114 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 22, 1860. 
bury ; of new and fine-leaved plants from M. Linden, of 
Brussels, and Messrs, Veitcli, Kingliorn, and some others ; 
and the way the prizes went is in the advertisement of 
that Meeting, for I took no notes of them at the time. 
Mr. Kinghorn’s Azalea was most beautiful, and M. Lin¬ 
den's Campyloboirys regalis is a gem, the best of his fine¬ 
leaved plants. Ilis Tkeoplirastia had not the smallest 
resemblance to any one of that family, and probably there 
may be some mistake, unless M. Linden has a dried 
specimen to prove the name. D. Beaton. 
BLOOM FALLING- OFF FROM TREES IN AN 
ORCHARD-HOUSE. 
1 have this season planted an orchard-house 20 feet by 10 
feet, with Apples, Cherries, Teaches, and Nectarines. T have 
turned them out of their pots into the borders, and they all 
bloomed beautifully: but now' the bloom has all fallen off with 
no fruit. Can you inform mo the cause of it ? My trees were 
rather small, in 16-size pots, hut they are now making good 
growth. Can you inform mo what is meant by the summer- 
pinching-system in preference to disbudding P—A Constant 
Reader. 
[Your trees, iu all probability, had not been long enough 
established in pots, or the roots had been too much disturbed in 
transplanting them to the borders. If properly managed they 
will, no doubt, bear next year. The summer pinching simply 
consists in pinching back every shoot to three leaves, and when 
it pushes again, as soon as it makes three leaves more, pinch it 
again. Even if you adopt this system your trees iu the border 
will soon out-grow your house, unless you annually take them 
up and root-prune them. Growing in pots acts like a perpetual 
root-pruning.] 
WASTE OF HEAT IN GLASS STRUCTURES. 
Thebe was a meeting the other day of the Schoolmasters 
Social Science Association, when Lord Brougham and other 
speakers enlarged on the importance of the subject, a view in 
which we fully concur. Mr. Morris, an architect, then sketched 
“a house for the suburbs,” socially and architecturally, and we 
extract his remarks concerning the greenhouse, or according to 
his punning antithesis, “ the unconservative principles of modern 
conservatories.” 
“Instead of any rational attempt being usually made to econo¬ 
mise solar heat, and retain by such uncostly means an equable 
temperature, a perfect frigidarium is usually first set up—all the 
sides and all the roof of glass — and then a wasteful expenditure 
of fuel and attention is imposed to correct so thoughtless a 
proceeding. 
“ Loudon has shown that every square foot of glass cools a 
cubic foot and a quarter of enclosed atmosphere per minute, as 
many degrees as the inner temperature exceeds that of the outer 
air; so that, assuming the heat inside to bo 66°, and the outside 
44°, every 100 superficial feet of glazing would depress 125 cubic 
feet of air, 22° every minute, and the largest body of atmosphere 
woidd thus bo rapidly reduced to the external level but for the 
warmth artificially generated within. 
“ The plea upon which the better and more substantial prin¬ 
ciple of construction observed in the plant-houses of the last 
century has been departed from, seems to be that of obtaining 
more light, and it has been facilitated by the low price of glass ; 
but it is, in fact, a groundless argument, for light is so extremely 
difi’usivo, that, as illustrated in the Pantheon, at Rome, a single 
foot, of glass will illuminate, in an agreeable manner, 3000 cubic 
feet of space. 
“With this fact before us, we may safely have walls on the 
north and east sides ; and if the roof be also of opaque materials, 
to act as a reflector on those quarters, and transparent only on 
the south and west, the heat acquired during the day will be 
sufficient to exclude frost in the night, except in seasons of 
intense cold ; and the contemptible flimsiness of appearance, now 
so general in these structures, will be obviated.” 
[There is much that is suggestive in Mr. Morris’s remarks 
upon the waste of heat from our glass structures ; and there is 
no doubt that their north and east sides might be of brick or 
or other substances less conducting and radiating of heat than 
glass ; but we quite dissent from Mr. Morris’s suggestion about 
opaque roofs. No amount of side-light will ever compensate 
plants for depriving them of the more intense light given by the 
nearer-to-perpendicular rays admitted through the roof during 
the mid-day hours. Very few of our tender plants would ripen 
their wood under the overshadowing of an opaque roof.— - 
Eds. €. G.] 
SOME POINTS IN VINE CULTURE. 
“ I have two vineries heated by hot water. There are two Vines 
up each rafter, and the spurs on them are nearly two feet long, 
i and each of the Vines lias a piece of young wood trained on the 
outside wires. About four feet of the young wood are two years 
old, and four feet last year’s wood. Last year I began to force 
the first house the beginning or first week of March, and I had 
about eighteen or twenty bunches up each rafter; but some of 
them were very small at the bottom of the Vines. I left all the 
bunches on that showed, and several of the bundles did not 
colour as they ought. The other house I keep hack as long as 1 
| can. The Vines are out of the house ; yet they began to break 
in May last year, and the Grapes coloured well, but the bunches 
1 were small. There was about the same number of bundles as in 
| the first house. Most of the Vines are Black Hamburgh #, except 
j a few white ones that are planted by the side of the Hamburghs. 
] 1 don’t know the name of them, but I am told they are the 
White Tokay. There were two or three bunches on them, but 
they did not ripen the fruit as they ought, nor yet the wood. 
The border is always planted with Potatoes. It became very dry 
last summer: I did not water it, hut I think I ought to have 
done so. This year I thought of giving the borders a regular good 
soaking with liquid manure from the stables. I can have as much 
as I like. "Will it be too strong to apply it alone? or will it want 
I mixing with water ? I thought of digging little holes about three 
feet from tlie stems of tlie Vines, and pouring the liquid manure 
i in by bucketfuls. In wliat stage do the Vines want to be when 
you apply the manure water ? This year I began to force about 
the middle of February. I began with about 50°; then kept it 
up to about 60° in the day. I could never get it higher in cold 
dull days. I have always kept the house very moist. Now the 
sun lias more power the house is often up from 70° to 85° at. 
noon. Some of the bunches are just coming into bloom. Ought 
the house to be kept moist or rather dry when the Grapes are in 
bloom ? I think rather dry myself; but a man has told me that, 
the house ought to be kept very moist with plenty of steam, or 
the Grapes will not set well. This year there were not above 
half as many bunches showed, and more than half of them have 
shanked or wired off. The bunches on the main or leading 
shoots from the young wood have all shanked off. What do you 
think is the cause, and how am I to prevent it ? Do you think 
' it would be any use to dig the Vines up, and raise the roots ? If 
so, I should like to try half the house first. When would be the 
best time to do it ? and how ? If I raise the roots, would it be 
best to cut all the old wood away at the same time, and only 
leave the eight feet of young ? At least there will be twelve feet 
of young wood with this year’s wood. I have had the 4 ines 
under my care for about fourteen months. I have been told the 
bunches have always shanked off, little or much, when started 
early. The border has not been covered these last two winters.” 
—A Young Beginner. 
In endeavouring to reply to this long letter of “ A Young 
Beginner,” I will try and meet the ease of several other inquirers 
on tlie same subject. 
1st. Mode of Pruning and Training. —I do not think this is of 
the least importance, if the Vines are healthy, vigorous, and the 
great mass of roots within twelve to eighteen inches of the surface. 
Cut and train how you will, there will be plenty of fruit if you 
leave enough wood to produce enough shoots for the season. I 
have taken long old rods of such Vines, cut every vestige of a 
shoot or spur off in winter, leaving not a visible bud ; but from 
the cut parts the Vines threw out several shoots when growth 
had commenced, and it was only necessary to leave the requisite 
number with their incipient bunches for a crop. Similar Vines 
had been spurred close in, leaving only a single bud at the base 
of every side-shoot last season, and the result was equally satis¬ 
factory. On such Vines when desirable to renew the stems, the 
old stem had been cut down to the bottom as soon as the fruit on 
it was gathered ; care having been taken the previous Bummer to 
grow a young shoot from the base to the top of the house, and 
get its wood well browned before the autumn. Sometimes I have 
