February 14, 1899. 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULTUhE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
145 
maturity of bud formation through dryness of season, too quickly 
facilitated by early lifting or bulb induration. The harder a bulb is 
grown the firmer its scales and the tighter they grasp the embryonic 
flower and growth buds in their interior to protect them from external 
influences. Of course growers of bulbs act on that principle to harden 
them and render them less susceptible of attack by fungal and insect 
pests, for the more compact the bulbs the less are they amenable to 
invasion by Polyactis cinerea and to mites, which are generally 
associated in the same diseased bulbs. 
The only remedy, so far as I know, is to cut the bulb through the 
outer scales vertically downward from F to G at planting, taking care 
not to injure the part containing the flower spike and growth. By 
that means the apex of the bulb opens and the flower spike has room 
to emerge and develop without being forced oS by the leaf growths.— 
G. Abbey. 
SPRAYED POTATOES. 
The accompanying block (fig. 27) for the use of which I am 
indebted to the kindness of the Editor of the “ Irish Farmer’s Gazette,” 
It may interest some of your readers who are not farmers to know 
that the fungicide was also used by one of the farm hands on his own 
“ lazy beds,” with the result that his enterprise was rewarded in that, 
while one unsprayed “lazy bed” only produced 28 stones of good 
Potatoes, the adjoining one which had been sprayed returned 50 stones 
of sound tubers—nearly double ! 
In the first of the above instances there was, I must add, considerably 
over an Irish acre, which was treated in the bulk, but divided into 
plots for the purpose of obtaining reliable data, so that it was not 
altogether experimental. 
For the rest, the photograph which was taken by Lord Clonbrock 
speaks for itself.—J. S. Keer, Rosawivion. 
PEELING AND CLEANING VINES. 
So much has been written on the barking of Vines that I think 
much can be learned from the opinions of such practical men whose 
names appear in the current controversy. In answer to “J. S. G.’s” 
practical question, I say thoroughly clean the loose bark off, but do 
not scrape the Vines. 
Fig. 27.—potato SPRAYING. 
exhibits at a glance the effect of a sulphate of copper application to a 
crop of Champion Potatoes grown by Lord Clonbrock on his home farm 
at Clonbrock, Co. Galway. 
The original photograph was taken at the end of last September, and 
shows the disparity in the condition of separate sections of the same 
crop at that date, the whole of which Was grown under identical con¬ 
ditions, but of course, with the addition in the one case of the dressing. 
The land is medium clay loam, well cultivated and manured, and kept 
properly cleaned. The growth of the crop was even until the appearance 
of the blight, before which occurrence, however, the part of the field 
shown had received its first dressing, and was treated three times in all. 
Some parts dressed only once showed little, if any, superiority to the 
undressed drills. The composition was that ordinarily used, that is 
20 lbs. sulphate of copper and 10 lbs. of lime to 100 gallons of water. 
The calculated cost of the three applications in this instance was, I 
think, excessive ; taking it, however, as it stands and without entering 
into what mi?ht prove misleading details, I find that a series of small 
plots of land of a given area, when treated exactly as an acre in bulk 
would be treated, required each an additional outlay of 7d., which is in 
the same ratio as the total cost of the dressing per acre. For this they 
individually showed an increase of from 3 to 6 stones of sound 
marketable Potatoes over and above the production of similar and con¬ 
tiguous plots that had not been so treated. This at 3d. or 4d. a stone 
works out a substantial balance on the right side. 
I have taken a small range of vineries, which are badly infested with 
mealy bug. The Vines have not been barked for years. To attempt to 
eradicate the pest, as “ D. P,” informs us he is trying to do, I should 
consider it simply waste of time, for it is well known that as the tem¬ 
perature of the house is lowered to ripen the wood, so does the bug find 
its way closer to the rod. Even when the bark is perfectly smooth they 
are found hidden so secure that no mixture would reach them without 
their being first exposed by removal of outer bark. 
As “ B. S.” suggests, and not other reasons, barking to some extent 
accounts for the lighter crop of Mr. Taylor's Grapes, and should he 
obtain a crop up to his usual average this coming season, will it not be 
as much from the Improved health and cleanliness of the Vines as from 
the additional bark they will have made ? 
Often has my attention been called to the magnificent and highly 
finished bunches of Grapes staged at Bath and Bristol shows by Mr. 
Nash. Though ignorant of his mode of treatment, I was fully aware that 
such good results could only be produced by a practical man fully 
acquainted with the requirements of the Vines. I trust Mr. Nash will 
favour us with his opinions through the medium of your valuable 
paper.—W. ______ 
Aptee Mr. Taylor’s conclusive testimony (page 121) as to the 
advantages of retaining the bark on Vines, there remains but little to 
be said in further support of it. As he so pointedly observes, when one 
begins to pull off loose bark there is no telling where one will stop. 
Loose bark that is fairly clear of the Vine is of no further use, and, as I 
