506 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 11th, 1885. 
Fruit Culture under Glass. —Making Vine 
Borders and Planting Vines : Where new borders have 
to be made in old vineries, the first thing that has to be 
done is to remove the soil composing the old border, 
and the drainage underneath; and then, unless the 
subsoil of the border consists of stone or chalk, it 
will be necessary to lay in the bottom € ins. thick of 
concrete, composed of five parts of gravel to one of 
stone-lime well mixed, with a series of deep gutter- 
bricks set in cement placed at the base of the front 
retaining wall, with sufficient fall to carry superfluous 
water into the main drain connected with the internal 
water tanks, &c. Then lay on the concrete floor 6 ins. 
thick of brick-bats broken rather fine on the top for 
drainage, afterwards covering the same with turves, 
grass-side down. If the brick-bats cannot be so easily 
procured as rough stones, the latter, by covering them 
with a sufficient thickness of coarse gravel to fill the 
chinks, will answer the same purpose. 
Soil for the Border. —The most suitable compost 
for the growth of the Vine is a good fibry calcareous 
loam—such as the top 3 ins. of a sheep or deer park, 
or a down which has been grazed by sheep. To every 
five cartloads of this soil shbuld be added one load of 
wood-ashes, one load of lime rubble, one load of fresh 
horse-droppings, and an ordinary-sized garden barrow¬ 
ful of fresh soot. Turn the whole over twice before 
wheeling it on to the border when dry. Supposing 
that space is provided for both ah inside and an 
outside border, and that the front wall of the vinery 
is built on arches, so that when the inside border 
is filled with roots the latter can push freely into the 
outside one, the latter need hot be made for some 
time. The border should be made in sections 6 ft. 
wide '-from the front wall—the arches and side being 
built up of turves—and sufficiently high to allow for 
the loosely thrown together soil subsiding 6 ins. or 
7 ins. within as many weeks from the time of making 
it. The border must, therefore, be made 6 ins. or 
7 ins. above the top of the arches supporting the 
front wall, whence it should slope towards the path¬ 
way. 
Planting the Vines. —This may be proceeded with 
a few days after the border has been made. As soon 
as the young Vines which have been raised and tended 
during the interval, as recommended at. pp. 347, 427, 
attain to a height of 2 ft. 6 ins., they may be planted 
as follows : Make the necessary number of holes 2 ft. 
apart, beginning at 2 ft. from the end, between the 
front wall and the hot-water pipes, the entire length 
of the border ; then see that; a sufficient complement 
of rather fine soil of about the same warmth as that in 
which the young Vines are growing is at hand to put 
around them when being planted, so as to pirevent the 
plants from suffering anyoheck in consequence of the 
roots coming in contact with a compost less warm than 
that in which they are growing. Turn the Vines 
carefully out of the pots and plant them about one 
inch deeper than they were in the pots, the per¬ 
manent ones midway between the rafters, and those 
for yielding a crop of fruit next year between them, 
disturbing the roots as little as possible, and making the 
soil firm about them in planting them. Then put a 
.stick to each plant for support, and secure them to the 
trellis, but leave them sufficiently long, and the ties 
loose, to admit of. their subsiding 6 ins. or 7 ins. with 
the soil. This done, give sufficient tepid water 
through a rose to settle the soil about the roots, 
and afterwards lay on a surface-dressing of 2 ins. or 
3 ins. thick of horse-droppings or decayed manure. 
In the event of cut-back Vines—that is, Vines one 
year old—being planted, it will be necessary, unless 
they were shaken out, the roots shortened a little 
and repotted some six weeks since, to disentangle the 
roots, cut the latter back to within 15 ins. of their 
base, and then spread them in every direction over 
the soil with a slight inclination downwards ; cover 
with 6 ins. thick of soil and water as indicated above. 
Temperature and Atmospheric Moisture. —Keep 
the water in the pipes sufficiently warm to maintain 
a night temperature of 60 degs., and 70 degs. by day, 
raising it to 85 degs. with sun-heat and a free circula¬ 
tion of fresh air, and run the temperature up to 90 degs. 
at closing time, with plenty of atmospheric moisture. 
The Vines and the house generally, especially under¬ 
neath and between the hot-water pipes and the wall, 
should, in addition to the distribution of moisture in 
the afternoon, be syringed with tepid water first thing 
in the morning, and during bright sunny days the 
surface of the border and the pathway should also be 
damped about mid-day. 
Ventilation.— The time for admitting fresh air in 
the morning and stopping it in the afternoon must be 
regulated in accordance with the weather at the time, 
as the temperature recorded in each house, and not 
the particular hour or minute, should be the guide in 
this important matter. Therefore, the ventilators 
may be slightly opened as soon as the thermometer 
registers 80 degs. on bright mornings, afterwards 
increasing or decreasing it with the rise and fall of 
the temperature until closing time. This should be 
varied from three o’clock in the afternoon to half¬ 
past three during the next few weeks ; the ventilators 
should, however, be opened slightly late each evening 
and closed early in the morning, when the Vines and 
house, as already stated, should be well syringed. 
Melons. —Plants swelling off their fruit, in order 
to relieve the former of the weight of the latter, 
should have supports in the shape of pieces of deal 
board 6 ins. or 7 ins. square and \ in. thick, suspended 
by four pieces of string from the trellis, in a sloping 
direction, to prevent the lodgment of water. A 
little of Beeson’s Manure strewn over the surface of 
the bed or fruiting pots prior to watering will greatly 
assist the plants in swelling off fine large fruits. 
Attend to the pinching and tying of the shoots, and 
the impregnating of the blossoms in successional 
houses and pits. Also see to the disbudding of Peach 
trees in the late house, and tying of the shoots, Ac., in 
early and second early houses.— H. W. Ward. 
— — o — 
tropaeoltjm tricolorum. 
At the Preston and Fulwood Horticultural 
Society’s Spring Show, held on the 17th and 18th 
of March, prizes were awarded for twenty plants 
in 6-in. pots, grown from bulbs, conns, tubers, or 
rhizomes. It is a most interesting class, and is 
always keenly contested by amateurs and'gardeners. 
Now and then a plant is introduced that few people 
have any knowledge of, but which others recognize 
with pleasure as an old acquaintance. Such was 
the case this season, when the subject of these 
remarks made its appearance in the winning lot, and 
I have reason to believe that not half-a-dozen of the 
gardeners that visited the Show had seen the plant 
before. The specimen was about 18 ins. high and 
15 ins. wide, and instead of being trainedon a trellis 
it was supported by sundry twiggy pieces of birch 
thrust into the soil round the side of the pot, their 
points drawn together here and there at the top. On 
these the plant had been trained without a single tie, 
as far as I could see, and it presented a most natural 
appearance, the growth and flowers hiding all supports 
from view. I have frequently grown it, and in larger 
pots, and have had plants in my charge from 2 ft. to 
3 ft. each way, on a balloon-shaped trellis as well as 
on pieces of larch. 
After the plants have flowered they will show 
symptoms of going to rest, and the supply of water 
must be consequently reduced and ultimately entirely 
withheld and the pots turned on their sides. After 
being in this state for about six weeks or two months, 
they should be potted into a mixture of three parts of 
loam and one of leaf-mould, with a fair sprinkling 
of sand, or such a mixture as Fuchsias and Pelar¬ 
goniums are found to thrive in. The number of 
tubers to be planted in each pot must be regulated by 
their size, and one the size of a pigeon’s egg should 
fill a 6-in. pot with roots. They should be planted 
2 ins. deep and be left unwatered until a few inches 
of growth is made, and then it must be supplied very 
sparingly, always waiting till the pot has a dry ring 
when tapped before it is watered, till the flower-buds 
appear, when there is little fear of over-watering. 
Propagation is effected by seeds which should have 
the shell cracked to facilitate germination. The 
seedlings should be allowed to remain in the seed pot 
till the tops have died down, when the pots may be 
emptied, and the little tubers carefully picked out. 
Another and more expeditious method of propagating 
is to lay the stems down on the surface of the pots 
and cover them over with soil, which will cause them to 
root and form good sized tubers the first year. — W. P. B. 
Seasonable Work in the Plant-houses._ 
Salvias: For making a brilliant display in the con¬ 
servatory through the autumn and early part of the 
winter some of the Salvias will be found very useful. 
S. Betheli and S. splendens var. Bruantii are two 
of the most useful sorts for this purpose. Although 
there will be time enough- to make good plants, if 
propagated a little later on, yet it will be advisable to 
look to the stock plants, to see that they are in a 
healthy condition, and, if the stock is scarce, what 
cuttings can be got should be put in as early as 
possible, and these, when rooted, will soon give 
another batch of cuttings; in any case it is as well 
to strike a few early, as the young plants will give 
better cuttings later on than the old plants. The 
cuttings will root very freely in an ordinary propaga¬ 
ting frame, if kept free from damping. As soon as thev 
are well rooted they should be potted off, and must be 
kept growing on freely, stopping them from time to 
time until they have made nice bushy plants. Six 
or 7-in. pots are good sizes for flowering them in, and 
until they are in their flowering-pots they must not 
be allowed to become pot-bound. The best position 
in which to keep the plants clean and healthy 
through the summer months is a pit where the 
lights can be taken off on all favourable occasions, 
and the pots should be plunged up to the rims. Bed- 
spider is their greatest enemy ; but this may easily be 
kept in check, unless the plants are allowed to become 
too dry or stunted during the hot weather. 
Salvia Pitcheri is a much smaller growing kind 
than those referred to above, but makes a nice plant 
for flowering in a 5-in. pot, its bright blue flowers 
forming a very acceptable contrast to most other flowers 
to be had at the same season. They will succeed well 
either in an intermediate or stove temperature. Old 
plants may be cut back as soon as they have done 
flowering, but young plants will not require any stop¬ 
ping the first year. 
Double Chinese Primulas. —These should now be 
ready for propagating. The earthing-up system, as 
recommended at p. 858, is a good method to adopt, 
and to get good strong plants by the autumn this 
should be done as early as circumstances will allow. 
If any of the old plants are to be potted on without 
dividing them, all the old leaf-stalks should be care¬ 
fully cleaned off and the plants should be potted low 
enough to bring the lower leaves close to the surface 
of the soil. Many people seem to think that potting 
the plants low will cause them to damp off, but this 
is a great mistake, as they will be much more liable 
to do so if not potted low enough to keep the plants 
firm. 
Eupatorium V* endl'.ndi and E. riparium are also 
very useful winter-flowering plants. A few old plants 
cut- back now and placed in a warm-growing tempera¬ 
ture will soon give an abundant supply of cuttings, 
which may be treated in a similar manner to the 
Salvias, except that they will not require quite such 
large pots for flowering in, and E. riparium may be 
grown out-of-doors through the summer, but E. 
Wendlandi will do better under glass. 
Hebecliniuji ianthinum, —This is another useful 
winter-flowering plant, Although nearly allied to the 
Eupatoriums, it is a plant of very distinct appearance, 
being of stout growth, with broad, thick leaves, and 
the flowers, which are produced in terminal corymbs, 
are of a beautiful mauve colour. Cuttings put in ns 
early as possible, and grown on freely, will make nice 
plants for flowering the following winter. 
Rhododendron Veitchianuin. —At Oakholme, 
Sheffield, there is now in full beauty a very fine plant 
of this handsome Moulmein species, bearing upwards 
of 450 of its large white flowers, which are beautifully 
crisp at the margins. The plant in question is 
planted out in a very narrow border at the back of 
the Camellia-house, and covers a very large space on 
the wall. It is surprising how well these greenhouse 
Bhododendrons will grow if planted out in a suitable 
situation, associated with Camellias. Of the latter 
there is a fine collection, some planted out, and others 
in pots. All are in the best of health, and many are 
still well flowered. I may also mention that several 
