iOz—i ii. 
JOCRXAL OF HORTICULTURE AXD COTTAGE GARDEXER. 
217 
iCT’onxij al^ise conmenciag; i rez.'vaiion of borders in the intumri 
f.^LLo-stn^ the fornutLon of fresh canes. In some cases 
strong canes are apt to produce bunches too larpe and loose 
in character tt please those who prefer, rightlv I think, to have 
them much more C'ompacs ; but this will only happen the hrst 
season tnev are fruitei. and if a little jnipment is exercised in the 
seiecnon of bunches, the scissors also bein^ freely used, there may 
not be much to complain of darinp the hrst year even. 
Whatever may be thoopht or said about the foregoing, there is 
no tnsttinr away from the fact, that unless fresh nods are laid in it 
wiu not oe lomj before old rods hard forced fail altogether for at 
least one season. It once fell to my lot to take charge of a small 
span-rcofed house of Tines, from which ripe Grapes were expected 
by its owner n.^t iater than ApriL These Tines had done fairly 
weh for about six years, but were only a little larger than when 
they were planted. Tney had gradoaliy got into a poor plight, till 
at last there were about as many bunches produced as there were 
rids, ily remedy was the drastic sue of clearing all out and 
planting more : but in all pr obability, if I once more took charge of 
stunted and comparatively worthless Tines, befc*re clearing all out 
the attempt would be hrst made of laying fresh canes, and if there 
was not sxScient hfe left in the old Tines to form these yoant: 
rods, then all should come out and others be planted at once. 
Quite younn Tines are doubtless the best for hard forcing, as they 
rarely faii to produce good crops, but this seems to so thoroughly 
exhaust the rods that they are of Kttle service in the following 
season. I experimented m this direction last year, and once more 
hud tnat the old rods wiU give ns few bunches this season. In 
some cases, however, a young rod was laid in. and from these have 
been produced far more bunches than are required. 
The varieties thus experimented on are hloscat of Alexandria. 
Madresheld Court, and BuckAnd Sweetwater, the two former at 
any rate being among the most productive Grapes in cultivation. 
If my advice is taken, therefore, those who are fruitmg small 
Tines planted out in forcing houses will take the precaution of 
laying in a young cane alongside each old one. and thereby guard 
ag-iinst a probable failure next season. The only other alternative 
that occurs to me is to largely devote two compartments in a range 
of forcing houses to the production of early Grapes, preparing 
voang Tines in one to be forced the next season, and then cut out, 
the same thing geing on in the other, only in alternate years. This 
is not such a w.iste of house room as might at hrst sight appear, 
there being a variety of plints that thrive well witu forced or 
growing Tines, while there can be no question about the great 
weight of fruit that can be taken from strong young Tines with 
their roots conhned to narrow borders, no more space being 
requ Jed for Tines than is usually devoted to Melons and Cucumbers' 
—W. iG-.'ri.r'EX. 
THE FLOWER TR.\DE IN PARIS. 
I 
expand in the course of twenty to twenty-five days. The forcing 
goes on during nine months, and from six to ten crops are obtained 
in a year. 
It is now generally admitted that darkness is not absolutely 
necessary to obtain white flowers by means of the coloured Lilac, 
pr'vided the forcing is pushed on rapidly in a temperature of 65 
to 77' and more Fahr. and in a confined atmosphere. The forma¬ 
tion of the colouring principle appears to cake place only between 
special limits of temperature, which are exceeded in cases of rapid 
forcing. White lilac can be produced in glass houses briskly 
heated under the direct rays of the sun. provided the houses be 
hermetically closed. This, however is of little importance, as it is 
in the interest of producers to cover the glass houses with thick mats, 
which have the great advantage of preventing the less of heat 
by radiation : but by the latter process the plants are much longer 
in recovering than when forced in the full light, yet this is not 
always of much weight, inasmuch as the Lilacs are often sacrificed 
after having been forced. 
Knowing that the absolute exclusion of light makes a 
coloured Lilac produce white flowers it is possible, by a clever 
gradation of Light, to produce curious variations of tints, such as 
those that are often admired in the shop windows of our large 
florists. These results are brought about by the simple and n.\tui^ 
means of straw mats, which are skilfully perforated to admit 
FUt. oo.—B rXCHIKCr FRENCH LIUVC. 
"N.'Cts ,’i: iCcaAKtt<.>? i3 ;'it; HaH oi tli.? Associisioa Fnasuis.; pear rAviiK-e- 
Sewaois, Sy 3f5. H. L. I'K V' UIKIS.' 
'ii/Vew 
FORCING LILAC. 
The industry of forcing the Lilac is one of the most important 
and most essentially Parsiau amongst the various branches of floral 
horticulture. Although Paris cannot boast of its absolute monopoly, 
yet the trasses of bloom which are obtained in our city are amongst 
the most prired on all European markets, and I do not go too far in 
saving that the culture and forcing of the Lilac bring alvut a yearly 
circulation of nearly two milliors of francs. On account of that great 
ecoaouiical importance I may be permitted to enter into a few details 
reg-arvling the industry. 
The discovery, which is French, daces frv>m the beginning of 
the present century, and is due to a certain horlicalturis: named 
Mathieu. wh,-' res:de>.l at Belleville, which had been for a long time 
the country of the Lilac (^now withiu our fortifications). The 
centre of tie provlucciou is at present Tttry-sur-Seine, and in thvt 
place alone se^me 65<,^ acres are devoted to the culture of the plants 
required for forcing. These plants blconiic.g only between the fifth 
and eijhth year, we may reckon that about oue-sixth. or 110 acres.are 
workevl upon every year, which furnish one and a half million of 
plants readv to undergo the prv'cess of forcing. 
^ As IS well k uown. it is the coloured Lilac of the sort known as 
“Marly ' which is the best and most geuerally employed by the 
Parisian forcers, whether the flowers are to cvme white or coloured. 
Tee plants are dug from the open ground in the autumn, with the 
flover bads pn^miueut but iu a quiescent state, taken to the 
forcing houses and planted somewhat closely together in deep bevls. 
after having been previously revluced by pruning to the shoots 
which are to bloom. Under proper treatment ^e flower buds 
! the requisite passage of light. Were the pUnts which we have 
‘ placed iu the glass houses at the end of the autumn to follow a 
j normal development in the artificial medium they would all bloom 
! at the same time ; it is, eonset^uently. a task rather more difticulc 
than forcing itself to delay the expanding of the buds in such a 
I manner as to produce the trusses in succession, and at a time when 
! Lilac is scarce and fetches a govxi price. Here various contrivances 
■ play a large part. Every gnawer has his own pnwss. often a very 
; simple one. such .as giving the plants at the moment of lifting very 
; rough treatment by laying them on the ground in a place just 
j enough sheltered to prevent their losing the qualities which are 
j expected from them at the required time. 
The white Lilac is the result of the otdiuary treatment : the 
rose Lilac, which has only been prcduced regularly for the last 
ten years, requires to be forcevl in a gentle way. It needs 
twice as much time as the white Lilac to bloom, and is there¬ 
fore much dearer. The Fersiau and Charles X. Lihacs .ve but 
rarely forced : they do not give the slender, light, and graceful 
trusses which are obtained with the 5[arly Lilac. The latter 
variety, when treated by our best gnawers, ac\\uires a whiteness, 
lightness, and grace which render it iuconqvirable. The way in 
which a large bunch is compx'sed with only eight trusses of bloom 
passed thrvnigh a bundle of straw is one of the marvels of Parisian 
activity. As already mentioned, the I'lepartment of the Seine 
k.vuuts' alx>ut twenty Lilac forcers, using from otV to o.X^ glass 
houses or other structures. Every day the sv-stem seems to be 
more practiscvl. and the iiurket gardeners themselves, in order to 
turn to profitable account the heat of their miHlest frames, s.'ic., 
excavate the grv'uud one metre deep under their sashes away frvnu 
the light. There they de^vsit the plants on the ground without 
covering their roots, and thus obtain along with the winter plants 
