237 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 20, 1858. 
posed fdr some time, By the removal of the sashes, 
many of the buds had burst and been rubbed off on the 
23d June. Mr. Forbes had previously tried almost 
every plan,—such as keeping the house cool and 
darkish, with plenty of air, by using wooden shutters 
instead of the sashes,—but still the heat of the season 
would cause growth, and prevent the due resting of 
the Vine. The subject is one of great importance, as 
many gentlemen would like to have Grapes every day 
in the year. I understand Mr. Forbes very nearly 
accomplishes this, being seldom more than ten or four¬ 
teen days out of Grapes. This is chiefly effected by 
having them very late and very early ; and yet he has 
no great number of houses. Two late houses were in 
bloom, and coming into bloom, on the 23d of June. 
This lateness is effected by having the Vines exposed 
until the bunches are showing. Others, from those 
: perfectly ripe* were succeeding in various stages. 
These extra early ones seem to be the difficulty with 
i these great experienced gardeners ; not difficulty as to 
getting them, but to getting them in quantity so as to 
; please themselves. This difficulty is chiefly, or alto¬ 
gether, owing to the facts, that the Vine will grow in 
warm weather, and that the buds will break long be¬ 
fore they are wanted to break. To neutralise these 
evils, many modes have been resorted to, but not so 
successful as the operators would wish. Counsel, 
therefore, or practical deductions from experience, 
would be generally acceptable. From want of practice, 
I am not in a position to offer either; but I would 
present a suggestion, and leave it to be dealt with 
j just for so much as it may be deemed worth. It was 
j presented to my mind by the comparative early forc¬ 
ing of some other things, and even the moderate early 
forcing of Vines. My impression is, that these extra 
early Grapes, which gardeners now wish to be in a state 
of rest, are stripped and pruned too early, and hence 
the main buds must burst. Had I a house of ripe 
Grapes in March, I would keep up the requisite iieat 
until the wood was thoroughly ripened; and then 
gradually reduce the temperature, taking care that, 
equally gradually, the roots should be getting drier, 
and in summer all rains be excluded from the border. 
This would lessen vigour and growth, but not stop 
either altogether ; and, instead of pruning so early, 
as to force that growth into the principal buds, I 
would, in addition, allow a good number of small 
laterals to grow, which would act as safety valves, 
alike preventing the bursting of the buds and supply¬ 
ing them with more organised material. Then, three 
weeks or so before I wished the Vines to break, I 
would prune away these laterals, and do what more 
I pruning was necessary : in a few days more, I would 
water the border, to bring the roots into vigorous 
action : then I should expect the natural principle of 
growth would find its way into the buds, which, by 
this means, had been kept unbroken. The compara¬ 
tive rest given, by dryness at the roots, and the re¬ 
maining vigour allowed to expend itself in spray for a 
time, I should deem safer than early pruning, or any 
other mode of retarding in summer. But this is a 
mere suggestion, which, in the case of such Vines, I 
have had no opportunity of proving thoroughly. 
BREADTH OF VIEW IN FLOWER GARDENS. 
Sometimes I see a beautiful little lawn, and fine- 
managed flower beds, deprived of much of their charm 
from inattention to this idea. Here is a beautiful 
little mansion, with a fine lawn in front of it, backed 
at a distance by huge masses of Rhododendrons and 
other evergreens, and the sides flanked in a manner 
somewhat similar. But the flower beds are clustered 
chiefly near the mansion, and the greatest breadth of 
lawn is between them and the backgrounds, an ar¬ 
rangement -ftliich lessens the effect of the flowers, and 
contrasts with the size and massiveness of the mansioA. 
When a group of beds are so placed, they can hardly 
be too geometric in their outline. In general, an irre¬ 
gular outline of beds on the two sides, with an opening 
vista of lawn in the centr'd* but also varied in outline, 
would be far more telling, and would give a breadth of 
view and massiveness to the mansion. It is quite 
another affair when the whole space is a regular flower 
garden, for then the fine effect of a lawn is little 
thought of; but where that, as in the present case, 
enters as one of the features of the place, flower-beds' 
ought either to be grouped at a distance from the house, 
or at the sides, if near it; so that there may bebroed 
openings of turf, to connect the house with the lawn 
beyond, instead of that being intercepted, by flower¬ 
beds occupying all the width of the lawn, close to the 
mansion, as seems to be now the fashion in many pretty 
places. 
UNITY OF EXPRESSION. 
We hardly expect this in small gardens. There we 
can hardly find fault, if a vase of Seeley’s is placed near 
the old Willow Pollard, that serves instead of a rustic 
basket. We would be inclined to muse on the charms 
of variety, if, besides a beautiful Chinese porcelain 
vessel, we were called upon to admire the taste displayed, 
in throwing into a heap bits of granite, sandstone, 
brickbats, and fire-clinkers, dignified with the title of 
our rockwork. Variety is ever pleasing, and if the 
mixture is somewhat heterogeneous, the owner cannot 
help it, as his place is too small to keep them separate 
and distinct. The same desire and love of the op¬ 
posites, is carried out in many places, where there can 
be no reason for their being there, except that the 
owners are themselves pleased with them, and expect 
their friends to be equally gratified. True, there are, 
for a definite purpose, rooteries and rockeries in the 
Crystal Palace itself; but should we look to Sir Joseph 
Paxton, as an authority and an example, if he had 
clustered the scenery, he has placed around the pre- 
Adamite animals, upon a lawn in front of the principal 
terrace F A similar feat is being performed daily by 
many who are otherwise clear-headed, and developing 
every mark of genius. True, there are places where it 
would benaturalto look for masses and boulders of rock; 
but there the gardening should be somewhat in charac¬ 
ter,—in agreement as well as in contrast. But, in posi¬ 
tions where no such things could be naturally expected, 
I cannot as yet see that a beautiful lawn is to be im¬ 
proved, by a heap of stones, or roots, thrown together 
in its centre, or a prominent position on one of its sides ; 
though, in a retired, secluded corner, such a heap, 
decorated with plants, might be congruous and suitable 
enough. Then, however great the contrast, it was 
not forced upon you, you visited it at your leisure; 
and then you looked upon it not as an incongruous 
part of a whole, but as a whole in itself, and, therefore, 
congruous. When, last year, I attempted to give an 
account of Shrublands, and stated that a considerable 
amount of its interest was to be found in its contrasts, 
a clever correspondent told me, I was far too much 
taken with these contrasts, that he considered them 
deformities, and that the mind was as little prepared for 
some of them, as a visitor to a princely drawing-room, 
who, on opening the door, is unexpectedly ushered in 
amid the filth and discomforts of a bog-trotter’s hut. 
Now, I by no means admit, that the contrasts at 
Shrublands are anything so great as that; but, even 
allowing the contrasts to be great, there is, at least, 
the barrier, the door, the distinctive line to be passed; 
so that all along, you are presented at one time with 
unity of expression, or one set of ideas. I found this 
carried out the other day, where a nice fernery has 
been formed cloge to a lawn, but completely concealed 
