March 3, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
167 
scribed page 83. Now that the bulbs have commenced rooting 
freely again I have every faith that the insects can be destroyed 
and the plants restored to health in the space of a season.—W m. 
Bardney. 
No doubt many of your readers would be filled with dismay 
upon reading Mr. Bardney’s article (page 83) on the impossibility of 
eradicating the Eucharis mite from plants that have suffered from 
the ravages of this destructive pest. His view is not cheering, but 
I beg to differ from him, as I am one of the many who still cling to 
the theory that diseased plants can be restored to their former 
health and vigour, and I am inclined to think Mr. Bardney is not 
quite given up to despair, as I see he is making one more effort to 
eradicate it, which I sincerely hope will be successful. 
It is now about seven years since I was first troubled with this 
destructive pest, the ravages of which are unfortunately so familiar. 
What brought it so before our notice was the refusal of a number 
of plants which had been repotted in fresh soil to make a fresh 
start, and at the same time losing all their foliage. I thought at 
the time it was a cultural disease brought about by excessive 
flowering, as for a number of years we had followed the practice of 
flowering. them three and four times in the course of twelve 
months. 
As I can find no signs of the presence of the mite amongst my 
plants, the method I adopted to eradicate it after several unsuc¬ 
cessful attempts by other methods may be of interest to some of 
your numerous readers. Some time in February last year I paid 
a visit to a neighbouring gardener, and found him busy overhauling 
and repotting a number of handsome healthy specimens which he 
had grown from a few bulbs I had given him a short time before 
the ravages of the mite were first observed in the plants under my 
charge. My attention was attracted by the strong odour of 
petroleum given off by the soil. Upon inquiry I was told the 
plants were syringed twice a week with water in which petroleum 
had been put in the proportion of a wineglassful to every gallon of 
water, and I came to the conclusion, either rightly or wrongly, that 
the freedom his plants enjoyed from the mite was due to the 
constant use of the oil. My first proceeding was to take off what 
little foliage my plants had and shake them out of their pots. 
When I placed them in a tub of lime and water prepared by putting 
in enough fresh burned lime to make the water boil, the bulbs were 
placed in when it had cooled to a temperature of about 90°, 
where they were left for about forty-two hours ; they were then 
taken out and washed with a soft brush, and every particle of root 
was taken off. They were placed on a shelf in a vinery to dry, 
where they stayed about a week, and again placed in fresh lime and 
water for about fifteen hours and spread out to dry without being 
washed. They were next placed in 5-inch pots in soil mixed with 
some fine charcoal, as many bulbs as could be placed in a pot, taking 
care not to bury them, as I am of opinion the insects breed in the 
neck of the bulb. They were watered to settle the soil and placed 
in a frame over a brisk hotbed, where they soon began to push 
forth fresh roots and foliage. When the bed had cooled down they 
were taken into the stove. In about three months the pots were 
filled with good healthy roots. They were then potted into 7-inch 
pots, and I am pleased to say at present look very promising and 
healthy, throwing up an abundance of young foliage.— S. H., 
North Lancashire. 
ALNWICK SEEDLING GRAPE. 
As a practical Grape grower I beg to offer some remarks suggested 
by correspondence in the Journal of Horticulture about this Grape, and 
bad setters in general, which may be useful to cultivators, and save many 
Vines from being uprooted. 
Some time ago Mr. Thomson of Clovenfords suggested that someone 
should try the effect of syringing the bunches of Alnwick Seedling when 
in flower so as to wash off the gum-like drops which appeared to inter¬ 
fere with regular setting, and then to apply pollen from another variety 
of Grape. This experiment was tried by several skilful growers and the 
resu't was satisfactory. In some cases the operators first endeavoured 
to fertilise bunches with the aid of camels’ hair brushes, rabbits’ tails, 
and feathers, but these soon became unfit for use. They tried other 
bunches on the same Vine with the syringe, and after washing off the 
gum, and waiting for the flowers to dry, shook or blew some pollen over 
them. The process was repeated twice, as the flowers do not all open at 
once. Where thus treated the bunches set perfectly, but the berries 
were not so oval in shape as those in the engraving last week. The 
question of setting depends a great deal upon soil, situation, and tem¬ 
perature. In poor sandy soil all Grapes, even Black Morocco, the parent 
of Alnwick Seedling, set better than in rich ground, but the berries are 
then seedy and the pulp poor in quality. Highly manured soil, heat, 
and moisture cause the Alnwick Seedling and other bad setting Grapes 
to produce the honeydew in excess, and then syringing is necessary. In 
the glass corridors at the R.H.S. gardens, Chiswick, setting is effected by 
throwing large'quantities of ipolleni'upon the]Alnwick Seedling bunches 
when in flower, and there the plan seems to answer, probably because of 
the considerable ventilation, dry subsoil, and the large quantities of 
pollen from the adjoining Alicantes and Gros Colmans. Mr. Bell, who 
sent the Alnwick Seedling out, used a fox’s brush for assisting the 
fertilising, and produced fine Grapes. Of course the point to be aimed 
at is to get pollen on to the stigma ; and in all obstinate cases by syring¬ 
ing the glutinous dew-like fluid off, and then when nearly dry applying 
pollen, fertilisation is more easily effected than by smearing the flowers 
with a gummy feather or brush. Many Grape growers in their impatience 
have pulled up their Alnwick Seedlings, or grafted them with other 
varieties, but I think this is a pity, as it is a very distinct Grape.— 
James Blundell, West Dulwich, <s ,E, 
ROSE-GROWING FOR BEGINNERS. 
(Continued from page 147,') 
PRUNING. 
One of the most difficult questions to answer is the one so often 
asked, “ When am I to prune my Roses ? ” I can fix the time 
exactly if anyone can tell me at what date the late spring frosts 
are going to depart in any given neighbourhood. The date for 
pruning is about fourteen days before that time, but as nobody can 
tell us that, I suggest that as a rule (to which late and early seasons 
will make many exceptions) for this cold south Yorkshire climate 
about the first or second week in April will be about the time most 
suitable. 
The evil attending late pruning is, that if the tops of the plants 
are in leaf the cutting away of all these leaves must cause bleeding, 
which is decidedly detrimental. The other extreme — too early 
pruning—is about as bad. Suppose in early spring the young 
shoots have sprouted and are about 2 inches long, there comes a 
killing frost; the result is most disastrous, and the plants have to 
begin again to make fresh shoots, the bloom will be late, and most 
probably inferior in quality. If I saw that my Roses were so far 
advanced as to commence forming young leaves at an earlier date 
than I have given above, I should prune them, and so prevent 
bleeding, and take the risk of frosts. Further south and west of 
this situation the time of pruning will be much earlier ; how much 
so must be left to the individual grower. 
Why do we prune ? “ Because we are idiots,” say some ; “ We 
should be idiots if we did not,” say others. In fact there are few 
questions in connection with Rose culture which have been so mucli 
argued upon and written about time and again as this very simple 
one of pruning. It appears to me that those whose writings I have 
perused on this subject have generally been playing at cross purposes. 
The last little turn-up I noticed took place between two gentlemen 
in the pages of one of our horticultural papers—I read so many I 
forget which; but I remember that much good ink was spilled, and 
a great deal of latent heat brought out in the controversy. I forget 
the phases of the combat, but I remember the finish, which was, 
that the gentleman who was in favour of pruning, grew Roses for 
exhibition, while the other who did not prune “had to provide 
clothes baskets of Rose leaves for his young ladies; ” I presume he 
was a head gardener. Now this just brings us to a point I wish 
to call the beginner’s attention to. Do you want Roses, or Rose 
trees ? It may be allowed as a general rule that you cannot have 
both—that is, I mean that you cannot have large bushes and cut 
exhibition blooms, or blooms which will make your friends’ mouths 
water, from them. If you only prune lightly, and allow your 
plants to become large, you will have lots of Roses, but they will 
be small, such as you see every day. If, on the other hand, you 
prune severely, your Roses will be fewer, but larger and finer. For 
one little golden sovereign you can get twenty silver shillings, or 
240 copper pennies. I once bought a grand plant of Marshal Niel 
in a very large pot; the shoots probably would measure at least 
30 feet, and they were covered with beautiful healthy foliage. 
When blooming time came it had only three flowers on it, but each 
was the size of a large Apple, and looked almost as firm, while the 
colour, shape, and scent were indescribable. Now had there been 
fifty flowers on the plant they would only have been of the ordinary 
size, and so it is witn all Roses. (Please note that this small amount 
of bloom was not produced in the case of this Manichal Niel by 
pruning, bufihappenednaturally). 
If any person visiting one of the great Rose shows, and seeing 
the magnificent blooms on exhibition there, should suppose that he 
can have nice bushes in his garden covered with flowers as fine as 
these, let him be quickly undeceived—he cannot. The plants from 
which such blooms are cut rarely carry more than one or two blooms 
at a time, and as a rule the first bloom of the season is the best. 
There are lots of exhibition varieties which are free bloomers, and 
if allowed these will give plenty of flowers, but the grower for 
exhibition prevents this by pinching off the young buds as soon as 
