Jan. 17th, 1885. 
317 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
as they are the feeders that are most to be depended 
on in keeping the vines in a healthy fruit-bearing 
condition. Nothing helps them so much in these 
respects as a top dressing, given either now or later in 
the spring, when it acts as mulching, and gradually 
enriches the soil below by the washing it undergoes 
on rain passing through it. The best mixture I have 
ever used, and one that has produced the most 
satisfactory results on the vines, is lime, soot, and 
manure, which I store together, and turn over in a 
shed, so as to keep all dry till the time comes for 
putting it on. The soil of a vine border may be 
rich and good, but if it lacks calcareous matter there 
is much in it that the roots cannot make use of, and 
lime is essential in getting fine Grapes, although I do 
not care for it put in the border, in the form of rubble, 
as is done by many.— Alpha. 
SWAKELEYS. 
Swakeleys —the fine old mansion—the seat of T. 
T. Clarke, Esq., near Uxbridge, lately had a narrow 
escape from destruction by fire. The fire broke out in 
the ball-room, which was considerably damaged, and 
a valuable picture destroyed before the flames were 
extinguished. Swakeleys is a fine specimen of the 
Elizabethan style of architecture, and the destruction 
of the historical house would have been a loss to the 
country. It was built in 1638, by Sir Edmund 
Wright, whose daughter, marrying Sir James 
Harrington, one of Charles I.’s judges, he became 
possessed of it, jure u.xoris. Sir Eobert Yyner, Bart., 
to whom the property was sold in 1665, entertained 
Charles II., at Guildhall when Lord Mayor. Samuel 
Pepys, in his Diary, records a visit he paid there on 
September 7, 1665. He describes it as “ a place not 
very moderne in the garden nor house, but the most 
uniforme in all that ever I saw, and some things to 
excess. Pretty to see over the screene of the hall 
(put up by Sir J. Harrington, a Long Parliament man), 
the King’s head and my Lord of Essex on one side, 
and Fairfax on the other ; and upon the other side of 
the screene the parson of the parish and the lord of 
the manor and his sisters. The window-cases, door¬ 
cases, and chimnys of all the house are marble. He 
(Sir E. Vyner) showed me a black boy that he had, that 
died of consumption, and being dead, he caused him 
to be dried in an oven, and lies there entire in a 
box.” 
EXTRAORDINARY TITHE. 
Me. J. Headley, of Goudhurst, Kent, writes on 
January 10th : — “ The Ecclesiastical Commissioners 
of England—through their agents—have just seized 
the whole of my Hop poles in two gardens for the 
payment of the above, up to October last, and 
will proceed to sell the same by public auction on 
Thursday afternoon next, if the amount be not 
previously paid. Although extremely inconvenient 
and unpleasant to me, I am determined to offer 
passive resistance to the law, and allow it to take its 
course, thereby adding one more to the many practical 
protests that have been made against this unfair and 
and obnoxious tax. I do hope Mr. Gladstone may 
see this letter, and that he may be induced to do 
something in the next session to relieve the Hop, 
Fruit, and Vegetable growers from this great impedi¬ 
ment to employing capital and labour. Mr. Gladstone 
will recollect advising the farmers to grow more jam 
and less corn, but he surely forgot at the time this 
burden on fruit land. It may not be generally known 
•—but it is no less true—that in a great many parishes, 
particularly in Sussex, this extraordinary tithe 
amounts to more than the actual rent of the land 
itself, and is an extra tithe over and above the 
ordinary tithe. This is handicapping the home 
grower with a vengeance.” 
— —c — 
Abdisia tolycephala.— This is a neat little stove- 
plant, though larger than the well-known A. crenulata. 
The leaves are dull full-green in colour, and obovate 
in shape. In the summer months it bears short 
racemes of white flowers, which are followed at the 
present season by shining jet-black berries of the 
size of peas, which remain in perfection for months. 
It succeeds under the same treatment as the better- 
known A. crenulata, and may be seen in the stove at 
Kew. 
otters to tbc (£bitor. 
SALT FOE VINE BOEDEES. 
In your issue of the 10th inst., p. 301, a correspon¬ 
dent expresses a wish to know whether any of your 
readers have used common salt as a dressing for vine 
borders, and mentions my name in connection with 
the subject. I may tell your correspondent that I 
have used salt as a dressing for vines and other fruit- 
tree borders for many years, and with marked success. 
I apply it in the following way :—To three barrowfuls 
of soot and three of fresh slacked lime I add a small 
barrowful of common salt, or a little less than a sixth 
of the whole, and well mix them together. This 
compost is sown on the border pretty thickly in spring, 
before being mulched,' over with a covering of rotten 
dung and allowed to be washed in by the summer 
rains, or in the event of a dry season with the 
watering-pot. Inside borders are treated in the same 
way, and the result is quite a success. 
I tried this compost first upon a row of Baspberries, 
and the good effect of it was so convincing that it 
struck me at once that what was good for Baspberries 
would be good for vines, and ever since I have applied 
it as stated. Of course, your readers are aivare that 
salt must be used with great caution, and must not be 
allowed to come in contact with any tender herbage 
in the open-air, or death will be the result.— Geo. 
Johnston, Glamis Castle, Forfar, January Mtli. 
SPABEOWS AND THE FEUIT-BUDS. 
In the comments on the damage caused by sparrows 
in your issue of the 3rd inst., you mention the fact of 
then - taking the Corn, Peas, &c., but that, in your 
opinion, the damage they do is more than counter¬ 
balanced by the number of insects they destroy. 
This view of the question I beg to fully endorse. 
But among the many indictments preferred against 
these impudent, although withal interesting, little 
birds, there is yet another, for this morning I watched 
three or four of them sunning themselves on a Plum- 
tree, and occasionally picking off something—appa¬ 
rently the young buds. To verify this I inspected 
the sprays on which they had been standing, and 
discovered that many of the buds had been pecked 
away, fully 50 per cent, of those originally there. Is 
the fact of sparrows taking the young fruit-buds 
generally known ?—J V. C. J., January 6th, 1SS5. 
PASSIFLOEA CCEEULEA. 
One would hardly suspect that he was in the latitude 
of London and in the middle of January if he could 
be suddenly dropped down in front of a large villa 
which the writer lias now in his eye. On the front of 
this house a large Passiflora ecerulea is trained, and 
last autumn this plant was loaded with its beautiful 
orange-coloured fruit. After Christmas we should 
usually expect to find that all the glory had departed, 
but not so in this exceptional winter. The foliage and 
fruit are still almost as bright as ever, and the plant 
remains a picture of beauty. Truly this is one of our 
most beautiful hardy climbers.— X. 
TOMATOS IN WINTEB. 
Will some of your practical readers give me the 
benefit of their experience as to the best sort or sorts 
to grow for producing fruit from December to the end 
of March, and also say where examples may be seen 
at the present time, either ripe or ripening ? Hints 
as to treatment would also be acceptable, providing 
they are supported by a reference to practical illustra¬ 
tions. Much having been written of late on the 
flavour of the Tomato, will anyone give me the name 
of a variety that might be taken as a standard of 
flavour ? The latter question cannot probably be 
satisfactorily answered, except by those who may 
have grown an extensive collection during the summer, 
but I should be obliged for any hints on the subject. 
— Inquirer. 
POTATOS FOE AN AMATEUE. 
I would recommend “A Sussex Amateur” to try 
the following sorts as being valuable both for exhibi¬ 
tion and table, viz.:— White Rounds : Schoolmaster, 
Dalmahoy, Fillbasket, and Sutton’s Early Eegent. 
Coloured Rounds : Grampian, Vicar of Laleham, and 
Pink-eyed Don. White Kidneys : Myatt’s Improved 
Ashleaf, Early King Offa, and Snowflake. Coloured 
Kidneys : Wonderful Eed and Beauty of Hebron, and 
I may add other four sorts, Clyffe Hall, Beading 
Eusset, Queen of the South, and Sir Garnet Wolesley. 
There are numerous other sorts that are good for 
exhibition, but I mention the best that will combine 
the following qualities—Best for table, best (if well 
grown and shown) for exhibition, and good croppers. 
With respect to treatment I assume that he has his 
ground inahearty, healthy condition, well worked, loose 
and friable, and free from weeds. He cannot go far 
astray in turning it over repeatedly. His land being 
ready for planting, he must have his seed at hand. If 
medium or large Potatos, cut into proper set size—a 
single eye, if healthy and strong, will be quite sufficient; 
when cut, be careful to spread out the pieces thinly, 
so that the flesh wound may heal up and dry, and this 
should be seen to at least three or four days before 
planting. According to custom the planting may 
either be done in drills on the level or in furrows ; if 
the spade is used the level will be the easiest and most 
simple. Make the drills 28 ins. to 30 ins. apart, and 
plant the sets about 12 ins. from each other. If the 
land has had no farmyard-manure dug in during the 
winter, give a fair quantity in the drills, but not over 
much, as Potatos are easily ruined by too much 
manure. Besides the farmyard-manure add a little 
artificial, say Peruvian guano, which gives the Potato 
a start. A few weeks after planting he cannot go 
wrong in forking between the rows, taking care not to 
break any of the sprouts ; and this may be continued 
at intervals as often as possible until the Potatos are 
ready to earth up. This should also be done if 
possible three times, and always when the soil is a 
little damp, as it will stick closer up to the haulms 
than when dry and powdery. To secure good Potato 
crops get good sound seed from some distance, having 
an entire change of climate and soil.— Win. Kerr, 
Dargavel, Dumfries, NB. 
If “ A Sussex Amateur wishes to have some good 
Exhibition Potatos during the coming summer he 
should first prepare his soil by trenching it 2 ft. in 
depth, breaking the bottom well up and keeping the 
best soil on the surface. A liberal dressing of stable 
manure and a free sprinkling of soot should be dug 
in as soon as the trenching is done, and the ground 
may lie till the end of March or first week in April 
ere it is planted. In doing this, make the rows for 
the earliest kinds 3 ft. apart, and the coarse growing 
late kinds 3J ft. apart. Begin by straining a line 
across at one end of the trenched ground, and throw 
out a furrow beside it the width of the fork, and 
about 4 ins. in depth, and thus working back¬ 
ward, so that the furrow is not trodden in. Then 
lay the sets in the furrow 15 ins. to 18 ins. apart, 
according to growth. Give, if to be had, a free 
dressing of wood ashes, and then fork in the soil, 
throughout leaving the surface smooth and even. 
Carry on this plan till all the ground is planted, 
and just as the plants come through the soil the 
spaces between the rows may be forked up, and the 
soil will thus be light and friable for earthing. 
Your correspondent will find a first-class selection of 
kinds, both for show and table in the following :—Mid¬ 
summer Kidney, white, and Beauty of Hebron, pink, 
first early kidneys; Sunrise and Early Border, first early 
white rounds; Cosmopolitan and Fidler’s Success, 
second early white kidneys ; Cardinal, red, and 
Edgcote Purple, kidneys ; Schoolmaster and Prime 
Minister, late white rounds ; and the Dean and Bed- 
font Eose, late coloured rounds. A good deal of 
nonsense is written by those who do not know about 
the merits of new kinds of Potatos. The new ones 
here mentioned are first-rate at all points.— D. 
As an old Sussexonian I have great pleasure, in reply 
to an inquiry of “A Sussex Amateur,” in your last week’s 
issue, in recommending the following twelve sorts of 
Potatos to meet his requirements—namely, “ a dozen 
good sorts that would prove at once suitable for show 
and for table, also good croppers.” White Kidneys — 
Early May Flower (early), Cosmopolitan (medium sea¬ 
son), Woodstock Kidney (medium). White Rounds — 
Sutton’s Early Border (early), Bresee’s Prolific (medium). 
Coloured Kidneys— Beauty of Hebron (early), Sutton’s 
