November 8, 1888. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
421 
Tjeautiful ; it is bearing three large blooms on a spike, the labellum 
being well formed and of a brilliant crimson colour. The ordinary 
■species is also very showy, and good for late autumn flowering. 
■Odontoglossums are very numerous and the majority extra strong. 
A considerable number will soon be ready for the show house, 
among these being 0. Roezli and Roezli alba ; 0. grande, of which 
there are several splendid varieties ; 0. Rossi, just coming into 
bloom, and the lovely 0. aspersum. This is said to be a natural 
hybrid between 0. maculatum and Rossi, and Mr. Cypher’s has one 
•extra good spike showing. 
Oncidiums are largely grown for autumn and winter flowering. 
The most noteworthy among these is the lovely 0. Jonesianum, of 
which there are many grand plants in bloom, the strongest spikes 
bearing as many as twelve good blooms. 0. Forbesi, also a fine 
variety, has one fine spike with fourteen blooms. 0. varicosum 
•or Rogersi is most free flowering, and there will soon be a grand 
show of this showy species. 0. crispum and 0. tigrinum are like¬ 
wise worthy of mention, and I cannot close these brief notes 
without reference to the well flowered pans of the charming Indian 
•Crocuses, Pleiones birmanica and lagenarica. 
NARROW VINE BORDERS. 
Those making new Vine borders I recommend to use good yellow 
turf fresh cut from an old pasture. Do not chop it up as is generally 
recommended, but cut it in pieces of about 8 inches square. After the 
width and depth of the border has been decided, which I think should 
be 14 or 16 feet wide and 2or 2J feet deep, certainly not more, give 
•about 6 inches of good drainage, which should consist of broken brick, 
flower pots, or clinkers from the boiler fires. If the bottom and sides 
can be concreted and cemented so much the better, as this will prevent 
the roots penetrating into soil which might not be suitable for the pro¬ 
duction of fine Grapes, and which is in some cases the cause of shank¬ 
ing. Having prepared the border for the soil, cover the drainage with 
turfs, grass side down, and put a good sprinkling of old lime rubbish 
and crushed bones or Thomson’s Vine manure over this. Then proceed 
to place on this another layer of turfs, cut into pieces about 8 inches 
•square (if in the case of lifting old Vines all across the border). But 
where young Vines are to be planted. I recommend only 3 feet width to 
be made the first year, the rest of the border to be made up in 3 feet 
widths every year till completed. As before stated, in renewing old 
Tine borders it is necessary to make them the full width at first. After 
having the first layer of 8 inch square turfs laid, put another good 
•sprinkling of old lime rubbish and crushed bones, and proceed iu this 
way until the border is within 4 or 6 inches of being completed, then 
well spread out the roots of the Vines, and cover with chopped turf, 
lime rubbish and crushed bones, Thomson’s manure, or both. 
In wet cold districts I recommend that the border be all inside- 
In fact I have not much faith in outside borders anywhere. The width 
I have stated is ample to grow any Vines in, and Vines planted in 
borders made up in this manner will last in good bearing condition for 
fourteen years or more, provided they are properly managed and not 
<0 ,-er-cropped.—G. Hilton. 
As stated by “Spectator” and “ W. S.,” Vine borders, as a rule, are 
too large. It is very well where the natural soil and drainage are good 
to let the Vines have an unlimited root run, as then they pick up food as 
they travel. Many of the large old Vines owe their success and vigour 
to this cause, and probably if the borders had been restricted they would 
not succeed so well. I am a firm believer in small, well drained, and 
•sound borders, as then you can “feed” up and know that the roots re¬ 
ceive the benefit of whatever is applied iu the form of liquid feeding or 
rich top-dressing. We have four restricted borders, and the Vines are 
doing well. Madresfield Court does capitally in a restricted border, 
bunches and berries of fine colour, and not one cracked berry. We 
treated the Vines in this house, when the Grapes commenced colouring, 
the same as I recommended for Lady Downe’s to prevent scalding. I 
feel convinced it is the atmospheric conditions which cause this Grape 
to crack. A firm border is also necessary for the successful growth of 
the Vine, but the state of firmness must depend upon the class of soil 
you have to deal with. With some soils, even if one half is pounded 
brick and mortar rubbish, if trodden on it will run together like 
concrete. For instance, the soil we have to deal with is a very stiff 
limestone clay. When wet it will stick like birdlime, and if trodden on 
whilst wet the impression caused by the foot will hold water like a cup. 
In that excellent little treatise, “Vines at Longleat,” Mr. Taylor 
■states that the more trampling the border has the better, if not trodden 
•on immediately after watering or until the surface is dry ; and in the 
graphic description of the gardens at Cardiff Castle twelve months since 
by “ A Tourist ” we read of two 16 stoners trying to make an impression 
•on the borders there and failed, and at the same time praising the 
wonderful crop of Grapes. When one of the two was here a short time 
afterwards and was admiring the state of the Vines generally in a large 
Hamburgh house he said “there is nothing like a firm border.” I 
thought we will have a firm border if it will lead to further improve¬ 
ment. When top-dressing time arrived so much loam, burnt refuse, and 
pounded lime rubbish was put on and well firmed down with the back 
of a fork and excepting after watering we did not trouble about tread¬ 
ing on the border in the least, and at the same time was congratulating 
ourselves on having a firm border. In the autumn we had lifted the 
roots in the outside border, and for a time everything looked promising, 
but when colouring time arrived the Grapes did not seem to improve as 
they ought considering the firm border and the quantity of healthy roots 
below the top-dressing when it was applied ; so I anxiously looked for 
the roots working into the top-dressing, and looked in vain, for they 
were quite dormant. We had practically “sealed up the roots from the 
air.” After seeing how matters stood it did not take long to decide 
what to do. Off came the “top-dressing,” and a lighter dressing was 
given in its place, with a mulching of littery manure. The roots soon 
commenced to work upwards and the Grapes and Vines improved 
rapidly. A little warning may be of use, for after reading the remarks 
of “ W. P.” some might be trying their hand at the ice mallets irrespec¬ 
tive of the soil they have to deal with. It is one of those fallacies of the 
culture as expounded by Mr. Goodacre—“ What will succeed in one place 
will not in another.”—A. Young. 
JASMINUM HIRSUTUM. 
Jasmines are all favourites with plant-growers, as the majority of 
the species are not only extremely ornamental as climbers, either in 
warm or cool houses and in the outdoor garden, but they also yield such 
an abundant supply of fragrant flowers that their utility is unquestion* 
able in most establishments. The one of which a spray is represented 
in the woodcut (fig. 48) is chiefly remarkable for its dwarf shrubby 
habit, which admirably suits it for culture in pots in a stove or inter¬ 
mediate house, where with moderate careful attention to the culture it 
will produce its flowers as freely as could be desired. In Bengal, where 
the plant abounds. Dr. Roxburgh has stated that the heads sometimes 
contain thirty flowers each, but in this country they do not attain more 
than a third of that size, usually bearing from six to ten flowers in each 
cluster. Even, however, in this cond.tion they are very attractive, as 
not only do the shoots produce flowers at their extremities but also from 
the side shoots, so that the growths are often clothed with flowers for a 
foot or more from the apex. The leaves are elliptical, dark green, and 
with the petioles and stems are thickly studded with hairs, whence the 
specific named is derived ; and the flowers are large, pure white, and 
fragrant, on stout peduncles, and thickly clustered. 
It is considered that the first plants were sent from the East Indies 
to Lady Amelia Hume by Roxburgh early in the present century, 
though at one time it was thought to have been grown by Miller in the 
middle of the eighteenth century, as he mentions Linnaeus's Nyctanthes 
hirsuta. But this has been proved to have been founded upon a speci¬ 
men of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. 
J. hirsutum is easily grown, and it only requires a compost of light 
