850 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Octobsr 22, 1904. 
The Fall of the Leaf. 
From the moralist’s point of view the autumn is 
not less interesting than the springtime of the year. 
Asi the latter very vividly symbolises the resurrection, 
so also does the former equally vividly portray the 
approach which leads to< the portal of death itself. 
Indeed, there is no lack of signs in, the course of all the seasons 
to denote the course of the moral world. Spring is the new¬ 
born, infant world, as; is : summer the young, buoyant youth, full 
of hope® and high aspirations, clad in all the gaiety incidental 
to the timet, while, alas! is autumn the harbinger of that 
serious time when the 1 son of man feels the hand of the inevit¬ 
able lightly touch the glory of his strength and manhood, to 
surely prognosticate the near approach of winter—that winter 
which to him has no reviving spring in, nature any more. Yes, 
autumn too truly pictures! out before our eyes this great 
healthy lesson, and yeti we call out for signs and proofs of 
our relation; to the. Great Mystery, and none shall be given. 
Does not Nature in her sympathy teach us, in all her ways, 
that we too grow up to fulfil our mission, and, like the fruit 
tree, resign, our commission when the grand task is finished l 
The chief place: of the plant in Nature is to; reproduce its 
kind. In the effort to do so, all the energies of Nature are 
called into exercise all through the. various stages of plant 
life, and when this function is perfected Nature herself appears 
to get tired and worn, out, and the plant puts on the garb 
of death. The purpose of its life is fulfilled; it- languishes, and 
ultimately die®. This, then., as we gaze on the already de^ 
robed orchard of its t-reei-laden burden of fruit, and the bare 
stub bled field relieved of itsi golden, vestments- of grain, is, 
indeed, a, time, of all time© of the year, to teach a wholesome 
lesson to' the devout and undevout alike. Fool that he is— 
gardener or farmer surely lie cannot- bei—who plods away 
through life and fails- to see the lesson thus taught. We a-re 
often—too often—tempted to think that- many of us go- 
through life perfectly oblivious- to the mighty truth, for our 
attitude to our brother often seems as if we held a tenure 
of tilings- and life itself which have no termination. But- to 
such I say, just look at the daily mutations- which a-re taking 
place around usi just now. See how insidiously they creep- over 
the. face of the surrounding landscape. Each da.y the colour 
deepens;. The leaf, which was but- a few days: ago waving 
green in. the balmy breeze, is to-day tinged with the hues of 
death. Beautiful though it be, and confessedly it is, still 
it is the c-olour of decay and the forerunner of decomposition. 
It is said that death itself shall die - the conception is 
beautiful in the extreme, but we cannot understand how. 
Enough fo-r us- t-o- grasp the fact- that- Nature grows weary, and 
her efforts, vigorous as they are during the spring and summer, 
must become terminable, and cease in the rest of death. De¬ 
spite. eveiy gallant struggle for a continuity of existence, the 
life-giving properties; of the plant perforcei cease t-os convey 
the necessary animating power to- the leaf. Scientists explain 
the reason why, and for all the- moralist knows or cares they 
may be right in their interpretation,, b-ut their explanation does 
not in the remotest- degree lessen the- force of the powerful 
moral lesson the- great fact itself conveys to the mind. Cause 
and effect, you- say, explain, all tilings-. Pooh,! a- fig for these 
mathematical instruments. Are they not- the playthings, of 
hair-brained logicians an-d players at words? Look at tiling's, 
in their stem reality, a.nd take them as they are. The leaf 
yellows, it sereis, it- dies, and even- in death it struggles tena¬ 
ciously t-o its hold. It, alas ! yields, .and it- isi now -the. twitter¬ 
ing thing you feel lightly gliding past- you in, the autumn, 
breeze. The final consummation reveals the indignity which 
lias befallen, the erstwhile glory and grandeur of the poor, 
lowly-laid leaf. 
Let, u-s lea,mi a, lesson fro-m the leaf, and profit from its very 
eventful history. D. C. 
Larue Pumpkin. —Mr. R. Braund, of Bableigh, ha.s grown a 
large Pumpkin which weighs 76 lbs. and is 7 ft. in circumference. 
Vines and their Culture. 
VIII.—Thinning and Stoning period. 
Immediately the berries arei of the. size of Sweet Pea seeds 
thinning should be undertaken, and by no means longer de¬ 
layed. Procrastination spells difficulty in- thinning and loss- of 
vigour in the Vine, which a-re opposed to- economy and the 
maintenance! of an even temper. The shoulders intended to 
remain should be- securely slung up so as to be well clear of the 
other berries. The aim should be to ensure large, even- berries 
in a bunch at once, symmetrical and compact, without having 
the berries wedged too- tightly together. Commence at- the 
lower part of the bunch and cut- out all small, seedless and 
otherwise not required berries, taking care meanwhile to avoid 
injury to those left- either by stabbing them with the scissors 
or brushing off the bloom. Sufficient space should be allowed 
between the berries, to enable them to reach one another and 
“ pack a little; ” when mature. Although it- is preferable to. do 
most of the thinning at -one time, yet it tends to. more, certain 
success to go over them again later on, and when any doubt 
exists a® to the cutting away of berries, better by far leave 
them to be disposed of when, the formation of the bunch is 
more of a real and assured fact. The inherent desire for com¬ 
fort at- work will soon, convince -one that the hours immediately 
following d-a-wn and preceding twilight- are the best for the 
work. The variety, the health of the Vine in the past-, and 
the number of b-unches left on it are all factors which should 
a-id us in, pre-determining the size of the berry and leaving 
-space in accordance. 
After the bunches are thinned the berries will for some 
time swell rapidly, and during this spell of uninterrupted 
growth the opportunity should be taken of removing all super¬ 
fluous young wood. Laterals and sub-laterals should be 
pinched back to the first- leaf, the main growth, however, being 
allowed t-o grow in wild luxuriance for the encouragement of 
healthy root action. Leaves- which have through any mis¬ 
fortune been scalded should be removed, fo-r besides being 
henceforth useless they stand a, glaring instance of bad man¬ 
agement. It- h-a-s frequently been asserted that the primings 
from a vinery should never more than fill one hand at any one 
time, and although there is a strong vein of wisdom in this, it- 
is not. wholly without alloy, for there are periods in tliei exist¬ 
ence of a Vine- when lateral growth should not he interfered 
with. There are the flowering, stoning and ripening periods. 
This is not mere theory, but- practice governed by choice and 
common sense-, and if any be. indisposed to- accept- the principle, 
let them at once experiment by cutting back a. large quantity 
of lateral growth when varieties such as West St. Peter or the 
Alexandrian Muscat are in- process of colouring. 
The stoning period is of some, three weeks’ duration, during 
which time the dimension of the berry is; not- perceptibly in¬ 
creased. Scalding being more likely to take place at this 
time, defensive measures in the shape of vigilance in the 
matter of ventilation and abstemiousness in moisture should 
be undertaken. 
In the ca-se, of old Vine® it is usual and beneficial to mulch 
with well-dec,a-yed farmyard manure, hut if this is- unobtainable 
-a good dressing of any reoognised-as-good fertiliser should he 
applied immediately after stoning to help them through the, 
most exhaustive; work of swelling. Young Vines in a well- 
made border will scarcely need this, and unduly stocking the 
border with manure when- there is still available food within it, 
beside® being antagonistic t-o the best- economy, is likely to 
have veiy undesirable effects. 
From the time when the first tinge of colour is s-een on the 
berries the greatest increase takes place in the berries, and a 
plenitude of air should lie constantly admitted. A kind of 
breezy atmosphere devoid of cold draughts and refreshing to 
the cultivator is the condition to- be aimed at about this time. 
If the house.smells stuffy, or -on the other hand resembles a 
meat-safe airiness, the amount- of ventilation is equally wrong, 
and the happy medium should be aimed at. W. R. 
