THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, February 1 G, 1858. 
not right, as, at the latter part of the summer, the leaves were 
much scorched, and all fell off. Was that from want of 
moisture at the roots, or in the house ? The border is made 
mostly of turf from a pasture, bone-dust, &c., about two feet 
and a half deep, resting on a chalk bottom. I suppose, ac¬ 
cording to the old adage of u locking the stable after the 
horse was stolen,” after the Vines were scorched, we began 
pouring water to the roots in abundance, boon after, tne 
Vines were attacked with mildew. The hot-water pipes along 
the front of the house touch the Vines now ; and, as I must 
have them removed, how far should they be from the Vines ? 
Also, how far should the Vine be from the glass? As my 
house faces the south, would blinds be good things in sum¬ 
mer?”— Amateur. 
[The first thing you have to determine is, whether plants or 
Vines are to be the principal object. If the first, one stem to 
a rafter will be sufficient; and it would be as well to have the 
stem of the Vine ultimately bare in front, as far as the base of 
the rafter, and in order that light may stream in unob¬ 
structed on the plants inside. If Vines are your object, then 
there is no reason why you should not have Grapes against 
your upright glass, as well as on the roofs. Your Vines have 
not grown alike; and there is no necessity for treating them 
alike. Shoots that were thirteen feet long, and more than an 
inch in girth, you may cut back to the bottom of the 
rafter. As tire buds break, you may retain those on the lower 
part of the stem, letting them grow from six to nine inches; 
and then stopping them, if you mean ultimately to take them 
away ; but, eighteen to twenty-four inches if you mean to 
fruit them there. In either case, let the terminal shoot grow 
on without stopping, and allow each lateral to grow at first 
several joints; removing them gradually, as lately advised, 
towards autumn. The weak Vines cut down to a bud or two, 
and take only a single stem—letting the laterals grow at first 
to encourage girth. The wires for training on, should be 
fifteen inches from the glass, especially of British Plate Glass; 
if small squares with dirt in the laps, a few inches less will do. 
The pipes should be from six inches to a foot from the Vine 
stems. Coidd you not, by planting inside, or some other 
move, have avoided the trouble of moving your pipes ? We 
fear your Vines were scorched from want of air. Of course, 
if the roots got very dry, that would help it ; and then extra 
delugings, especially if the atmosphere of the house be extra 
dry, would be productive of mildew. Avoid all sudden 
extremes. If Vines are not too near the glass, and ah be given 
sufficiently and early, and moisture in the earth and atmo¬ 
sphere attended to, Vines in general do not require shading, 
especially the Hamburgh, and Muscat ; and the more sun they 
have, the harder and firmer will the wood be. In sudden 
changes from dull weather to very bright sunshine, we have 
found such kinds as Sweetwater , and Frontignan , the better 
from a little shade.] 
BLUE AND GREEN PROCESSES IN 
PHOTO GRxAPHY. 
“ Mr. Copland, in his Photography for Gardeners, does 
not mention in his blue process, what quantity of solution B. 
is required for the twenty drops of solution of gum Arabic. 
And also, I should like to know, if there is a green process.” 
—L. M. N. 
[ Two ounces of solution B. require t wenty drops of mucilage 
of gum Arabic. See “ Cottage Gardener,” December 1st, 
1857. To produce a green tint, add a small quantity of a 
solution of Prussian blue to the bichromate of potash used in 
the buff process. 
We have heard, that the colouring matter from Cabbage 
! leaves, extracted with spirits of wine, is available as a photo¬ 
graphic medium. There is, undoubtedly, a wide field for ex¬ 
periment with vegetable juices ; infusion of the Ten-week 
Stock, common Violet, &c., having been applied successfully 
many years ago.—E. A. Copland.] 
TRAINING GOOSEBERRIES. 
(C To prevent the shoots of Gooseberries growing down¬ 
wards, by which the fruit gets soiled, and is rendered unfit for 
use, I have adopted the following plan:—I make hoops of 
hazel boughs, and place them over the Gooseberry plant. 
Two or three stakes are required to fix the hoop to, that it 
may be kept at a proper height from the ground, to hold the 
bunches sufficiently high. If one hoop is not enough to hold 
all the bunches properly up, two hoops may be used. The 
stakes will require to be left high enough to admit of the 
second hoop being placed, should it be requisite. Should any 
of the shoots be ill-placed, they may be adjusted, by being 
tied to the hoops.”—J. Read. 
[Your mode of training the Gooseberry tree is good, not 
only for the purpose of keeping the fruit from being soiled, 
but to admit light and warmth to the centre, for the better 
ripening of the fruit. We practised the plan, however, 
twenty-five years ago, and the following is a woodcut we 
published of this mode of training. 
The Geranium mentioned in your postscript “ shanked 
off.” This gangrene is usually caused by too much moisture 
in the soil, when the plant is not growing.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Hardy Fruit for Yorkshire [York). — The following is Mr. Er- 
rington’s reply :—I have carefully examined your list of fruit trees, 
which contains many kinds not conducive to the object you have in 
view. When profit is the chief aim, it is not well to use many kinds ; 
hut rather to narrow your views in that respect. And now as to prac¬ 
tical advice concerning your soil. I should advise your planting your 
Pears and Plums on the “ brown sandy loam,” which contains an 
unctuous sand: your Apples, chiefly on the strong loam. If any sus¬ 
picion of stagnant water exists, and you do not care to thoroughly 
drain, I advise you to plant the trees rather high—indeed, by no means 
bury the roots deep, s attached to the number means that the tree 
grows strong ; and m, that it is of middling vigour. As kitchen Apples, 
I suggest the following: they are placed nearly in the estimation I hold 
them as td profit, &c. Nos. 16, s.; 12, m. ; 8, si; 24, s. ; 26, m. ; 55, s. ; 
43, m. ; 1, s.; 7, s.; 19, m. ; 28, m. To these may be added the Mank's 
Codling , the John Apple, and the Wellington. I advise you to plant 
many in proportion of Nos. 16 , 12, 8, 53. As dessert Apples, take 9, m. ; 
14, m. ; 18, s. ; 22, m. ; 23, m. ; 31, m. ; 32, m. ; 36, m. ; 40, m. ; 41, m. ; 
46, m. ; 54, m. : and be sure to let 18, 23, 31, 32, 40, 46, preponderate. 
To these let me not forget to add one not generally known, but which 
never failed with me to produce a heavy crop for the last score years, 
and which would come to market when nearly all are gone. It is called 
Lamb-abbey Pear main, and will be in use from January to May or 
June. In Plums take Nos. 8, m. ; 9, m. ; 3, s.; 10, m. ; 11, s. ; 12, M.; 
2, s. These are placed in the order of their utility, or nearly so. And 
now for Pears. I place the numbers nearly as to the estimation I hold 
them in as marketable affairs. Nos. 7, m. ; 9, m. ; 10, s.; 12, s.; 29, m. ; 
30, >i. I, however, cannot express too high an opinion of the merits of 
Nos. 29, 7, 9, 12, 18, as sure bearers and marketable stuff. I may here 
observe that there are many Apples through the kingdom with local 
names, which would even shame some of our finely-named catalogue 
kinds. There are also, I am persuaded, useful Pears for hardy pur¬ 
poses, which have not found their way into accredited lists. This is 
a pity. The main thing is, for a person to note well what succeeds in 
his district, and not to lose sight of them; remembering that any one 
kind may be good or middling according as the climate affects it. 
As to soil, of course we all consider sound loamy soils of a fair depth as 
suitable to most fruits; but we must have no water standing below. 
But climate forms an equally important consideration. No sound and 
experienced gardener would plant in Kent, Essex, or Devon as he would 
at York or Inverness. 
Meteorological Tables [Doctor's Boy). —Thanks for your obliging 
offer; but we have not room for monthly tables. We shall be glad of 
annual tables, such as that published in our last number. 
British Sports [Wiltshire Poultry-keeper). —We are much obliged, 
but have no space to spare for the subject. 
Mossy Field ( W. Hanklin). —To get rid of moss from your field 
(about which you neither tell us the nature of the soil, subsoil, or ele¬ 
vation), we can only suggest draining, harrowing in the spring, sowing 
afterwards some white Clover, and giving a top-dressing with coal 
ashes. 
Trop.eolum at TnE Crystal Palace [II. B.).—Tropceolum elegans 
made the best bed at the Crystal Palace last year, and the third best 
bed in 1856—a bright orange-scarlet flower. How they managed the 
plants before they were planted out in that bed we do not know; but 
the summer treatment in the beds is nothing different from that given 
