124 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1885. 
than any other evergreen. Then, when Mr. Fortune 
brought home to this country the male plants, by the 
fecundating powers of which the old female species now 
produces its beautiful berries, many seedlings, male and 
female, have been obtained, some with handsomely- 
blotched leaves and also variouslj' marked ; but it would 
appear that all the male forms are destitute of variega¬ 
tion. But beautiful as many of the new variegated 
forms are, they have not surpassed in beauty the old 
type. By growing a few plants in pots in a cold house, 
and among them a male plant also, they can be had 
handsomely berried and valuable subjects tor winter and 
spring decoration. W r e recently saw, in an old-fashioned 
kitchen garden, a number of plants of the variegated 
Aucuba, of great size, that were laden with berries, and 
this had been brought about by planting a male form 
near them. This is a practice that should be much 
more extensively carried out.— E. D. 
Duke of Buccleuch. Grape.— Your corres¬ 
pondent ‘ ‘ W. C.” says he is “not going to condemn 
this noble looking Grape,” and ends his article by 
saying “ I always think it (the Duke) rather watery, 
and badly grown samples of it are not much better than 
a bag of sweet water ! ” If this is not condemning the 
Duke, it is at least “damning it with very faint 
praise.” I cut some of the Duke to-day (Oct. 17th,) 
and nothing could beat it for richness, combined with a 
juicy freshness, totally free from the watery condition 
that “W. C. ” writes about. This remark applies not 
only to the large and properly swelled berries, but also 
to the few which did not take the second swelling, but 
remained about the size of ordinary Forster’s Seedling 
berries, and which I presume would come under the 
category of “ W. C.’s” “ badly grown samples. ” This 
peculiarity of not properly setting its berries can in a 
great measure be overcome by attention during the 
time “the Duke ” is in flower, a shake or a brush over 
with a feather will ensure a proper “set.” Berries 5 
in. in circumference have been measured by the writer, 
and when such is the case, I maintain that no other 
Grape can approach it for quality—not even “Ham- 
burghs, Frontignans, and Muscats,” which “ W. C.” 
says “are a long way ahead of it in every respect.” 
By the way, it appears new to me that “ luscious ” and 
“watery” mean the same thing. “ W. C.” admits 
that the Duke is “refreshing and luscious,’’but always 
thinks it “rather watery. I may remark that the 
Duke was not sent out as a late keeper, and yet I have 
cut it on the 1st of January. It has not only proved 
itself a strong grower, but a free fruiter in many places, 
and as “ W. C.” remarks, “when its peculiarities 
become better known, it will find more favour with 
Grape growers than it has done yet ” ; though he some¬ 
what inconsistently goes on to say that if it “requires 
such special treatment as ‘J ’ recommends, it will never 
be grown to any great extent.” There is one thing 
certain, and thatis that “the Duke” has been unjustly 
condemned by some who have not given it a fan- trial, 
though it must be admitted that others have honestly 
tried to grow it, and have not been eminently success¬ 
ful. But that it is “watery” I utterly deny, except 
when you may happen to come across a shanked berry. 
Perhaps “W. C.’s” “badly grown samples” were 
shanked ones? Then I admit they are “watery,” 
though even then superior to other grapes, in that they 
are bags of “ sweet water,” and not of sour.— J. 
•-- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Taking up and Storing Roots. —No time should 
now be lost in proceeding with this operation, selecting 
for the work a fine day, when the ground and foliage are 
dry. The first to require attention is the Beet crop, 
which should be stored away out of the reach of frost, 
and where, at the same time, the roots are not likely to 
become too dry, as is the case when they are packed 
closely together in sand in a dry shed. In order to 
preserve their freshness the roots should be packed in 
damp material, which will not tend to absorb the mois¬ 
ture from them, and for this purpose the following is 
the most simple and effectual method. The roots 
should be taken up before they get injured by frost, and 
with care, avoiding breaking or wounding them, and 
taken to a dry border under a south or west wall. 
An opening should be taken out at the end of the 
border, 12 ins. or 15 ins. deep and about the same width, 
and the digging of the ground be proceeded with. "When 
the trench is filled and the ground has been levelled in 
the ordinary way, the soil should be cut straight down 
the whole width of the border, and two or three rows 
of Beetroot placed perpendicularly in the opening thus 
formed, and the digging be again proceeded with until 
the roots are all covered, burying the crowns about 1 in. 
under the surface of the soil. The operation is thus 
continued somewhat after the mode of transplanting 
young forest trees from the seed beds in nurseries, until 
the work is completed. The leaves, which should not 
be removed from the crown, will afford sufficient pro¬ 
tection to the roots from several degrees of frost, but in 
the event of its being very severe, a protection of dry 
litter or Fern will be necessary. In the spring, before 
the roots show signs of growth, they should be taken 
up, the leaves with a portion of the crown cut clean 
away, and the roots laid in again as indicated above. 
The roots will thus keep fresh and of a good colour. 
Carrots, with the exception of cutting off the top 
close to the crown at the time of taking them up, may be 
treated in the same way as Beetroot, if wintered in this 
way there need be no fear of fermentation ensuing, as 
is so frequently the case where a bulk of them has been 
put together, sometimes to the entire loss of the crop. 
Where Parsnips are not grown in large quantities, or 
where the ground is not required for some special 
purpose, they are best left during the winter in the 
open ground in which they have been grown, in which 
position they will require no protection whatever from 
frost, further than covering a sufficient piece for present 
use, so that in the event of severe frost there will be no 
difficulty in taking up the roots for use. Salsafy and 
Seorzonera may be wintered also in the same way, and 
will, like the Beetroot and Carrots, be found superior 
in flavour and appearance to those which have been 
wintered on the dry shed and sand principle. 
Ordinary Work. — Before the seeds on the Aspa¬ 
ragus begin to drop off, the stems should be cut off 
close to the ground and removed to the rubbish-heap, 
saving a few of the best-berried stems for seed, which 
should be tied together and hung up in a dry shed or 
stokehole in readiness for cleaning during inclement 
weather. This done, the weeds should be removed 
from the surface of the beds, and then 2 ins. or 3 ins. 
thick of the loose surface soil should be drawn into 
the alleys, and the beds covered with 3 ins. or 4 ins. thick 
of the shortest and best manure that can be had from 
the manure-yard, where, in many places, it is specially 
retained for this purpose. Late plantings of Lettuce in 
the open should be taken up with good balls of earth 
attached to the roots, and be transplanted carefully into 
cold pits and frames specially reserved for this purpose, 
and well watered immediately after planting with a 
view to re-establishing them in their fresh quarters, 
where they should have abundance of air given them on 
all favourable occasions. 
Autumn-planted Cabbages should now have some 
soil drawn up to them ; the earthing up of late plant¬ 
ings of Celery and Leeks should also be proceeded with 
when the plants are sufficiently dry to admit of the 
work being done. Cabbages, Broccolis, winter greens, 
&e., should be divested, when the weather is dry, of all 
useless and withered leaves that would otherwise be 
likely to become offensive through decay. Their re¬ 
moval will enable the stems, through being more fully 
exposed to light and air, to become hardened, and 
therefore better able to withstand severe weather.— 
//. TV. JFard, Longford Castle. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Keeping the Houses Clean. —Now that the dull 
days of November are approaching, it will be necessary 
to see that plants are so arranged as to secure all the 
light obtainable, and it will be a great help if the glass 
is washed occasionally, and all inside walls white¬ 
washed. It is surprising what a difference it makes to 
•plants if these matters are carefully attended to, and, 
although washing glass, &c., is not pleasant work, yet it 
will be labour well applied, especially where flowering 
plants are concerned ; another matter which requires 
careful attention is 
Ventilation. —In all cases where air is given it 
should be done before the temperature has risen too 
high, and in such a manner as to avoid a direct 
draught. Most of us know from experience what a 
cold draught will do for ourselves, and it is our opinion 
that plants are equally susceptible to damage from the 
same cause. 
Tiie Fires. —Although a little fire-heat will be an 
advantage in most cases, care must be taken that too 
much heat is not given, especially in dull foggy weather 
as it will only induce plants to make weak and sickly 
growth. 
Watering. —Although water must now be used very 
sparingly, yet plants should not be allowed to become 
too dry, and when water is given they should have 
sufficient to penetrate through the balls. In cases 
where the hot-water pipes are under the stages, the 
plants are apt to become dry at the bottoms when the 
surface appears to be moist, therefore, it is necessary to 
examine them from time to time, and to see that they 
are properly wetted through when this is the case. If 
plants that have been potted firmly are found to be 
very dry at the bottom and moist on the surface of the 
pots, it will be a good plan to stand the pots in water 
for a short time. 
Chrysanthemums. —As these come into flower, note 
should be taken of the most useful sorts, if this is done 
as the different varieties come into flower it will be a 
good guide as to the time of flowering ; all plants that 
are required for stock should be re-labelled, if this is 
done while the plants are in flower it will afford an oppor¬ 
tunity of correcting any that may happen to be 
wrongly labelled. 
SOLANUM HYBRIDUM COMPACTUM. 
