 1 have seen is Master 
Fred (Hewitt), sent out in the autumn of 1881. It is a very 
large high-coloured flower with a fine white, and altogether one 
of best C.B.’s I have ever seen. It is a full flower with petals of 
the largest sizp, the colours well laid on. Another flower in the 
same class, and which will be invaluable to the seedling raiser, 
is Thomas Moore (Dodwell), a thin high-coloured flower of the 
finest properties ; it was sent out in autumn, 1880. Another gocd 
flower is Harrison Weir (Dodwell), C.B., sent out in 1881 ; a 
pale flower, very near a pink and purple bizarre. This, no doubt, 
is a seedling from Rifleman, as it has the bold markings and fine 
petal of that handsome old sort. 
In pink and purple bizarres I have only grown one new one. 
It is called Stanley Hudson (Dodwell), and was sent out in the 
autumn of 1880. It is a rather thin flower with bright clear 
markings, and seems to possess the same properties of sporting 
as some others of the pinks and purples do—notably Sarah 
Payne ; it having sported to a purple flake with me this season, 
in which state it is a really handsome flower. 
I have not seen any new purple flakes, only the sport above re¬ 
ferred to. Amongst scarlet flakes there is a fine new variety which 
I have grown ; it is called Thomas Tomes (Dodwell), a high- 
coloured flower with very broad petals. It will be a great 
addition to a scarce class. 
Of rose flakes I have grown one—a pale rose, a sport from Lamp¬ 
lighter, C.B. It sported with the late Mr. John Fletcher about 
three years ago. He named it Sporting Lady. It is a rather late 
flower, which with it as a rose flake is a good property, many 
of them being too early. It is something in the style of Mrs. F. 
Burnaby with a better petal than that sort. 
Notes on new varieties of Picotees must be reserved till a 
future issue.—G. Rudd. 
A few years ago, when I was foreman at Petworth Park, the 
Cucumbers were badly affected by a disease similar to that de¬ 
scribed by Mr. Harding. Mr. Jones, then head gardener, tried 
everything he could think of, but to no purpose, though they kept 
freest from it grown in a compost chiefly of peat. After Mr. 
Jones left his successor, Mr. Breese, turned all the Cucumbers and 
Melons out of the houses and grew them in pits and frames, some 
of which were a quarter of a mile away, but with the same result. 
He then tried them in the plant and Pine stoves. He tried strong 
dressings of lime, then painted the house and dug new soil from 
a great depth, and some was obtained from long distances, as 
were also the fresh plants ; but the only way he could get them 
moderately free was by growing the plants in pots in the Pine 
stove. 
Not long ago I paid a visit to Petworth Park. I was astonished 
to see the Cucumbers growing as clean as though the disease had 
never been there, and I was informed that it was destroyed by 
simply using all rain water, as the water that was laid on con¬ 
tained much lime and, I suppose, something else that did not suit 
them. I do not say this will banish all the disease in the country, 
but it is certainly worth a trial.—P. A. B. 
THE CUCUMBER DISEASE. 
I enclose sketches of three weeds found in the turves (grass 
sod) here. No. 1 I lePeve is the common Buttercup ; it has a small 
bulbous root. Nos. 2 and 3 are somewhat similar in shape of 
leaf, but are rooted differently, one if not both having tree-like 
roots—hard and wiry. These roots I firmly believe are the cause 
of one form of Cucumber disease which has been troubling some 
of your readers. When carefully examined they have small lumps 
along them like beads. These beads 1 think each contain one or 
more of the insects which attack the Cucumber roots and eventually 
destroy them. 
I have been thinking of building a kind of air-tight stove in 
which to place all turves and manure before using, and thoroughly 
fumigating with sulphur. Has it been tried? or do your readers 
PINUS INSIGNIS FOR A SHALLOW SOIL. 
So far as I am aware there are only two reasons for the pre¬ 
judice which has so long existed against the extensive planting of 
Pinus insignis, and these are its being “spring tender” audits 
liability to be blown over by high winds. May I add a third, and 
say that there is much difficulty in obtaining it in quantity from 
the nurseries ? From my own experience, as well as from what I 
have seen of it in various parts of the country, I believe it only 
suffers from late frost in bleak exposed situations, or in a damp 
cold situation at the bottom of a valley. Great elevations are 
unnecessary ; some of the finest specimens in the country are 
flourishing bravely upon the slopes of Lamorran only a few feet 
above the level of the sea. Well-drained slopes and shelter from 
high winds in infancy and youth, combined with careful planting 
and due exposure on all sides to air and light, being the only 
factors to success there ; for the great range of temperature in the 
Cornish valleys is proverbial. It answers equally at an elevation 
of 500 feet above the sea in Sussex upon slopes facing east and 
others facing west, and it is the free healthy growth of these trees 
in a poor shallow soil that leads me now to draw especial atten¬ 
tion to it. Whether it will eventually attain its full size in this 
soil is uncertain ; but the Silver Fir (Picea pectinata) has done so, 
and P. insignis certainly bears favourable comparison with Silver 
Firs of the same age. As to its being blown over, that evil was, 
I believe, clearly traced to the careless planting of trees turned 
out of pots with roots uncoiled, and thrust into a hole quite in the 
“sticking-in” fashion that so often leads to failure. 
The profuse habit of the tree, its handsome appearance, and the 
singularly lively green hue of its foliage at this dull season of the 
year renders it very desirable for ornamental purposes. Still 
more important is the fact that its timber is sound and durable. 
I am unable to say anything about fineness of grain ; that may 
render it valuable for other purposes than building, but I may 
usefully repeat a former statement of boards sawn from an 
English-grown tree being perfectly sound after being left exposed 
upon a building for twelve years unpainted. 
In a list of Coniferae before me its height is given at from 40 to 
80 feet. Is the higher number a correct maximum ? I have seen 
it fully that height, and the trees showed no indications of a 
cessation of growth.—E. Luckhurst. 
Suttons’ Reading Exhibition Brussels Sprout. —Allow me to 
endorse Mr. Horsefield’s good opinion of this (page 542), and to add 
that 18 inches is by no means its average height of growth, for we 
have here a plot of about four hundred plants that are at least double 
that height, and are covered with the most perfect “ buttons ” from 
top to bottom. Length of stem is a very necessary requirement in 
a Brussels Sprout— i.e., if amount of produce be desired ; and this 
height, being one of the chief characteristics of this variety, adds to 
its value immensely. If it has a fault at all, it is that the “ buttons ” 
grow too large, at least in regard to appearance at table. This, how¬ 
ever, is but a little matter so long as the quality is right, and this is 
certainly of the first order. In appearance it is distinct from every 
other variety that I have yet seen, being of a pale green colour, and 
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