278 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 5, 1883. 
points, is necessary to enable him confidently to treat his new 
plant in to the right conditions, and so secure success, instead of 
the failure which so often dogs the steps of the ill-informed man. 
Uniting his knowledge of botany with what he knows of agricul¬ 
tural chemistry, he would never think of giving a plant belonging 
to the Leguminosm liquid manure rich in nitrogen, but he would 
give potash confidently. If it belonged to the Crucifer® he would 
give phosphates ; and if he won the success he deserves he can 
smile if the man who failed tells him that failure and success 
alike are wholly owing to some indefinable and imaginary pecu¬ 
liarity of “ the house.” 
England was long called “ the grave of Orchids.” Till recently, 
in certain hands even yet, Orchids were killed wholesale. Why ? 
Not because of peculiarities in the houses, but, on the confession 
of the most successful men, because of the ignorance of the cul¬ 
tivators in the matter of conditions. Want of knowledge destroyed, 
and destroys, shiploads of Orchids and many other plants besides. 
We fall back again on this : “ Knowledge is what is wanted,” 
and of this we wish to convince every young man. Only the 
devoted student may ever hope to be a first-class gardener, ready 
to adapt himself to all sorts of conditions and to succeed in them 
all. Only those young men who now give up a certain portion of 
their time in the acquisition of knowledge may ever hope to 
thoroughly succeed. Too many look on the devoted student as a 
drudge. Never was a greater mistake. The man who devotes 
his winter evenings to the study of geography, garden chemistry, 
and the peculiarities of climates will soon feel an exquisite pleasure 
in the pursuit of knowledge that the haunter of concert-rooms, the 
theatre, or the alehouse knows nothing. He soon begins to feel 
that the money spent in books has been invested in a richly pro¬ 
fitable speculation ; while sooner or later—the sooner the better—- 
those who have spent theirs in drink, tobacco, or for frivolous 
entertainments, will find that theirs has been far worse than 
thrown away.— Single-handed. 
VINES BLEEDING. 
It has often been a disputed question as to whether bleeding in 
Vines is injurious or harmless, and anyone giving a decided 
opinion in the matter would no doubt be supplied with written 
proof that he was wrong, let his decision be which way it might. 
At present I do not intend to say anything definite, but I have a 
good case in hand now which might prove something to those 
interested. Early in February we pruned the Vines in a house 
here. At one end there is a plant of Foster’s Seedling which had 
three main stems. To make room for a later sort one of these rods 
was cut away at pruning time. For a week or so the part cut re¬ 
mained dry, but after that the sap began to drop out of it, and for 
four weeks the flow was incessant. So much was this the case that 
my attention was attracted to it, and that an idea might be formed 
of the extent of its bleeding I placed a quart measure underneath 
to receive it. This was filled and overflowing in thirty-six hours, 
and there is no doubt many gallons must have passed from it. 
It has now stopped bleeding, and 1 am anxious to know what will 
be the result. The quantity of sap the Vine has lost is re¬ 
markable, and if any of your readers care to predict the con¬ 
sequences I will be glad to state the conditions of the Vine 
when the crop is matured.— J. Muir. 
remarked to me that many of my blooms were touched by the frost. 
If this be really the case one would desire if possible—having regard 
simply to the production of good flowers, and not to the fact that 
these are required for an exhibition at such a date—to prune as 
late as possible, so that the buds might escape the nipping by late 
frosts. This year is peculiar. AVe had buds showing on some 
plants in the end of February, but since the first day or so of March 
we have had severe frosts almost every night, sometimes the ther¬ 
mometer on the ground registering 20° below freezing. All the 
shoots on the trees have been killed ; but more, all those plants in 
which strong shoots were being sent up from the root have suffered 
iu these shoots though protected in some degree by the foliage over 
them. These shoots have been rendered completely useless, being 
full of sap, and in not a few the shoot appears dead as far as the 
junction with the old stem. Now suppose all our Rose-pruning had 
been finished in February, I cannot help fearing that with the 
weather we have had since the 5th or 6th of March numbers of the 
buds that would have remained dormant would have been forced 
into activity and injured. The bulk of my own pruning has been 
done since the 24th of March, and with the check ail the plants have 
had there is no fear of any bleeding. Aj>ropos of bleeding, I have 
often thought of having a hot iron at hand and searing the cuts. I 
have seen but never tried some French sort of gum for this purpose. 
Is such a substance of any use ? 
Believing that late pruning suits me best, and being anxious to 
lessen the chances of loss by bleeding as much as possible, I have 
for several seasons done much of my pruning in autumn. I have 
gone over all my plants, selecting on each from three to eight shoots 
as the best to make a head for next year’s blooms, all the rest I 
have pruned away. By this plan I save many bleeding points, 
supposing the trees have made some growth in the spring, and so 
lessen the fears about it, and I am also able to get my final pruning 
completed far more rapidly than I otherwise could. I confess, too, 
that I do not always tie myself down to the dictum of pruning down 
to a bud pointing outwards. Sometimes I fancy a shoot pointing 
inwards may suit the appearance of a plant better, and I prune 
accordingly. I join Mr. Moorman in saying that I have for several 
years used the secateur for pruning to the great advantage of my 
own hands, and I fancy without any detriment to the plants, and I 
agree with him the more I use it the more I like it.—Y. B. A. Z. 
A favourable change occurred in the weather in the 
south of England on the BOth ult., when the frost winds that 
have done so much damage to vegetation ceased and a welcome 
shower fell. Since then there have been several days of spring¬ 
like weather, and the buds of Horse Chestnut and other trees 
have been suddenly awakened into life. Except a few very early- 
flowering Pears, the blossom buds of orchard fruit trees do not 
appear to have sustained any injury. 
PRUNING ROSES. 
Once when chatting with one of your most constant and talented 
contributors on this subject he remarked, “If I cou’d I would 
prune in autumn.” Well, the difficulty lies in the words “if I 
could.” Certainly in the greater part of this country autumn 
pruning would be fatal, but I can well understand that if there 
were no frost it would be the correct thing. We must, however, if 
in the tailoring line, “ cut our coat according to the cloth,” and I 
feel quite certain we must, if Rose-lovers, prune them according to 
our localities. It may do well, as “A. C.” says, to prune early at 
Reigate ; but then Reigate has a different temperature to our Wilt¬ 
shire downs. Neither do I think that the treatment that would be 
successful in the one would equally suit the other. To decide the 
knotty point a given number of similar Roses should bo treated on 
each plan, and this for several seasons. These Roses should in all 
other respects be treated similarly, then a fair balance might be 
struck; but it is impossible to decide the point on a single season, 
which might have been exceptionally favourable to those pruned 
early or vice versa. 
Here in Wiltshire I have frequently seen the blooms that opened 
early blotched in a peculiar manner on the outer petals; and a 
well-known nurseryman, who was judging at our local exhibition, 
- We are informed that the St. Peteesburgh Inter¬ 
national Horticultural Exhibition, announced to be held 
this year in May, is postponed until 1884, all the arrangements 
remaining the same. It is stated that this postponement has been 
rendered necessary by the approaching coronation of the Emperor 
and Empress. 
- Mr. S. Taylor, writing in reply to “ Crux ” relative to 
Cocoa-nut Fibre and Woodlice, says“ I use the refuse 
extensively for plunging Pines and other plants in, and scarcely 
ever see an insect, and having used it for nearly four years in the 
same houses I can venture to say it does not harbour woodlice. 
We have another house in which we use leaves for plunging 
plants in, and the woodlice breed by the thousand in them; and 
unless decayed leaves are wanted for soil I should advise your 
correspondent to substitute the fibre instead of leaves or manure. 
Nearly all kinds of cuttings strike readily in it.” 
- The lease of the premises, 6, Bankside, London, S.E., 
