February 10,1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
105 
possible ; where there is no wind there you will find the cater¬ 
pillar, the green fly, mildew, and kindred abominations. Wind will 
do the Roses no harm, but in very exposed places shrubs should be 
planted so as to break the full force of the gales. Plant your 
Roses where the roots of trees cannot come to rob the soil of the 
manure you put in. They are best in beds by themselves. When¬ 
ever I see a Rose planted under trees or in a close place I always 
think I can imagine it, by its habit of growing under these circum¬ 
stances, crying out as plainly as possible, “ Give me air, give 
sunshine, or I die ! ” —D. Gilmour, jun. 
(To be continued.) 
GRAPES WITHOUT HEAT FOR THE MILLION. 
(Continued from page 55.) 
Pruning. —It is best done shortly after the leaves have fallen. 
Some defer it until spring, alleging the frost acts disastrously on the 
cuts. That I have not observed, but when pruning is deferred until 
late spring there is danger of bleeding. It is certainly not wise to 
delay pruning until late, and it should not be done in frosty weather. 
The spur shoots may be cut to two eyes or buds, or, if they are 
plump, to one. Longer pruning will give larger bunches, but they 
will be looser, and have a larger per-centage of stoneless small 
berries. If compact bunches cannot be obtained by close pruning 
practise long ; but then we must take a shoot from near the base as 
well as the fruiting one, so as to displace the long shoot after the 
fruit is cut. It is a very excellent plan of rejuvenating the spurs— 
i.t., when they get elongated and become enfeebled, but a better 
plan is to train in a young cane from the base, and when it has 
grown sufficiently cut out the old rod. This is easy ; only select a 
shoot near the base of the rod to be displaced, train it up, cut it 
back to as many feet as it makes of ripened wood, and cut away 
the spurs to that length on the old rod. Continue this year by year 
until the young cane reaches the extent of the space with ripe wood, 
then cut the old rod away. The spur under good treatment will 
remain fruitful for many years. The other systems of training are 
pruned on the same lines. The spurs or shoots not being extensions 
are cut back to one or two buds ; young canes or leaders to firm 
ripe wood with well developed eyes, they may be only a few joints 
long or they may be several feet. There is limit only as the ripe 
wood determines ; but if wo leave a cane 6 feet long and take eight 
hunches of fruit upon it we weaken the Yine as much again as if 
we only left 3 feet and took four bunches of Grapes. The con¬ 
sequence may be that we get double the weight of fruit one year 
at the expense of the next, as the eight shoots will be less strong 
and not have such plump eyes at their base as in the case of four 
shoots. The pruning may therefore be too long for the production 
of strong side shoots, yet that is also dependent on their cropping. 
An over-burdened Yine or shoot will never have well-developed 
base shoots. 
Disbudding. —A number of eyes and shoots appear on Yines 
besides those we want, particularly on outdoor Yines. All not 
wanted are rubbed off when young. There is no fear of the Vines 
bleeding after they push the buds. Latent or other buds coming 
where not wanted cannot be rubbed off too soon, those on the spurs 
or extensions may he allowed to grow until the fruitful and best 
shows can be seen, then those growths not wanted can be rubbed 
off, and it should be persisted in right along, but very few growths 
make headway after the principal ones are well on their way. 
Tying. —Thi3 requires care. The young shoots are brittle. If 
brought down or tied too short they will snap and the bunch of 
fruit be lost. Too hasty handling of the shoots will disturb them 
at the base. They want humouring. Tie them so as to insure an 
even spread of foliage, and allow plenty of space in the ties for the 
swelling of the shoots. This attended to from time to time is all 
that is required, as the less ties the better if only the growth is 
secured in proper position and the fruit made safe. 
Watering.— In March house and case Vines should have a 
thorough soaking of water, repeated if necessary so as to bring the 
borders into a thoroughly moist state. If tepid and coloured with 
manurial matter all the better. Those against walls with projecting 
copings or eaves may need a thorough soaking of water or the 
liquid. This can easily be ascertained by examination. If dry 
give a good soaking, and some tepid liquid will do no harm, only it 
must not be too strong. This will suffice until about the time of 
disbudding or after. When the Vines are in full leaf covered 
borders will need a thorough soaking every fortnight right up to 
colouring time. In dull weather it may be required less frequently, 
and in bright hot weather at shorter intervals. With the soil porous 
and the drainage good, it can hardly be overdone in the broiling hot 
days of June, July, and August. A fall of 2 inches of thunder 
rain in a day does more good than the same quantity falling in 
showers over a month. Soakings are wanted, not driblets. Make 
sure that the soil is in a thoroughly moist condition when the 
Grapes are colouring, and no further supply will be required. There 
must not, however, be any doubt, if there is give a soaking. Some 
people are so afraid of water that the Vines have to finish the 
Grapes in a Sahara-like soil. The Grapes shrivel even before they 
are matured, and no watering afterwards will ever restore their 
plumpness. 
Feeding. —When in full leafage the amount of water evaporated 
is enormous. It may seem fanciful, but I have an idea that the 
more food ascends with the water the more the Yines store up— i.e., 
in bright weather as compared with simple waterings. With water 
only I have seen the foliage remain thin and get paler ; with 
liquid manure I have noticed others get firmer and assume a 
darker hue, the wood and buds must be improved in structure and 
development, to say nothing of the benefit to the present crop. 
Weak supplies of liquid manure are invariably advised. Safety is 
everything, as an overdose would be injurious if not fatal. I find, 
however, that manuring is like watering. Pinches on the surface 
and often are not equal to one good mulching, and the same amount 
of manure in liquid form given at half a dozen times is not as 
valuable as when it is given all at once. The contents of the liquid 
manure tank poured on the border thick, and followed at once with 
a thorough soaking of water, is more potent than when the liquid is 
diluted with six times the water before applying it. The liquid is 
the drainings of dungyards. The cesspools that take urine only, or 
the slops from laundries are not safe. Three good soakings of 
liquid manure may be given—viz., after the fruit is of thinning 
size, midway of the swelling, and when it is about to change colour. 
No liquid is so good as the drainings of the dungyard. 
Mulching. —Two inches in thickness of short loose manure kept 
moist is a great attraction to the roots, and if they work in it add 
a little fresh from time to time as it is reduced or washed iD. It 
need only be used during growth, and when the last watering is 
given mulch with a few inches thickness of dry short litter. It 
keeps the moisture in the soil, prevents it cracking, and it is not 
wanted in the atmosphere. Outside and inside borders should in 
winter be covered with a few inches thickness of dry material as a 
protection to the roots from frost. With the roots safe the part 
above ground takes no harm in the most severe weather. 
Surface Dressings. —Mulchings of manure are outside the 
question in some places ; besides, it is usual to give a winter sur¬ 
facing. The loose surface being cleared away, an inch or two of fresh 
loam, containing about a twentieth of bonemeal, is given. It is 
excellent. There is soot about most places, also bones which can 
be dissolved with sulphuric acid, and clippings of hedges or other 
pruning which can be converted by burning into wood ashes. The 
last dry can be mixed with the pasty dissolved bones, and the soot 
added, making an artificial manure fit for anything, especially the 
Yine. The soot, dissolved bones, and wood ashes should be used in¬ 
equal proportions by bulk. It may be applied at the rate of a peck 
per rod (3*0| square yards) at the winter dressing to enrich the soil, 
and again when the Grapes are fairly swelling after thinning. 
Syringing. —We want stout short-jointed wood and thick 
leathery foliage, which are not to be had in a close moist atmosphere 
and with foliage regularly syringed. In our case and house a well- 
moistened soil, damping the borders and all other surfaces except 
the Yine foliage in the morning and closing time, suffices from the 
Yines swelling their buds until flowering, when it is discontinued. 
Afterwards it is had recourse to until the Grapes are somewhat 
advanced in ripening. The house and case are sprinkled each evening 
with weak liquid manure. If care is taken to keep down dust an 
occasional washing is not necessary. If it be, use clear rain water 
only ; and for cleansing, if anything of a parasitical nature needs a 
destroying agent, use clear rain water. If hard water is used it is 
sure to leave a sediment, and nothing disfigures Grapes so much. 
When the Grapes are advanced in ripening the syringe must be laid 
aside.—G. Abbey. 
(To be continued.) 
HARD WATER v. BOILERS. 
I DID not overlook the remarks on this subject by “ A. W." (page 524 
in last volume), but various causes have delayed my reply. Advice of 
any kind ought to be acceptable to me, especially seeing bow fond I am 
of advising others, but I do object to my mentors taking it for granted 
that I am unacquainted with the most elementary rules of any science 
or practice upon which I happen to touch. Take the following for in¬ 
stance :—“ It does not appear to him (meaning poor me) that the more 
hard water he allows to enter his boiler the greater the sediment or in¬ 
crustation that become firmly attached to the inner surface.” “ A. \V .” 
further adds :—“ When this deposit of saline matter occurs in a boiler it 
is very much injured by the increased heat of the surface exposed to the 
fire, and considerably more fuel will be consumed, in raising the 
requisite heat to be transmitted to the various houses in order to keep 
up the desired temperature. Not only is there a waste in fuel, but in- 
