23 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jnly 14, 1887. 
6oi! and kills the roots wholesale. 1 have seen young Vines refuse to 
make any' progress in quite a new border on which, during the winter, 
several rows of Cinerarias were grown. The latter we were ambitious 
to bring to p< rfection, and, as might be expected, used liquid manure 
from the farmyard varied with artificial manure very freely. We 
had a fine display of Cinerarias and ruined the border for the time 
being. A bank of Show Chrysanthemums once proved quite as 
injurious to a nearly new inside border, and I could point to a border 
rendered most unsuitable for Vines by clear water principally, this 
being applied to Azaleas and various other plants stood on it during 
the winter. A large well-constructed border needs little besides clear 
soft water for at, least four years, and my experiments tend to c> n 
vince me that at no time do the roots take up much other than water. 
They certainly require a little manure, which ought always to be 
within th< ir reach, but directly we commence giving them extra s'rong 
doses the woik of poisoning the border is begun, and a healihy root 
action checked. Follow it up, and shanking and other evils are the 
almost sure consequence. 
Doubtless a Vine’s decadence may sometimes be traced to the 
poverty of the border, but in very many' cases the mischief has been 
brought by the very' opposite conditions. Those great Vines at Long- 
leat were built up with the assistance of very little manure, nor waR 
the loam of good quality. A freer use of manure might have pushed 
them along more rapidly, but would they' have lasted in such splendid 
health 60 long ? They certainly get more manure now, and they 
respond to the more liberal treatment, Mr. Pratt being in a position 
to point to a still better lot all through than previously'. With better 
an< ^ ex P tr i £ nce gained Mr. Taylor is building up his 
Muscat of Alexandria and other Grapes more rapidly at Bath than at 
I.ongleat, and remarkable Vines they are likely to prove. Now, I 
think I may 6afely assert they have not received much if any manure, 
and it is very certain the border has not been poisoned with manuie 
supplied to pot plants stood on the surface. I am well aware that 
the market grow'ers round London, at Worthing, and elsewhere give 
large quantities of manure to their Vine borders, and they succeed in 
growing enormous cro{s on quite young Vines, but I am told very 
little other than common garden soil is used, certainly not much good 
turfy loam. They go in for a short life and a merry one—in other 
words, they erop so heavily as to soon cripple the Vims (and that too 
in spite of the abundance of water and manure) when out they come 
and in go a fresh lot. Private gardeners cannot follow their examt le, 
but most go to work slowly but surely. 
When would you supply water? some may reasonably inquire; 
and I will anticipate their query. I would never let either an inside 
or outside bord<r become really dry, but during the winter and up to 
vvt, ** me roo J s are active we may easily give them too much. 
VVhy, even pot Vines maybe ruined by having too much water before 
the young roots are forming, this being especially the case with those 
receiving a fresh shift either in the autumn or eaily in the year. 
Too much water sums the fresh soil before the roots are in possession 
and the consequence is the loss of these as well as the older ones, and 
the change of the foliage to a yellowish green. If well-drained pot 
plants suffer we may reasonably assume still worse consequences 
may follow overwatering a new border. A Vine border ought to be 
frequently examined, and when approaching dryness be wattred. 
No harm is done by probing to a good depth, and it does not require 
an expert to decide if the soil is in a fit state to receive water. If 
it binds in the hand when pressed none is required, but if it crumbles 
readily it may be given. If applied before it becomes dust dry a 
very moderate amount suffices to moisten it thoroughly, but if it is 
delayed till the soil is dust dry, then large quantities, or the thousands 
ot gallons we sometimes read about being necessary, is required. 
” hen the borders are very narrow or shallow, or are being formed 
liecemeal, they need much more water, and if the soil is not fresh 
liquid manure of some kind frequency. Any under glass that have 
been formed several years and now well filled with roots also require 
abundance of water as well as borne manure, nothing being better 
Than a surfacmg of good loam, burnt garden refuse, and partially 
decayed farmyard manure. Jensen’s fish-bone manure and 1 bomson’s 
V me manure are both very valuable for surface dressing or for mix¬ 
ing with the compost. Only a little at a time should be used, as the 
roots that both manures seem capable of attracting to the surface 
are easily injured by them. The borders being duly mulched with 
strawy manure do not so quickly become dry, and fortnightly water¬ 
ings are, as a rule, quite often enough, no matter how hot the weather 
may be. We have drains to our borders, but it is not often much 
witer passes through them, for the simple reason that by anticipating 
•Irvness not much water or liquid manure is needed to moisten it 
sufficiently, 
< hitsiae borders as yet have needed but little water, ours receiving 
a soaking close to a dry wall only. We treat them exactly the same 
as those inside. When found to be dry the}' are watered, and they 
also receive a little of Jensen’s manure, as well as a mulching of 
strawy manure. Heavy and repeated doses of water and liquid 
manure would cause the berries to shank badly, and on the other 
hand, if allowed to get too dry, the berries would colour badly, and 
other evils also result.—W. Iggulden. 
CUCUMBERS—ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 
I have been growing the following varieties of Cucumbers 
this summer, and I now send the result of my experience with 
them. 
Rollisson’s Telegraph stands first in my estimation for quality, 
cropping, and general usefulness, but everyone knows it so well 
that I need only say it pays me best, for I have cut double the 
quantity of good sized fruits from Rollisson’s than of any other 
variety. 
Gilbert’s Burghley Pet stands next as a paying Cucumber, all the 
fruits being of good length and of exceptional thickness. The 
neck is short, the skin dark, and the quality all that could be 
wished. I have got a better price for the fruits than for Rollisson’s, 
but the latter is the better cropper. 
Sutton’s Improved Te'egraph I found slow in coming into 
bearing, and not nearly such a good cropper as Rollisson’s. It is, 
however, a handsome fiuit and large. 
Cardiff Castle I saw so highly praised that I determined to try 
it, but I am not very pleased with it. It is certainly a good 
cropper, and the colour is dark and the fruits handsome, but they 
are too short, and I find they do not sell nearly so well in a 
profitable sense as Rollisson’s and Burghley Pet. 
A friend sent me two packets of seed, one marked “ Telegraph,’’ 
and the other “ Ward’s Telegraph.” The former I found of the 
Telegraph type, but not equal to the true Rollisson’s, and the latter 
I never wish to see again. It is a most peculiar fruit, quite one- 
third of it being neck, and a very thin neck too. I at first thought 
the first two fruits were grown out of form, but every succeeding 
fruit has been the same. 
I may add that I have succeeded far letter with Cucumbers 
this year than I have before, and I ascribe the better cropping and 
finer fruits to the use of Jensen’s Fish Potash Guano. I bought 
some of this manure to apply to my land for a crop of Oats, and I 
may here say that they look remarkably well, and the farmer who 
had the land last year is surprised to see such a good piece of Oats. 
Having some quantity of the manure left I have frequently used it 
as a top-dressing to my Cucumbers mixed with soil, and have also 
watered it in. Previously I have always used liquid manure, pre¬ 
ferably that made with sheep droppings, but in future I shall 
content myself with the Fish Potash Guano, which is less trouble¬ 
some to prepare and use. I have also applied this manure to 
Gloxinias, and Lilium auratum, also to Tomatoes and Peas, and I 
have seen the beneficial effect on them.”—H. S. Easty. 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 
I should much like to have the experience of others who have gone 
largely into the culture of the above. I have had them bedded out 
eight years ; first the common ones, then many named sorts from 
Messrs. Laing & Co., grown one year in conservatory ; and since then I 
have placed out many good varieties in beds. Many of my tubers are 
five, six and seven years old. Last season I noticed considerable 
deterioration in all, not being anything like so floriferous as in preced¬ 
ing seasons. Each year I consider I have had them both in beds and 
conservatory rather better in every way, as far as culture goes, than the 
first two or three years. I remark a deterioration in flowering of some 
of the best sorts, such as Dr. Masters, Prince of Wales, Empress of 
India, Madame Crousse, Comtesse H. de Choiseul, and other high-priced 
ones of this class. Last season, in the tropical heat of June and July, 
the leaves of those bedded out were attacked for the first time by some 
insect of the weevil tribe, and I had before August to cut off all the 
eaten large leaves. When rain came the plants recovered their foliage, 
and bloomed fairly well all the late autumn. Two or three plants were 
attacked in a vinery. 
I have always been very successful in keeping all sorts through the 
winter, rarely losing more than one or two. This last spring I found six 
of those seven or eight-year-old corms did not start like all the others, 
laying on their sides in pots under boards at the back wall of the 
vinery. No damp was near them, but on examination I found them 
decayed but dry. I have never lost any kept in boxes, packed in wins 
cases in layers of cocoa-nut fibre refuse. I should like to hear from 
some amateur growers how long they consider Begonias last before 
showing deterioration in blooming, all things being done perfectly from 
the first flowering of the seedling. I have come to one conclusion, that 
Begonias, like most plants, deteriorate after their third season of 
flowering, no matter how well they are done, winter, spring and summer.— 
Saxoring. 
RASPBERRrES and the Dry Weather.— The long drought has 
quickly left its mark on the Raspberries, and the fruit, though very 
