182 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ March 1 , uss. 
air, for a greenhouse, for market or sale purposes, for exhibition, for 
late keeping, for early forcing, for high quality, for producing large 
bunches, and for yielding large berries, to all these being added a list 
of Grapes of “ peculiar interest.” 
In his classification of the varieties of Grapes Mr. Barron divides 
them into—1, European Grapes; and 2, American Grapes—which is 
a very natural and intelligible division, seeing the two are so distinct 
as to belong to two different species. The first he subdivides into— 
1 , Sweetwater Grapes, or varieties with a sweet, sugary, or saccharine 
flavour, the juice thin but pleasant, varying in sweetness ; skin gene¬ 
rally thin and tender. Here are included Black Hamburgh, Trentham 
Black, Duke of Buccleuch, and Royal Muscadine. 2, Muscat Grapes, 
which, of course, include the Muscats and Frontignans ; but we observe 
that he also places Mrs. Pearson in this division,which we have never 
met with possessing a distinct Muscat flavour. 3, Vinous Grapes, 
which are described as varieties with a strong vinou3, somewhat harsh, 
semi-saccharine flavour, and a thick skin, mostly requiring a consider¬ 
able amount of heat and time to ripen. Here he places Alicante, 
Dutch Hamburgh, Lady Downe’s, West’s St. Peter’s, &c. It is ques¬ 
tionable how far it will be possible for people generally to discriminate 
the distinction between a Sweetwater and a vinous Grape so as to 
make it a characteristic for classification. We once knew a man who 
professed to be able to detect a glass of ’34 port if it were blended in 
a bottle of ’47, but such feats are not common, and we suspect that 
Mr. Barron’s division of Grapes into Sweetwater and vinous flavours 
will lead to mistakes when we consider how “ tastes differ.” 
Mr. Barron is creditably correct in his nomenclature. We detect 
a few errors which we are sure will be corrected in another edition. 
The proper spelling of Chavoush is Chaouch. It is a Turkish word, 
and the Grape is supposed to be a Turkish variety. Mihaud de 
Pradel should be Milhaud de Pradel, and his reference of Black 
Champion as a synonym of Mill Hill Hamburgh is an error. Black 
Champion is a very distinct Grape, with an oval berry and with a 
fine dark colour. It was introduced about forty years ago by Sir 
John Mordaunt, and is probably identical with San Antonio. 
We have dealt with this work fully, freely, and, we think, fairly. 
Its importance merits this attention. It is the most complete, as it 
will be accepted as the standard, work on the Vine. Everyone inter¬ 
ested in the subject on which it treats should possess it, and it 
should be added, as no doubt it will be, to the collections in all public 
libraries. Its production has necessarily been costly, and its price 
will be beyond the means of many young gardeners ; but not a few 
of these may soon possess this admirable text-book by placing aside 
Od. a week until they accomplish their purpose. This will be 
tantamount to “ taking it in in parts,” but better, and their savings 
will be well invested. 
We must add that the greater portion of the matter originally 
appeared in the “ Florist and Pomologist.” The author also recog¬ 
nises his indebtedness in the frankest possible manner to all others 
who have aided him in the production of the volume on which he has 
been for so many years engaged, and which is in every respect finished 
so well—paper, letter-press, illustrations (in most cases), and binding 
being of uniform good quality. 
GARDEN STRUCTURES. 
I must hasten to say in reply to “ R. P. B.’s ” remarks, that I do 
not impute ignorance to gardeners, though “ Single-handed’s ” 
remarks would bear that construction. If ignorance is to be im¬ 
puted it should be to the Jack-of-all-trades men, who “put up ” 
the so-called conservatories to villa residences and fruit or plant 
houses in country gardens sometimes. The examples I gave as 
fair specimens of what I am continually receiving, and do not 
vary more than the practice of those same men would in matters 
of cultivation. 
The details given of a structure now being built are interesting, 
but such a mass of ironwork batted into stones would cost as a 
rule (south of the Trent) as much as the remainder of the house. 
In Scotland and in other places where labour is cheap, or the 
labourers on the estate are pressed into the service of the car¬ 
penter and their wages or time is not computed, the building of 
such span-roof pits will seem less costly than the finished work of 
a regular builder, but I could give proofs that the economy is 
only in cases where certain men have to be kept on and work 
must be found for them to do. 
I will say nothing on the absence of top ventilation in 
“ R. P. B.’s ” structure, so strongly insisted on by my old em¬ 
ployer Sir Joseph Paxton (gardeners, like doctors, differ), nor 
will I attempt to connect this with the quantity of condensed 
water that space had to be provided for specially ; but would like 
to mention an incident that came under a builder’s n >tice lately. 
The windows of a bedroom in an old house were rather loose aud 
rattled in windy weather, so the good lady of the house ordered 
new beads to be had and the sashes fixed quite tight. Three 
weeks a Per she complained of stuffiness and the water which 
covered the windows every morning; it was suggested that 
vent/lation was needed. Oh, no ! that meant a draught ; but the 
carpenter quietly bored half a dozen holes in the top rails of the 
sashes out of sight and said nothing. Since that time no water 
has been seen on the glass, except after two or three very cold 
nights. 
As to pitch of roofs, I could refer to more netv Peach houses over 
45° than under that angle—not wall cases, but houses over 11 or 
12 feet wide against walls 13 to 15 feet high, with trees trained in 
front half way up the glass so as not to obstruct a single ray of 
sunlight from trees on the wall, the fronts only 2 feet high. I 
may say that the short back sash is generally used to give more 
room to get at the trees high up, and that it is better to slope up¬ 
wards from the wall, so that no shadow is cast on the wall from 
the junction of the two sashes. 
Flat roofs require stronger timbers or supports underneath in 
their construction than a moderate pitch of 30° to 35° would do, 
especially in Scotland, because snow will lie on the former, which 
would shoot off the steeper pitch. If “ R. P. B.” had made his 
ridge 6 or 9 inches higher and his fifth “ astragal ” or rafter an 
inch deeper he would have needed no 2-inch T iron rafters unless 
his width had been double that named.—B. W. Wabhurst. 
CULTURE OF THE COCKSCOMB. 
The Cockscomb is a beautiful plant, but is not often seen in 
good condition. It is most useful for conservatory decoration for 
the late summer months. It is of the first importance to obtain a 
good strain of seed, as some of the strains are worthless ; and the 
next thing is to provide a good dung frame, as they will not do 
at all well in a hot-water-heated structure. The seed should be 
sown the first week in March, and plunged in the frame, which 
should have a minimum temperature of 70’, and the plants must 
be kept in this temperature all through their growing season. 
After the seeds have germinated place the pots near the glass to 
prevent the young seedlings from becoming drawD. When strong 
enough transfer the plants into G0-size pots, placing the stems as 
low as possible, in a compost of two parts turfy loam, one of leaf 
soil, and a little sand. Keep them plunged close to the glass 
until they have finished growing. Keep them in these pots until 
the flower heads appear, and then repot into 48-size pots in the 
following compost: Two parts turfy loam, one part leaf soil, and 
one part well-decayed cow manure, with a liberal sprinkling of 
charcoal and sand. After they have filled these with roots transfer 
them into 8 or 9-inch pots, which must be well drained. When 
the plants are well rooted supply them with warm liquid manure 
until they have attained their full size, when they should be 
hardened and removed to the greenhouse.—A. Young. 
11 
1 
i 
Jo 
WORK .foiithe WEEK.. 
SI 
lignite 
[~By the most skilful Cultivators in the several Departments.'] 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Makcii is always a busy month in the kitchen garden, and it 
is to be hoped the weather will allow seasonable operations to be 
put well forward. Iu many instances I fear the quarters will as 
yet be empty, and when suitable weather occurs a general crop¬ 
ping may take place. Seeds of all vegetables may now be sown 
with advantage. The main crop of Onions should be sown as 
soon as possible. The ground should be deeply dug and heavily 
manured, and the drills should only be opened for sowing on a 
dry day, the best way being to sow the seed in rows 12 inches or 
15 inches apart. A heavy, sound, well-matured crop cannot be 
had iu any shady place, aud the most sunny part of the garden 
should be chosen for them. If the Onions and all other seeds can 
be covered with some old dry soil from the potting shed it will be 
found to assist a free germination of the seed. A good batch of 
second early Peas should be s<«wn at once. Broad Beans may also 
be sown iu quantity, and Carrots of the Horn section. Brussels 
Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Lettuce seed may be sown in 
the open border. Good patches of them may be sown broadcast 
on a rich soil and covered to the depth of half an inch. Parsley 
may be sown as a main crop. This we never like to have con¬ 
fined to one spot, but prefer it in two or three places in the garden, 
as when one fails the other may succeed. There is no crop more 
liable to be destroyed by grub, and precautions must be taken at 
sowing time to avert this. We have tried soot, salt, and gas lime 
