June 6, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
495 
waa an excellent second. Mr. Nadin was also first with eighteen blooms, 
followed by Messrs. Bolton and Hannah. Mr, W. B. Fowler was first 
with both twelve and six blooms, the latter comprising Tamworth 
Yellow, Maggie Watson, J. H. Thornley, Miss Pattinson, E. H. Gabb, 
and Jas. Stafford. Messrs. Whitehead, Nadin, and Bolton were also 
successful in those well-contested classes. With six blooms of any 
variety Mr. Nadin was easily first with the grand Pansy, Tamworth 
Yellow. Other prizetakers in the different classes were Mrs. Lovatt, Rev. 
H. Watson, and Mr. G. P. Meers; but on the whole the finest Pansies in 
the hall, in the amateurs’ competitive classes, were shown by Mr. Nadin, 
and the best Violas by Mr. Pemberton. No pretence is made to give 
the awards throughout the exhibition. 
Mr. McKee, Belfast, was awarded a first-class certificate for a new 
Fancy Pansy Mrs. Gamj), an effective symmetrical flower of good 
substance, dense purple in colour, edged with creamy white, A certificate 
of merit was also adjudged to Mr. Allison Green, Richmond Park Road, 
Kingston, Surrey, for various appliances for exhibiting flowers, his 
method of wiring without piercing the calyx being very simple and 
good. Numbers of visitors inspected Mr. Sydenham’s garden, and 
enjoyed the floral feast. There, after all, was to be found the great 
show, of which a little remains to be said another day. 
Relative to certificates, the plan adopted at Birmingham is a good 
one. Professor Hillhouse is of opinion that first-class certificates should 
only be awarded for new varieties of plants, flowers, fruit, or vegetables, 
and that other awards should be made for meritorious exhibits of a 
different nature. Thus “ special awards of merit ” are granted, or 
“special cultural awards,” according to the nature of the objects that 
merit recognition. The distinction is appropriate as well as intelligible, 
and it would be well if it could be generally adopted at horticultural 
exhibitions. 
EXPRESS GRAPE GROWING. 
I HAVE DO intention of continuing the discussion of this subject 
further, but I would just like to remark that it is difficult to see where 
Mr. Innes (page 478) got the “ abundance of fine, healthy, fibrous 
roots” out of 3-inch pots! I have again to repeat that, all things 
considered, the performance of these straw-like Vines, planted in the 
middle of August out of S-inch pots, is really remarkable. The crops 
they bore the next season were wonderful, and would have been splendid 
had the Vines been planted in the best possible condition and at the 
most suitable time. 
However, as there seems no doubt but that things happened as 
described by Mr. Innes, we must regard these wonderful little Vines with 
the greatest respect, as being able to rise superior to all difficulties, and 
to reward their owner with abundance of fruit in short space of time. 
Long may they continue to flourish, and no doubt their grateful owner 
will always be extra good to them, seeing that they rewarded him so soon 
for the little attention they received before being planted. 1 hope Mr. 
Innes will continue to grow the best quality of Grapes possible. At the 
same time I would caution all who are about to go in for Grape growing 
not to depend on producing the same results so soon from straw-like 
Vines planted late in the season, even if the borders and situation be all 
right and the autumn bright and warm. 
Such good luck does not always attend the culture of the Vine, and 
many people will, no doubt, be content if they get a crop half way up 
their houses off their permanent Vines the first year after planting, 
especially if they have had to plant small canes out of small pots, and 
late in the season. 
Mr. Innes takes exception to my remarking on the “ poor little 
starved Vines ” that he planted. I have only to remark that they must 
have been very little not to have been starved by being kept in 3-inch 
pots till the middle of August. It is impossible that a Vine could 
be otherwise than both starved and little by such treatment.— John 
Thomson, Clovenfords. _ 
The articles under the above heading that have recently appeared 
in the Journal of Horticulture must have proved interesting to many 
readers, as showing what the Vine is capable of producing in a 
commercial line under sound management. 
The success of Mr. Innes is the greatest stride in this direction. 
When we consider that the border in which his Vines were planted con- 
■isted simply of a strong clayey loam, with the moderate addition of about 
20 lbs. of manure per cubic yard, the success of these small Vines in the 
time stated is remarkable. I could understand the success of these Vines 
better if they had been planted in a compost in which a large amount of 
manures had been mixed, to get all possible fruit from them for a few 
years irrespective of their constitution for the future. 
I note, however, Mr. Taylor in his practical treatise, “ Modern Grape 
Growing,” now running through the pages of the Journal of Horticulture, 
recommends a proportion of bones and bone dust. That is another 
starting point. Given a good soil for producing Grapes, and strong canes 
only, mc^erately cropped the season after planting and well looked 
after, I see nothing to hinder heavy crops of Grapes of good average 
quality being produced for an indefinite length of time. The articles 
lately written on this subject will probably cause growers in private 
gardens where heavy crops are required to think if they cannot advance 
a little. 
But if high-class Grapes are in request it would be safest to work on 
a steadier footing, for after all it is the exquisite finish that is so puzzling 
to obtain—that unfailing test of quality. Of course growers for sale 
work on entirely differe it lines to those in private gardens. The former 
have to put Grapes on the market that they can grow profitably, and which 
come within the range of the means of the buyer. The latter are otteu 
expected to produce them of superli-tive quality w.thout regard to profit. 
Mr. John Thomson does not seem in love with Black Alicante. 
Probably from his point of view he is right, ic not being large enough 
to satisfy the British public. This Grape I look on as a gardener’s 
friend ; always to be lelied on, and when well grown a most excellent 
winter Grape. Gros Colman is a Grape that does not usually finish 
kindly, although it is very imposing, and most refreshing when quite 
ripe. To persons who do not care for the more sugary Grapes it is very 
agreeable.—J. J. Ceaven, Allerton, Liverpool, 
A VERY interesting controversy has b:en going on for some time in 
your Journal under the above heading, prompted in the first instance 
by your notice of Mr. Colebrook’s great success in Grape growing, but 
this instance of speedy cultivation seems to have been eclipsed by Mr. 
Innes so far as regards the short time in which the young Vines were 
brought into bearing, and I have no doubt the list of growers who have 
departed from the o:thodox system so praitically written of by Mr. 
J. Thomson might be much augmented. 
I have long ago convinced myself that it is quite unnecessary to 
follow in the footsteps of our forefathers in the matter of growing and 
cropping young Vines, and if I were compelled to treat Vines with a 
view of profit, I doubt not but that I should go even farther from my 
early teaching than I have yet trespassed, for to quote Mr. Innes, I 
have found the Vine to be a most accommodating subject, and capable of 
producing first quality Grapes, under apparently very adverse conditions, 
when there has been a cultivator at the helm. 
In gardening how frequently we hear of really splendid results 
when just the opposite is anticipated by the anxious custodian. Only 
the other day at the Manchester show I inquired of a noted gardener 
how his Masdevallias were looking. Ho r> plied, *■ Never better, notwith¬ 
standing that large icicles hung from the roof to the pots for weeks in 
January.” Is not this a state of things directly opposed to the desire of 
any orchidist, but which could not be avoided ? Yet such unlooked for 
hits seem to teach us not to follow too closely in the old groove. 
When reading Mr. Thomson’s last letter, I fancied that I could 
detect a suspicion that Mr. Innes’ productions were not of the best 
quality. Mr. Innes takes a strong position by leaving his successes to 
speak for themselves. Mr. Thomson will admit that nothing but really 
first-class Grapes come to the front at such exhibitions as Manchester, 
Derby, and Earl’s Court. Medals and prizes won at these shows are 
decidedly awards of which any grower for market may well be proud, 
for they come in direct competition with the productions from gardeners 
who can and do crop much lighter, and in many cases give better 
attention to their houses generally. 
Living in the same county as Mr. Innes I have had opportunities of 
seeing the Vines when under his management, and was always much 
struck by his unvarying successes. That he thoroughly understood the 
Vine and its requirements is beyond a doubt, and let his poor little 
ones, which became famous, have what suited them.— Wm. Elphinstone, 
Shipley. 
Mr, Innes, in his remarks on “ Express Grape Growing,” page 478, 
makes a curious mistake in reference to the crop of 2700 bunches in a 
house of 300 feet long, referred to by ” Market Grower.” He states 
that at 21 feet apart there must have been 240 Vines ; that is, of course, 
an error, as really there could have been only half that number—120. 
Now, the difference between Mr. Innes’ calculation and the correct one 
is that whilst he allows but eleven bunches per rod of 12 feet, there 
would be twenty-three; and the weight per each rod about 40 lbs., at a 
moderate calculation, would give a total of 4800 lbs., certainly a very 
heavy crop, and at 2s. per pound worth £440. That puts the matter 
in a very different light.— Examiner. 
THE VINE AS A TOWN PLANT. 
The Vine (Vitis vinifera) is the only fruit bearing plant that I know 
of which can be cultivated with tolerable success where other fruits, 
such as Peaches, Nectarines, Apples, and the smaller fruits become a 
total failure, and to stimulate a love for the cultivation of the Vine our 
horticultural societies might do worse than to offer some good prizes for 
Grapes that are cultivated, say, within a radius of five or six miles from 
Westminster, 
It is astonishing that the Grape Vine should flourish in the midst of 
smoke, which is so injurious to mostly all other members of the vegetable 
world. Perhaps the physical properties of the foliage have a great deal to 
do with the important question of such adaptability. 
Many City merchants, and not a few judges in lower Courts, have 
found pleasure in their town gardens, and some of them have set about 
the pleasant enjoyment in a m ist p actical manner, and some of them 
with little or no glass can behold the purple Grape fast ripening in the 
summer sun while sitting at their breakfast. Surely such a pleasure 
might be more enjoyed. 
A south aspect with merely a glass roof and verandah is all that 
is required for the cultivation of the Black Hamburgh. No fire heat 
whatever; only the glorious rays of the sun and the free air to play 
at will amongst the foliage. With a little attention to feeding (for 
the Vine has a feeding time), stopping, thinning, and training of 
shoots into vacant places might well be suitable, leisurely employment 
for a king.— A. M. 
