1881 , ] 
GRAPE GROS MAROC.-THE CARNATION AND PICOTEE BLOOM OF 1880. 
9 
GRAPE GROS MAROC. 
[Plate 
IIIS very fine and remarkably liandsome 
Grape, sometimes known by tbe syn¬ 
onymous name Marocain, lias been 
singularly slow in attaining the position 
amongst high-class Grapes to which its merits 
entitle it. Introduced by the late Mr. Rivers, 
in 1855, from M. Vibert, of Angers, it has 
been almost unknown until the past year or 
two ; but, thanks to the present Mr. Rivers, it 
now comes to the front, and bids fair to take 
its place as one of the best late Grapes for 
market purposes. The examples grown by Mr. 
Rivers during the past two years, some of 
which gained for him a First-class Certificate 
from the Royal Horticultural Society in No¬ 
vember last, have been very fine, as is fully 
borne out by our illustration, which has been 
very accurately drawn by Mr. Fitch, from a 
noble bunch kindly communicated for that pur¬ 
pose from Sawbridgeworth. The variety is also 
530.] 
grown to some extent by Mr. Ward, at Bishop’s 
Stortford, who speaks very highly of its merits. 
The Bunches are medium-sized, strongly 
shouldered, with a stout stalk. Berries large, 
ovate in shape, of a very dark plum-colour, 
with a thick bloom. Flesh firm, yet juicy, 
with a very brisk, sprightly flavour, exceed¬ 
ingly pleasant. It succeeds admirably when 
grown under the same conditions as Black Ham¬ 
burgh, and ripens about the same season. It 
is recommended as a very late-keeping Grape, 
and from its handsome appearance it cannot 
fail to be a great favourite. In constitution it 
is very robust and stout, after it is fairly esta¬ 
blished ; but it is somewhat difficult to propa¬ 
gate. It is tolerably prolific, and sets freely. 
This Grape has been much confused with Gros 
Damas Noir, and Black Morocco, from which 
it is, however, perfectly distinct, and to which 
it is much superior.—A. F. B, 
THE CARNATION AND PICOTEE BLOOM OF 1880. 
^L5)HE abnormal conditions of growth in 
1879 left paitiful impress of their 
character on the plants and bloom of 
1880. Nothing less could have been expected. 
A season sunless beyond all experience, and 
wet beyond all record—which ripened no sap, 
and which, again strictly in accord with 
Nature’s laws, was followed by frost so length¬ 
ened in duration and intense in its character 
that subjects ordinarily regarded as hardy 
perished wholesale, even in localities favourably 
circumstanced, and which in my handicapped 
situation brought death to my Lilies, Laurus- 
tinus, and Deodar—could not be hoped in 
passing to grant immunity to Carnations and 
Picotees. 
With the earliest opening of the spring, the 
plants, dulled and depressed with the excessive 
rains of the preceding summer and autumnal 
months, rallied in a fashion very gladdening to 
an admirer’s eye, and for a while there was 
much promise of a growth which might seem 
to scoff at fear, and turn doubt and tremblings 
into joy. But as time wore on, in plant after 
plant the evil of unripened sap was only too 
surely developed, and never in my experience 
was so large a per-centage lost from this cause 
as in the season now past. When, again, the 
time of bloom had come, the evil was griev¬ 
ously manifest in the marred edges and blurred 
and imperfect markings—in some cases, the 
almost absence of colour in the flowers. Nor 
was this confined to a few varieties of an 
exceptional or crotclietty character. It was 
notable in varieties of unimpeachable con¬ 
stancy and most highly developed properties. 
In Carnations, Curzon suffered severely ; and 
in Picotees, Zerlina—of which, previously, I 
had never seen an inferior bloom—was, from 
the finest plant I grew of it, so rough that, set 
in steel, it might have served for a ribbon saw. 
Another indication of the abnormal character 
of 1879 was its effect upon the seed. This is 
a branch which has always had a special in¬ 
terest for me, and despite the unpromising 
nature of the weather, the pollen-pencil was 
kept in constant use. Up to the very end of 
the year the seed-pods gave little signs of 
ripened seeds, but when at length they were 
shelled and sown, the germination and growth 
were far beyond my expectations. When, how¬ 
ever, high summer came upon us, the absence 
of stamina in the seed was only too apparent, 
and our per-centage of loss was far larger than 
usual. 
My readers will not, however, imagine it was 
all cloud. As I go again in imagination around 
and around the stages—a retrospect that very 
regularly fills my hours of leisure—I see group 
after group of flowers of the greatest excellence, 
a few so rare, that neither hope nor desire can 
anticipate more glorious development. Many 
years have passed since I wrote, “A Derby 
man would have a very special pleasure 
in looking upon a flower which shall surpass 
