312 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 16, 1886. 
time this occurred here was in January, 1881, when 
some of the Laurestinus, and almost all our Arbutus 
were killed to the ground, some of the latter had a 
great struggle for life, but are now fine young looking 
plants. The Laurestinus came away more readily, 
and I would recommend cutting them back when they 
get into a weakly habit of growth, they soon make 
good plants again. 
As in small yilaces the most should be made of all 
available space, it may be well here to offer a few 
remarks on wall plants ; we will begin with Ivies, 
these offer such a rich choice in colour, and diversity 
of foliage, that they may fairly be given the chief 
place. The best time to trim them is towards the end 
of April or early in May, when they should be clipped 
close in, they soon make fresh foliage, which will keep 
fresh and green till the next season. The only thing 
after this is to see that they are not allowed to grow 
behind or over the water gutters. If well managed in 
this way, they serve to beautify the buildings they are 
growing against, and to keep them warm and dry, but 
if allowed to stop the gutters up and the water gets 
between the Ivy and the walls, the buildings are 
rendered damp, and the Ivy gets unjustly condemned 
for its destructiveness. 
Euonymuses are frequently used as wall plants, but 
considering the great trouble they are to keep in order, 
and the fine choice there is among the Ivies, I think 
they are out of place against the walls. Of the ever¬ 
green wall plants, Magnolia grandiflora stands alone, 
and for excellence far above any other evergreen 
and flowering wall plant, and should find a place 
everywhere where room can be found for it. Another 
fine foliage plant is Photinia serrulata, which is com¬ 
paratively scarce, and seldom met with in first-rate 
condition ; when it is, it rivals as a foliage plant even 
the Magnolia. I have before me a plant covering some 
600 sq. ft., and have never met with a better specimen ; 
these two require very little attention beyond fastening 
the shoots in as occasion may require. Passiflora 
ccerulea is very common in some localities, requiring 
cutting back annually, and some slight protection 
during frost. 
Of deciduous flowering wall plants Clematis shows 
prominent, and require two separate systems of 
pruning, those of the Montana type flowering from the 
wood formed in the previous season only require the 
dead and superfluous growth cutting out, while the 
Jackmanii, and others of like habit, are better cut down 
almost to the ground in the autumn. Wisteria sinensis 
will require going over once a year, and have the long 
growths nailed in, where there is room for them, 
and the spurs shortened back if getting too far away 
from the wall. There is another grand old flowering 
plant seldom met with—I mean Bignonia radicans 
major. When seen at its best it will vie successfully 
with many more recent introductions. It should be 
spurred in annually. There are two plants often 
planted against walls on the plea that they require the 
protection which these afford—both very beautiful in 
their way, and better seen away—I mean Cydonia 
japonica and Cliimonanthus fragrans ; they are per¬ 
fectly hardy—the one the gayest of all early hardy 
flowering plants, and the other, perhaps, the sweetest 
unless, perhaps, Lonicera fragrantissima—one of the 
sweetest scented of all flowers, and comparatively little 
known. The small space devoted to these would be 
much better taken up with some of the better 
Ceanothus, or other half-hardy shrubs, or Banksian 
Boses. 
These remarks in reference to small places, are ap¬ 
plicable also to larger ones, more especially as to the 
management of the shrubs in them near the mansion 
and outbuildings; where shrubs are planted against the 
latter as a screen, they must be persistently kept to 
their places and not allowed to grow one above the 
other or they will, in a very few years, become naked 
at the bottom, and thus become useless for the object 
for which they were planted, and not unfrequently are 
eventually grubbed up, and the borders replanted ; a 
heavy penalty to pay for past neglect. Shrubberies 
that are well looked after and kept close and bushy, 
stand a better chance against frost than those which are 
allowed to get bare and naked at the bottom. We will 
now turn to neglected shrubs, such as Common and 
Portugal Laurels, which in most instances form the 
bulk of the shrubs ; Portugal Laurels will rarely come 
away well if cut right down, so that this must be 
avoided. The common Laurel may be cut close down, 
but they are much longer in covering the ground than 
if left some four or five feet high, and this will suit the 
Portugals. It is a very good plan to go through the 
borders every two or three years and cut out a few 
branches, they will break back and render the place 
less bare than when the whole of the plants are cut 
back in one season. The common green Holly will 
bear cutting very close down ; variegated Hollies, 
Phillyreas, and Yews may be cut severely in, but are 
some time in making themselves again. Lilacs, 
Syringas, Ribes, etc., are best managed by cutting 
some of the larger growths out. 
Sometimes it is desirable to curtail the dimensions 
of some of the Arbor Vitfe and Cupressus, this is best 
done by cutting out some of the large branches and 
shortening others, then drawing the remaining ones 
together with strong cords or wire. Flowering Trees, 
where they have plenty of room, seldom require prun¬ 
ing, but we often notice in small villa gardens Thorns, 
Laburnums, and the variegated form of Acer Negundo 
are cut back much as a standard Bose is. It would be 
far better to take out a few of the stronger branches 
annually. When from long neglect it becomes neces¬ 
sary to cut down the whole plants in any particular 
border, it had better be left to the middle or end of 
February or till all fear of severe frost has passed, as 
to expose the naked stems to cutting east winds with 
the thermometer approaching zero, is to run a great 
risk.— IV. B. G. 
■ -—!- 
THE TWEED VINEYARDS. 
By the kindness of Mr. William Thomson, Jim., we 
are enabled' to include in our present number, an 
illustration of the famous Tweed Vineyards at Cloven¬ 
fords, Galashiels, and which will doubtless prove of 
interest to thousands who have heard of that famous 
Grape growing establishment, but .who have not had 
the good fortune to pay it a visit. Of the number and 
gigantic proportions of the houses devoted to late Grapes 
principally, which Messrs. William Thomson & Sons 
have erected, or of the splendid character of the crops 
of fruit which they obtain every year, and which find 
their way every season into all the leading markets of 
the country, we need not now stay to discuss, the more 
especially as our correspondent, Mr. H. W. Ward, has so 
recently as in our issue for September 26th, 18S5, given 
much interesting information on the subject. But if the 
Tweed vineyards are best known by the remarkably 
successful and extensive manner in which Grape culture 
is there carried out, we must not omit mention of the 
fact that among Orchid growers the Messrs Thomson’s 
establishment is widely known as the home of an 
extensive collection of these fascinating plants, and 
which are cultivated by the firm with rare skill. 
The illustration does not show the Orchid houses, 
which are situated at the back of the main block of 
Vineries. The building on the extreme right is the 
railway station, which we believe belongs to the firm, 
and where they carry on the manufacture of their Vine 
manure on an extensive scale, so great is the demand 
for this valuable fertilizer. The dwelling house next 
the station is the bothy ; then comes the residences of Mr. 
John Thomson, and Mr. William Thomson, Jun., the 
latter being close to a Lady Downe’s house, 200 ft. long 
and 24 ft. wide, at the end of which is the foreman’s 
cottage. The next house to the left of the foreman’s is 
an old inn, in which Sir Walter Scott resided for some 
time when he was acting as Sheriff of the county, and 
whilst Abbotsford was being built. We must add that 
the mountain seen in the background is over 1100 ft. 
high, and that the photograph from which our illus¬ 
tration was prepared, was taken by one of the young men 
employed in “the Vineyard,” Mr. Duncan Buchanan, 
who for several years was foreman to Mr. Murray, at 
Culzean Castle, and it does him great credit as a 
photographer. 
-- 
FLOWER SHOW PRIZES. 
At the annual general meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society of Aberdeen, held on December 26th, 
Mi - . A. Grigor, Fairfield, Aberdeen, called attention to 
the subject of the more equal division of prize money 
at flower shows. Mr. Grigor asked if it would not be 
better if the 3rd prize was never less in amount than 
one half of the 1st, and in the case of the principle 
prizes, the 3rd not to be less than two-thirds of the 
1st.—“If such a system of dividing the prize money 
would be hostile to the self interests of a few, ” said 
Mr. Grigor, “I am confident that it would meet the 
approbation of the great majority of competitors, for is 
it not the case, that the first prizes invariably go to 
those who have the greatest facilities for cultivating 
the several articles brought into competition.” Air. 
Grigor contended, that, the man who takes 3rd place 
with perhaps little less inferior exhibits than the 1st, 
but who has a good deal less accommodation for 
growing them, is entitled to more honour than his 1st 
prize rival, and in such a case it is scarcely fair that 
the one should be enriched to the extent of sometimes 
more than three times the amount the other receives. 
It was desirable, he thought, to know, whether 
the great number of flower shows that are now held 
throughout the country, are instituted for the promotion 
of horticulture in their more immediate neighbour¬ 
hoods, whence their principle support is derived, or to 
draw a few enthusiasts from a distance with an entry 
or two, to the exclusion and discouragement of those 
who might, otherwise, fill the exhibition hall. 
A more equal division of the prize money than is 
generally adopted, Mr. Grigor considered would better 
meet the objects of the promoters of all local societies 
than the plan of giving a few extra large prizes to draw 
out a few noted exhibitors. Many kinds of exhibits 
cannot be packed up and driven along a rough road 
and staged with the same fresh appearance as those 
that are carried into the exhibition hall on a hand- 
barrow, even though they were much better on leaving 
home, to say nothing of the extra expense to the 
exhibitor who has to drive ; yet, as in most cases, the 
reward given as the 3rd Prize is so much less than the 
1st. Such unequal justice can scarcely be considered to 
encourage competition. The subject is one which well 
deserves discussion, and there is no time like the 
present for doing it, so many flower show committees 
being now engaged in arranging their schedules. 
-—>X<-- 
THE CULTURE OF GLOXINIAS. 
Gloxinias are amongst the most beautiful and 
charming of all stove or warm greenhouse plants. 
Dwarf in habit and elegant in form, producing an 
abundance of delicate and exquisitely coloured and 
marked blossoms, they are equalled in effect by few, 
and surpassed by no other flowering plant we possess. 
They are by no means difficult to grow, and require 
much less heat than is generally supposed—at least, 
when flowered during the summer or autumn ; for by 
judicious treatment, and starting the tubers at different 
times, Gloxinias may be brought into bloom at almost 
any season of the year, except, perhaps, in the very 
depth of winter. I have myself repeatedly had these 
plants in bloom almost continuously from the end of 
March until well into December, with a very moderate 
command of heat, and near London, where the air is 
not so pure as it might be. This is, however, only to 
be effected by the use of seedlings as well as tubers or 
old plants, the latter flowering during the early part of 
the year, while the former come in in July or August, 
and keep up the display until almost the end of the year. 
There are many “ strains ” of Gloxinias in commerce, 
all of which differ slightly in some respect; but those 
known as the “ crassifolia ” class are undoubtedly 
superior to any others, though the range of colour and 
markings is not quite so great as in some strains, but 
this is a matter that can be rectified without much 
trouble by careful hybridising. The blooms of this 
class are of remarkable size and substance, in which 
respect they are far superior to any of the “ English ” 
or “ French ” classes, or to the old-fashioned named 
varieties, or any of their descendants, mauy of which 
are so wretchedly thin and flimsy in texture as to be 
not worth growing. The foliage of this section is also 
large, stout, and being usually of a rich deep velvety 
green colour, very handsome in itself; the leaves, also, 
are generally so much recurved as, in many cases, 
almost completely to hide the pots in which the plants 
are grown. I have frequently had blooms (of the 
crassifolia class) measuring over 3 ins. and occasionally 
nearly 4 ins. across the lips, with leaves 1 ft. or more 
in length, and 6 or 7 ins. in breadth. Plants of such 
strength are, however, invariably only obtainable from 
seed, as those propagated from cuttings never attain 
the vigour of seedlings, and, indeed, unless under skilful 
cultivation, have generally a somewhat “weedy” ap¬ 
pearance. On this account I always recommend 
amateurs, or those who have not much time to devote 
to the details of cultivation, to grow seedlings in 
