412 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f November 1,1888. 
Apples. —Beauty of Bath, Irish Peach, Quarrenden, and Summer 
Golden Pippin remained in season much longer than usual, and on the 
whole were good in quality. Kerry Pippin is now available, and a few 
King of the Pippins have been ripened artificially. Among culinary 
varieties Lord Suffield, Keswick and Carlisle Codlins, and Stirling 
Castle have done good service, and promise to keep well. The bulk of 
these are now fit for storing, and the invaluable Ecklinville should also 
be ready to gather. All these will keep fairly well, but the Duchess of 
Oldenburgh, another sure cropper, loses in weight and quality by being 
stored. Emperor Alexander, Cox’s Pomona, Lord Grosvenor, Flower of 
Kent, Hollandbury, Lane’s Prince Albert, Blenheim Pippin, Tower of 
Glamis, Lemon Pippin, Alfriston, and a few other good culinary varie¬ 
ties will be very late this year, all at present having quite white pips or 
seeds. It may now be found safe in some localities to gather a portion 
of King of the Pippins, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Adam’s Pearmain,Braddick’s 
Nonpareil, Boss Nonpareil. Margil, Claygate Pearmain, Lord Burghley, 
and Blenheim Pippin, but in rather late districts very few of these are 
yet fit to store. All may eventually be stored in thin layers on fruit- 
room shelves, but will keep equally well, perhaps better, when fairly 
large heaps are formed. The less valuable orchard-grown fruit can be 
"kept well in large heaps in outhouses or sheds, but they must be well 
protectel from frosts. If spare rooms are utilised for the storage of 
Apples these should be covered with paper, this excluding frost, which 
will otherwise find its way up the crevices, even better than straw, and 
does not taint the fruit as does the straw. Paper is also the best pro¬ 
tective material. In any case it is very unwise to store bruised or 
unsound fruit, and all should therefore be handled and sorted over care- 
fnlly, and those damaged in any way kept apart from the rest for im¬ 
mediate use. 
Simple and Good Method op Storing Apples. —In many 
gardens there exists a collection of Apples, and no adequate provision 
made for storing the produce. Very frequently the crops are compara¬ 
tively small, or, say, do not exceed a bushel of each variety. The best 
course to pursue with these is to gather and store each variety separately 
in quite clean boxes, which may be bought or made at a trifling cost. 
None but quite sound fruit are suitable for this method of storing 
Apples, and these should be carefully gathered and stored, no matter 
tow many layers deep, direct in the boxes or barrels used as a good 
substitute for the latter. The lids to be then put on and all be set in a 
dry room or outhouse, and protected from severe frosts when necessary. 
Apples thus stored must not be muddled about in any way, and if left 
alone will keep surprisingly well, tbeii season being prolonged longer 
than by any other ordinary method of storing yet tried. Large heaps 
of orchard-grown fruit may be formed in the open, where they will 
keep admirably. The only essentials are careful handling and sorting 
over of the fruit, a well drained position, and a good covering of clean 
straw with an outer casing of soil. Funnels formed, either with drainage 
pipes or a wisp of straw, should be set on the ridge of the heap by way 
of an outlet for any moist heat generated by the fruit. 
FRUIT FORGING. 
Vines. — Early-forcecl Vines in Pots. —Where thin-skinned Grapes 
are required in April, they taking precedence of Lady Downe’s and 
other late varieties, the house intended for their cultu-e will now be 
ready for their reception, if indeed they are not already in position. 
The pots should be placed on stands or pedestals which will not give 
way under their weight or interfere with turning the fermenting 
materials used for supplying bottom heat, than which nothing answers 
better than bricks placed to the required height without mortar. 
Where weight and quality of crop are first considerations some turf 
should be packed against the pedestal, and the holes in the pots en¬ 
larged, bringing the turf up above these so as to be within easy reach of 
the roots, which will speedily follow the stimulating food with which 
the Vines are fed. For supplying bottom heat Oak leaves are the best, 
a3 they supply heat and moisture through the early stages of growth 
and rich stimulating food from their decay at the finish, when the fruit 
requires all the support that can be given. Take care that the heat 
about the pots does not exceed 70° to 75°. The canes should be allowed 
to fall in a horizontal position over the fermenting material until they 
have broken, and be syringed two or more times a day, but sufficiently 
early for the last time each day to allow of the canes becoming fairly 
dry before nightfall. If the Vines have not been shortened to the 
proper length and dressed with styptic they must not be shortened now, 
as bleeding would weaken them, and it is easy to disbud when they 
start. Black Hamburgh, Royal Ascot, White Frontignan. and Foster’s 
Seedling are excellent kinds for early forcing in pots, to which may be 
added Madresfield Court, which requires liberal feeding until the berries 
show signs of changing colour, when a gradual diminution, combined 
with a dry atmosphere, is necessary to prevent cracking. 
Earliest-forced Planted-out Vines. —The houses containing Vines 
from which ripe Grapes are expected early in May should be closed by 
the middle of the month, or if the Vines are young and vigorous and 
not subjected to early forcing before close the house at once, as they do 
not break so quickly as old ones that have been forced for a number of 
years. With a view of economising fire heat and to produce a humid 
atmosphere a good bed or ridge of fermenting materials, consisting of 
two parts leaves and one of stable litter, may be placed upon the border 
and turned at short intervals, additions being made as the heat declines. 
In the canes of old rods they may be tied up to the wires as soon as they 
are dressed, but young canes ought to be suspended in a horizontal 
position over the fermenting materials, where they can be well syringed 
with tepid water slightly warmer than the house, but it is well to allow 
them to be become dry at least once in the twenty-four hours or at 
night. Keep the temperature at 50° to 55° at night and 65° on fine 
days, the temperature by artificial means in the day being 55° until the 
Vines begin to move. If the border is not in a thoroughly moist condi¬ 
tion it must receive repeated supplies of tepid water, or liquid manure if 
the Vines are weak, so as to thoroughly moisten it through. 
Succession Houses. —Push on the pruning as soon as the Vines 
become clear of foliage, also the cleansing, painting, and limewashing, 
carefully washing the Vines with soap and water prior to dressing with 
an approved insecticide. Presuming the Vines have been fairly free of 
insects, avoid the old-fashioned practice of peeling, scraping, and 
painting with a pigment of clay, soot, sulphur, and other substances, 
which is more calculated to protect the larvae than destroy it; it is 
better to wash twice and preserve the bark, which is of incalculable 
value in holding moisture from the syringe, and aids the flow of the sap 
when they are starting in growth when excited by genial moisture and 
warmth. 
Midseason Houses. —Those that still contain a few Grapes, Black 
Hamburghs or other thin-skinned varieties, may now be cleared, as the 
fruit will keep fresh in a cool dry room, and the Vines will derive 
great benefit from free exposure to the weather so long as it continues 
dry and mild. When thoroughly at rest Vines will not be injured by a 
little frost, but a sudden chill should be guarded against by drawing 
up the roof lights or closing the houses when the nights are likely to be 
wet or frosty. The Grapes should be cut with all the wood that can 
be spared for insertion into bottles of water, which should be soft, and 
a piece of charcoal placed in eacb, removing the old foliage, but do 
not shorten the wood that has been allowed to extend beyond the 
bunch. The Vines should have the laterals shortened or removed, 
and the growths generally cut back, so as to plump the buds, but it 
must be done gradually, particularly in the case of vigorous Vines 
which are disposed to make late growth, which should be checked by 
free ventilation constantly, turning on the heat by day, but shutting 
it off at night, only the temperature must not be allowed to fall below 
50° at night, until the foliage affords indications of falling. 
Late Hamburghs .—The atmosphere in which bunches of these are 
hanging cannot be kept too dry, only the temperature must not be too 
high or the Grapes will shrivel no matter how moist the border. A 
steady temperature of 50°, with a little warmth in the pipes and liberal 
ventilation on dry days, will suit them during the fall of the leaf, when, 
unless the houses are well adapted for keeping them, the bunches may 
be cut, bottled, and placed in the late houses. 
Late Houses. —If late Grapes have not finished (and the glorious 
weather of September and October w T as truly a godsend) nothing 
will be gained by pushing the fires after the wood is ripe, as a high 
temperature now will not prevent the Grapes shrivelling nor when the 
leaves fall. Perhaps the most crucial test of the thorough maturity 
of Grapes is evidenced by Mrs. Fince, it being sure to shrivel if the Vines 
have not heat enough at the right time - i.e., from the fruit stoning 
until the berries are thoroughly ripened to the shank. Well done it is 
one of the very best late Grapes for quality, but it has not done well this 
season with us. Where immaturity and consequently shrivelling is the 
result of overcropping, relief should be given the Vines by cutting 
a portion of the bunches at the earliest convenience, but where it can be 
traced to imperfect drainage or bad borders no time should be lost in 
getting out the old soil and laying the roots in new compost over 
rectified drainage. Highly finished Muscats hanging on Vines that have 
lost their leaves are liable to be tinged by exposure to bright sunshine, 
which, though weak in November, disfigures them to some extent, espe¬ 
cially when grown for market. To guard against this, which is only 
needed in case of houses with large panes of glass, a single thickness of 
pilchard nets drawn over the roof will be a sufficient shading. If not 
already done Vine borders should have some covering placed over them 
that will throw off rain and snow. The inside borders will be getting 
dry at the surface, and should be covered with some dry fern or straw 
neatly spread over them, which will prevent the border cracking and its 
giving off dust, besides improving their appearance. Give daily atten¬ 
tion to the removal of ripe foliage as it parts from the Vines, keeping 
the houses cool, dry, clear of plants requiring water, and thoroughly clean. 
Cherry House. —-The lights having been taken off the house, the 
trees having cast their leaves in doing so, and as soon as all are down 
prune at once. Cut back to within an inch of the base from the shoots 
started all those laterals which were made during the summer, and 
which have been stopped at about the fifth joint. It is not good prac¬ 
tice to shorten any of the terminal shoots unless the trees have reached 
the extremity of the trellis, or when it is necessary to multiply the shoots 
another season. The trees should then be washed with a brush with 
soap and water, and may then have the branches tied together to save 
them from injury whilst the house is being cleansed and the walls lime- 
washed. The latter should be made of the best fresh lime applie l 
rather thinly, and is best with a little size to make it adhere firmly. 
Dress the trees then with an insecticide, train and tie them to the trellis. 
These matters being attended to all the loose material on the border 
should be cleared off, and any soil of an inert character that can be 
forked over and changed for fresh turfy loam of a calcareous nature or 
a sixth of lime rubbish may be added, then top-dress with 3 inches of 
partially decayed lumpy manure. If the borders are in the least dry 
they must have a thorough supply of water, but the lights having been 
off it will be necessary only in exceptional cases. Keep the house fully 
ventilated at all times excepting during frost until such time as forcing 
operations are commenced, which, to have the fruit ripe at the beginning 
of May, will need to be at the beginning of December. 
