1.8 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ F.b nary 14, 1388. 
Yes ! the season is sweet when the cuckoo comes—bright days and 
sunny times, as sings the old north country bard :—■ 
Summer is a coming in, 
And loud sings the cuckoo ; 
The corn grows, the mead blows, 
The woods shoot green anew. 
On every blade of grass, at morn, 
There glows a drop of dew; 
When grass is long, then is the song 
Of the summer bird, “ Cuckoo ! ” 
But this song, doubtless, is borrowed from one as old as the fifteenth 
century, or in the time of Henry III., and there is also a fine madrigal, 
in three parts, composed about the year 1600, which contains the cuckoo 
song. 
Three hundred years ago Carew was horn, and, like many another 
poet of the period, loved Nature for her sweet harmony and beauty. 
What says he ? 
Now winter’s gone, the earth hath lost 
Her snow-white robes ; and now no more the frost 
Candies the grass, or oasts an icy cream 
Upon the silver lake or crystal stream. 
But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth, 
And makes it tender; gives a sacred birth 
To the dead swallow ; wakes in hollow tree 
The drowsy cuckoo, and the humble bee. 
And this brings me to the subject of these notes. A few weeks since 
some letters appeared in the Times stating that a cuckoo had been he rd, 
but, being a bird whose voice or note is so easily imitated, it called forth 
but few remarks ; but now the case is different, for in a letter to the 
Tunbridge Wells Advertiser, Mr. Frederick Eoberts, the well-known 
botanist, not only says that he heard it, but also saw it. This being so, 
what further can be said ? Mr. Eoberts also mentions a cuckoo being 
shot in the last days of October, 1888, and the skin preserved. His 
theory is that the late-hatched birds may stay here all the winter. 
Evidently in the time of Carew the impression was the same, not only 
as regards the cuckoo, but also the swallow ; but naturalists are of a 
different opinion now, and this for many reasons. One is, the cuckoo is 
certainly a migrant, and utters its note soon after its arrival in spring, 
and continues to do so until its voice utterly fails and he can no longer 
give forth the well-known sound, getting gradually from a double to a 
treble note, until it ceases, and soon after this it migrates, though the 
young birds stay later ; but one has never yet been seen or shot in the 
depth of winter, and there is no such event on record. 
In April 
Come he wil', 
And in May 
He is gay; 
But in June 
Loses tune; 
In July 
He must fly; 
In August 
Go he must. 
Such is the old, old jrhyme on the subject, and as far as hitherto 
known, there is much truth in it. Then, again it is scarcely likely that 
a bird of so short a duration of song would sing in winter, when it is 
not even paired. Further taking into consideration what the cuckoo’s 
diet consists of, it would absolutely starve for want of proper nourish¬ 
ment in this country, mid frosts and snow, and when no leaves are on 
the trees, its chief food being caterpillars (not grubs), and in this way 
the cuckoo is of great benefit to the fruit grower, being one of the very 
few birds if not the only bird that feeds on hairy caterpillars, and this is 
the reason why it is so often seen among the Gooseberry bushes in our 
gardens, and he who kills a cuckoo kills one of the gardeners’ best 
friends. Certainly the young are most ravenous, and I have known 
three birds occupied in feeding one young bird when in the nest—two 
hedge sparrows and a wren—and these continued to do so long after it 
could fly, and even feed itself. Mr. Eoberts’ observations are really 
interesting, for he also tells us that he has seen a thrush feeding a young 
cuckoo as late as September ; still, I cannot help thinking that in the 
case of seeing the cuckoo lately, perhaps he was mistaken in a sparrow- 
hawk, as the marking is somewhat similar, but should it turn out a fact, 
and the bird is captured or shot, I think I may say confidently it will be 
the first on record. The voice is so easily and so perfectly imitated. 
That I do not take that as evidence of the presence of the bird. As 
the poet Logan says of the schoolboy when he first hears it:— 
Starts, the new voice of Spring to hear, 
And imitates thy lay. 
One and all, poets and naturalists, “old and new,” without any 
reserve, call it a bird of “ Spring,” and from its nature, its food, and 
mode of life, it is of necessity so; and when spring wears her mantle of 
green, bespangled o’er with flowers, and melodies are breathed around, 
and Nature’s choir is in attune, so of birds in general. 
They sing but to be heard or seen, 
In bower or budding bough. 
Sa=i sings my meek and modest bird, 
The grey, unseen—cuckoo. 
—Habbison WeIB (in the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser'). 
FEU IT FOECING. 
VINES. — Early Ileuses. — Tying, stopping, and thinning in early 
houses must be followed up, not allowing anything in those respects to 
get into arrears, as it will tell later on in the swelling and finishing of 
the crop ; and do not allow surplus and ill-shaped bunches to remain 
until the berries have swelled considerably, as that represents so much 
loss to those that are retained for the crop. Avoid overcropping, and 
strive for quality in preference to quantity. Grapes vary so much in 
form of bunch and size of berry in different varieties that no definite 
rule can be laid down for thinning. Young Vines as a rule produce 
loose bunches, and will only need to have the small berries taken out—• 
i.e., presuming the shoulders are properly tied up ; but old Vines, espe¬ 
cially when spur-pruned, give close, compact bunches, and require severe 
thinning to prevent binding when ripe ; at the same time the thinning 
must not be so severe as to give a loose appearance, as it is important 
that the bunches preserve their form when on the dishes. Muscats and 
other shy-setting varieties should not be thinned sparingly until the 
fertilised berries are taking the lead, the unfertilised being readily de¬ 
tected by their small increase and slenderness of the footstalk. 
Succession Houses. —Disbudding and tying in houses started in 
December must be . attended to, being careful in bringing the shoots 
down not to snap them at the base. Any that are stubborn will be best 
brought down by degrees. Syringe freely on fine days, and if fermenting 
materials are not used in the house damp the floors and borders with 
clear liquid manure in the afternoon— i.e., at closing time, as an 
ammonia-charged atmosphere is invigorating to the Vines, and is one of 
the best preventives of red spider. With the Vine shoots an inch or two 
long, raise the night temperature to 60°, and 6° to 10° rise by day, ven¬ 
tilating from 70°, allowing an advance to 80°, closing at that temperature 
early along with a moist sweet atmosphere. 
Late Houses. —In houses containing Vines of such varieties as Alicante, 
Lady Downe’s, Gros Colman, &c., that have been brought into the way 
of starting early to insure to them a long season of rest, all painting, 
cleansing, and top-dressing must be brought to a close. If the outside 
borders are not considered satisfactory, lose no time in rectifying errors 
or defects in drainage or compost. Ecmove the surface soil down to the 
roots, and if these are deep raise them carefully and lay in fresh compost 
nearer the surface. Good turfy loam, with an admixture of old mortar 
rubbish, charred refuse, and crushed bones at the rate of about 20 per 
cent, formed into a border 6 to 8 feet wide and 2 feet deep, resting on a 
bed of drainage 12 to 15 inches deep,with a drain to carry off superfluous 
water, will give much better results than a wider and deeper border of 
indifferent cold material. The chief after-consideration is mulching with 
good manure from early May, and drenchings with tepid water when the 
Vines are in active growth. 
Cucumbees.—F resh soil appears to work wonders with old plants ; 
hence any that are showing signs of exhaustion should have the old 
surface soil removed, picking it out from amongst the roots without 
disturbing them much, supplying fresh lumpy soil to which has been added 
a fifth of thoroughly decomposed manure, having had it in the house a 
few days to warm previous to placing it about the roots. Water 
moderately with tepid water to settle the compost about the roots. 
Attend to the removal of superfluous and ill-shaped fruit. Tie the 
young shoots to the trellis and avoid overcrowding, stopping about one 
joint beyond the fruit, or allow more extension if there be room. 
Eemove bad leaves as they appear. If there be any red spider remove 
the worst infected leaves and coat the pipes thinly with sulphur 
brought to a thin cream with skim milk, but be careful not to overdo it, 
or the fumes of the sulphur will injure the foliage. Maintain a bottom 
heat of 85° or 90°, give air on all favourable occasions with care and 
judgment, and close early, damping the floor so as to cause a moist 
genial condition of the atmosphere. 
Planting. —Young plants raised from seed early in January will now 
be fit to place out. A ridge of soil about 2 feet wide at base and 1 foot 
at top the lengthwise of the bed will be sufficient to plant in, and should 
be in the house a few days to get warmed through before the plants are 
put out. Press the soil firmly around each plant, placing a stick to 
each and securing to the first wire of the trellis. The heat and moisture 
are the same as for other plants. 
Plants in Pots. —Not having a house suitable for growing plants in 
beds a few good fruits may be had from an ordinary span-roofed plant 
house kept at a stove temperature. Pots 15 to 16 inches in diameter 
are most suitable. Drain well and half fill with a compost of three- 
parts turfy loam and a fourth of well decayed manure, dry, or at least 
free from worms, and about a sixth of charcoal. Place the plants in 
the pots, not making a hole for the roots, but draw the soil from the 
sides of the pot up round them. A stick can be placed to each and 
tied to the wires, and when the plants reach the wires secure to them 
and stop the shoots when a few inches of growth has been made, train¬ 
ing afterwards as space will allow. The buds or growths from each leaf 
should be rubbed off when showing up to the height of the trellis, but 
