362 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
April 30, 1904. 
inside and a broad, ovate silvery band at the. back of eticlii 
segment. The flower is of, large size, and stands out con¬ 
spicuously as something both di tinct and beautiful. Brun- 
hilde originated about eighteen years ago as a sport from 
Pottebakker White, and is distinguished by being white with 
a yellow or apricot flame on both faces of the segments. . An 
immense flower is that named Grace Darling, which reminds 
one of a Parrot Tulip by the way in which the segments 'are 
cut into lobes. The colour is of a deep red, but the flower 
renders itself conspicuous by the great breadth of the wavy 
over-lapping segments. 
Oh ry sol ora still remains one of the best dwarf Tulips', with 
large golden-yellow flowers., Comte de Melbourne is notable 
for its rich colour, the whole flower being of a. deep orange, 
with a, yellow base. Another striking flower is Due d'Orange, 
having vellow flowers with a red A-shaped marking on the hack 
of the outer segments. The inner segments are more uniformly 
of a, crimson-red. Prince de Ligne is also a, striking flower, 
with pointed segments, the exterior being soft yellow and the 
interior bright yellow, with a golden base. Several species of 
Tulip are, also flowering, chiefly early one's'. Here we may 
say that the May-flowering Tulips' are making very strong 
growth and will give an excellent account of themselves next 
month, provided they meet with no accident in the matter of 
weather. Already they have made tall and strong growth. 
Vineyards in England. 
On. reference to “ Doomsday Book," it appears that vine- 
yards were not uncommon at the Conquest. About the middle 
of the .seventeenth century there was a vineyard at Beaulieu 
in Hants, on the borders of the New Forest, where wine was 
made and also brandy ; and at. a still later period there was 
a vineyard at Tunbridge, near the old castle. W hat the 
quality of the wines may have been at. either of these 1 vine¬ 
yards is not known. Some old documents belonging to> a. 
member of the Court of Charles I., and which were probably 
written before the civil wars, give us an account of a vineyard 
at Blaekheath, running asi follows : — 
“ The sioyle of this vineyard (which was a. part of Bleake- 
lieaith, near Greenwich in Kent) is extream barren (as it 
seem si to bee), of a light whitish sand mixt with small stone®; 
on the earth grows naturally nothing but ling and Furss. 
“ The situation is on the sidei of an hill, which lies full 
facing on, the south, well defended by the hills from the north 
and west wynds. The parcell of ground was betwixt one and 
two acres. The earth was in the summer time or autumn 
digged into shallow trenches and ridges, a little, before Cbrisit- 
mais, as the weather was open and fair. The young-rooted' 
Vines (which came most from cuttings and were of three years 
growth in. the nursery before removing hither) were set in 
trenches here'in straight lines two yards asunder each Vine. 
Betwixt each rank of Vines there was a path four feet wide' to 
go betwixt the Vines to digg and pruin them. From each root 
two of the strongest shoots only were suffered to grow up 
each yeare, which were tyed up to a stake, stuckei betwixt 
every two roots, and tyed archwise t,o. the said stake; onei 
of the two branches is tyed to the right-hand stake, and the 
other to the left-hand stake. Remember, in May and June, 
when the Vines are archt thus, and that they flower for Grape®, 
to nip or cut off the great wild red shoots above the flowers 
to feed and give them sap the better. These two shoots 
aforesaid bowed soe downe put forth yong branches at the 
joyntsi, which will fall and hang downe to the very earth, and 
hare Grapes to the ground. The lowest Grapes are sweetest, 
and are ripe soonest, because of the reflexion from the earth. 
“ Every yeare the root from whence the aforesaid two, shoots 
grew will put forth severail new shoots, which must bee suf¬ 
fered all to grow till pruining tyme, which is from Christmas 
till March. In that tyme you must cut atvay the' said two 
old shoots within one joynt of the head of the old stock©. 
which head should bee a, foot, higher than the earth, and suffer 
the two strongest new shoots of this last yeare to stand up to 
be tyed to the stake till they are archt down in April! or 
March as aforesaid. Then you must cut away close all the 
sprouts and shoots besides the two aforesaid from the route 
and head of the stocke, except two only, which must bee, the 
strongest next to the first two, and those two must not bee 
cut off more than two eyes or joynts of the stocke, and are 
left soe to serve for two shoots for the yeare following, when 
the other two moots are out away. And this order must liee 
observed yearely in, pruinings of these vineyard Vines. 
“ Springs must,be drained away from a vineyard if there 
bee any ; the roots cannot, endure wett. No dung nor com¬ 
post is used to this barren earth of tlii^ vineyard, which is 
very strange. The ground must bee kept cleand from weeds 
with bowing, and the weeds may lye to rot about the bind- 
roots. The fittest, Vines for a, vineyard in England are thought 
to be© the white and red Musc-adin, the red Co-rant Grape with 
stones, and severail Frontiniack Vines, as good as any or 
better.” H. W. C. 
Soil for Potting. 
I consider good potting essential. Therefore the condition 
and quality of the soil is an important consideration if the 
best results are expected. The worst possible soil for potting 
is, that which has, passed through a sieve with a J-in. mesh; 
indeed, the, rougher* portion which does not pass through 
would, in the case of many plants, Ire by far the best to use. 
The-only cases in, which fine-sifted soil is the best are for 
sowing minute seeds and for many cuttings. For potting 
young and delicate subjects into small pots it is a great con¬ 
venience to run the, soil through a, sieve, but, in, that case, one 
with a jj-in. mesh is preferable. For potting and re-potting 
in general, by all means use rich fibrous, old turf as your basis, 
with different mixtures, according to the requirement® of the 
plants. A good compost for most subjects may be formed of 
two-thirds' loam to one-third well decayed leaf-mould, with a 
fine sprinkling o>f sand. As loams vary a good deal in con¬ 
sistency, some of the heaviest are all the better if mixed with 
an equal amount of leaf-mould. Failing this last, peat may 
l>e used instead. Of course, there are many plants that this 
mixture will not suit; Azaleas, for instance, which need good 
fibrous, peat, broken up, by the hand, and sufficient silver sand 
to Ire readily seem when mixed. Trevor. 
Ystrad, Denbighshire. 
\ _ : _ 
A Greenhouse Burned. — A large new greenhouse, which had 
just been erected at Messrs. Waite’s, (nurserymen) premises in 
Cast legate, Berwick, was "completely burnt down on the 12 th inst. 
* * * 
Farming and Gardening in Ri-iodesia.- -From a pamphlet sent 
us by the British South Africa Company we note some interesting 
facts concerning the prospects of farming and gardening m that 
part of South Africa. The pages of the pamphlet are illustrated 
with views of the Victoria Falls and also of important buildings 
in the chief towns of that British possession. Jn the chapter on 
“ Land and Agriculture” is a picture of a very good field of Wheat. 
Farms in Mi ash on aland are generally about 3.000 acres in extent, 
• while those in Mata-belelend are twice as large. Assistance L 
granted to hand fhle farmers having not less than £500 capital. 
The whole of Southern Rhodesia, is well watered and adapted for 
agriculture. Cattle, pigs, and poultry are all stated to thrive 
well, and to make a profitable industry. Crops that do well are 
Indian Corn, Kaffir Corn, Sweet Potatos, Pumpkins, Wheat, 
Oats, Grass, etc. Market gardening should be combined with 
dairy farming to make it remunerative. Vegetables are chiefly 
wanted itj. .the neighbourhood of towns and mining centres. In 
the neighbourhood of Salisbury, Bulawayo, Victoria, etc., fruit 
trees have been planted in considerable quantity, including the 
principal European kinds as well as sub-tropical fruits. There is 
plenty of room, however, for further experiments, and the pro¬ 
spects look promising. Circular tourist tickets may now be ob¬ 
tained from Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, Ludgate Circus, 
London. 
