August 2,2.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
solar light on tho larger leaves is of far more import¬ 
ance. Where the vine is indigenous, no doubt these 
rambling laterals are of eminent service; there their 
elaborative powers will he called fully into action, and 
then their very shade will he beneficial to the larger 
and first formed leaves, which, without their interposi¬ 
tion, would be liable to scorch or prematurely dry up. 
Not so, however, in Britain; here “the tables are com¬ 
pletely turned”—every ray of solar light is demanded by 
the principal leaves after the month of August has 
passed. Indeed, at this late period all, or nearly all, 
the axillary shoots may be removed as soon as the 
berries change colour, for there will be no danger of 
the fruiting buds of the future year bursting. Of course 
the shoots will be kept carefully trained; they must not 
he suffered to run into confusion. A thorough ventila¬ 
tion, also, must be encouraged—no coddling allowed; 
air given before seven o’clock, a.ji., and a little left all 
night. Most of the plants being out of doors, every 
facility will be afforded for carrying out the necessary 
operations; and it is well, where convenient, to remove 
every plant out for about two or three weeks during 
the latter part of August and first week of September; 
such a course is beneficial to the vines, as enabling 
them to enjoy a dry and mellow air during tho colouring 
process—a thing they much delight iu, and which can¬ 
not be thoroughly afforded whilst the house is crammed 
with pots, and, of course, continually damp with the 
watering requisite. 
Repairs. —Another point of importance is concerned 
in this movement, and that is, the flue cleaning, paint¬ 
ing, wall washing, alterations, and general repairs. 
Perhaps no better opportunity is afforded the amateur— 
especially if he has no other general plant-house—of 
carrying out such matters; for, as to the heating appa¬ 
ratus, such must be put in trim for the winter, whether or 
not; all boilers or piping looked carefully over, in order 
to remove any sedimentary obstructions, or to repair 
leakages ; as, also, to ascertain whether the boilers can 
be relied on for another winter. All flues thoroughly 
cleaned, and slightly tested, to see if they are perfectly 
sound; any cracks or flaws may be speedily discovered, 
if the bricklayer light a hasty fire of sticks and straw, 
and then throw something over the chimney-pot. A 
sharp eye inside the house will soon have proof of the 
condition of the flue, which will be made to tell tales of 
itself in every deficient part. Such matters as painting, 
the washing of walls, &c., must be carried out with care, 
or much injury may accrue to the grapes. All dust 
must, of course, be avoided, by occasionally sprinkling 
the floors; and as for splashing, a careful person must 
be employed, and mats, &c., made use of. In the wash¬ 
ing of walls, &c.,—a thing which should he performed 
in all plant-houses twice a year, if possible—let us ad¬ 
vise a liberal use of flowers of sulphur with the lime. 
It is almost impossible to use too much in this way, for 
it is at most harmless; this we have practised for years, 
and our immunity from the red spider is, doubtless, 
owing in the main to this. None of the insect world 
known as “ pests of the garden” like the smell of sul¬ 
phur; all experience goes to prove this. We have 
heard, a gardener of long standing assert, that wasps 
would not pass the ventilating apertures of hothouses if 
sulphur was daubed in such positions. This is a strong 
assertion, and we cannot vouch for the truth of it; 
were it indeed a fact, it would prove to be one worth 
knowing. 
Vines which have been Forced Early. —We must 
be permitted to say a few words about these for the 
sake of taking our subjects in due course, and grouping 
them as it were; we may, perhaps, thus be enabled “ to 
report progress, and ask leave to sit again.” These 
want a course of treatment somewhat peculiar to them¬ 
selves, as well as to the season. In the first place, if 
313 
they are to he very early forced next year, try and per¬ 
suade them to take an early nap. Now, it so happens, 
that such vines will produce a lot of spray as a sort of 
second growth under certain circumstances. This is 
not always the case ; vines exhausted through a heavy 
crop, through age or a bad root, will seldom be guilty of 
such tricks. The amateur who has not had much vino 
practice will naturally say, “ What is the reason of all 
this?” We will endeavour to furnish one. It need 
hardly he urged, that there must he a correspondent 
amount of root-action, either present or of recent occur¬ 
rence. Such generally arises in healthy vines about the 
time the fruit is all cut; and the cause will be obvious 
when it is duly considered how much a crop of grapes 
exhausts the tree, and that the fruit, until shrivelled, 
continues to draw on the resources of its parent. Cut¬ 
ting all the fruit, then, is a considerable relief to the 
tree, which suddenly finds itself in possession of a sur- 
plussage of sap; and the ground heat being still consi¬ 
derable, the vine is with difficulty induced to rest. As 
before observed, the best plan is to cut such late growths 
away at once, for at this season they become actual 
robbers—taking from the parent what they cannot pay 
back, as tho season is too far gone for them to elaborate 
fresh juices. Another point of good culture is, to apply 
a good top-dressing of rich manure the moment they 
cast their leaves; and those who can so manage it would 
do well to thatch the surface, or to place a tarpaulin 
over the dressing; this latter process we would delay 
for three weeks longer, if it be desired to enrich the 
border through the medium of rains. Pruning, too, 
should be performed immediately the leaves can be 
removed; this is all-important; indeed, some good cul¬ 
tivators in part prune their vines before the decay ot 
the foliage; this, we think, is carrying matters rather 
too far. 
Vines on Walls. —These will want the most scrupu¬ 
lous attention at this time; not a sprig of growing 
spray should be allowed to shade the larger leaves, and 
a good deal may be removed in order to permit the sun 
to shine on the wall itself, which, by becoming heated, 
will act as a reservoir of warmth for a great part of the 
night. Every shoot should be closely nailed or tied 
down; the neater they are trained, the more sunlight 
they will obtain. If the border is dry, and the roots as 
they ought to be, near the surface, a liberal watering 
with manure-water may benefit them. Every protection 
must be afforded the fruit, in duo time, from the depre¬ 
dations of wasps, mice, or birds. 
Strawberries for Forcing. —Those who have omitted 
providing these at an early period must lose no time in 
doing so; and if any success is to be expected, every plant 
must be removed in the most cai'eful way with a nice 
ball of earth. We have known some taken thus (from 
the outsides of the strawberry plantations) to succeed 
nearly equal to those potted early. The best ot all 
plans, though, is to lay them betimes in five-inch pots— 
one in a pot; plunging the pot to the rim in a position 
to receive the runner, which may be loaded with a 
stone, enclosing a patch of moss or mulchy manure. 
Those so done in the early part of July will now be 
strong plants, with a pot full of roots, and should imme¬ 
diately be transferred to seven-inch pots. For compost, 
the following will ho found excellent:—Sand and char¬ 
coal dust, one part; old leaf soil, one part; good rotten 
manure, two parts; sound loam, six parts. Much de¬ 
pends on the character and quality ol tho loam, which, 
be the colour what it may, should feel unctuous in the 
hand. Perhaps the old criterion is as good as any, in 
regard of texture. It is this:—Take a handful some¬ 
what pulverized, and neither wet nor dry, squeeze it 
close in the hand, and then let it fall on the ground 
from a height of about five feet. If it does not divide 
and somewhat pulverize, it is rather too adhesive, and 
