December 24, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
1043 
Renovating Vine Borders. 
By tlie mouth of December most growers of Grapes will have 
all their bunches removed from the Vines to the Grape room, 
and will be turning their attention to the renovating of the 
borders for next season’s crop, and no time should be lost in 
doing this. Providing the Vines are thoroughly well ripened 
and all the leaves have fallen, the work of making up or top¬ 
dressing the border may proceed at any time, the sooner the 
better. Most vineries for main-crop supplies are usually 
started about the new year, and everything should be in good 
order for a fresh start by then, as there is always plenty of 
other work to occupy one’s attention as the days lengthen out 
and spring approaches. As regards the borders, all the old 
mulching material that has been on them during the summer 
should be swept off clean. I say swept, because if a rake is 
used there is a chance of breaking the young roots that are 
always to be found at the top of a well-made border, and this 
would naturally be most harmful. When the border has been 
swept go over it lightly with a fork and just prick up the 
surface, on no account injuring the roots, and with the hand 
clear off: the loosened top soil, and the border will be ready for 
applying the necessary top-dressing. 
For a start, give a good dusting of lime rubble and 
bones or coarse bone meal, with a judicious application of 
some good Vine manure, and also a thin covering of coarse 
charcoal. This latter will keep the soil from becoming sour 
and help the water to pass away more freely. In the mean¬ 
time some half-decayed horse-droppings from the stable should 
have been procured, and these should be spread evenly over 
the border to the depth of about 2 in. On the surface of this 
place at intervals of 4 in. or 5 in. apart some good fibrous 
turves, grass side downwards, cut from an old pasture. This 
need not be too rich, but should, if possible, have plenty of 
coarse fibre in it. It is an excellent plan to split a turf in two or 
nearly so, and place one round the stem of each Vine, which will 
encourage them to root on the surface. I have seen such a 
turf so placed full of roots at the end of the season, conse¬ 
quently additional turves may be added the next season, still 
further encouraging the Vines to root on the surface. The 
advantage of this is apparent to every Grape grower, as the 
roots can be fed so much better, and there is less cause of 
shanking, etc., then when the rfiots get far below the surface. 
When all the turves have been put on they should be trod 
down firmly and the staging placed in its proper position. 
If the vinery should be without staging of any kind, some 
12-in. boards may be laid on the border to walk upon. No 
fruit-tree borders and Vines especially should be trodden on 
more than is necessary after being top-dressed, or, indeed, at 
any time. All this may seem to many rather a curious way 
of adding to a border, but I have seen it practised with most 
excellent results! The Vine is a gross feeder, and by leaving 
the turves whole instead of chopping them up, there is a much 
more substantial base for the roots to feed upon, besides allow¬ 
ing the water to pass away freely. 
Stagnation and coldness of the border is, I think, one of the 
great causes of the state known as shanking, which can be 
readily dispensed with anywhere. Should worms be found to 
any extent in the border a good watering with lime water will 
kill them and also benefit the Vines. This should be done 
some time previous to the border being top-dressed, so that it 
may dry on the surface and be fit to work upon. Lime is a 
great factor in all stone-fruit culture, and will greatly assist 
the Grapes during the stoning period. 
These remarks, I may say, apply to the outside borders as 
well, should they require top-dressing, but there are usually 
more roots to be found inside the house, as the heat and mois¬ 
ture greatly encourage them during the growing season. But 
all the same for this, the outsides should not be forgotten. 
Should heavy rains or very severe weather prevail some clean 
straw may be placed on the border, as it will help to keep the 
soil in good condition until the roots begin to make their way 
into i't. Both borders, inside and out, should be lightly 
mulched with some fresh horse droppings during the summer to 
prevent evaporation, and also to keep the Vines in a healthy 
growing condition. If the border be at all dry when the top¬ 
dressing is finished, give it a good watering, applying it care¬ 
fully with a can so that it does not wash the top-dressing 
material about too much. It will be found to settle down 
quite firm after one or two waterings, and if the directions I 
have ventured to give are closely followed the borders will be 
found quite ready for more soil next season, until the border is 
brought up to the required level. 11, Thatcher. 
Wistow Gai’dens, Leicester. 
Winter-flowering Carnations. 
Plants that can be grown on outside or in frames during 
the summer and housed in late autumn after the crops are re¬ 
moved from Melon and Cucumber houses are useful, and among 
these the winter-flowering Carnations stand high. Their cul¬ 
ture is not difficult, but constant care from the time the cut¬ 
tings are inserted until the plants are in flower is required. 
The cuttings consist of the small stubby side-shoots that are 
more or less freely produced according to the variety. It is 
difficult to get enough of some kind, while others produce 
abundance. To ensure rapid rooting and prevent damping, 
the earliest batches should be given a gentle bottom heat with 
a rather close atmosphere overhead, such as is provided in pro¬ 
pagating cases. The plunging material may be cocoa-nut fibre 
or spent bark from a tan-yard. The smaller side-growths, 
slipped off, form roots more readily than the thicker growths. 
Five or six slips are inserted in a small pot, using sandy loam 
and leaf-mould, and a thin layer of sand may be spread on the 
surface. Insert the slips firmly, and plunge the pots to the rim 
in the material inside the propagating case. They soon form 
roots, and this may be seen by the growth they make. 
As soon as the slips are well rooted pot them off singly in 
small pots, and to form nice bushy plants stop their upward 
growth by pinching out the centre. The plants must be kept, 
in heat until they have made some growth, when they may be 
taken into an ordinary greenhouse or garden frame, so that 
they may be inured to a lower temperature and a freer current 
of air. This is an important point with the Carnation in all 
classes; a close atmosphere always causes weak growth, and 
also makes the plants a more easy prey to insect posts. As 
the season advances the plants will grow rapidly, and they 
require to be repotted as soon as the small pots are fairly well 
filled with roots. They need repotting twice after the first 
potting-off from the cutting pots, and the largest size used— 
namely, 32’s, or 6 in. diameter, inside measure. As soon as 
the weather is favourable the plants are placed out in the 
open air. They make a cleaner and sturdier growth outside, 
but. should be removed into the greenhouse as soon as the buds 
show the colour of the flowers. 
No measure of success can be attained in the cultivation of 
the Carnation unless insect pests are kept in check. It is 
best to fumigate even if no traces of insects is visible. Batches 
of cuttings may be inserted from the first week in January to 
the end of March, to obtain a succession of bloom. 
The compost should consist of turfy loam three parts, one 
part of leaf-soil and decayed cow manure. It is best to repot 
very firmly, and always drain the pots well. The plants will 
flower well during the winter months in a temperatuie kept 
up to about 55 deg. A dryish atmosphere is also best. The 
flowers expand better in the dry atmosphere, but this is moie 
conducive to the increase of insect pests, and fumigation at 
intervals of three or four weeks is necessaiy. Most of the 
varieties flower freely, and if large specimens are wanted the 
side flower-buds should be pinched out. Given the essentials 
of cleanliness, free air, and light, there is no difficulty in obtain¬ 
ing plenty of beautiful Carnations all through the autumn, 
winter, and spring; months. J- W. J. 
Headers’ Competition, —Particulars of weekly prize see 
centre page. 
