JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 19, 1883. ] 
313 
inherit the debilitated constitution, the deformed frame, the 
sickly pallor of an unhealthy parent, and to perpetuate in and 
through themselves the abnormal declensions of their pro¬ 
genitor ? Mr. Gray told me that he destroyed his whole stock 
of one variety of Gladiolus as it was never satisfactory, and 
obtained it elsewhere. I had a few years ago to throw out all 
that I had of the Pansy David Caven, which, treat it as I 
would, never gave me a proper flower. It is nothing uncom¬ 
mon to hear varieties of this and of other flowers denounced 
or spoken slightingly of by some which others highly esteem 
and show in capital form, and that in places closely adjoining. 
And I was told last year of one Auricula that will not form 
plants of any size with an experienced cultivator, the variety 
being in general robust enough. I submit, gratefully subject 
to correction by more competent authorities, the above theory 
as an attempt at solving an undoubted fact and 
a seeming mystery. 
But I have strayed perhaps too far from my 
more immediate subject. I offer no apology 
for expressing opinions distasteful perhaps to 
some, welcome I trust to many, as truth should 
be to all, very saddening to myself, who hold 
the Gladiolus when in perfection to be peer¬ 
less among flowers in commanding beauty. If 
I have framed a Strong indictment, the charge 
of high misdemeanour for which the bewitching 
traitress is arraigned before the tribunal of your 
readers is notoriously flagrant, and is assumed to 
be well established. Be it distinctly understood 
that no evidence for the defence can be admitted 
as valid obtained from any of her family whose 
term of residence in this country is not sufficient 
to entitle them to rank as naturalised citizens of 
the realm, or from any of her kindred whatever 
with whom the witness has not had at the least a 
second or third year’s acquaintance. We must 
worship Truth before Flora, and our faithful devo¬ 
tion to the latter cannot ultimately suffer from 
our love and adoration of her diviner sister. 
Therefore, as a closing word, let me tell my 
friends, in Scotland at any rate, who long to add 
the Gladiolus to their other favourites what is 
before them. The field is open to all, but, so far 
as experience has gone, they will under present 
conditions discover that while it is beyond com¬ 
pare a thing of beauty, its culture will not prove 
a joy for ever.—A Northern Amateur. 
they saw in a house of Gros Colmans, one describing it as amazing, 
another as astonishing, and a third as murderous—a term that 
will be well understood as indicating that no Vines could perfect 
such an exhausting weight of produce. Almost every gardener 
who saw this crop in September believed it was impossible the 
Grapes could colour and finish well. As I was almost alone in 
ruling to the contrary, I may as well state why I felt certain the 
crop would ripen, as a verdict without a reason for it is of little 
worth. 
Heavy as was the crop, and at the first glance crushing, yet a 
closer inspection showed it was safe. The evidence of this to 
my mind was the stout sub-laterals that were bristling from the 
growths beyond the bunches. These denoted that the fruit was 
not receiving the whole of the strength of the Vines, but that 
there was a reserve left for the prolongation of growth. This 
should always be so. If, when Grapes approach the colouring 
NORTHWARDS—CLOVENFORDS. 
Fig. 75— Lady Downe’s Seedling as grown at Clovenfords, the shoulders being trimmed off. 
Weight about 4 lbs. 
GRAPE-GROWING EXTRAORDINARY. 
As our Belgian friends have provided matter of 
interest to British readers in the great Exhibition 
of plants at Ghent, which is reported in another 
column, it will not be inappropriate as a quid pro 
quo to submit for the perusal of the skilled conti¬ 
nentals a description, however feeble, of an example 
of culture in another form, that, I do not hesitate 
saying, was fully equal in its way to anything that 
has ever been seen even in horticultural Belgium. 
They have provided a great spectacle of plants, many 
of them of marvellous beauty and commanding 
merit; but much as their best specimens astonished those English 
visitors who saw them for the first time, the remarkable example 
of Grape culture now under notice would have equally astonished 
the most expert of Belgian cultivators had they seen the crop 
that haunts my memory as one of the most splendid achievements 
in practical horticulture that it has been my good fortune to see 
in any country. 
A great and growing interest in Grape-culture exists in Belgium 
now. Last year an enthusiastic amateur of that thrifty nation 
visited England with the object of seeing some of the best ex¬ 
amples of Grapes growing in our island. Among other places 
he went to Clovenfords, and although he was much too early to 
see the crops to advantage, his verdict was a shout of amazement 
—“ Bon! Bon! Nagnifique! ” The verdict of some of the best of 
British gardeners who saw the crops in September was of the 
same character. They were astounded by the weight of fruit 
stage, the laterals cease growing entirely, we may be certain that 
the crop is too heavy, and the fruit will either fail to colour or to 
swell freely or regularly, or, if possible, there is a still worse 
alternative—it may shank. A crop of fruit is to the tree bearing 
it what the “ governors” are to the steam engine. If there is a 
surplus of steam in the cylinder, or, what amounts to the same 
thing, a relief of pressure of the load that is being dragged 
along or driven, the governors at once rise, extend to a horizontal 
position, and move with great rapidity. If the power of the 
steam is taxed to the utmost by the resisting pressure, down fall 
the indicators, which revolve slower and slower until the whole 
machinery stops, unless the pressure is relieved. It is precisely 
so with a crop of Grapes. The fruit must first be supported, and 
not until it has had its share of sustenance is there a further ex¬ 
tension of growth. If the crop is light in proportion to the 
strength of the Vines lateral growths will extend freely and move 
