March  1,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
175 
NOTES  ON  FRUIT  UNDER  OLASS. 
The  advent  of  early  spring,  accompanied,  as  it  is,  or  at  any  rate 
is  expected  to  be,  by  warmer  and  brighter  weather — free  from  the 
fog,  wiiich  all,^  cultivators  around  London  have  so  much  reason  to 
Fig.  46, — Grape  Muscat  of  Alexandria. 
dread — brings  in  its  train  a  large  increase  in  garden  work,  no  less  to 
that  of  the  outside  departments  than  of  the  section  under  glass.  At 
the  present  moment,  however,  it  is  more  particularly  to  the  work 
connected  with  the  latter  that  I  would  refer,  and  then  only  to  those 
houses  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  forced  fruits  and  vegetables. 
By  now  all  vineries  and  Peach  houses  should  have  been  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  set  in  order  for  another  season  ;  the  early  ones,  of  course, 
will  have  been  started  for  some  time. 
Our  method  for  cleansing  the  Vines  and 
vinery  is  first  to  burn  a  small  amount  of  sul  phur 
in  the  house,  after  closing  the  latter.  This  is 
accomplished  by  placing  a  6-inch  pot  in  the 
centre  of  the  vinery,  half  filling  it  with  red  hot 
coke  ;  upon  this  a  good  handful  of  sulphur  is 
placed,  and  the  fumes  arising  from  it  are  allowed 
to  fill  the  house.  This  may  seem  a  somewhat 
dangerous  practice  to  recommend,  but  we  have 
not  found  any  evil  results  to  accrue  from 
following  it,  when  carefully  and  judiciously 
performed;  anl  it  is  certainly  a  most  excel¬ 
lent  method  of  chansing  a  vinery  of  insect 
pests.  The  following  day  the  Vines  are 
brushed  over  (taking  care  not  to  touch  the 
buds)  with  a  solution  made  by  mixing  2  lbs.  of 
softsoap  with  a  little  warm  water,  and  when 
the  two  have  become  thoroughly  incorporated 
adding  two  wineglassfuls  of  paraffin.  Three 
gallons  of  warm  water  are  then  added,  and  the 
insecticide  is  ready  for  use.  If  other  important 
work  presses,  instead  of  brushing  over  the 
Vines  we  simply  syringe  them  with  the  above 
mixture,  at  the  same  time  endeavouring  to 
apply  this  to  all  holes  and  corners  where  mealy 
bug  is  likely  to  be  hidden.  Finally  the  vinery 
is  well  washed  down  with  a  large  hose,  and 
if  the  walls  need  to  be  limewashed  this  is  done. 
We  always  remove  a  few  inches  of  the  surface 
soil  from  the  border  after  the  house  is  finished, 
and  top-dress  with  fresh  loam,  with  which  arti- 
'  ficial  manure  has  been  mixed. 
In  the  Peach  houses  we  do  not  use  sulphur, 
but  simply  apply  the  hose  to  the  woodwork 
and  other  surfaces,  and  syringe  the  trees  with  softsoap  and  warm 
water  only.  In  the  earliest  Peach  houses  and  vineries  there  will 
be  much  to  ocoujiy  one’s  time.  In  the  former  disbudding  is  needed, 
and  in  the  latter  stopping  and  tying  the  shoots  require  attention. 
Where  flowers  are  open  on  the  Peach  trees  it  is  an  excellent  plan  to 
pass  over  them  lightly  with  a  rabbit’s  tail,  tied  at  the  end  of  a  rod,  in 
order  to  aid  fertilisation.  Unless  this  is  done  a  good  set  of  fruit  cannot 
be  depended  upon  so  early  in  the  season.  For  many  years  we  have 
made  a  practice  of  doing  this,  and  largely  attribute  our  heavy  crops 
of  fruit  to  its  effectiveness.  The  tiny  Peach 
shoots  also  must  be  gradually  thinned,  a  few  of 
them  (about  one-third)  every  other  day. 
Winter  Cucumbers  are  rather  difficult  to 
manage  successfully,  especially  if  a  long  spell 
of  dull  weather  is  experienced.  Although  plants 
which  become  well  established  in  their  per¬ 
manent  quarters  by  October  are  very  satisfactory 
for  winter  fruiting  up  to  January,  we  find  that 
a  house  planted  early  in  November  (although 
the  occupants  of  it  are  never  so  strong  and 
healthy  as  earlier  established  plants)  produces 
some  few  fruits  throughout  the  winter  months. 
At  the  present  time,  as  the  weather  improves 
week  by  week,  they  make  fresh  growth,  and  we 
are  now  cutting  fruits  from  them,  and  shall 
continue  to  do  so  until  March,  when  plants  from 
seeds  sown  in  December  will  come  into  bearing. 
The  earliest  Melons,  sown  also  in  December,  for 
yielding  fruit  by  the  month  of  May,  are  in 
48-pots,  ready  to  be  planted  out  on  a  hotbed 
so  soon  as  this  is  prepared  for  them,  while  the 
seedlings  from  the  second  sowing  are  well  rooted 
in  small  pots,  and  will  soon  require  moving  into 
larger  ones. 
In  many  gardens  the  earliest  Strawberry 
fruits  are  now  swelling.  To  insure  as  good  a 
development  as  possible  at  this  season  they 
ought  to  be  placed  on  a  shelf  near  the  glass  in 
a  warm  Pine  pit,  where  the  night  temperature 
does  not  fall  below  70°  Fahr.  Syringe  them 
frequently  and  water  with  liquid  manure.  Unless 
a  house  is  available  solely  lor  Strawberry  cul¬ 
ture  these  plants  entail  a  great  deal  of  labour 
in  a  short  time.  Until  the  flowers  are  produced  and  commence  to 
open  a  Cucumber  house  is  an  excellent  place  for  them,  although  we 
always  endeavour  to  have  a  heated  pit  filled  with  leaves  wherein  to 
plunge  the  pots  for  a  few  weeks  before.  As  soon  as  the  flowers 
expand  it  becomes  necessary  to  transfer  them  to  another  house  where 
more  air  can  be  given,  and  again  after  the  fruits  are  set  a  warm  moist 
atmosphere  is  requisite. 
It  is  most  disheartening  to  attempt  the  culture  of  Beans  during 
Fig.  47.— Grape  Mrs.  Pince. 
winter  within  reach  of  London  fogs.  Wo  have  this  season  lost  several 
hundreds  of  pots  of  these  plants  by  reason  of  heavy  fogs  causing  the 
flowers  to  fall.  When  Beans  should  be  sown  depends,  of  course,  on 
the  time  they  are  required,  and  will  ^therefore  be  governed  by  local 
