February 1, 189-J. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
85 
necessary to reach onr empiric standard. The all-roand strain is so 
great that a change to milder weather comes as a relief, though 
those wise old heads shake ominously, and mutter about “ fat 
kirkyards.” 
Now I trust it may not be thought I am quixotic enough to 
run full tilt against the laws of Nature wrested from her by the 
mind of man for his guide—these good rules that are laid down for 
our guidance in the temperature of our houses. No, I am not so 
rash as that; but I take them as the road we are to travel on, and 
in doing so we can step a little to either side without getting in 
the ditch. Nature is very elastic in these matters, actually forgets 
herself so far as to give films of ice in India and crown the Tree 
Ferns in the gullies of their Antipodean homes with snow. She, 
too, admonishes us in the matter of fuel by threatening a coal 
strike surpassing all others in magnitude ; but, as this is timed for 
a few millions of years hence, “ Sufficient for the day is the evil 
thereof.” We, of course, go to her for our lessons when she is in 
an amiable mood. No one thinks of heeding her when she is, as 
she sometimes is, positively savage ; and we do not get up mimic 
cyclones or a deluge in the Orchid house because she does so 
entertain her proteges in the Indies. So, under some conditions, 
we will not have her as a guide ; and, under other conditions, 
cognizant of her flirting propensities, we may be less anxious to 
copy her so close. 
In large gardening establishments order must be maintained, 
or chaos would result ; rules are laid down to be obeyed 
with military precision, as, of course they should. Yet does not 
rigid discipline exact a little too much in the case of fixed rules 
for certain night temperatures to be maintained, which in many 
cases is impossible under adverse conditions outside ? And in 
the anxiety of the stokers to carry out the orders of the chief 
engineer is where the evil comes in, increased by the opening of 
doors through the night to see how matters go, with about the same 
good result as tiny gardeners in embryo, who plant one day to pull 
up the next for root observation. Where the houses are detached 
loss of heat must result. In a large range of glass with probably 
an entrance from the offices in the rear, this remark does not 
apply ; here a house to house visit can be made in comfort, and if 
we rob Peter in one house by an open door, we pay Paul in the 
next. 
It may be thought of little moment to think so much of a few 
degrees less than the ideal, not so much difference truly ; but 
many a young gardener might justly say, “But, oh, the difference 
tome!” Of course, wo do not want feather-bed gardeners any 
more than feather-bed soldiers ; there is, indeed but little of that 
pertaining to this sentry go till 2 or 3 a.m. on the occasion of 
a hard frost, clinkering those purgatorial fires and watching that 
little tell-tale, the registering thermometer in every house, then 
black as Erebus seek the couch, before doing so nudge a sleepy 
mate who must be up in two hours to feed the insatiable furnaces. 
Overdrawn, I hear you say. No, reader ; just a page out of my 
life, far back in the book now, but indelibly printed by memory— 
and I venture to add many another “ could a tale unfold.” 
A valuable friend in need are blinds on tropical houses, where 
they can be left up through the winter, snugly housed under a 
coping on the roof—to be run down on urgent occasions ; they are 
wonderful comforters, conserve heat, and prevent drip. The draw¬ 
back is they may at times prove troublesome by getting frozen or 
weighted with snow, still I think the advantages more than 
compensate. Nature’s laws of temperature are not empiric ones. 
Her children of the vegetable kingdom often have to put up with 
some rough treatment at their mother’s hands, though they may 
take it better from her than they do from us. We do not venture 
to take such liberties, and are inclined to err on the side of coddling 
and petting, which the angry dame resents ; and when she circum¬ 
vents us, and does get a slap at them, they cannot stand it. In 
conclusion, should it be thought I have stepped beyond the 
boundary line of common sense, I can only say these few remarks 
have been misinterpreted, or it may be the pen has failed to express 
what has been ripening in my mind for some years. Older and 
wiser heads than mine may think temperance will not connect with 
temperature — the rules cannot be made elastic ones ; while I 
respect their opinion I hold my own.—E. K., Dublin. 
MULCHING OUTSIDE VINE BORDERS. 
Thick mulchings of leaves and litter for the protection of Vine 
roots are still persisted in as if the latter are so tender that the 
slightest frost will injure them. It is surprising when practices 
are once established how tenaciously cultivators cling to them 
without considering whether they are right or wrong. Evils certainly 
follow the heavy mulching of Vine borders in the autumn, and 
not unfrequently results in the complete ruin of the Vines if adopted 
for a period of years. I do not hesitate to say that the roots of Vines 
in outside borders left to the mercy of the weather will be in 
better condition in the spring than those that are protected, as it is 
termed, by a thick mulching. The border is certainly drier, even during 
the winter, and the roots remain perfectly healthy in the one case while 
there is a great tendency to decay in the other. Again, the roots mature 
naturally and a frozen condition of the border does not injure them 
in the least. 
The roots of the Vines are equally as hardy as those of the Apple, 
Pear or Plum, and why, therefore, waste time in trying to protect them? 
For years I have discontinued these practices with beneficial results to 
the Vines. When the borders are exposed to frost, apart from its 
sweetening and pulverizing influence on the soil and the preparation of 
plant food by the chemical changes inaugurated by exposure, it induces 
the Vines to complete rest. I know of no agent that brings about such 
complete rest as frost. Gardeners can demonstrate this fact by the 
many plants they have to force from time to time. What sends to 
complete rest Strawberries for early forcing so well and so completely 
as their exposure to a good frost? The very same may be said of Lily 
of the Valley, Lilacs, Primroses, Khubarb, Seakale, and many other 
plants and vegetables. The same is strikingly noticeable with Peaches 
in pots. Rest is so complete that the aid of gentle warmth afterwards 
excites them immediately into activity. Why should Vines be exempt 
from these rules? My contention is that they do not rest so thoroughly 
or go to rest so quickly when the roots are protected by mulchings as 
when they are exposed. 
It may be argued that the border is not drier when exposed ; that 
may be so, but the further objectionable practice of thatching the 
borders, or covering them with wood shutters or corrugated zinc to keep 
off autumn and winter rains must be practised. These methods of 
procedure are, to my mind, even more injurious than mere mulching ; 
they are both unnecessary and unnatural. We have only to think what 
such treatment means, and the “ rain-shooting-off ” principle would be 
discontinued. Fancy the border and its contents for a period of four 
or six months being carefully protected from those atmospheric elements 
which are necessary for life and health. The roots are excluded from 
the free access of air. I have known Vines showing signs of distress, 
flagging, and even the foliage presenting a browned appearance by the 
flowering stage, solely through preventing air entering freely to the 
roots. Not long ago I had to discard this system of Vine border protec¬ 
tion, and the Vines instantly began to improve. 
Mulched borders hold on the surface a large amount of water that 
would naturally, had no mulching been present, have filtered through 
the soil. These mulchings left on the border during the spring only 
intensifies the evil, and the soil is colder than it otherwise would be 
with the surface exposed. The sun’s heat early in the year, say February, 
would commence to be absorbed by the border and warm the soil, while 
on the mulched border the soil would remain cold for months, the heat 
of the sun being used to evaporate the moisture held by the mulching 
material. The length of time required to accomplish this task will 
vary according to the weather and the thickness of the mulching. I 
was called upon to look at some Vines in two different gardens last 
May, and in both cases the borders outside were heavily mulched. 
The soil in the garden was dry on the surface., perfectly sweet, and warm 
—in fact, in such a condition as would encourage luxuriant growth. 
The Vine borders were just the opposite, the mulching material 
saturated, the surface soil wet, cold, and practically sour. The border 
in one case was nearly a new one, and brought into this condition 
by heavy annual mulchings. I had not the means of testing the 
temperature of the ground and that of the Vine border at a certain 
depth ; but the difference was very marked—the one warm, and the 
other perfectly cold. How could Vines under such methods of culture 
be expected to flourish ? When would the roots commence activity in 
cold borders which were sealed against the admission of air? Too many 
Vine borders are subjected to this treatment, which result^ in poor 
Grapes, shanking, and other diseases to which Vines are subject. In 
passing, I sound a note also against the heavy autumn mulching of wall 
and other fruit trees. 
Vine and fruit borders can be mulched early in the season, and 
beneficial results follow. I do not object, and have known no evil 
results from a thin scattering of nearly fresh manure spread on Vine 
borders during the autumn and winter. It is acted upon by the weather 
and its manorial properties carried down to the roots. When borders 
are mulcbed, say during February, the material should be of a strawy 
nature. This ought to be drawn to the base of the border on w'arm 
mornings by the aid of a rake, so that air can have free access and 
the sun’s heat every chance of warming the soil. Before evening, 
or directly the sun is off the border, the litter should be again 
spread over the surface, which will prevent the radiation of heat 
at night, which if left exposed would naturally cool to a certain 
extent. It is surprising how rapidly a boy can cover and uncover 
a number of borders. It is well spent time ; the roots start earlier 
than they would do if the border was left fully exposed to natural con- 
ditions. . , i i 
Borders in the wet cold condition pointed out should in early 
February be uncovered, the surface pricked up, the depth being 
decided according to the depth of the roots, and then left exposed to 
sweeten and warm. Borders in a bad condition will often need the 
drying influences of a season before they are in a suitable condition for 
healthy root development.—Wii. Bardney. 
