76 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 3, 1885. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
The Early Forcing of Vines. —Vines from which, 
ripe Grapes are expected to be cut at the end of April or 
early in May next, should now be pruned back to a 
good plump bud, as close to the main stem as it can be 
obtained, taking care that the half-inch of wood left 
beyond the bud is not split in doing so. The wounds 
should afterwards be dressed with Thomson’s Vine 
Styptic to prevent them from bleeding, and the house 
be thoroughly cleansed by having the woodwork and 
glass washed—the former with soft soap and warm 
water, the latter with clean water only, and the brick¬ 
work and piaster washed with hot lime, that has had a 
couple of handfuls of sulphur stirred into it. 
The Vine-canes should then have any loose bark that 
may happen to be on them rubbed off with the hand 
and afterwards be well washed with a solution con¬ 
sisting of about 4 ozs. of Gishurst’s compound, the 
same quantity of sulphur, and 2 ozs. of soft soap dis¬ 
solved in a gallon of Warm water. This, having been 
well mixed, should be applied to the vines with a stiff 
brush, and be well rubbed into the crevices about the 
spurs as the work proceeds, so as to destroy any red 
spider or other insects that may happen to be located 
there ; but be careful, however, not to injure the buds 
in so doing. The vines being thus cleansed, should be 
tied horizontally to the wires over the front pipes until 
they begin to burst their buds, when they must be 
untied and trained up under the roof in the ordinary 
way, care being taken not to damage the buds in the 
operation. 
The surface of the border will next require attention ; 
this should be pricked over with a five-pronged fork, 
but not deep enough to injure the roots, which if in a 
satisfactory condition will be a perfect net-work a few 
inches beneath the surface. Then remove the loose soil 
and lay on a good dressing of Thomson’s Vine Manure, 
working it into the soil with the fork, and follow this 
with 2 ins. thick of suitable soil, consisting, say, of 
three-parts of calcareous loam and one of lime-rubble as 
a top-dressing, covering the same afterwards with a like 
thickness of horse-droppings. Subsequently give the 
wholeagood soaking of tepid water, which with the other 
applications will w r ash the substance of the manures 
down to the roots. If the border be an outside one 
rotten dung might be substituted for horse-droppings, 
and over this 18 ins. to 20 ins. thick of leaves and fer¬ 
menting manure (about one-part of the latter to three 
of the former) well mixed, should be laid on. This by 
heating the surface of the border will have the effect of 
attracting the roots thither, and in the top-dressing 
and mulching they will form a network of feeders. 
This bed of dung and leaves should, according to 
circumstances, be freshened up twice or three times 
during the interval from the middle of November to 
the middle of February by removing a portion of the 
old and replacing it with fresh fermenting materials. 
As soon as the internal arrangements of the house have 
been completed the ventilators should be kept closed at 
night, and the process of forcing be commenced in the 
second or third week in November by applying sufficient 
fire-heat to maintain a night temperature of 50°, and 
55° to 60° by day, running up 10° higher with sun heat. 
Syringe the vines with tepid water two or three times 
a day, more or less frequently according to circum¬ 
stances. 
The vines in second and third early houses should 
have the shoots shortened back to within four joints 
of the main stems preparatory to finally pruning them 
back to a plump eye, as indicated above a month or six 
■weeks hence. Late varieties, such as Muscat of Alex¬ 
andria, Alnwick Seedling, Gros Colmar, Black Alicante, 
Lady Downes, Gros Guillaume, Mrs. Pince’s Black 
Muscat, and Gros Maroc should have all the sub-laterals 
removed forthwith, together with the tops of any 
unduly long main laterals, so as to allow of more light 
reaching the bunches as w y ell as the wood, thereby con¬ 
solidating the latter as well as plumping the buds, one 
of which—the plumpest nearest to the main stem 
should be selected for producing fruit next year ; cut¬ 
ting out all the others carefully with a sharp knife, so 
as not to injure the leaf at its base, and also with a 
view to concentrating the sap into its proper channel — 
that of plumping the buds from which we are to select 
our bunches for next year’s crop. — H. TV. Ward. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Late Potatos should, if not already done, be taken 
up at once. All those fit for table should be picked up 
first when dry, and stored by themselves in narrow 
pits on high ground, if convenient, of from 3 to 4 ft. 
wide, taking care that the base of the pit is sufficiently 
high that no water can enter, and if thought necessary 
cut a track around the pit for the purpose of carrying 
any moisture away. We find our late Potatos keep very 
well placed in ridges under which some dry Fern is 
spread, and from 3 to 4 ft. high from the base to the 
top of the ridge, and covered first with dry Fern and 
subsequently with as many inches of soil as will keep 
out frost. The Fern being of a light open character, 
and not so likely to decay as straw, will admit of the 
escape of moisture arising from the massing together of 
the tubers, and which will be more or less according to 
the condition of the tubers at the time of being ridged. 
This, however, will have ceased before it will be neces¬ 
sary to add a covering of soil to the Fern. The Potato- 
ridge should be covered as the building of the latter is 
proceeded with, in order not to expose the tubers in¬ 
tended for table use longer than is necessary. With 
those intended for seed, this does not matter so much ; 
indeed, some people expose them intentionally for that 
purpose, as the tubers are calculated to keep better. 
Ordinary Work. —Where the necessary quantities 
of herbs have not already been cut and dried as recom¬ 
mended in a previous calendar, no time should be lost 
in doing so, lest the plants get cut down by frost, that 
is, if they are not so injured in the mean time. Beet¬ 
roots which were planted at the foot of a south wall in 
spring for seeding, should now be taken up, tied together 
in small quantities, and suspended in a stokehole or 
dry shed for a few weeks before having the seed cleaned 
out. The collecting of a good stock of French Beans and 
Scarlet Runners for seed, and the placing of them in an 
early Peach-house, vinery, or dry shed, to harden before 
being shelled, should be seen to without further delay. 
Peas for this purpose will have been already harvested, 
labelled, and put away in the seed-room until required 
for use. Tomatos, which are soon injured by frost, 
should be gathered as soon as the fruit commences to 
colour, and be spread upon the staging or on boards in 
a late vinery, or in any other moderately warm and 
airy place, even suspended in a stokehole they will 
complete the ripening process, and keep good for weeks 
afterwards. Chilies growing at the foot of south walls, 
and which have not yet ripened all their fruits, should 
be taken up and tied together in small quantities like 
the Beetroots, and, like them, be suspended in a warm 
airy place to ripen their fruits. 
Forcing Department.— French Beans which were 
sown early in the preceding month will, ere this, have 
had the points nipped out, and the plants earthed-up 
to the rim of the pots. The plants should be kept near 
the glass to prevent them from making a weakly growth, 
and be syringed overhead morning and afternoon on 
sunny days, and a night temperature of from 55° to 60° 
will be congenial to the well-being of the plants. 
Make another sowing of Cooling’s Ne Plus Ultra, which 
as stated in a previous calendar is an excellent variety 
for early forcing in the manner described at p. 10 of 
the present volume, and in quantity according to the 
accommodation at command, and the demand for the 
same in each individual establishment. Where Tomatos 
are grown for fruiting during the winter and spring 
months, whether in pots or planted in a bed, they must 
have attention in the way ofthinning,stopping, and train¬ 
ing of the shoots and leaves ; the latter should be kept 
well within bounds, and the roots when necessary, that 
is, when the plants are swelling their fruits, liberally 
supplied (especially if confined to pots) with tepid 
weak liquid manure.— H. TV. Ward, Longford Castle, 
Salisbury. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The severe weather which came so suddenly upon us 
at the end of last week, proved how necessary it is to 
be prepared for frost by the middle of September. It 
is rarely that we get it severe enough to damage Chry¬ 
santhemums so early in the season, but we fear that 
much damage has been done this season, especially in 
low-lying districts, where the plants were exposed. 
However, the injury that has been done cannot be 
repaired, yet, with a little care, some blooms may be 
had from plants that are grown for cutting from. As 
most of the top buds will be injured, some of the side 
buds that are less likely to have been should be left, 
though, of course, these will not produce such good 
flowers as the terminal ones would, still, they will be 
useful for some purposes. 
The Stove. —It requires some care in regulating the 
temperature at this season of the-year. While it is 
necessary to maintain sufficient heat for plants to 
mature their growths, if too high a temperature is kept, 
some plants will start off into fresh growth, which they 
cannot properly mature during the winter. Shading 
should be entirely dispensed with now ; Allamandas, 
Dipladenias, &c., should be dried off as soon as they 
have done flowering ; Stephanotis should now be kept 
dry, and may be thinned out a little, so that the wood 
may have a better chance of ripening off properly. The 
Stephanotis generally flowers best where it can be dried 
off and kept cool, so as to give it an entire rest before 
starting it into fresh growth. Euphorbia Jacquimcflora, 
which is one of the most useful winter-flowering stove 
plants, should have a favourable position, and care 
must be taken that it does not get too much water, as 
it is very liable to die off just before the flowering time, 
if it gets a little too wet at the root. 
--—- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
Shading and Heating. —There are things in 
particular which want special attention at this season 
in the Orchid houses, viz., the management of the 
shading, and the regulation of the heating. With 
respect to the shading, some make it a rule to have all 
the blinds taken off at the end of September, but, for 
my part, I always preferred leaving them in their places 
on the houses much later, and until the really settled 
dull weather proved that they were no longer wanted. 
I prefer leaving the blinds in position late in the year, 
because we frequently get days in autumn, when the 
sun is so bright, that the shading is wanted down as 
much as at midsummer, seeing that such bright days 
coming aftei long dull intervals, render the plants more 
liable to injury. At the same time, it must be dis¬ 
tinctly understood that every hour in which the houses 
are shaded unnecessarily, robs the plants of that amount 
of light which is required for hardening their tissues, and 
fitting them for passing through the winter. Care 
should, therefore, be taken to exercise discretion in the 
matter, and only to let the shading down when the sun 
is bright enough to cause damage, and, if any doubt 
exists, extra ventilation should be given, provided it is 
decided not to shade. 
Where there is not a good command of heat, it is 
advisable to leave the blinds on the houses all the 
winter, for they are often useful in such a case for 
letting down at night in very severe weather. With 
the heating apparatus at this season, there are days 
when artificial heat could be done without, and when, 
if not kept well in check, it would do more harm than 
good. It, therefore, pays well to give all the attention 
possible, to restricting the artificial heat strictly to that 
necessary to preserve the proper temperature, as any 
excess of it at this season favours large crops of all 
insect pests to do mischief and cause trouble all the 
winter. 
Another important matter is to see that the lower 
night temperature is observed, as nothing is more 
injurious to Orchids than being kept hotter at night 
than in the day. This is often unwittingly done in 
autumn, by the fires which have been kept in cheek all 
day, being started in the afternoon. If the. tempera¬ 
ture cannot be kept down at night in any other way, 
extra ventilation should be resorted to ; as a rule, the 
nights, when the plants want to rest, are cooler than 
the days in all parts of the world, and in some of the 
homes of the Orchids the thermometer ranges very much 
lower at night than in the day. 
The Temperatures for October should be— Warm 
House or East Indian, 70° to 75° by day, 65° at night ; 
Cattleya or Intermediate House, 65° to 70° by day, 60° 
at night ; Cool or Odontoglossum House, 60° to 65° 
by day, 55° at night, Fahr .—James O’Brien. 
Calanthes. —The varieties of Calanthe Yeitchii, 
vestita, &c. should now have completed their growth, 
and must be placed in as light and sunny a place as 
possible. Ours have made gigantic bulbs this season. 
They were potted as soon as growth commenced in 
spring, in good fibry loam with a little charcoal added, 
and about a fortnight ago were top dressed with the 
