132 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 9,1888. 
■winter. Apart from these Onions furnishing good bulbs in spring they 
also supply useful green ones for salad from November onwards, and 
where they are much used in this way a large quantity should be sown. 
Onions Bulbing.— The present is a poor season for Onions bulbing. 
We have never known them so backward. Some years ago we had 
spring Onion bulbs measuring 11 inches round on July 20th. At the 
present time we should have difficulty in finding any to measure 
6 inches round, and judging from the spring Onions we have lately seen 
at shows this deficiency is general. We must not think of harvesting 
the spring Onions this year in August, but it may be necessary to allow 
them to grow until the end of September before they are large and 
matured. The latter condition is important. Where the stems are 
strong and upright twist them over a little to expose the bulbs to the 
sun. The bulbs of the Onions sown last autumn, especially Trebons, 
are very fine now. We have them 20 ozs. in weight, with no signs of 
splitting ; but where they are going in this way the whole should be 
■drawn and laid in the sun to dry. Do not lay them on the soil or a 
wet 9pot, but place them on a dry base, such as a walk. 
Cucumbers in Frames and in the Open. —Open-air Cucumbers 
are not the success now they were last year ; fruits are few and long in 
■swelling, and in some instances they have failed altogether. Plants in 
frames have also been slow in bearing of late. The heat is gone from 
the manure beds, the sun has not been sufficiently powerful to forward 
them, and if immediate attention is not given them there may be a blank 
in the Cucumber supply. In any case frame Cucumbers should have 
extra attention, and if the old shoots are removed from the p ants, a 
little surface dressing applied to the roots, and a good lining of fermenting 
material round the frame, there will be abundance of autumn Cucum¬ 
bers in spite of the weather. 
Material for Mushroom Beds. — To have Mushrooms from 
November onwards the first bed should be formed in September, and 
material should be collected forthwith. Horse droppings are the 
befet of all. If there are only one or two horses it will take a 
fortnight or three weeks to get sufficient. The manure should be put 
under cover in an open shed daily to keep it from rain, and turn it over 
daily to dry and sweeten it before making up the bed. 
Winter Spinach. —There is no more useful vegetable in the garden 
in winter than Spinach. When a good plantation of it is well up and 
in abundant leaf by November it may be gathered from almost daily 
throughout the winter, and professional cooks can use it in such a variety 
of ways that it is never tiring. Fork a piece of ground from which 
Peas, Potatoes, or any crop has been cleared, open drills 15 inches 
apart and 1^ inch deep, and sow the seed rather thin, as it germinates 
so freely as a rule that thick sowing is a mistake. 
Leeks. —These may well be classed amongst the most useful of all 
winter vegetables. They will bear any amount of severe weather. 
Nothing in the way of cold or bad weather will injure them, and they 
are in season from November until May. Cooked and served like 
Asparagus they are really delicious. Early Leeks for shows are very 
■well, but it is the main crop for the kitchen that is the most important, 
and it is not yet too late to plant a quarter for winter and spring use, 
but planting should not be delayed any longer. 
Greens Going Blind. —We notice many Savoys and Broccoli are 
losing their centres this season. It happens with us every year, but in 
some seasons is worse than others. This is a bad one, and unless culti¬ 
vators examine their quarters and fill up the deficiencies with good 
plants the autumn may come and find them with plants well furnished 
with outer leaves, but minus the important centre. We have gone 
through this experience, but avoid it always now. We have also noticed 
plants are more apt to go blind in July than afterwards, and if all 
plantations are made good at once they may not require further atten¬ 
tion. 
Peas.—M idseason varieties have furnished a long succession of pods 
this year. They did not fill very rapidly, but the abundance of moisture 
at the roots has kept them going. There is no object in keeping them, 
however, when once the crop has been gathered, and immediately this 
has been secured clear them away and fill up the ground with other 
crops. Save the best of the stakes, and as late Peas require extra sup¬ 
port some of the stakes drawn up now should be put to them. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Figs. — Early Forced Trees. —The second crop is ripening fast, and 
watering at the roots must be diminished and syringing discontinued. 
As soon as the fruits are all gathered the trees may have a good washing 
with the syringe or garden engine to free the foliage from red spider, 
otherwise a circulation of dry warm air should be maintained in the 
house until the foliage begins to fall naturally. If the trees are infested 
with scale they may be syringed with soapsuds, adding a wineglassful of 
petroleum to every four gallons, kept thoroughly mixed whilst being 
applied with a syringe by stirring briskly with a broom handle or 
alternate squirts of the syringe into the vessel. 
The earliest forced trees in pots may be placed out of doors in a 
sunny position, allowing them sufficient water. They must not, however, 
be placed outdoors until the wood is well matured. If the wood is 
unripe let them remain under glass, keeping them rather warm by day 
with moderate ventilation, and throw the ventilators open at night. 
Exposure to the atmosphere after the wood is sufficiently mature will 
harden it, which is of great importance, especially to Figs. Young trees 
in pots from cuttings in the spring, and which are intended for fruit¬ 
ing in the second or third year of their growth, must still be attended to 
in pinching off the tops of strong shoots to form the foundation of a 
fin metrical head in their first year’s training. 
Vines.— Midseason Houses. —The heavy rains, low temperature, 
and sunless weather have been against Grapes acquiring bloom and 
colour rapidly, but they have swelled well and are larger in berry than 
usual. A low night temperature, or 60° to 65°, will assist Vines carry¬ 
ing heavy crops, by giving them rest in the colouring process and in 
gaining bloom, it being accompanied by moderate ventilation, allow¬ 
ing a steady rise by day with abundance of air. 
Muscats in the last stage of ripening will need fire heat to keep up a 
day temperature of 75° to 80°, 85° or 90° from sun heat, and 65° to 75° 
at night ; light being essential to their fine amber colour, it may be 
desirable to stop the laterals somewhat closely. If the weather be very 
bright it may be advisable to draw a double thickness of herring-nets 
to break the fierce rays of the sun, and so prevent excessive evaporation, 
which is neither good for the foliage nor the Grapes. Make sure that 
there is no deficiency of moisture in borders, giving if necessary a 
thorough soaking in the early part of a prospective fine day. 
Late Houses. —For such varieties as Lady Downe’s and Muscats, which 
are liable to be scalded and have not completed stoning, a rather dry 
and warm atmosphere must be maintained through the night, with free 
ventilation by day. Inside borders must be attended to, and when 
necessary have copious supplies of water ; and where the Vines are 
carrying a full crop of Grapes some stimulant, as a fertiliser of some 
approved kind, sprinkled over the border and well washed in, will be of 
advantage. Keep the laterals regularly stopped, not allowing them to 
be made to the crowding of the principal foliage, or in such quantity 
that they must be removed in great bulk at one time. 
Ripe Grapes are keeping colour well, but in bright weather afford 
shade from powerful sun. Gentle fires will be necessary to admit of a 
free circulation of air, and if the wet weather continue outside borders 
should be covered with some material, spare lights being preferable. 
Vines in Pots. —The canes of those intended for early forcing should 
be in the last stage of ripening, but if by reason of the cold sunless 
weather they are not ripening freely, fire heat may be applied, main¬ 
taining good ventilation, and supplying no more water than is needed to 
secure the proper maturation of the buds that are to afford fruit. Any 
Vines that have the wood thoroughly ripe may be placed in the open air 
against the south aspect of a wall or fence, to which the canes can be 
secured to prevent damage by winds. The roots must be protected from 
heavy rains either by laying the pots on their sides or some other means 
must be employed. Although all lateral growths are to be checked the 
old foliage must not be removed, but allowed to fall naturally. 
Early Forced Vines. —These will have the wood thoroughly ripe, and 
should, the old foliage being retained, have the laterals cut away and 
some of the long shoots shortened, deferring the final pruning until the 
foliage is nearly gone. If, however, the old foliage is partly lost allow 
some lateral growths to remain to appropriate the sap, and so keep it 
from starting the buds relied on for furnishing next year’s crop. Remove 
the old mulching and surface soil and fork it from amongst the roots, 
taking the advantage of raising any that are deep and laying them in 
fresh material nearer the surface, supplying good loam, with which has 
been incorporated about a fifteenth of crushed bones and wood ashes. 
The uppermost roots ought not to be covered with more than 2 or 
3 inches of soil, and a moderate watering being given they will push into 
the new soil freely, whilst there is yet foliage upon the Vines, which 
will enable them to break Strongly and give a good account of the 
manurial matter furnished in liquid form or from water passing through 
mulchings of rich lumpy material. When partial renovation or lifting 
is deferred until the leaves fall the start is not nearly so satisfactory as 
when performed whilst there is foliage on the Vines. Where the Vines 
are enfeebled by continuous early forcing and it exerts a deteriorating 
influence through their having to make their growth and perfect the 
crop under disadvantageous circumstances, continuous early forcing 
being a great strain on the energies of the Vines, it is most desirable to 
ease them occasionally (about every seven years) by a year’s rest, during 
which they should be allowed to make rather more growth, every en¬ 
couragement being given to a thorough recuperation both of the roots and 
Vines, if necessary thinning the old spurs or rods, and encouraging 
others in their place, whether it be shoots for spur pruning or canes for 
long pruning, as young parts allow of a freer access of sap, and the Vines 
consequently are regenerated by new parts supplanting, very much 
better and quicker results being effected by the process of partial lifting 
and a year’s rest than making fresh borders and planting young Vines. 
The only thing important is to allow the young growths plenty of light, 
so as to insure thoroughly solidified wood and plump well-developed 
buds. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Cinerarias. —Place these into larger pots as they need root room 
until they are in those in which they are intended to flower. Give the 
plants plenty of space, so that their foliage can develope naturally 
instead of being drawn up weakly. Plants that are crowded during the 
earlier stages of their growth are certain to lose their lower leaves by 
the time the flower spikes are advanced. This can be prevented by 
standing the plants from the first sufficiently far apart, so that light and 
air can freely penetrate amongst them. These are often grown too soft 
by keeping the frames close and overshading them.' Large quantities 
will now be ready for placing into 6-inch pots, a very suitable size in 
which to flower dwarf strains ; in fact, they are more useful for decora¬ 
tion in this than in larger pots. If a few large plants are desired they 
must be potted from the first without checking them. It is a mistake to 
allow the pots to become too full of roots before transferring the plants 
into others, whether required for large or moderate sized specimens. Later 
