28 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 16, 1909. 
Starting 
Virpes. 
c 
Most gardeners, whether amateurs or 
professionals, delight to attain as high a 
standard as possible with the culture of 
the Vine. I am indebted to the Editor 
of The Gardening World for allow¬ 
ing me to put before the readers the 
way in which I find success. Now is the 
time to commence preparing the border, 
house and canes in order to have the fruit 
ripe early. Some have but one crop in a 
year, therefore it is to everyone’s advan¬ 
tage to consider when the berries will be 
most appreciated, but to have them in 
July the canes should be started the first 
week in January. The first operation is 
to see that the house is thoroughly 
cleansed. It should be well washed down 
with soft soap or Gishurst compound. If 
a good force of water is at hand it is 
much the best plan to apply the hose well 
into the cracks and crevices ; if this can¬ 
not be done, put plenty of force behind 
the syringe when swelling down. After 
this go over the comers in which the in¬ 
sects may conceal themselves, and with a 
paint brush and paraffin . apply it liber¬ 
ally, because in leaving out this item the 
red spider generally obtains a footing. 
After completing this, we must turn 
our attention to cleansing the canes. 
Some have an idea that they need to be 
scraped and cleaned of all loose bark. 
This is only necessary when the dreaded 
mealy bug has put in its appearance, and 
then it should be done with a very blunt 
knife, taking great precautions not to 
bruise the inner tissues of the under bark, 
as this often sets up decay, and also stops 
the even flow of the sap. Thus we arrive 
at one cause of the canes making aerial 
roots and bleeding. If the canes are free 
from insect pests, they only need to have 
the very loose bark removed and given a 
good syringing with the Gishurst com¬ 
pound. If they are infested with bug we 
must resort to some stronger agent, such 
as paraffin or methylated spirit. There 
is no need to. apply the paint mixture 
made from the recipe, twenty years old 
or more, as is practised by some, although 
if you find it answer best by all means 
retain it, but it is my firm opinion that 
Vines feed through bark, therefore it must 
be a detriment. I have just been through 
an establishment where the Vines are 
never washed, and the bark is hanging in 
long strips and yet the crop of fruit is all 
that can be desired. After cleansing the 
canes, the top of the rod should be paral¬ 
lel with the base. To assist the sap to 
flow more quickly they may be tied in 
place after they have commenced to 
break. 
After this comes the border, another im¬ 
portant factor. The surface soil should 
be removed until we arrive at the fibrous 
roots, and this should be replaced with a 
good compost. One that answers well 
with me is: two parts loam, one of leaf- 
mould, one of old mortar rubble, and a 
good application of some reliable fer¬ 
tiliser. After applying this mixture, give 
a good soaking, and then mulch with an 
inch or two inches of leaves swept from 
the main road, amongst which will be 
found cow and horse droppings. I find 
the surface well matted with fibrous roots 
after applying this mulching, a plain 
proof that they enjoy and also benefit 
from it. 
If the houses are to be started at once, 
it is wise to keep them wide open for a 
week, and then close them, and maintain 
a genial moist atmosphere of 48 or 50 
degrees rising 10 degrees with sun heat. 
A piece of tiffany or muslin tacked across 
the ventilators will assist in stopping the 
direct force of cold draughts and fogs. 
These are the lines on which I attain 
success, and trust it will benefit some 
readers who are interested in the culture 
of the Vine. 
Henry Page. 
N. Devon. 
-- 
Public Park for Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 
Public competition was invited for plans 
for laying out 72 acres of land as a public 
park for the town of Lurgan, Co. 
Armagh, and Messrs. J. Cheal and Sons, 
Crawley, Sussex, have been awarded the 
first premium, their plan being accepted 
by the Council. 
_ G. W. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.-—Competitors most 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any wayjl any article or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be oare- 
fully read. 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN 8HILLINC8 will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article on any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,” and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be left over until 
the following Week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub- 
jeot. 
RESULTS OP 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this competition 
are too long, and we desire readers to keep 
within a column. 
A prize in the Readers' Competition was 
awarded to “ F. W. Bluett,” for the article 
on “Roses in Pots Under Glass,” page 17. 
The Prize Letter Competition has been held 
over owing to lack of space. 
Ferns 
Of Easy Culture. 
No doubt many of our readers fiat 
found from experience, which has bee i 
disappointing, that some Ferns are n< 
always easy to grow. Of course lack < 
knowledge on the proper cultur; 
methods has no doubt had a great de; 
to do with failure, but it is a great a( 
vantage to know the Ferns of the mo 
easy culture, and it is with these that 
intend to deal. 
Accommodation has to be considere 
in the first instance, as with the am; 
teur, in most cases, space is very limited 
even if he is the owner of a small greei 
house, it is not generally given up to tl 
culture of Ferns. I have seen some vei 
excellent examples in the bay-window, ; 
even if Ferns have to be grown in sue: 
places as these we can look for good r< 
suits if we give them our best attention. 
The best compost for Ferns is peai 
two parts, loam one part, leaf-mould or' 
part, and silver sand. March is the be. 
month for potting, and the work shoul 
be done firmly. Watering is a very in 
portant item, and ofttimes careless wate’ 
ing is the cause of failure in Fern cu 
ture. Tap the pot, and if it rings hollo 
then water freely. In the winter Fen 
will require very little water, and it 
advisable to use tepid water. Som 
people make a practice of allowing Ferr 
in pots to stand in saucers filled wit 
water, but this I consider is hardly ac 
visable, as the water sometimes, if le 
for any length of time, becomes stagnan 
Now temperature is rather importan 
and as most of the Ferns of which I sha 
give a selection later are hardy or cot 
greenhouse ones, we shall not requn 
much heat. Frost is the main thing to l 
avoided and cold currents of air. Kee 
your temperature about 55 degs. to t 
degs., which will suit most Ferns, winti 
or summer. They grow best in the shadi 
and the portion of the greenhouse use 
for them should be well shaded. 
There are various methods of propag, 
tion, but division is best for the amatet! 
and is easily managed. Divide largi 
sized clumps with a knife into the size 
desired, in March, just at the pottin 
time. Propagation can be effected b 
laying the fronds of some species, sue 
as Aspidium angulare proliferum, whic 
it will be noticed throw small Ferns fro" 
a well-matured frond. These should I: 
laid in pans or boxes and pegged on tl 
soil, just keeping it damp and fair 
warm. Ferns can be raised from spoil 
which are found on the underside of tl 
frond; they require very fine soil ar 
take rather a long time to germinat 
They should be on the surface, and tl 
pans or pots covered with glass. The fo 
lowing is a good selection, and they mr 
be obtained from any reliable nurser 
man : — 
Aspidium angulare is a very pret 
Fern. Microlepia hirta cristata is j 
splendid Fern for house decoratio:} 
Then we have the popular Maidenhair 
Adiantums, such as A. cuneatum and A, 
formosum, which make a grand shot! 
Nephrolepis exaltata, and a recent into 
duction, N. exaltata todeaoides. The 
we have Pteris cretica, the ribbon Ferr 
