February 25, 1905. 
the gardening world. 
155 
This typo of Begonias, as well as the Rex kinds, may be 
ieadily propagated from partly-matured leaves laid on and 
, e( „red down to prepared pans of soil. This method is interest- 
ugfand with careful handling gives excellent results. 
K. M. 
Fruit Under Glass. 
Vineries.—Rot Vines in many private establishments supply 
he first ripe Grapes, especially where they are required early 
;n q 10 month of April, Black Hamburghs and Foster’s Seedling 
bein'' the two most frequently relied on, both being free setters 
Uld usually finishing well. Within a few days after the setting 
,)f the berries thinning must commence, or they quickly get 
wedged, when the work can neither be expeditiously done nor 
harried out without injury being done to those that go to form 
the bunch. First remove superfluous bunches, as it is a great 
mistake to overcrop, even if the Vines are thrown away after 
fruitin'', as neither fine berries nor good colour can be had 
under such circumstances ; therefore 5 lb. of good fruit is 
Inuch more satisfactory than 8 lb. badly finished from a pot 
Vine. Small, compact bunches require more thinning than do 
oose or extra large ones, and the smaller berries, also those 
n the interior of the bunch, must be the first to be cut out, 
avoiding the removal of too many at the shoulders, as these 
lave more space to expand, and £ in. apart will be sufficient 
or early Grapes. Liquid manure must be afforded pot Vines 
;veiy few days from the time the berries are set up to the 
hue they show colour, when it should be discontinued and 
■lear water only applied. Endeavour to maintain a 
temperature of 60 to 65 deg. at night, advancing 8 or 10 deg. 
jy day, reaching 80 to 85 deg. with sun-heat, admitting air 
it about 72 deg. when the sim is raising the temperature. 
Grapes from permanent Vines to be ripe about May 20th 
vill be passed out of flower and require like attention as given 
ibove after affording the border a thorough watering of liquid 
manure, or a surface sprinkling of 5 ine manure, and lightly 
raked in. Let the temperature of the water be 75 or 80 deg., 
the temperature of the house being the same as for pot A mes, 
and in both cases guard against cold, cutting winds, these often 
occurring during the month of March. All Muscats should be 
started now, as well as the latest varieties of Grapes, all requii - 
ing a long time to perfect their fruit. Black Hamburgh may be 
dfowed to start naturally if required late in the summer, and 
it is a grand grape for September and October use, but aftei 
the latter month it begins to lose colour, and more oi less 
shrivelling takes place, even when fire-heat is sparingly used. 
Cut-back Vines—and these are more satisfactory than one- 
rear-old canes for pot-work—should be freed of the old soil 
when growths are 2 in. long, and repotted into 7-in. pots, using 
as a compost three parts fibrous loam not too light in tex¬ 
ture), half a part of old lime rubble and horse droppings ie- 
spectively, while for final potting add a little bone-meal an 
wood ashes, in all cases plotting firm. Place in a growing tern 
perature of 60 deg. at night, and keep as near the glass roof as 
possible, and running up the strongest shoot, the weaker one to 
be rubbed off as soon as it can be seen which is taking the 
iead, watering sparingly at first, but increasing the quantity 
is the roots lay hold of the new soil ; and as soon as the pot 
is full of roots shift into 9-in. or 11-in., the lattei to >e t ie 
fruiting pot. Some give two shifts, but when I grew pot V mes 
the pdants were from 7-in. or 8-in. moved into the ll-m. 
lirect, always using warmed soil for the purpose. Keep t ie 
foliage gently syringed twice daily, and a growing atmosphere 
it all times until growth is finished. 
Peaches. —Attend to the pollination of the flowers in suc¬ 
cession houses, a gentle rap of the branches being sufficient at 
this date to distribute the pollen, but where bees are kept m 
or near the gardens these usually find their way among the 
flowers. Damp down the interior borders, etc, morning anc 
afternoon, closing about 2.30 p.m., allowing the heat to decline 
to 50 deg. at 7 a.m. next morning. The latest trees will soon 
be expanding their blossoms, and must receive similar atten¬ 
tion as above staled, applying water to the border-, if noo 
saiy, and fumigating the structures before the petals begin m 
unfold. Avoid cold northerly winds, as these do much mis¬ 
chief and favour the increase of aphis. 
Strawberries.— Early fruit should be supported with forked 
sticks where the foot-stalks are of any length, as if once they 
get crippled the fruit fails to swell to its normal size. Dis¬ 
continue the use of stimulants as soon as the fruit shows signs 
of colouring, and afford the plants more ventilation and less 
water as they approach the ripening stage. Succession batches 
will take a plentiful supply of water now the sun has more 
power. Examine them twice or thrice bright days,and syringe 
them overhead before the flowers open. James Mayne. 
Bioton Guldens, Devonshire. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Seed Sowing.— Seldom has the land been in a more favour 
able condition for planting, sowing seeds and other work in 
relation to kitchen gardening than it is at the date of writing, 
yet 1 never advocate being in too great a hurry, tempted by 
spells of spring-like weather, for undoubtedly there are many 
tastes of winter yet to come. Nevertheless, it would be 
unwise to miss such a favourable opportunity, especially on 
such soils as can be worked only under similar conditions 
to the present; consequently, though it may be a day or two 
early for getting in certain seeds and plants, it will be advis¬ 
able to do so, as in all probability when rain once commences 
we shall have a long spell of it. 
Cabbage.— The earlier plantations of these look remarkably 
well, and good crops of early beads should be looked for this 
spring. Plants which have been moulded up for the winter 
should have the soil deeply stirred with the draw hoe, at the 
same time making good anv vacancies from the reserve bed. 
Nothing tends to improve the growth of Cabbage more than 
constantly stirring up the surface soil, and in doing so taking 
care to draw plenty round the stems. Make a small sowing 
of Winningstadt, and a good red variety for pickling, in gentle 
heat. 
Onions, Autumn Sown Varieties.— The ground having been 
well prepared, the earliest opportunity should be taken to get 
these planted in their permanent beds. Much better bulbs are 
ensured in this way than if allowed to mature where the seed 
was sown. Plant 1 ft. apart all ways, make very firm, and 
give a good dusting of soot as the work proceeds. Owing to 
the great scarcity of the Onion crop last year, not only in many 
parts of this country, but in the large Onion-growing centres 
in various parts of the world, good breadths of these should 
be planted for drawing early. Though the winter Onion, as 
it is termed, is of little value for keeping, it plays a. most 
important part in such seasons as this. Young seedling plants 
which have been raised in heat during tne past month should 
be pricked off from two to three inches apart in other boxes, 
using a good and fairly rich compost for the purpose. Imme¬ 
diately active growth has commenced these should be gradually 
hardened off in cooler houses or pits; undue forcing should 
never be resorted to. 
The Permanent Sowing Outside. —Though rib hard and fast 
rule can be laid down as to the date of sowing owing to a 
variety of circumstances, from the 1st to the 15th of March 
will generally be found to be the most suitable time. Where 
the Onion Fly gives much trouble, as it does in many gardens, 
the practice of raising the plants under glass is much to be 
recommended. Though on the surface it may appear a large 
amount of extra work, it is really not so, and especially when 
one takes into consideration that the crop is practically 
assured. If seed be sown thinly towards the end of the month 
and raised in a very gentle heat, and the young plants pricked 
out straight from the seed boxes on to well prepared ground, 
allowing a distance of 10 in. between the rows, and 6 in. from 
plant to plant, splendid crops may be relied on. 
Sea-kale and Rhubarb may now be brought forward quite 
