194 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 30, 1894 
I am alluding only to fancy Pansies ; in fact, I have long since 
given up growing the show varieties, and no one who saw the 
splendid collections at the Drill Hall of the London Pansy Society 
would wonder at anyone doing so, the wonderful variation of 
colour and their great size winning admiration from all who saw 
them. 
Roses. 
As a rule there is but little to be done in the Rose garden at 
this season except hoeing, which cannot be done much too often ; 
but there is one operation to which I would draw attention, and 
which is coming to be more generally practised than formerly, I 
mean the autumn pruning. This consists in cutting out all the 
wood that has flowered this year, thus giving to the shoots which 
have been thrown up this season a better chance of obtaining light 
and air and so of ripening the wood than if they were left with a 
crowd of other shoots around them. The Rose garden may suffer 
iu appearance as the plants will look somewhat scanty, but I am 
convinced that in the long run it is more advantageous for the 
plants. It will be time, too, next month to determine as to the 
future of the Rose garden as to what plants are to be discarded 
and replaced by others. There is not much temptation this year 
to eliminate old varieties and introduce novelties, for these latter 
are very few. While the shoots are long it is better to put stakes 
to them to protect them fi-om high winds, and prevent the plants 
being shaken in the ground. 
With regard to Tulips and Ranunculuses there is little to be 
said. All that will be necessary will be to examine the roots from 
time to time to see that mice do not attack the former or mildew 
the latter. They have both been harvested with me in good 
condition, and ought to bloom well next season. I have never in 
my long experience seen Ranunculuses in greater beauty than in 
the present year, and the wonder to me is that such charming 
flowers are so little known.—D., Deal. 
MUSCAT OF ALEXANDRIA GRAPE. 
“ W. I.” generally writes so much to the point that it is unusual 
to be necessary to take exception to one or two remarks in his 
interesting article on this Grape (page 167). It is on the 
-question of colouring the berries by direct exposure to the sun by 
tying back the foliage that I take exception to. I do not say 
“that beautiful clear amber, so dear to exhibitors,” is best obtained 
■by exposure to direct sunshine, because I know this perfection in 
the colouring of this grand Grape is brought about by other means. 
My contention is this, that bunches produced by healthy Vines 
will put on that golden colour, which is really the first step towards 
the amber tint so much prized, not only quicker, but quite safely, 
and free from any objectionable disfigurement if the leaves are tied 
back quite away from the bunches, admitting all direct sunshine 
available. 
Vines started into growth by closing the house the first week 
in February cannot produce bunches with sufficiently coloured 
large berries by the 1st of August good enough to win prizes if 
they are allowed to colour naturally. My experience is that the 
only way to win prizes from such Vines is to expose the berries 
thoroughly for at least a month before the date of the show. I 
■find much more time is needed than that stated to colour the 
•berries satisfactorily without direct exposure to the sun. I have 
'taken many prizes during the last ten years by adopting this 
practice, and if I mistake not “W. I.” knows a little about this, 
and I never had cause yet to regret the practice. No later than 
last year I was successful in two classes at the Southampton 
summer show with Muscat of Alexandria. The previous year the 
bunches of this Grape that were awarded a similar position were 
produced under exactly the same method of treatment—exposure. 
In that vioery I have never seen a disfigured bunch through this 
cause, nor in the one devoted to the growth of this Grape under 
my charge. This. I hold, is a very good reason for taking exception 
to this part of “W. I.’s” article. 
I have several times pointed out the too common practice 
adopted by many gardeners of crowding their Vines with too 
much useless foliage, the direct result of allowing too many 
growths to remain when disbudding the Vines in the spring. 
More than once I have noted as many as four and more shoots 
growing from one spur. I need hardly state the condition of the 
crop. Such practitioners as these too often complain that they 
cannot procure a good “set” with their Muscat Grapes. The 
rods of this Vine under my care are 3 feet 3 inches apart, and 
while admitting they would be as well if 4 feet asunder, I question 
if the results would be justifiable by the addition of another foot 
of space between the rods, 
I agree with every word “ W. I.” says anent the overcropping 
of this Vine. Muscat of Alexandria appears to be more subject 
to this practice than any other variety, and taking it altogether I 
believe it is the worst managed Grape in cultivation. When grow¬ 
ing in prescribed limits the roots may require more moisture than 
any other variety, and especially if the soil be light ; but under 
opposite conditions less water apnears to me to be necessary for 
this Grape than any other. The Vines here in some seasons have 
borne satisfactory crops of fruit, and had not been watered at the 
roots from the first week in February until the same time in 
July. 
There is one point about the cultivation of this Grape that 
puzzles me still, and I think I may safely say many others. I 
allude to the shrivelling of the berries. I have never been able to 
quite prevent this objectionable accompaniment to otherwise good 
examples, I am inclined to think it is the soil that contains some 
constituent not agreeable, or that it lacks some other necessary 
ingredient for the support of the berries themselves. I note in 
this neighbourhood, where the soil is of a variable nature, shrivelling 
of the berries varies in extent also. I think many men make the 
mistake of deferring the removal of superfluous bunches too long. 
I believe in the practice of cutting them away to a great extent 
before the blossoming period. It seems to me to be a useless strain 
upon the Vines to have to support three times as many bunches 
whilst in flower as is necessary, Muscat of Alexandria is perhaps 
of all Grapes the one that produces more bunches than any other, 
it being not an uncommon occurrence to find four bunches on one 
shoot. This latter occurrence is due in a great measure to the 
manner in which the Vines are managed, for if they are strong 
with well ripened wood yearly a profusion of bunches will be the 
result,—E. Molyneux. 
SCUTICARIA KeYSERIANA. 
This Scuticaria was introduced from the Roraima district a 
few years ago, but it does not appear to have found its way into 
many collections. It has the same habit as the other species, 
S. Steeli, S. Hadweni, and S. Dodgsoni, which are all South 
American, the leaves being several feet long, cylindrical or quill¬ 
like, and pendulous ; the flowers fleshy, with broad petals and 
sepals heavily spotted with purplish maroon on a yellowish ground ; 
the lip broad, open, and streaked with a similarly dark colour on a 
lighter base. The plant (fig. 28) is a handsome one, owing to the 
clear well-defined markings. 
Notes on Epidendrums. 
This genus contains a great variety of plants of widely differing 
habit and form of inflorescence. Many of these are not worthy of 
attention, so small and insignificant are their flowers, while others 
are dingy and uninviting in colour. Still, there are abundance of 
really useful and attractive kinds in the genus that merit more 
attention from growers than they at present receive. To take 
the pseudo-bulbous division first perhaps the most generally grown 
is E. vitellinum. This popular kind when well flowered is one of 
the most attractive of cool-house Orchids. The orange-scarlet 
sepals and petals have a gay and effective appearance, which is very 
pleasing, especially when arranged with Maidenhair Ferns in a 
cool house. This species does well in shallow pans suspended from 
the roof with the coolest section of Odontoglossum. Abundance 
of water is required while growing, and the plants must not be 
dried in the winter. During this latter season the lightest available 
position must be given the plants. The variety majus is supposed 
to be larger flowered than the type. 
A larger growing but smaller flowered cool house kind is 
E. sceptrum. This charming species grows about a foot high, and 
produces a many-flowered raceme from the top of the pseudo-bulb. 
The individual blossoms are pale yellow with the exception of the 
lip, which is purple ; there are also purple spots on the sepals and 
petals. I have not seen this plant for some years, and my descrip¬ 
tion is from memory ; so if this is not accurate I hope someone 
who is better informed will correct me. 
E. atro-purpureum is a beautiful kind, which thrives best in an 
intermediate temperature. If kept at the cool end of the Oattleya 
house this and all the pseudo-bulbous kinds named below, with the 
