103 
[ August 5, 1816. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEN Eh. 
an awkward one it is, seed of one of the white Cos varieties 
should be sown in a framo in October on soil raised to within 
8 inches of the glass by a firm bed of leaves. These plants 
being properly thinned, diip prevented, and the requisite 
protection afforded in severe weather, the lights drawn off 
when the days are mild, will be ready for planting on the 
departure of winter. This is one of the staple crops of the 
London market gardeners, and is often of great value to 
them, and is not less acceptable to owners of private gardens. 
A little attentive care is necessary for preserving the plants 
and preparing them for removal, but they are more than 
worth it all. 
A word as to the hardiness of Lettuces and other plants. 
This depends as much on the treatment to which they are 
subjected as on the varieties. A golden rule in preparing 
plants for the winter, no matter what they are—Cauliflowers, 
Cabbage, Lettuces, Spinach—is to sow very thinly in firm 
soil from which water passes quickly, in a very open posi¬ 
tion. I would, if choice were afforded, much prefer the 
middle of a fifty-acre field to a warm south border for raising 
the plants. In the ordinary course of sowing, about ten 
seedlings spring up on 6very square inch of the bed, and not 
infrequently twice that number. Let it be clearly understood 
that that practice is wrong. It is thoughtless, ruinous, and 
wasteful to throw down the seed so recklessly. One plant to 
each square inch is ample, and if more appear they should 
be drawn out the moment they can be handled. A rule easy 
to be remembered is this, Never allow plants in preparation 
for winter and spring to touch each other till they are nearly 
ready for use ; then will their tissues be so firm that they 
will resist five times the amount of frost that crowded plants 
will that are thereby made flabby, soft, and tender. Undue 
delay in thinning plants that come up too thickly is a fatal 
mistake, and in this work especially there is no fear of com¬ 
mencing too early, but great danger in being too late.— 
Experientia docit. 
GRAPES FOR LATEST SUPPLIES. 
There is a notion among some amateur cultivators and others 
that when they desire to keep Grapes late in the season they 
should be ripened late in the autumn, and if fairly well coloured 
they are matured and prepared to remain in good condition till, 
say, April. No one underrates the very desirable property of 
good colour in Grapes, but that may be present while flavour and 
keeping qualities are absent. One who has frequently judged 
late Grapes is very cognisant of acidity being objectionally 
present when colour may be at its best. 
It used to be considered the fault of the system of keeping 
Grapes over the winter with their stems in water, which made 
the fruit so unpleasant to eat during spring, and some of the 
most sugary varieties obtained a bad name, and in many crse3 
they had to be discarded as worthless. Since the system had 
fair play in this country and has become generally understood, 
opinions of both proprietors and practical men have materially 
changed. A considerable per-centage of cultivators (by prejudice 
or something else) will insist on keeping their Vines dragging on 
into the autumn unfinished, and have to ripen as best they cm 
when sun has almost ceased to have power. The ripening fruit 
often assumes a fair appearance, but is almost worthless for 
eating; at least, so we think after having tasted samples which 
have been grown hundreds of miles apart, it is nearly a quarter 
of a century since we (over a course of several seasons) made 
numerous experiments in keeping late Grapes One lesson we 
were taught which was of much value—viz., that those which 
were ripened early in September kept much better than the 
Grapes ripened at the end of October and in November. A high 
temperature with a current of fresh air for some weeks after 
LadyIDowne’s, West’s St. Peter’s, Mi s ’at Hamburgh Burchardt s 
Prince, and Alicante had assume 1 their dark coatings changed 
the characters completely of these from their ordinary tlavour 
and texture of their substance. Lady Downe’s when ripened in a 
Muscat house becomes one of the most sugary and richest of 
Grapes, and under such conditions keeps in the best possible 
condition (if managed well during the months in which it is 
preserved) till May I have tasted it of fine quality, free from 
shrivelling, in June, and have exhibited the bunches in that 
month. 
Last year we prepared a quantity for keeping late of the 
following, more for the sake of testing some new Grape cup¬ 
boards than for any other advantage :—Barbarossa (Gros Guil¬ 
laume), Alnwick Seedling, Alicante. Gros Maroc, Gros Colman, 
White Tokay, and Lady Downe’s Seedling. Gros Guillaume 
kept in fine condition to the end of March, it then began to get 
limp. Alnwick Seedling became very tough after February, ana 
its tlavour (which we never have tasted of high palatable order) 
was very inferior. Alicante did well till the end of April, keeping 
its fine dense bloom till the last. Gros Maroc was good to the 
end of March, but some which were kept to the end of April 
were very “ leathery ” and inferior, but not shrivelled. Gros 
Colman was unchanged at the end of April and one of the best, 
being sugary, and the large berries did not become limp. White 
Tokay is the best keening white kind which we have tried, except 
white Lady Downe’s; this kind did not change in appearance, 
flavour, or texture, and was used up at end of April. Lady Downe s 
Seedling we give the preference to beyond all others, and did we 
only grow one Grape for use during the spring months this would 
be the one which would have especial favour. It was rich, sugary, 
and bloom as perfect as in October well into May. This kind 
gave special satisfaction to those who used them at dessert during 
May. These were mostly well ripened in a Muscat house during 
September, cut and bottled in December, placed in their winter 
quarters, which are cupboards fixed in the garden office (a some¬ 
what spacious one, heated with hot water), but the heat was 
seldom turned on for the sake of the Grapes. The loss from 
decay or other causes was almost nil.-—M. Temple, Carronhouse. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND THEIft CULTURE. 
(Continuei from page 62.) 
TIME FOR HOUSING PLANTS. 
Inexperienced growers of Chrysanthemums do not understand 
at what date to house their plants so as to have them in bloom at 
any given period. Without some knowledge as to the length of 
time particular varieties require to develope their flowers it is 
extremely difficult to have the plants in perfection exactly when 
wanted for exhibiting. This applies both to cut blooms and speci¬ 
men plants, and is of the utmost importance, as freshness of the 
flowers goes a long way towards gaining success. _ Some varieties 
require a much longer time after they reach a certain stage in the 
growth of the flowei buds to develope than others do from the 
same point of growth. Practical experience, which means incessant 
watching to detect the peculiarities of varieties, alone can render 
a new grower perfect in this detail ; but a few hints on this subject 
will possibly bo of advantage to the inexperienced. Circumstances 
do not sometimes admit of the plants being housed at exactly the 
time wished. The locality, too, in which the grower is situated 
has to be considered. If it be a low damp situation a grower should 
remove his plants inside earlier than another person located on a 
hill, for the reason that in the low-lying district early frosts are 
more to be feared than where the position is high, and consequently 
drier. _ 
Many plants are spoilt annually through being left outside a 
few days too long. The tender swelling flower buds are easily 
destroyed by early frosts. When such an accident as this occurs 
the flowers produced are always crippled and are never perfect. 
Growers living in a district a considerable length of time know 
when to expect these early frosts, and it is seldom that any very 
great alteration takes place in the time of their arrival ; therefore 
careful persons are not often caught napping with regard to the 
proper housing of their plants. 
Presuming, then, that a show is to take place from the 10th to 
the 20th of November, all plants should be housed by the 8th of 
October, and so on in proportion to the dates fixed. No plants 
should remain outside without protection a longer period than that 
named. If they begin to show the colour of the flower by the 
unfolding of their florets it is useless to allow them to remain longer 
outside in the hope of retarding them, without means of warding 
off rains, frosts, and heavy dews, because as the flowers if continu¬ 
ally wet quickly damp when placed under cover. Some varieties 
require moving inside much earlier than the dates named. These 
I propose to place by themselves, and those which require to remain 
outside as long as it is considered safe to do so are also named 
together. Any that are not named require housing at what I will 
call the general time, say October 1st ; those requiring the longest 
time to develope their flowers are to be housed first, say about 
September 16th. Before their removal inside the plants should be 
examined for mildew, which generally infests the under side of 
the leaves in autumn, and is more difficult to eradicate than when 
on the outer surface. The best remedy is to lay the plants on their 
sides and syringe them as previously directed ; remove all dead 
