THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 1?, 1888. 
no 
HINTS ON VINE CULTURE. 
This formed the subject of an interesting paper read 
by Mr. Alfred Waters, of The Gardens, Farington 
House, to the members of the Preston and Fulwood 
Horticultural Society, at a meeting held on Saturday 
evening last in Preston. Mr. E. Garlick, J. P., presided, 
and there was a good attendance. After a few remarks 
from the chairman on the importance of Vine culture 
Mr. Waters read his paper. In it he devoted par¬ 
ticular attention to Vines in full bearing strength, and 
dealt with the four Vineries in the following order : — 
Early Vinery, second early house, Muscat house, and late 
house, noticing only such varieties as were best known 
and most suitable for supplying Grapes throughout the 
year. The early house was filled with the favourite 
Black Hamburgh, with one or two Vines of Forster’s 
Seedling as companions. The treatment of one suited 
the other. To have fruit ready for table at the end of 
April or beginning of May, they must commence 
preparations immediately the fruit of the season was 
taken off, by examining the border. Providing it had 
been kept on the dry side for the good of the fruit, the 
syringe must be used freely, once or twice a day accord¬ 
ing to the weather. Endeavour to keep the foliage 
fresh and clean, and if the sub-laterals showed signs of 
growing stop them in the usual way to prevent over¬ 
crowding. This would cause the eyes which were to 
produce the next crop to plump up and appear almost 
ready for growing again. Keep the house open night 
and day. 
As to pruning, he preferred to do it early in October, 
even if there were a few golden leaves on, than 
forcing them off by drying the border. In pruning 
not less, than two or more good eyes must be left 
from which to select the forthcoming crop. Then 
very lightly prick over the surface of the borders, and 
with a wooden rake and broom remove refuse, manure, 
and rubbish ; dress the borders with fresh loam with a 
little lime rubbish added, and when plenty of manure 
is at hand from stables and cow-yards put on a good 
coating. This is better to water upon, and from it the 
Vines derive sufficient food until the fruit has been thin¬ 
ned. At the end of October close the early house, damp 
the border with tepid water, and syringe the Vines twice 
daily until they flower. Ho artificial heat should be 
applied for two or three weeks, but the second or third 
week in November apply just sufficient. to maintain a 
temperature of 40° to 45° gradually rising as the Vines 
break until the flowering period when the night tem¬ 
perature will have reached 60° to 65° with a rise of 5° 
in the day by fire-heat, and 10° or 15° by sun-heat. 
While the Vines are in flower the atmosphere should 
be somewhat drier until the fruit is set, when the water- 
pot may again be freely used. He favoured syringing 
on fine days, with water heated to the temperature of the 
house until the Grapes began to colour, providing the 
water was soft and free from filth. Watering being an 
important operation it must be attended to regularly 
and liberally. The system carried out by him—and 
which applied to all houses except those started later 
and doing their work in the warmer months of the 
year, when .three or four times the quantity of water 
was necessary—was to use in the principal Vineries, 
40 ft. long, from the end of March and throughout the 
summer months, on all bright days, no less than seventy 
to eighty gallons of tepid water, and when very hot as 
much as a hundred gallons in a day. 
This constant and liberal system of damping, en¬ 
couraged the roots to form a regular mass of feeders all 
over the surface of the soil, supplied the essential food 
for the foliage, and afforded the best means to keep 
in check that destructive pest, the red spider. Ad¬ 
ditional to the daily supply, a good watering is given 
every ten days or a fortnight, the amount depending on 
the amount of evaporation, which was only known to 
cultivators with a knowledge of their charge. Vines in 
a healthy condition required double those in a weakly 
state. He advocated the use of water of the temper¬ 
ature of 65° to 80°, and, after the fruit commenced to 
swell, to add manure water in small quantities from 
stables and cow yards, especially if the border was 
rich. To those termed poor he believed in using 
Thomson’s Vine manure in preference to souring 
borders with liquid manure ; good guano, when an ex¬ 
cellent quality could be secured, was advantageous. The 
occupants of the second early house should be similar 
to those in the earliest house, unless it was thought de¬ 
sirable to have a few large bunches, when a Vine or two 
of Trebiano or Raisin de Calabre will answer the pur¬ 
pose, and be good mid-season white Grapes. In this 
house, if started about the end of January, the fruit will 
be ready for the table by the end of July, and will sup= 
ply plenty of Grapes until October and November ; 
the treatment of the former house will do for this. 
He deprecated the attempt to grow monstrously large 
bunches of Grapes. 
In the Muscat house little variety should be intro¬ 
duced, as no Muscat Grape could equal the well-known 
Alexandria, either for free fruiting, flavour, or keeping 
properties. Muscats in general required more attention 
than Hamburghs, or any of the more freely setting kinds; 
and the temperature should be 5° or 6° higher than the 
early houses. He closed the Muscat house for starting 
not earlier than the middle of March. This gave six 
clear months for the fruit to grow and ripen by the end of 
September. Notice is given to maintain regular tempe¬ 
ratures at the end of March, commencing at 45° at night, 
increasing it as theVines break, and when nicely growing 
give 70° as the night heat. "While the Vines were in 
flower, lie gave 4° or 5° higher, until all were set, when 
it was lowered again to 70°. As to watering and syring¬ 
ing, Muscats were treated the same as other varieties. 
In noticing the late or Lady Downe’s house, he said the 
cultivator’s skill and strict attention were called for 
specially in this department. There was no other black 
Grape to equal it, and it grew and fruited well in the 
same house as Gros Colmar, Gros Guillaume, and 
Madresfield Court, all of which were good keeping kinds, 
except the last named sort, which was subject to 
cracking. He found that scalding might be greatly 
prevented by allowing sufficient foliage to protect the 
berries from the direct rays of the sun. Some advised a 
little shading by syringing slacked lime or any other 
prepared article upon the glass over the Vines ; the 
practice was simple, and possibly effectual. The foliage 
was not only beneficial in preventing scalding, but was 
advantageous whilst colouring. 
His experience taught him that all black Grapes 
would colour well under a quantity of foliage. This 
was particularly impressed upon him two seasons ago, 
when in a late house filled with Lady Downe’s and Mrs. 
Pince, the foliage was allowed to shade the fruit as 
much as though the house were covered by thick 
tiffany, with theuesult that it was the best even well- 
coloured crop he ever saw. Early ventilation must be 
strictly attended to. The Madresfield Court was a 
handsome and excellently flavoured fruit; it fruited 
freely under cooler treatment than any other kind, and 
its flavour improved by keeping. The serious fault of 
cracking, to which it was subject, might be considerably 
reduced by the Vine being planted at one end of the 
house, with its roots separated from the other kinds by 
a brick wall built across the border to the depth of the 
drainage ; if so separated, it was an easy matter to 
withhold water as circumstances required. When the 
fruit began to colour, water should be given in small 
quantities, only sufficient to finish the fruit. When 
the berries had attained their full size, the laterals 
bearing the bunches might be partly severed with a 
sharp knife, which would be a sure check to the flow of 
sap ; the depth of the cut must be regulated by the 
size of the bunch beyond. Where the borders were 
divided, cutting off the laterals was not so necessary, 
because the roots might be kept in a somewhat drier 
state ; the two extremes must be guarded against. 
Proceeding, Mr. Waters briefly alluded to disbudding 
and stopping, the causes of mildew and rust, and how 
to check them, and bottling or keeping the fruit. 
Disbudding, he said, should commence as soon as the 
young shoots were 1 in. or 2 ins. in length ; super¬ 
fluous buds should be removed, those most likely to pro¬ 
duce a good bunch being left. It was a mistake to 
allow young buds to remain until the bunches could 
be perceived ; this was not only unnecessary, but a 
waste of the Vine’s energies. The usual practice was 
to stop the shoots at two points beyond the bunch ; 
but where there was room for the foliage to develop he 
allowed three. The greater quantity of fully developed 
foliage the more vigour was induced. The first stop¬ 
ping should always be done with the finger and thumb ; 
the use of a knife wasted the energies of the plant. 
The future stoppings required care ; they should never 
cause a check to the vines. In case superfluous growth 
has taken place, serious check might be avoided by 
taking the strongest out first, and after two or three 
days take out a little more, and in the space of ten 
days the Vine will be again under command, and, 
probably, little the worse. Mildew was a destructive 
fungus, and if allowed a footing in their Vineries, would 
very soon work sad havoc with the crop, and render 
it useless. Its introduction was brought about mainly 
by a cold and damp atmosphere, and in such weather 
the pipes must be kept well warmed, and a little air 
admitted during the day. Dusting with sulphur was 
the best remedy known to him. On no account would 
it be wise to sulphur pipes while the berries were 
very small and tender, as it would cause rust, which 
was very unsightly where a crop was in the least degree 
affected. The principal cause of this was a hot and 
parched atmosphere, and it might be the result of being 
touched by a man’s hand when perspiring. In con¬ 
clusion, he dealt with keeping fruit. He explained a 
system adopted by himself, and said that the temper¬ 
ature of a room for this purpose should be about 40° 
to 48°. 
A discussion ensued, in which Mr. Terry, of Ashton 
Park, stated that an inspection of the Vineries under 
the care of Mr. "Waters showed that he was capable 
of attaining a high degree of perfection in the culture 
of Vines ; the plants were in a thoroughly healthy con¬ 
dition. Mr. Swan, of Howiek House, having spoken 
of the excellency of the paper, proposed a hearty vote 
of thanks to Mr. Waters ; the chairman seconded the 
proposition, which was carried with acclamation. 
-- 
DOUBLE HYBRID POTENTILLAS. 
These, at the present time, are most interesting and 
showy among the many hardy perennials in flower. 
They are always admired when seen, but that alas ! is 
too seldom, and I sum it up in this way. As a matter 
of fact, the Potentillas are of not much use in a cut 
state, and, in consequence, they do not figure at horti¬ 
cultural shows nearly so frequently as they ought to do 
to bring them before the public view. Again, they can 
hardly be grown to perfection in pots. They are, in¬ 
deed, absolutely and essentially border flowers, and as 
such can hold their own with most flowers of their 
time. In the present instance, I have pointed out the 
weaker points of a charming group of plants ; therefore, 
let it not be said that praise is alwar’s bestowed without 
reference to any weak point which might have existence. 
In the Potentillawehave nothing fastidious—nothing 
that requires any special mixture of soils in which to 
grow them well, for provided you give them a rich 
fertile loam, and secure well-established plants to begin 
with, their failing is next to impossible. They root 
deeply in rich border soil, and, in consequence, do not 
feel excessive drought so quickly as those which root 
so freely near the surface. The rich and varied hues 
of colour which are to be found in this little group of 
florists’ flowers, as well as the combination of tints to 
be found in some, are quite unique, and so brilliant and 
effective are they that it is a great wonder they have 
not made greater headway.than they really have. A 
selection of them should find a home in all good gar¬ 
dens, large or small, for they gladden the eye beyond 
measure ; and, further, their convenient size and com¬ 
pact habit of growth so specially fits them for the most 
select garden. 
Assuming a natural growth, too, on the rockery, 
they are highly decorative subjects, and are thus at an 
advantage consequent upon their slightly trailing 
habit. The flower-stems issue from amidst a compact 
tuft of Strawberry-like leaves, and support a great 
number of their brilliantly-coloured blossoms. These 
expand in one unbroken chain, and continue producing 
flowers in quantity for weeks in succession. One little 
interesting fact anent these flowers—they are great 
sleepers, nightly closing their richly-coloured petals of 
crimson, scarlet, and gold, and rejecting, as it were, the 
freshening dew which is welcomed by so many. 
There are several ways of increasing them—viz., by 
division, by cuttings, and by seeds; the two former are 
those employed in the case of named kinds, and the 
latter will be found the “field”—the open course for 
the hybridist and all who are in search of new and im¬ 
proved kinds. Cuttings, it may be remarked, are best 
torn off from the main root-stock with a heel attached, 
and inserted without further trouble in sandy soil 
under a liandliglit, well watered and shaded when 
necessary. They may be divided about the middle of 
April, or as soon as they have ceased flowering, and by 
being potted and placed in a cold frame for a week or 
two, will hasten the forming of new roots, and when 
well rooted remove the lights, and finally transfer them 
to the open ground. 
