170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 28, 1894. 
connection with an addition to the mansion, and it certainly looked 
very well on paper. When the builders came to erect it I asked 
the foreman what ventilation was provided. He said, “ two lights 
on each of the lanterns and every other one under the eaves.” 
As the house was rather lofty there were 10 feet of space from 
these to the floor without any ventilation all round except 
the doors. I remarked “ There must be more than that.” Em¬ 
ployer and architect were consulted, and the necessary alteration 
made without which the plants would have done badly.—R. M., 
Somerset. 
THE LOSS OF CHLOROPHYLL IN VINE LEAVES. 
In some localities, owing to the presence of too much of one 
chemical constituent and too little of others, the loss of chlorophyll, 
which is the green, resinous, granular colouring matter of all plants, 
in the leaves of Vines is very much in evidence, and seriously felt 
by the Vines in the perfecting of their crop of fruit. This is a 
subject that is deserving of some attention in the Journal of Horti¬ 
culture from scientific minds, like Mr. Abbey’s, for instance. I do 
not profess to know why the foliage of Vines, Peaches, Chrys¬ 
anthemums, and even hardy forest trees are at times affected by 
the absence of chlorophyll ; but I have experienced some very 
striking instances of the loss of this necessary constituent in plant 
life, more especially perhaps in the case of Vines. In one par¬ 
ticular case where the soil is retentive of moisture and heavily 
charged with chalk, owing to its having been used in the place of 
lime as a top-dressing for so many years, the loss of colouring 
matter in the foliage is very noticeable. Even under artificial treat¬ 
ment as to soil Chrysanthemums suffer very much in some seasons. 
Especially do the leaves of the plants assume a paleness in colour 
when pure bones are employed as a manure, and notably when they 
are ground fine. When dissolved bones are used instead of those 
that are ground the opposite effect is somewhat remarkable. Two 
plants of Queen of England growing side by side and potted in 
the manures mentioned exhibit, I may say, an extraordinary 
difference in the colour of the leaves, showing the finely ground 
bones are not so suitable for the soil as those that are dissolved by 
the aid of vitriol. 
To return more especially to the loss of chlorophyll in Vine 
foliage, a remarkable instance came under my notice this year. A 
small three-quarter span vinery in this neighbourhood was planted 
twelve years since with a mixed collection of Vines, including 
Madresfield Court, Alicante, Lady Downe’s, Muscat of Alexandria, 
and Foster’s Seedling. The orthodox-made border, either inside or 
out, was omitted. Instead of going to the trouble and expense of 
making a new one the soil both inside and outside was levelled 
down after the builders had completed their work. A good dress¬ 
ing of farmyard manure was added to the already rich soil, which 
had been used as a part of a kitchen garden for at least fifty years. 
The under strata, 2 feet deep, is entirely composed of chalk, as is 
all the neighbourhood within a mile of this particular spot. The 
Vines grew well, and bore satisfactory crops for several years. 
They were not remarkable for huge size of either bunch or berry, 
but they were so for the manner in which the berries coloured, and 
the bloom was indeed remarkable but three years since. The 
following year, when the shoots were about 1 foot in length, they 
commenced to assume a peculiar pale tint, which remained during 
the whole of the year, increasing in density the next season. The 
berries failed to swell to their former size although the bunches 
were not much smaller. 
During the month of June in the present year the leaves had 
become quite yellow. The gardener in charge was very anxious 
one day when I called on him to know how to act. The leaves, 
too, were decidedly smaller than they had previously been. I 
brought some away, and sent them to a friend whom I regarded as 
a likely person to know the best remedy to apply, at the same time 
suggesting nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia. The result 
was the whole of the inside border was thoroughly soaked with 
tepid water, to which was added nitrate of soda in the proportion 
of half an ounce to a gallon of water. In three weeks after the 
application faint green lines were perceptible, running throughout 
the leaves like network, which was really the return of chlorophyll 
to the foliage, running first through the midribs. Gradually the 
leaves changed to such an extent that in two months there was 
not a pale leaf in the whole house, except a few that had succumbed 
entirely and were dead. I have never seen such a remarkable 
change take place in such a short space of time, and with but one 
application of the ^itrate of soda. The cause was as I suspected, 
the roots had ru^ down into the chalk subsoil, hence the loss of 
chlorophyll, I', is the same in all cases in the neighbourhood 
where the roo'.s of Peach trees are in or near chalk. The leaves 
change to a sickly pale hue, and decay of the branches quickly 
follows.—E Molyneux, Sivanniore Parle. 
TOMATOES—PAST AND PRESENT. 
As an article of food the Tomato has advanced by leaps and 
bounds until at the present time it is looked on as being almost 
indispensable to an Englishman’s diet. The production of the 
Tomato to supply the demands of the British public has become 
an industry in itself, and forms a lucrative employment for many 
market growers. When we see the statistics of the many tons of 
't omatoes which enter the metropolitan and provincial markets 
every season, we are able to form some idea of the thousands of 
feet of glass and the great amount of labour it must necessarily 
take to keep up the supply. True, there is an abundance of foreign 
Tomatoes daily entering the markets which no doubt, to some 
extent, keep down the prices ; but good English grown produce is 
so much superior to foreign that there is a constant demand for it, 
and it always commands a ready sale at a fair price. 
The fact that medical men recommend the Tomato as being a 
good, easily digested article of food, has doubtless assisted the 
growth of its popularity. It is cultivated in nearly every private 
garden. Another interesting fact about the Tomato is that it is 
doubtless an acquired taste. It is rarely we meet a person who 
enjoyed the first one he ate. Recollections arise to me of a friend 
who used to look at the Tomatoes with longing eyes, and when 
one was offered to him his face was a perfect glow of expectation ; 
the rapid change that came over the countenance on tasting was 
perfectly ludicrous, and the air of disgust with which the poor 
'Tomato was hurled away excited great merriment. Strange to 
say such persons become the most fond of Tomatoes, and this 
curious fact with regard to them is still unexplained. Let us hope 
the taste for Tomatoes will still increase, and the public will 
continue to appreciate them, and so form a means of further 
remuneration for the growers.—G. H., Alton Towers. 
Setting Tomatoes. 
The interesting remarks on this subject by Mr. Geo. Garner 
(page 159) will, no doubt, concur with the experience of many 
other growers this season. Seven or eight years ago I saw a 
splendid crop of Tomatoes being grown by a gardener who daily 
syringed the plants from the time they were planted, and to the 
end of the season there was no sign of disease. This I knew to be 
contrary to the experience of most gardeners. However, the 
following season I adopted the same treatment on a house of 
Tomatoes set apart for the express purpose, daily syringing the 
plants until the fruit commenced to ripen. The result was a 
splendid crop of fruit and no disease. 
In an adjoining house where the usual treatment was adopted 
and no syringing practised, the crop was a very light one indeed ; 
and, moreover, the plants were attacked with the disease, resulting 
in a partial loss of the fruit that had already formed. The varieties 
grown in both houses were Earliest of All, Main Crop, and Hack- 
wood Park Prolific. Once since I tried the daily syringing method, 
but failed disastrously, so have discarded it, and now resort to a 
drier atmosphere. I have never yet been able to understand why 
on those two occasions only the daily syringing method was so 
successful in every way. I should be glad if any correspondent 
could enlighten me. 
I have successfully adopted a plan for assisting the setting of 
the bloom during dull weather, viz., going over the plants daily and 
gently withdrawing the petals of all matured blooms. I have 
always fertilised my single Primulas in this way, and it at once 
suggested itself to me that Tomatoes could likewise be successfully 
treated. Of course where Tomatoes are grown extensively such a 
method would be out of the question, but it may perhaps commend 
itself to or be in accord with the practice of other readers.— 
Hedley Warren. 
L^EEIO-CaTTLEYA RROO-MFIELDENSIS. 
This distinct hybrid, the result of a cross between Cattleya 
aurea chrysotoxa and Lcelia proestans, was exhibited by Mr. 
M. Wells, Broomfield, Sale, at the Drill Hall, Westminster, on the 
14th inst. It is a very handsome hybrid, and merited the first-class 
certificate awarded for it by the Orchid Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society. The sepals and petals are rosy purple, while 
the lip is dark vehety crimson with yellow veins in the throat. 
Fig. 25 represents a bloom of this beautiful Orchid. 
