February 14, 18t9. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
123 
expel damp. The varieties are the Black Hamburgh and the 
Alicante, and the fruit is invariably abundant and good. 
Amateurs have often a better chance than gardeners of treating 
their Vines well. The latter must have Grapes ready by a certain 
time, no matter how hard the forcing, but amateurs who have only 
themselves to please can let their Vines have the full advantages of 
the season. I would therefore urge on all to delay starting their 
Vines until March, and if the weather is very bad then nothing 
will be lost by waiting until April. Vines are often planted in 
very limited spaces, and where the houses contain other plants 
they are often planted at the ends and in corners ; but in such 
cases the best arrangement is to make the whole of the inside of 
the house into a border, and let the roots have full liberty in this. 
As many have only a limited border now, it is this that must have 
immediate attention. Under such circumstances the inclination 
may probably be to make the soil as rich as possible by adding 
large quantities of manure. This may cause a large amount of 
growth, but it will not be substantial, and a superabundance of 
manure should be avoided, even in a small space ; rather use some¬ 
thing that will be of permanent benefit, and this may be found in 
Thomson’s manure, or the bone material offered by Beeson of Shef¬ 
field ; work these amongst the surface roots, and place them so 
that the roots will have no difficulty in having access to them. 
If the manure is forked-in, or in whatever way it is applied, 
make the soil very firm afterwards ; it cannot be too firm, and finish 
by giving a good soaking of water. Do not allow the borders to 
remain dry until growth is visible ; the roots should be-active long 
before that, and if not well watered from the first they may receive 
a check that will tell against them when they become more advanced 
in growth. 
I have known amateurs inquire, “Why are Vine rods tied all 
down together along the front of the house until they begin to 
grow, and then placed in their fruiting positions? ” This is some¬ 
times an advantage in the case of Vines that are started very early, 
but March or April started Vines do not require it. Tie the rods 
into their places before growth begins, and it will save much trouble 
afterwards. 
Now comes the important question, In what temperature should 
Vines be started ? The disposition is to give them a high tem¬ 
perature, and it is a mistake. There is no object in applying it, 
as there is no lost time to be made up, and apai t from this a high 
temperature at first is absolutely injurious. We have known Vines, 
which perhaps were not in the most robust health, become weaker 
eiill by being started in a high temperature, while those started 
gradually gained strength daily, and the utmost advantage should 
be taken of sun heat Many of the days in March and April are 
warm. The sun will raise the temperature in the glass houses up 
to 80° or more, and this, with a little ventilation, is good for the 
Vines, but the temperature from fire heat night or day during the 
first month of their growth should not exceed 65°, and if the nights 
are cold it may fall to 60". Moisture in the atmosphere is a won¬ 
derful assistance to free growth, and if the rods are syringed 
twice daily it will benefit them greatly. Where attention cannot 
be given to this, place some pans of water bn the flue or pipes, 
and the evaporation will cause clean and free growth.—A Kitchen 
C rARDENER. 
NOTES ON VEGETABLES. 
I am under the impression that Celery is not so good this 
winter as might have been expected from the fact that it likes 
plenty of moisture. Being commonly planted in deep trenches 
near the subsoil has, I think, had something to do with it last 
■season. The little sunshine and warmth we had never seemed to 
give sufficient warmth to the ground to produce healthy growth, 
•especially in gardens with a wet clay subsoil. I am in favour of 
planting in shallow trenches on ground of this nature, and of 
having the bottom of the trench well forked up to allow the water 
to drain from the roots. Of course this is not so important in a 
gravelly subsoil in warm seasons, but it is in stiff clay subsoils. 
The kitchen garden here is of the latter, and last summer I noticed 
on some occasions after a heavy downfall of rain that the water 
stood in parts of the trenches for hours, and where it did so the 
Celery is not so good. I planted two rows of White Plume, but 
almost every plant in them went to seed. I do not intend growing 
■this variety again. Sandringham Dwarf White planted at tbe same 
time served us nearly the same, while in a row planted later several 
have behaved similarly. I am unable to account for this, as they 
did not receive any check from the time they were pricked out till 
■they were planted. Manchester Red has done fairly well, is crisp, 
svith a fine flavour. 
Broccoli is not much grown in this district, as it is not con¬ 
sidered hardy enough to withstand the heavy rainfall and sharp 
frosts we generally get about here. On that account I have given 
up growing midwinter varieties. Veitch’s Self-protecting lasts 
well through November. Last year we cut some heads of Snow’s 
Winter White in March, but on the whole they were not satis¬ 
factory. At present Sutton’s Late Queen and Dickson’s Superb 
Late White promise well. 
Brussels Sprouts.—Since November we have been gathering 
almost daily fine sprouts of the Wroxton and Sutton’s Reading 
Exhibition. There seems to be little difference between these two 
as they are growing here. Exhibition seems the stronger of the 
two, otherwise they are much alike. They are both first-class when 
cooked, and I intend growing them both again. 
Curled Greens or Borecole will do us good service later on 
when other Greens are scarce. Reid’s Hearting is a good sort, and 
so is Dwarf Curled. A few of the variegated should be grown, as 
they come in useful for garnishing. 
Root vegetables that have been stored in sheds or pits owing 
to the mildness of the season have grown a good deal. These 
should be examined on wet days and the growths rubbed off.— 
G. Hilton, Lancashire. 
INCURVED' AND JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT 
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY’S EXHIBITION. 
The principal Exhibition of the National Chrysanthemum Society 
was this year, notwithstanding all the drawbacks of the season, much 
the largest they have yet held. In both 1885 and 1886 the Incurved 
varieties were rather more numerously shown than the Japanese, but at 
the last two Exhibitions there were considerably more Japanese staged 
than Incurved. The total number of flowers in each section at the 
four Shows have 
been as follows :— 
1885 
Incurved 839 
Japanese 
835 
1886 
„ 1080 
1026 
1887 
„ 961 
1221 
1888 
„ 1147 
1759 
4030 
4841 
In the accompanying tables all the more established varieties find 
places according to the average number of times they were shown at 
the four Exhibitions. A rather different plan has, however, to be 
adopted with the newer varieties in order to put them as far as possible 
on terms of equality with their elder brethren. The following scale 
has accordingly been adopted :—For those Chrysanthemums sent out 
in 1885 their average appearances at the last two Shows only has been 
taken into consideration, while the position of the 1886, 1887, and 1888 
varieties are made to depend entirely upon the number of times they 
were staged at the 1888 Exhibition alone. 
In addition to the two lists here given I have now before me 
another table which shows tbe number of times the varieties named in 
them were staged at each of the four Exhibitions, so that by making due 
allowance for the relative extent oE the Shows I am able at a glance to 
judge whether any sort is improving its position, only holding its own, 
or declining in public favour as an exhibition flower. 
Empress of India, although in the last three years closely pressed by 
Queen of England, still holds the premier place among the Incurved. 
Lord Alcester was last year exceptionally well represented, while Alfred 
Salter was staged nearly twice as frequently as at any of the three 
previous Shows. Jardin des Plantes and Venus also appeared in unusual 
force. On the other hand, Jeanne d’Arc, which in 1887 was shown as 
often as the leading flower, and more frequently than that variety at 
the 1886 Exhibition, last year, although an early sort, was to be seen 
in only about as many stands as Lord Wolseley. John Salter, Barbara, 
Princess of Wales, Refulgens, and Cherub also occupy lower positions 
than in the last analysis. I have scarcely known what to do with Emily 
Dale and Golden Queen of England, owing to the uncertain ruling of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society in their Catalogue, where it is 
stated that although distinct, it is dangerous to set them up in the 
same stand as distinct varieties. If I place each on its own merits, as 
I have hitherto done, the value of one or other of them is under-esti¬ 
mated ; but if, on the contrary, I bracket them together as in the 
present analysis, they no doubt stand higher than they are legitimately 
entitled to do. The only two new sorts which obtain places on the list are 
Bronze Queen of England (1886) and Mrs. Norman Davis (1886). 
The latter has in no way improved on its last year’s position, but then 
in so backward a season, being a late variety, it may have been placed 
at a certain disadvantage. Bronze Queen of England has, however, 
already risen to No. 22, and was last year staged as frequently as 
Barbara or White Venus. 
The display of Japanese Chrysanthemums at the Westminster 
