1881. ] 
THE ORCHID ALBUM.-VINES AND VINE CULTURE. 
147 
while those all around only hear well about one 
season in three ? The roots of the former are 
kept in a mass of fibre, and the branches pre¬ 
vented from becoming matted, sun and air 
having full access to every branch. The growth 
is thus kept firm, and bristling with fruit-buds. 
Apples and Pears are considered as to their 
requirements, and are generally loaded with 
excellent fruit. Pears are especially fine this 
season, and selections of free-bearing kinds are 
planted in quantity. Louise Bonne of Jersey, 
Beurre de Capiaumont, Marie Louise, and one 
or two others are grown in quantity, so that 
abundance of fruit are every season gathered 
from these trees.—M. Temple. 
8. Cypripedium Stonei; 9-10. Lcelia pur- 
pur ata Williamsii; 11. Phcdcenopsis amabilis 
Dayana; 12. Oncidium Gardneri. 
Besides its value as a picture-book—a col¬ 
lection of well-drawn illustrations of popular 
Orchids, a pleasing ornament for the drawing¬ 
room table, and useful as a means of identifying 
the particular plants figured—the work will be 
an important aid to amateurs and inexperi¬ 
enced cultivators, as a guide to the successful 
management of their plants, the cultural direc¬ 
tions therein given being the result of Mr. 
Williams’ lengthened practical experience as a 
most successful grower of Orchids.—M. 
THE ORCHID ALBUM. VINES AND VINE CULTURE. 
HIS new illustrated monthly work on 
choice Exotic Orchids has been pro¬ 
jected by ’Mr. B. S. Williams, to meet? 
and also to help forward, the growing taste for 
this aristocratic race of plants, the importation 
of which is now carried on more extensively 
than ever, and the cultivators of which must 
be more numerous than at any previous period. 
Both the amateur and professional orchidist 
are constantly in need of illustrations of the 
plants they cultivate, as a means of determin¬ 
ing their correct nomenclature ; and Mr. 
Williams has in this publication, which is sup¬ 
plementary to Mr. Warner’s larger work on the 
same subject, made an attempt to supply this 
want, which has so long been experienced. 
From the well-known beauty of the plants, 
moreover, a set of faithfully-executed represent¬ 
ations of the choicer kinds, is at all times a 
welcome ornament of the drawing-room table. 
The Album is of royal-quarto size, and four 
plates, drawn and coloured in the best style, 
are issued monthly. The text comprises de¬ 
scriptions of the plants figured, notes on their 
cultivation, and such general observations as 
are likely to prove interesting or useful to 
orchid-growers. Each annual volume is to 
form a handsome Album of pictures of the 
most beautiful Orchidaceous plants. 
Three parts are already issued, contain¬ 
ing the following illustrations :—1. Oncidium 
concolor ; 2. Lcclia Schrcederii; 0. Catlleya 
Mendelii grandifiora; 4. Epidendrum vitel- 
linum majus; 5. Masdevallia Shuttleivorthii; 
G. Cattleya Morgana; 7. Prorncncca citrina; 
Chap. XVIII.— The Varieties of Grapes. 
(ContinuedJ 
HE descriptions of the varieties of Grape3 
included in our Synoptical Table are 
here continued, from page 134 :— 
Lady Downe’s Seedling (86).—A round 
black Vinous Grape. 
Vine.—Growth strong ancl robust, the wood ripen¬ 
ing freely, the ripened shoots freequently very 
downy ; very free-fruiting; late in commencing to 
grow. Leaves roundish, deeply toothed, downy, 
dying off reddish, or sometimes yellow, the leaf¬ 
stalks very downy, and with a tinge of red. 
Fruit.—Bunches long, from 8 in. to 12 in., tapering, 
very irregularly shouldered, compact, generally set¬ 
ting freely. Berries large, roundish, or sometimes 
ovate, frequently with a distinct suture across the 
apex, showing the form of the seeds. Skin thick, 
tough, and leathery, deep-purplish black, with a 
thick bloom when properly coloured, but frequently 
reddish-purple, especially near to the stalk. Flesh 
dull, thick, and firm, with a somewhat harsh, 
sharp, acid flavour, excepting when well ripened, 
when it becomes brisk or sparkling, sweet and rich. 
History, fyc. —This truly excellent and most 
popular Grape was long in having its merits recog¬ 
nised. It was raised by Mr. Foster, gardener to 
Viscount Downe, Beningborougli Hall, York, about 
the year 1835, and was first exhibited before the 
Horticultural Society in 181-5. Eight years after 
this, viz., in 1853, it was sent out by the Messrs. 
Backhouse, of York, but it was still many years be¬ 
fore its great merits were fully recognised, as, per¬ 
haps, the best-keeping of all late grapes. In 1858, a 
most interesting letter appeared in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle (p.70), from Mr. Saul, giving the history 
of this grape, as received from Mr. Foster :—“ Lady 
Downe’s Seedling Grape was raised from the Black 
Morocco, ci'ossed by the Sweetwater 23 years ago. 
The most singular thing was that from the same seeds 
thei’e should have been two varieties—a black grape 
and a white [this was subsequently named Foster’s 
Seedling]. The bunch of grapes these were raised 
from, Lady Downe had for her lunch, and after eat¬ 
ing the grapes, she sent to the gardens for a pot of 
mould to sow the seed in. After the plants -were up, 
and the seed-leaves expanded, they were handed 
L 2 
