186 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ August, 
government were in the hands of the good and amiable Lady Clarke. Mr. 
Dowding had got on his legs again ; and as the garden had now to pay its 
own expenses, which it did handsomely, and that of the farm as well, it is 
easy enough to see that this was now no place for either the gardener or his 
assistants to play the fool; and the issue showed that all hands did their 
work not only wisely and well, hut willingly. And the Grapes grown there 
for many years after the decease of Sir Simon, and of Mr. Dowding, were 
second to none in England. For the honour of the deceased baronet, let 
me say that he paid his men handsomely. The Vines were trained gene¬ 
rally with a single rod in the centre of each light, and as nearly as possible 
16 inches from the glass. In pruning, the Crawshay system of cutting off 
all the laterals, as if for bravado, was not adopted, but one eye was left 
on each very short spur; and when a house of Vines had been got ready 
for starting, and had been duly coated all over with a solution of common 
soft-soap and black sulphur (sulphur vivum), diluted with enough water 
to render the mixture a stiff jelly when cold—the mixture being duly laid 
on with a common paint brush whilst a little warmer than the hand—the 
Vines were all laid level on a tan bed in the middle of the house, in order 
that they might break evenly, and, that whatever heat they did get might be 
thoroughly moist, the atmosphere being an imitation of a reeking swamp. 
Had a stranger intruded on the culture at this stage, he might have had 
confused ideas about the sanity of the party who superintended, as one had 
to creep about among crooked sticks, apparently thrown in the greatest dis¬ 
order. I very carefully noted down in my diary the whole course of culture 
applied to the Grape Vine at Oakhill, and the late Mr. Loudon published 
it in his “Gardeners’ Magazine,” where it will be found in extenso. I need 
therefore, neither abridge nor repeat what is already in print, as my object 
now is to supply an historical link which only myself, or Mr. John Davis, my 
kind friend and companion there, could do. 
Islington Square, Salford. Alex. Forsyth. 
HEW HYACINTHS. 
@ HE new varieties of Hyacinths have been plentifully shown during 
i the present season, though, as in the case of other flowers, the new 
introductions are not always improvements on existing kinds. The 
best our exhibitors can do is to obtain the very best flowers possible ; 
and though as an invariable rule the class for new kinds does not 
furnish such fine flowers as those for older varieties, it is, nevertheless, one 
of considerable interest for the florist. 
I propose to group the new flowers according to the shade of colour, in 
order to give as clearly as possible some idea of their relative value. The 
best flower of the year is a yellow, called King of Yellows (W. Paul), per- 
