828 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 5, 1892. 
prune this shrub in the winter, which is a mistake, inasmuch as it 
flowers on the shoots made the previous year. The later variety, 
P. Gordonianus, has still finer flowers. Immediately after blooming 
is the proper time to prune this and various other flowering shrubs. 
On a dry soil in a warm position the double Deutzia produces 
masses of white flowers in June, and the Brooms are very effective 
In similar positions. Cydonia japonica, too, is a desirable shrub, as 
also are Spiraea confusa and S. Thunbergi. The old-fashioned 
Kerria japonica fl.-pl., cannot be despised, nor Forsythia suspensa. 
Exochorda grandiflora. Daphne Mezereum, and others too numerous 
to mention.—C. 0. 
SETTING GRAPES. 
Late Grapes are this year very backward, at least they are in 
the midlands and the north ; and although I have had no oppor¬ 
tunity of judging how far they have advanced in the southern 
counties, I trust my notes on this subject are early enough to be of 
service to many cultivators who desire information. 
A great variety of opinion exists among Grape growers as to 
the best means to be used to secure a good set. Without doubt 
numbers who have their Vines in good condition experience but 
little difficulty in securing a good set with many varieties, and 
where failures do occur it may often be traced to weak and 
debilitated Vines, or to a crowded state of the young shoots. All 
kinds of Grapes set the better in cases where a fair amount of sun¬ 
shine reaches the bunches when in flower. This is particularly the 
case with Muscats, and this fact I believe accounts for many 
partial failures among cultivators whose Vines are in excellent 
health, but who make the mistake of allowing the bunches to be 
too much shaded by the Vine leaves during the flowering stage. It 
is a capital plan to tie back a few of the leaves around the best 
bunches of any varieties which are shy setters, as nothing is more 
disappointing than to find bunches of great size and fine propor¬ 
tions rendered useless or unsightly by being only imperfectly set. 
I have at various times had to deal with Muscats under widely 
different circumstances, and in every instance I found comparatively 
high temperatures were conductive to the best results, 70° to 75° 
by night with a rise of 5° from heat on dull days should 
be aimed at. In cases where such high temperatures have not 
succeeded the reason may invariably be found in the fact that 
ventilation is not attended to early enough in bright weather or 
during bursts of sunshine, consequently the leaves show great signs 
of distress ; this evil is aggravated by keeping the atmosphere 
of the house too dry. By all means have a dry atmosphere during 
the middle of the day so that the pollen may be freely distributed, 
but to keep up high temperatures and a dry atmosphere both night 
and day is not necessary, and is, moreover, prejudicial to the general 
health of the Vines. The floors and stages of the vinery should 
be damped down about 9 a.m. and again in the afternoon at 3 or 4 
o’clock. So long as damping is not done at mid-day no fear need 
be entertained about having the pollen in the right condition to effect 
fertilisation. Every lateral carrying a bunch should be sharply 
tapped with a stick at noon, when the pollen may be seen flying in 
clouds. The best set of Muscats I have seen was accomplished by 
these means. I however, strongly advise those who have any 
difficulty in setting this fine Grape to try syringing the bunches at 
mid-day. This I believe to be more effectual than passing a rabbit’s 
tail over them, though many are too timorous to try it, though they 
might soon satisfy themselves as to its efficacy or otherwise, in 
their own case, by adopting that practice with a single Vine or a few 
bunches. Large bunches are often difficult to set at the points; the 
best course to follow with these is to draw the hand lightly down 
that part of the bunch once or twice daily. 
Mrs. Pmce is a fine Grape which generally appears to set well, 
but subsequent behaviour often shows that the berries are only 
imperfectly fertilised, as they fail to swell to their normal size. 
When living at Longford Castle, Salisbury, with Mr. Ward—who 
annually produces very fine bunches of this variety—the practice 
adopted was to pass a rabbit’s tail over bunches of Gros Guillaume 
till it was thoroughly charged with pollen, the bunches of Mrs. 
Pi nee were then touched with the tail wherever the flowers were 
fully developed. Alnwick Seedling is a somewhat peculiar Grape, 
and unless special means are taken does not set well, as the anthers 
are sealed down by the capsules. These can be dislodged with the 
syringe or rabbit’s tail, and the flowers fertilised with pollen of 
some other variety. Lady Downe’s Seedling and Buckland Sweet¬ 
water are two other varieties which I have always found to require 
a little assistance to secure a perfect set. Passing the hand over 
the bunches is in each case productive of the best results. Madres- 
field Court requires no other assistance than shaking, except at the 
points of the bunches, provided the latter are well exposed to 
light. Foster’s Seedling is by many considered difficult to set, 
they therefore take the precaution to go over the bunches with the 
rabbit’s tail. For several years I did not feel satisfied without 
following the same practice, but after trusting solely to shaking 
for one season, the result being a perfect set. no other plan has 
been followed since. Alicante, Gros Maroc, Gros Colman, Black 
Hamburgh, Golden Queen, and Trebbiano are all free setters. 
Gros Guillaume, when producing only medium-sized bunches, is a 
good setter too, but we always go over very large bunches witb the 
rabbit’s tail, as it is difficult to distribute the pollen to every part 
by other means. Mrs. Pearson (a Grape which should be more 
grown) requires the same treatment as the last-named variety. 
Black Hamburgh, Buckland Sweetwater, Foster’s Seedling, and 
Madresfield Court should have temperatures 10° less than those 
recommended for Muscats. The other varieties named ought to 
have a night temperature ranging between 65° and 70°, with a rise 
of 5° during the daytime. Throughout the flowering stage a chink 
of air should he left on both top and bottom of the house, except 
during cutting winds and night frosts, then the lights are bast 
closed for a few hours.—H. Dunkin. 
Notes and Comments. 
“Popularising gardening,” a pleasant phrase indeed, I thought, 
as I opened my Journal last week. It opens up visions of a 
future bright with blossom, when those who have nothing but 
forecourts, back yards, and window ledges to decorate shall have 
learned how to beautify them and gained contentment in the work. 
But this will not be all. I commence my series of occasional notes' 
and comments on Orchids with the conviction that in every step 
which is taken in popularising gardening they will share. The 
fact may not be at first apparent, for it would be futile to hope 
and foolish to expect that every member of a holiday crowd is 
going to become a cultivator all at once ; but there will be a 
gradual upward movement none the less, and the ranks of Orchid 
growers will be strengthened by the addition of many who have 
begun modestly and passed their novitiate in other branches of the 
art. To popularise gardening, therefore, is to popularise Orchid 
growing, and cultivators will rejoice to see support given to any 
movement that tends in this direction. 
It is impossible to go here and there, into nurseries and private 
gardens, without recognising how widely Orchid-growing is spread¬ 
ing, and it is significant to note that the general papers give them 
attention now and then. They make ludicrous mistakes, of course, 
indulge in strange diversions in the way of spelling, and occasionally 
make a rapturous discovery of something or other that has become 
quite a venerable friend, but that is their little way in dealing with 
special matters, and must be treated indulgently. The main point 
is that they often succeed in arresting the attention of general 
readers, and awakening an interest in the flowers, and when that 
has been effected there is a natural gravitation towards journals 
(especially, let us hope, to a journal with a capital J) which make 
technicalities their business. _ 
Friday afternoon proved to be very quiet at Protheroe and 
Morris’s. The sales fluctuate a good deal in vitality. Sometimes 
matters rule extremely lively ; there is, so to speak, considerable 
buoyancy about the proceedings, but on other occasions things are 
as dull as the proverbial ditchwater. The chief attraction was the 
sale of Messrs. Linden’s two new Cattleyas, Rex and Alexandra, 
while importations of Cattleya Mossige chirguensis, C. speciosissima, 
0. amethystoglossa, Oncidium holochrysum, Rodriguezia Lindeni, 
and Odontoglossum (Cochlioda) Notzlianum were also down for 
disposal in the catalogue. But none of these aroused very much 
interest, and all Mr. Protheroe’s eloquence was unavailing when 
the chief item came on for attention. 
Yes, the sale of Cattleya Alexandrse must be characterised as a 
decided “ frost.” Experts looked coldly upon it, and held aloof 
when the plants were placed upon the table. The third specimen 
offered went for 14 guineas and the fourth for 7 guineas, but 
subsequent lots failed to reach the reserve price, and as it was 
evident buyers were not there the remainder were passed. The 
