134 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
Nov. 1st, 1884. 
their parents, that it is only to be accounted for 
by their reverting to some unknown ancestor. The 
Jasmine-flowered section of Rhododendron gives us 
a very beautiful and easily cultivated race of green¬ 
house plants, the following being the best:— 
R. Jasminiflorum (the original species), white; 
Princess Royal, pink; Princess Alexandra, white; 
Duchess of Teck, buff; Duchess of Connaught, 
bright red; Duchess of Edinburgh, scarlet; Taylori, 
white tube and pink petals ; Maiden’s Blush, pale 
pink ; and Princess Frederica, creamy yellow. They 
are all tolerably easy to propagate if a small frame or 
handlight be placed in an intermediate house ready 
to receive the cuttings at this season of the year, and 
when so propagated they can often be flowered in 
pots, as shown in our illustration on p. 133, in the 
ensuing summer. Good stout cuttings of well-ripened 
wood should be taken and placed singly in small pots 
filled with sandy peat, after wdiieh they should be 
placed in the cutting case and carefully shaded 
against sun, but not kept quite close at any time, the 
quantity of air given to them being steadily increased 
until when rooted the glasses are wholly removed 
and the plants potted into good-sized pots. 
Princess Alexandra is very free to strike, and as some 
of the others are slow, it is advisable to strike as many 
of it as possible, and to use them as stocks for the 
less free kinds, which take •+ very readily when 
side-grafted on it. 
Once good plants are secured there is trouble 
with them, for even in the matter of re-potting i v 
do not require much attention; indeed they will go 
for years without re-potting, and flower profusely, 
whereas if frequently shifted they often get stubborn 
in growth and shy to flower. Disproportionally large 
pots are very much against them, a circumstance 
which will be readily understood when we consider 
that the species from which they sprang are almost 
epiphytes. — J. 
BOX EDGINGS. 
The present is a good time to fill up any blanks 
that may have occurred during the current year in the 
edgings of Box which border the walks in most kitchen 
gardens, by removing separately a little of the gravel 
and soil to the depth of 6 ins. and putting therein 
sufficient pieces of Box (rooted or otherwise) to corre¬ 
spond in thickness and height with the edging being 
mended. Replace the soil and gravel, tread it firmly 
together, and give sufficient water to moisten the soil 
and settle it about the roots or base of the cuttings. 
In the event of the whole of the Box edgings having 
become unsightly through age or neglect, they should 
be taken up, the ground be dug, trodden, and levelled 
in accordance with the gradient of the -walk, but 
making both sides level with each other, so that the 
tops of both edgings when laid and the crown or 
centre of the walk may be about the same height. 
This done, measure the width, say 6 ft., of the walk 
at both ends, putting four stiffish sticks firmly in the 
ground (two at each end) to mark the position of the 
edgings. Then strain the line from stick to stick on one 
side, and with a spade cut away the soil perpendicularly 
from the line to the depth of about 4 ins. In this 
trench lay the Box, after the roots and tops have been 
shortened back and trimmed, evenly and about l^ins. 
to 2 ins. thick. Press the soil firmly about the roots, 
or rootless slips, as the case may be, and afterwards, 
when the soil has been trodden down the entire length 
of the edging, fill up the gutter-like space with 
gravel, a coat of which should also be laid on the 
walk at the same time, and then be rolled.— H. TV. TV. 
STORING ONIONS. 
The most suitable position for this purpose, accord¬ 
ing to my experience, is an open shed facing the 
north. The Onions are first divested of all loose 
skin that will come off when slightly rubbed with 
the hand, and those having long enough tops of 
the late keeping varieties are plaited in ropes; 
others with shorter tops are bound with string on to 
a stick; and some are tied together in bunches, as 
many as can be conveniently held in the hand at 
one time, and which are useful for sending into the 
kitchen when only a small quantity is required. 
Nails are driven into the rafters of the shed to 
suspend them. We one year fixed some against the 
back wall, and the moisture in the wall or their 
actual contact with it induced them to grow some 
time before those that had the air freely playing 
around them. We do not spend so much labour on 
those which are not considered good keepers, but they 
are usually located in thin layers in an open shed, 
where they maintain then- freshness as long as can 
be expected. Onions will commence to grow sooner 
in a cold, damp room, if placed on the floor, than in 
a warm, dry one, and this fact was demonstrated to me 
very conclusively by an accident. Some Onions were 
placed on the flagged floor of a shed near the channel 
of the main hot-water pipes, which were also covreed 
with flags. The temperature in the middle of the 
room was about 50 degs. v which seldom varied, as the 
room was entered through another. More Onions lay 
in an adjoining shed unaffected by heat from the 
pipes, but incited by the damp stones, grew whilst the 
others remained sound. This is only -what one would 
naturally expect, though one would probably not 
arrive at that conclusion and act accordingly in 
selecting a place to store our Onions. We are some¬ 
times advised by writers to exercise caution, and 
protect our Onions from the frost, but we have not 
experienced any mischief from that source hitherto. 
— R. 
—a=-^ts<>~±^-=E— 
GRAPE GROWING AT 
LONGLEAT. 
Through the publication of Mr. Taylor’s treatise on 
the “Vines atLongleat,” this subject has become pretty 
familiar to readers of horticultural literature, and the 
success achieved by Mr. Pratt, Mr. Taylor’s successor, 
in the management of the gardens and grounds at 
Longleat, in securing three first prizes at the recent 
Grape Show at South Kensington serves to show that 
Mr. Taylor’s treatment of the Vines, which he struck 
and planted, as well as planned and superintended 
the erection of the large range of vineries in which 
they have been so successfully grown on what is 
known to gardeners as the “Extension System,” was 
sound and eminently practical. That Mr. Pratt is 
competent to obtain from the said well-established 
Vines the best possible results, was fully demonstrated 
by the magnificent examples of Muscat of Alexandria, 
Black Alicante, and Black Hamburgh which he staged 
at South Kensington on the 23rd of September. 
During the interval I have been to see the gardens 
at Longleat in company with two gardening friends, 
and therefore have had ample opportunity of seeing 
the Muscats and Alieantes (the Hamburghs having 
been finished a day or two before), and comparing 
the numerous bunches then on the Vines with these 
put up in competition a few weeks since, and can 
honestly say that the latter, while being the best 
show-bunches in the vineries at the time they were cut, 
were but a fair sample of those then and now to be seen 
in the vineries at Longleat. The Muscats average from 
3 lbs, to5 lbs. each bunch, and the Alieantes from 5 lbs. 
to 7 lbs. each, and it is quite possible that one or two 
bunches of each variety may exceed these figures. 
The Lady Downes, too, are fine in bunch, berry, and 
finish. A fact worthy of notice in connection with 
the Grapes is that in every case the largest and best 
finished bunches of Muscats, and, Ithink, Alieantes 
too, were located on the Vines immediately over the 
front hot-water pipes, thus plainly showing (1) that 
the largest and best matured buds were situated on 
the lower extremity of the Vines, and within the 
immediate influence of the heat radiating from the 
front hot-water pipes, which are liberally supplied to 
the house both in the front and on either side of the 
central pathway; and (2) that even during a tropical 
summer like the past one the necessity of being amply 
provided with artificial heating power and the utilizing 
of the same in order to thoroughly ripen late crops 
of Grapes, especially long-keeping varieties, such as 
Alicante, Lady Downes, and Gros Guillaume, which, 
if they are not thoroughly ripened, do not keep well. 
The Vinery in which the Grapes in question are 
growing is a span-roofed house, 220 ft. long, 30 ft. 
wide, and proportionately high. The air is admitted 
through the front sashes, which are regulated by 
machinery from the pathway, and through a venti¬ 
lating lantern in the roof (where, however, a lot of 
heat and unnecessary space is wasted), the top of 
which has an angle of about 35 deg., which corresponds 
with that of the roof. This range, which is in three 
compartments, runs north and south; and each 
compartment, if I remember rightly, contains four 
Vines each (excepting the Black Hamburgh division, 
which contains six), one having been planted in each 
corner of the house between the pipes and the front 
wall and the rods trained horizontally, from which 
sufficient canes to fill the house at 5 ft. apart are 
trained up under the roof to a curvilinear-shaped 
trellis until they meet, a considerable distance under¬ 
neath the apex. The main stems of these Vines, which 
have been planted about sixteen years, are from 18 ins. 
to 20 ins. in circumference, but the individual rods 
and fruit-bearing shoots proceeding from these are by 
no means over strong, though they were liberally fed at 
the roots during the time the Grapes were swelling. 
The huge bunches of Black Alicante not having shown 
to sufficient advantage on the individual rods this 
season through being too close to the base, Mr. Pratt 
has, with a view to remedying this small grievance, 
decided at the proper time to apply the short-rod 
system of pruning to this variety—that is, to prune 
back to within three or four buds of the main stem, 
and at the same time cutting out the buds between the 
terminal one and the base. 
In conclusion, I may be allowed to say that Melons, 
too, are grown well on the extension system at Long¬ 
leat, there being at the present time a good average 
crop of Eastnor Castle and Hybrid Cashmere—two 
varieties greatly esteemed at this place. In one of the 
forcing-houses, on shelves near the glass, is a good 
batch of fruiting plants of the Vicomtesse Hericart 
de Thury Strawberry, which have been recently potted 
up from a warm border. In the plant-houses- are a 
clean healthy lot of decorative plants, including a 
variety of Palms, Dracaenas, Crotons, Ferns, Gesnera 
cinnabarina, Eucharis amazoniea, a fine batch of 
Calanthe Veitchii, and large well-flowered plants of 
Bougainvillea glabra, planted out in raised beds about 
a yard square in one of the lean-to furnishing houses; 
Gardenias occupy similar positions in, I think, the 
same house. A plant of Nepenthes Rafflesiana 
having several large and well-developed pitchers 
suspending from the roof in one of these houses is 
very attractive to visitors as they enter. As also is 
a houseful of Carnations just bursting into flower. 
In the frame ground are, among many other good 
things, large quantities of well-established pot- 
Strawberries; and in the kitchen gardens, large 
breadths of Veitch’s Autumn Giant Cauliflower, Scotch 
curled Kale, and other winter greens, and a fine 
border of Brown Cos Lettuce tied up for blanching 
is seen in front of the plant-houses. In short, Mr. 
Pratt, seems to be as much at home in the kitchen 
and flower-garden as he undoubtedly is in the fruit 
and plant-houses; there being evidence of skilful 
management in each and every department.— H. TV. TV. 
MICHAELMAS DAISIES. 
(Continued from p. 117.) 
North American Species. —Before commencing au 
enumeration of the more showy kinds, we should like 
to offer a few general remarks on the nomenclature. 
Last week mention was made of the fact that several 
of our garden names are spurious ones. For instance, 
we have plants cultivated as A. bicolor, A. discolor, 
and A. formosissimus, and under these names they 
have been noticed in the gardening papers, but on 
referring to the Flora of North America, we find 
no such names. Now, if they were florists’ flowers, 
there could be no objection to this, though even then 
we think Tom Thumb preferable to a Latin specific 
name, as no one mistakes it for the wild species, and 
we have not yet forgotten the resolution passed at 
the Daffodil Congress. To cite a case in point:—We 
think the' name Aster Archer Hind (under which name 
Mr. C. Woolley Dodd distributed au Aster for which 
he failed to find a name), preferable to A. formosus, 
but now it has been identified with A. ltevis—as we 
shall show in the enumeration—we think the- original 
name should be replaced. It is this multitude of 
names for a smaller number of species that makes 
nearly all the confusion. In the following enumera¬ 
tion we follow Dr. Asa Gray, in his Synoptical 
Flora of North America. No one has studied them 
more carefully, and by adopting the names of this latest 
revision (1884), -we hope to remove at least some of 
the confusion which at present envelops the Michael¬ 
mas Daisies of our gardens. 
Aster Curtisii.— A pretty species of recent intro¬ 
duction, 2 ft. to 31 ft. high; leaves lanceolate, 
smooth ; panicle, much - branched; heads above 
medium size, with purplish or deep violet-blue rays. 
