JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
504 
not know its name. Perhaps it never had a name. It is more solid and com¬ 
pact than the old white Pink, with broader and less deeply serrated petals. It 
used to be plentiful in some districts thirty years ago, but it is by no means 
generally cultivated in gardens. It is a very useful border plant, but not equal 
in merit to the purer and smoother Mrs. Sinkins, which received the award of a 
first-class certificate of the Itoyal Horticultural Society, when it was exhibited 
by Mr. Charles Turner three years ago. 
Mildew on Vines ( G.L. ).—You will find an article on this subject on 
page 376, the issue of the 10th ult., which you will do well to peruse. The writer 
there states he found Ewing’s mildew composition to answer its purpose ad¬ 
mirably. You will find the best method of preparing sulphur for destroying 
mildew and red spider on page 496 of the present issue. Mildew is much more 
prevalent in some districts than in others, and a close moist atmosphere is 
favourable to its increase. Ventilate the house freely, and especially very early 
in the morning. J J 
Removing Manure from Vine Border (Id'an ).—You had better 
proceed cautiously in this matter, as it is not improbable the material has 
encouraged the production of roots at or near the surface of the border, and to 
remove the whole of it and fork the soil would almost inevitably result in great 
injury to the Vines. You might, perhaps, with advantage remove some of the 
manure, but how much we cannot say, as that depends on its thickness and the 
condition of the roots of the Vines. Your guide must be this : If there are roots 
near the surface preserve them by keeping the soil moist, and not kill them by 
exposing it to the drying action of a burning sun. 
Double Pyrethrums ( Maria ).—The easiest method of increasing the 
plants is by offsets. They may be taken up any time after flowering and 
divided, choosing dull moist weather for the operation. The rooted portions 
may be planted a foot apart in light rich soil, and the unrooted pieces inserted 
in sandy soil in pots and placed in a frame or under a handlight, affording the 
requisite shade and moisture for keeping them fresh until roots are emitted, 
when air must be gradually admitted, preparatory to the full exposure of the 
plants. Those planted out must also be watered as needed. Strong rooted 
portions inserted now and well tended during the season will make good plants 
that will flower freely next year. They are highly effective border plants, and 
succeed in any ordinary fertile soil in town or country gardens. Some plants 
that have flowered freely do not produce offsets till the autumn. 
Duchess of Albany Pelargonium (J. Lewis'). —This new variety, of 
which you have sent a flower, belongs to what is called the Ilegal section, or 
show decorative type. The flower was shaken in transit, and we can only say 
that it is rich in colour—crimson-scarlet with maroon blotches on the upper 
petals. We are not at all certain that a first-class certificate would be sranted 
for the variety if a plant were exhibited before the Floral Committee of the 
Royal Horticultural Society. If you wish to exhibit it at South Kensington 
write to Mr. Barron, Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, London, 
and he will inform you how to proceed. 
A Quartett of Choice Garden Pinks (Amateur). —You are quite 
right; we did refer to four good Pinks last year, and as you would “ like the 
particulars this is what we said about the varieties :— 11 Mr. Ware has sent us 
from Tottenham a quartett of garden Pinks, which are worthy of a place in all 
hardy flower borders. Lord Lyons is large, smooth, rich deep pink in colour, 
and very fragrant, the flowers being produced with great freedom. Ascot is an 
upright grower, colour delicate pink with maroon centre, free ; and Mrs. Sinkins 
is the finest of all the white Pinks, being very large, very free, and very sweet. 
Ware’s Clove Pink is a small much-fringed flower, deep pink in colour, and 
powerfully and deliciously fragrant. Both for producing an excellent effect in 
the garden, and for affording a supply of acceptable cut flowers, these useful 
Pinks should be grown everywhere.” 
Pyrethrums and Honeysuckles from Cuttings (Keswick).— Cuttings 
of these plants strike freely in pots of sandy soil kept constantly moist and 
placed in a close frame in the summer, or in a heated frame or pit in the spring. 
The growths when 3 or 4 inches long are thinned-out and made into cuttings. 
These growths can generally be well spared, and those remaining produce finer 
flowers. Each cutting, if it is not stopped, produces one flower the same season, 
and also forms growth at the base for another year's blooms ; it is advisable, 
however, to sacrifice a small flower and make a strong plaut. The cuttings 
must not remain in heat a day after they commence rooting. Cuttings of the 
Trumpet Honeysuckle made when the wood is getting firm, and inserted in 
sandy soil under a handlight, will strike freely. Young shoots will also strike 
in a warm propagating house, and portions of ripened wood will grow inserted 
in a shady border in September. 
Asparagus Failing (J. H.). —The present dry season has been very un¬ 
favourable for newly planted Asparagus, and the older the plants were the more 
liable they would be to fail to grow ; indeed if the roots were dry on arrival a 
large per-centage of them would almost inevitably die. We have known salt to 
injure Asparagus when it has been given too liberally, and it is far more likely 
to do injury in dry than in wet weather. It is impossible for us to say whether 
salt has “ had anything to do with the failure in the present case,” as you do 
not state the quantity that was applied to a given surface of beds ; but we 
suspect dry weather has contributed mainly to the loss of the plants, and it 
would have been well if the surface of the soil had been covered with short 
manure for preventing the evaporation of moisture from the earth. 
Bouquets of Roses (Hal).— We doubt if the Secretary of the National 
Rose Society would consider it within his province to indicate to intending 
exhibitors how they should make bouquets, and how many blooms they should 
include in each for exhibiting at Sheffield. All rosarians know how willing 
Mr. D Ombrain is to give advice that may be useful relative to Roses and exhi- 
biting them, but he must draw the line somewhere. We have no assurance 
tjiat he would venture so far as to say whether the twelve and six bouquets 
should consist each of one variety of Rose, or be arranged in mixture. It is 
customary in offering prizes for bouquets to encourage individual taste in 
arrangement, in order that even directors of shows and judges, as well as the 
public, may derive a lesson in the attractive association of flowers. The stipu¬ 
lation of bouquets “ for the hand ” sufficiently denotes that they must not be 
grouped in boxes of moss, but exhibited in separate appropriate receptacles. 
Many bouquets of Roses are too “ lumpy,” and consist of too many varieties of 
too large flowers. They are, in fact, not infrequently the disappointing feature 
of a Rose show, and the offer of the prizes in question, in our view, con¬ 
stitutes an appeal to individuals to show a more excellent way of grouping 
Roses as hand bouquets than at present generally obtains at exhibitions. 
Our columns are open to those who may desire to give information on this 
subject. 
Stopping Vine Laterals (J. IF., Isle of Wight). —The gentleman who 
told you that you had done wrong by stopping the laterals so soon, and that 
they ought not to be stopped till the fruit is set and the growths are 5 or 
[ June 14, 1883. 
6 feet long,” has something to learn on Vine-dressing. Instead of stopping 
them too soon you did not remove the points beyond the bunches soon enough, 
as you say you “ never stop the shoots till they are 2 to 3 feet long.” The esta¬ 
blished practice of the best gardeners is to take out the points of the shoots 
with the thumb and finger immediately from one to three leaves have formed 
beyond the bunches, the length of the lateral being governed entirely by the 
space between the Vines. If there is only space for one leaf to develope, only 
one is left; if there is room for two to expand without crowding, two are re¬ 
tained, and so on. Usually there is space for two leaves, and there ought to be. 
Suppose there is, then as soon as two are formed, and before the second is as 
large as a shilling, the point of the shoot is nipped off, and the sub-laterals that 
follow are nipped off at one leaf before it exceeds the size of a sixpence, and 
the practice is pursued throughout the season. The process of stopping is 
illustrated on page 81 of Mr. Barron’s work on the Vine, and this work you 
might appropriately recommend the gentleman to purchase. It could scarcely 
fail to be of great service to him, and through him—in his capacity of adviser— 
to others who may not be able to purchase the book for themselves. The 
gentleman may be quite right in saying that the “ leaves of your Vines are not 
large enough.” On this point we have no means of judging, as you have neither 
sent an example nor indicated the size of the foliage ; buc this we know—that 
overcrowding the growths contributes directly to small and undeveloped leaves, 
weak Vines, and inferior crops of fruit. 
Cucumbers Unhealthy—Non-Ventilation (C. II.). —Are you quite 
sure the roots are not dry at the bottom of the bed immediately over the hot-air 
chamber ? We are inclined to think they are, or have been. Although we 
have seen Cucumbers grown without ventilation other than that afforded by 
laps in the glass, we are not able to advise the adoption of the practice by 
everyone. Numbers of persons would not supply anything like the requisite 
supply of moisture for insuring success, and they would be too prone to open 
the doors too often to “ see how the plants are getting on ” to be good for the 
crop. Until a person can comprehend the reason why there should be danger 
in opening the doors too often he had better adhere to the orthodox method of 
culture with ventilation, especially as crops of the most satisfactory kind are 
obtained by this practice. The circumstance that many of the fruits refuse to 
swell but shrivel at the point is indicative of imperfect fertilisation—that is, 
unless they are unfortunately overtaken with the very serious disease to which 
they are liable ; but in this case the leaves do not necessarily turn yellow. They 
flag and wither, however, if attacked with disease at their roots in the form of 
small tubercles or excrescences. You had better examine them, and if you find 
no siens of attack there we advise you to use ■water more copiously. Give 
liquid manure, and mulch the surface of the bed with rough rich food ; and you 
had better also consider the advisability of abandoning the practice of attempt¬ 
ing to grow'them without ventilation—not because that system is wrong in 
itself, but because you fail in some way unknown to us in carrying it out 
successfully. 
Melon Plants Gumming (T. IF.).—The cause of gumming or gangren¬ 
ing is an over-abundant supply of nutriment afforded the plants by their roots, 
and is very different from canker at the collar and in the stems. Quicklime 
rubbed into the parts affected with canker will arrest its progress provided the 
conditions that cause it be removed—viz., too moist and close an atmosphere ; 
but lime is of no value in stopping the gumming, as it is internal, and cannot 
be reached by any outw'ard application. The soil, in the first instance, is too 
rich and is kept too moist. Turfy loam laid up until the grass is killed is a 
material quite rich enough without any addition of manure, and it can hardly 
be put together too firmly, so as to induce sturdy, short-jointed, fruitful growth. 
If inclined to be heavy all the better, but light loam made firm will grow Melons 
well, only more frequent waterings are necessary, as it is not so retentive of 
moisture as the stronger soil. Lime rubbish is not necessary, as for light soil it 
only makes the mass more porous and increases the necessity for water, thus 
aggravating the evil. Plants that show a tendency to gum should be kept dry 
at the roots, no more water being given than will prevent flagging ; and if the 
gumming be excessive shading must be resorted to for a few hours in the middle 
of the day, so as to lessen the necessity for water in order to prevent flagging. 
The atmosphere must be kept drier and w'armer, so as to allow of freer ventila¬ 
tion, which will cause more rapid evaporation and enable the plants to part with 
the superfluous moisture. Gumming is, however, better avoided than remedied. 
The soil should not be kept very wet in the early stages of growth ; indeed no 
more water should be given than to keep the plants in steady progressive 
growth until the fruit is set and swelling, when copious supplies will be neces¬ 
sary. Encouraging a free growth in the plants in the early stages and up to the 
fruiting stage, and afterwards keeping the growths closely restricted, is likely 
to induce gumming, as are also large reductions of growth at one time and at 
distant intervals. If you follow Mr. Iggulden’s instructions you will succeed. 
Grafting Vines (Kaffir ).—We are not able to state the precise time for 
grafting your Vines, as the season of growth in South Africa is different from 
that in England ; and, moreover, the condition of the stocks wherever they are 
situated is of far greater importance than any mere date of the calendar. 
Undoubtedly the safest and best mode of changing the varieties in Vines is by 
inarching, either on the old or young wood ; but in your case this method may 
be impracticable, inasmuch as you may not have Vines in pots for attaching to 
the stocks. If the work is done on the old wood in spring Vines in pots are not 
requisite, as if grafts of ripe wood a foot long or more are sliced in the middle 
to the extent of 5 or 6 inches and attached to the stocks from which corre¬ 
sponding slices have been taken, the lower end of the scions being inserted in 
bottles of water, this will support them until the union is complete, and the 
original Vines can be gradually headed down. We presume your Vines are 
growing in the open air, in which case the bottles could be stood on the ground 
or partially sunk in it, and the scions attached to the main stems at any con¬ 
venient part, or they may be affixed to the lowest lateral of young wood. As 
your Vines are young and healthy you might safely inarch to the main stems. 
The slicing should be done rather deeply—almost down to the pith of the scion, 
and carefully fitted to the stock and secured with tape or matting, no clay nor 
grafting wax being required. The time for performing the operation is just 
when the Vines are starting into growth, the scions being a little later, for 
insuring which they must be taken off in the winter and stored in damp soil in 
a cool position. Vines can be headed down and grafted, but with by no means 
the same safety and certainty as in grafting Apples or Pears. If the Vines 
were cut down in winter or early spring, as in the case of those fruits, there 
would be such a flow of sap that no grafting wax could arrest, and the grafts 
would be flooded. The time for cutting down the Vines is after they have 
made some growth, such as about the flowering stage. Mr. Barron in his 
practical work, which you should read, says :—“ A very good test for ascertain¬ 
ing the exact period we have found to be this—Take the point of a knife, and 
just prick through the bark ; if a little moisture exudes, the stock is in condition 
for the graft; if there is none, it is too late to attempt it; but should it happen 
that there is a greet flow, continuing for some days, do not attempt to graft so 
