318 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t April 19, 1883. 
above referred to, Foster & Pearson for garden structures. In addition 
to the objects of art (memorials of the late M. Yan Houtte) won by 
M. Louis Van Houtte, he also secures M. Raust de Berchem’s prize in 
memory of the Comte de Gomer for variegated plants. The King’s 
medal is won by M. Van Geert, and the Queen’s by Madame Boddaert 
Van Cutsen for Orchids. 
The Exhibition remains open until Sunday evening next. There 
is thus time for the majority of our readers to inspect it; and as the 
weather is at present bright and the sea calm, those who may be 
able to run over will greatly enjoy the trip. The two nurseries, 
MM. Linden’s and Van Houtte’s, are alone worthy of a journey to 
Belgium. 
REMOVING VINE TENDRILS. 
I WAS struck with your reply recently to a correspondent on 
the above, and hoped to see some further remarks on the subject 
in a subsequent issue. If, as stated in the instance quoted, the 
young Vines were so much stronger and luxuriant where the 
tendrils had not been removed, would it not be worth trying on 
established Vines ? In all my experience I have been taught to 
remove these tendrils as a matter of course, and never remem¬ 
ber having seen plants otherwise treated ; but I intend to satisfy 
myself by allowing one to produce its “horns” ad libitum and 
note the results in comparison with its companions. If it should 
hold good with Vines, why not for Melons and Cucumbers ?— 
C. H. 
VENTILATION. 
I WAS much afraid that my few remarks on this subject had 
failed in their object, which was simply to elicit some definite 
opinion from competent men. Certainly Mr. Warhurst and 
“ C. P. P.” commented on what I had written, partly favourably 
and partly otherwise, but when I saw a rather long article from 
Mr. Iggulden 1 thought we might find something conclusive. I 
wish to thank him for the lenient manner in which he has treated 
a heretic like myself, but there are a few points upon which I 
should like to set him right. 
In the first place he appears under the impression that I am 
buying my experience in ventilation by killing Phalsenopsids, but 
I had nothing to do with either buying or killing those plants. 
But to come to the Cucumber question. On that point he assumes 
that, however the non-ventilating system may answer in summer, 
it will not do in winter. In a conversation with a very experi¬ 
enced and successful grower I mentioned this ; and although he 
was inclined to smile at the idea of ventilating Cucumbers in 
summer, doing so in winter he regarded as quite unreasonable. 
This grower usually sows his main crop of Cucumbers about the 
end of September, and during the ensuing dull months is very 
careful not to unduly force them, but to secure plenty of healthy 
and sturdy foliage. He usually commences cutting about Christ¬ 
mas or a few days after, and the same plants continue to produce 
heavy crops of fine fruit until the following autumn, when they 
are cleared out; afterwards the houses are thoroughly cleaned 
and started again, but never from sowing to clearing out is any 
air given. 
The above is perhaps a fair sample of the procedure of the 
principal growers, but there are many who have merely flue- 
heated houses who do not start until the turn of the year. 
Could Mr. Iggulden under his ventilating system grow Cucum¬ 
bers, and a large proportion of them fit for the exhibition table, 
at 2s. Qcl. or 3s. per dozen, and reap a handsome profit ? Again, 
although Mr. Iggulden does not consider himself a scientific man, 
he wishes to make his meaning clear, but to my mind he has not 
quite done so, for his article is headed “Why We Ventilate,” but 
after carefully reading the same I cannot find in it any reason 
why he does so. He also makes some observations about novices 
and experts which I cannot quite understand ; but I think that if 
he or any other extreme ventilation theorist would for a season 
grow Cucumbers side by side with some of our Prescot watch¬ 
makers or St. Helen’s copper or glass-workers, he would at the 
end of the trial find the novice represented by a person he would 
little expect to find in that position. 
I may add that my side of the question is no new-fangled 
theory, but for at least a quarter of a century has been proved 
beyond dispute in this neighbourhood to be the best and cheapest 
way of producing heavy crops of first-class Cucumbers at the 
least expenditure in the erection of the houses, and afterwards of 
fuel and labour, combined with the greatest immunity from insect 
plagues and I think if Mr. Iggulden could visit this locality 
and take a walk with me through a mile or two of Cucumber 
houses, in a few hours he would find his opinions on the ne¬ 
cessity of ventilating Cucumbers considerably modified.—J. J., 
Lancashire. 
ROSES—EARLY AND LATE PRUNING. 
There can be no question about it, at least to myself. “An 
Old Hand ” says, “ I quite fail to see the force of the observations 
on page 278 that it may be well to prune early in the south, &c.” 
There is truly no doubt that “ An Old Hand ” does fail “ to see 
the force of my observations ” if he construe them, as he seems to 
do, in the light of making me an advocate for early pruning. 
When I remarked “ It may do well, as ‘ A. C.’ says, to prune early 
at Reigate,” it seems to my dull intellect that the possibility of its 
being the best time, even at Reigate, was exceedingly doubtful, 
whilst the whole tenor of the observations was in favour of late 
pruning. I am sorry to have been misunderstood, and can only 
hope that “An Old Hand” is singular in the deductions drawn 
from my few lines. Personally I would drive off pruning as late 
as I possibly could.—Y. B. A. Z. 
TURF “POTS." 
As the time of the year has arrived for potting small seedlings 
and cuttings, such as Lobelias, Pyrethrums, Ageratums, Petunias, 
and Verbenas, a few remarks of our mode of potting the above 
may be of service, especially where space is limited. We find 
Fig, 76.—TurE pot. 
turf pots answer well, instead of thumb pots, placed on a gentle 
hotbed in a frame with about 3 inches of soil to plunge the turves 
in. Pack them as closely together as possible, and shake a little 
sifted garden soil lightly over to fill the crevices, which prevents 
the turf becoming too dry. Almost any old turf may be used cut 
close to a hedge where it is not noticeable. We cut our turf in 
blocks about 3 inches thick, and those are cut in small squares 
the size required for the different kinds of plants, 2 inches square 
for Lobelias, Pyrethrums, and 3 inches for Petunias, and Verbenas. 
We scoop out the centre of the square, having some fine soil ready 
for pressing around the seedlings. They root very quickly in the 
turf, and are bedded out without any check.—T. H. 
[We have prepared many thousands of plants for the flower 
garden in the manner described, and always found them in every 
respect more satisfactory than plants grown in pots.] 
* INSECTS ANNIHILATED. 
I tried the mixture of soda, soft soap, and petroleum as 
advised by “ A Gardener,” at page 149, but although the water 
used was soft and the directions were followed minutely, there 
was a scum on the surface. The mixture killed some of the 
insects to which it was applied, but the scum had the effect of 
slightly burning the foliage. I then tried to draw the liquor off 
by means of a tap at the bottom of the tub, leaving the scum 
behind. This was better, and I found I could use it on most 
plants at double strength without the slightest injury to foliage. 
Eucharis, with some old thrips on which had baffled all smoking, 
Gardenias in small pets, with a suspicion of red spider, and cut¬ 
tings of all sorts were dipped with such perfect results that I have 
now made up my mind to give up growing insects altogether. 
