310 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  12,  1900. 
Planting  Yonng  Vines. 
Since  writing  the  original  article  re  stopping  Vines  (p.  182,  March  1st) 
I  have  planted  two  vineries,  each  30  feet  in  length,  lean-to’s,  facing 
south.  These  structures  were  built,  I  am  informed,  by  Messrs.  J.  Weeks 
and  Co.  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  and  are  still  in  a  fine  state  of  preserva¬ 
tion.  The  new  borders  I  was  obliged  to  make  outside,  as  considerable 
expense  would  have  been  incurred  inside  by  the  removal  of  three  rows 
of  pipes,  a  cement  floor,  and  a  brick  wall  3  feet  high,  which  ran  parallel 
with  the  outer,  or  the  wall  which  supports  the  front  part  of  the  roof. 
This  inside  wall  is  18  inches  from  the  outer  wall,  and  both  formed  a 
support  for  a  front  stage  made  with  huge  stone  slabs  3  inches  thick, 
since  replaced  by  me  with  a  movable  light  wooden  trellis.  This  space 
I  have  filled  with  soil,  wi^h  the  intention  of  planting  young  Vines  next 
month,  which  are  now  being  propagated  from  eyes  in  the  ordinary  way. 
These  young  Vines  will  come  just  between  the  permanent  Vines,  that 
pass  through  the  walls,  4  feet  apart,  from  the  outside  borders.  If  these 
young  Vines  thrive  well  I  shall  crop  them  next  year  and  the  year 
following,  after  which  they  will  be  cut  out,  and  the  Vines  in  the  outside 
borders  will  be  capable  of  bearing  a  fair  crop  much  better  than  if 
allowed  to  carry  Grapes  the  first  two  years. 
The  Vines  I  found  in  the  first  vinery  were  planted  when  the  houses 
were  built,  and  the  drainage  was  1  foot  in  depth  on  a  clay  subsoil,  over 
which  had  been  put  3  inches  of  gravel  rammed  hard.  The  second 
vinery  had  been  twice  planted,  the  last  time  about  ten  years  ago. 
Here  only  6  inches  of  drainage  had  been  provided,  which  was  choked 
with  fine  soil,  and  the  border  consequently  quite  inferior  to  that 
of  the  early  vinery,  though  it  had  been  made  less  than  half  the  time. 
Both  vineries  had  been  indifferently  managed,  and  were  so  full  of 
bug  that  I  decided  the  safest  and  most  permanent  remedy  would 
be  to  remove  the  Vines  in  each  house  and  plant  with  fresh  ones, 
in  the  meantime  having  the  houses  thoroughly  painted  and  the  walls 
limewashed. 
The  whole  of  the  soil  from  the  two  outside  borders,  which  were 
15  feet  wide,  was  carted  away,  and  the  drainage  cleaned  and  the 
bottom  freed  of  all  fine  soil.  As  plenty  of  old  whole  bricks  were  at 
hand  drains  were  formed  8  feet  apart  with  them,  from  the  back  to  the 
front.  To  construct  these  two  rows  of  bricks  were  placed  edgeways, 
just  far  enough  apart  for  a  brick,  when  placed  flat,  to  securely  span 
the  two  rows,  and  thus  form  an  admirable  drain.  If  slates  had  been 
at  command  I  should  have  put  the  bricks  on  these  to  prevent  worms 
working  soil  up  and  filling  the  drains,  though  I  do  not  think  they  can 
do  so  through  the  clay  and  gravel  bottom.  If  sufficient  4-inch  drain 
pipes  could  have  been  got  without  expense  I  should  have  used  these 
and  run  them  into  a  main  drain.  The  drainage  material  consisted  of 
broken  bricks  a  foot  in  depth,  thus  covering  the  drains.  This  gave  a 
depth  of  2  feet  9  from  the  drainage  to  the  front  sill-  of  the  window 
sashes.  The  drainage  was  covered  with  turves,  placed  grass  side 
downwards,  but  previous  to  this  I  put  two  12-inch  boards  edgeways  on 
top  of  each  other,  with  stakes  driven  in  each  side  of  them  to  keep 
them  in  position.  This  method  is,  I  think,  preferable  to  a  turf  wall 
for  keeping  up  the  soil  the  whole  length  at  the  front  of  the  borders. 
These  borders  were  made  9  feet  wide,  so  that  no  expense  would  be 
incurred  by  renewing  in  a  couple  of  years’  time,  though  probably 
a  width  of  6  feet  would  have  been  ample  for  two  years  at  least. 
Now,  a  few  remarks  as  to  the  soil  used  will,  I  think,  not  be  without 
interest  to  Journal  readers,  though  in  all  probability  the  compost  will 
not  suit  the  tastes  of  all  Grape  growers  ;  but  in  this  case  I  hope  they 
will  criticise  soundly  and  practically  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  myself 
and  other  readers.  The  soil  round  this  part  of  Essex  is  far  from 
my  ideal  of  a  good  Grape  producing  loam ;  but  I  had  no  alternative 
to  using  that  close  at  hand  from  a  pasture  laid  down  about  fifteen 
years  ago,  and  on  which  no  manure  had  ever  been  carted  to  the 
recollection  of  some  old  hands.  The  turf  was  ploughed  to  the  depth 
of  21  inches,  and  forty  loads  of  about  one  square  yard  each  carted  to  a 
spot  close  to  the  vineries.  This  soil  was  roughly  chopped  up  and  put 
ridge  shape  as  the  work  proceeded  to  facilitate  its  being  easily  covered 
to  keep  off  the  rain.  To  the  forty  loads  of  soil  were  added  eighty 
wheelbarrowfnls  of  mortar  rubbish,  forty  of  burnt  garden  refuse,  also 
thirty  bushels  of  3-inch  charcoal,  and  one  ton  of  Bentley’s  Vine  border 
compound,  which  is  apparently  largely  composed  of  half-inch  bones, 
hoofs  and  horns.  The  whole  heap  was  carefully  mixed.  Four  wheel¬ 
barrows  were  used  in  taking  it  to  the  place  where  the  border  was  to  be 
made,  and  by  filling  them  from  both  ends  of  the  heap,  and  shovelling 
the  compost  out  of  the  barrows,  working  backwards  and  forwards,  the 
whole  length  of  the  borders,  it  was  equally  distributed.  As  the  second 
vinery  will  contain  mostly  Muscats,  3  bushels  of  charcoal  were  reserved 
and  added  to  this  border  as  the  work  of  filling  proceeded.  Each  layer 
of  soil  was  made  firm,  and  there  was  the  exact  quantity  for  filling  the 
two  borders — viz.,  60  feet  by  9  feet,  to  a  depth  of  2  feet  3  inches — ^thus 
allowing  6  inches  for  top-dressing  near  the  Vines,  and  more  at  the 
front,  as  the  border  was  sloped  somewhat. 
Q'he  Vines  were  purchased  in  pots  in  November,  and  pruned  the 
first  week  in  December  to  within  3  feet  of  the  base,  but  although  kept 
cool  the  young  canes  bled  profusely.  After  trying  various  remedies  to 
stay  this  loss  of  sap  without  success,  I  procured  some  painters’ 
knotting,  which,  after  three  applications,  checked  and  finally  stopped 
it.  This  knotting  seemed  to  securely  seal  the  pores  of  the  wood. 
The  first  week  in  this  month  the  Vines  were  shaken  out  of  the  soil 
in  the  pots,  and  the  roots  carefully  disposed  in  the  new  borders,  and 
the  shortened  canes  passed  through  small  openings  4  feet  apart  in 
the  brick  wall,  and  tied  to  the  first  wire  inside  the  house.  The  buds  on 
these  young  canes  are  now  swelling;  those  at  the  top  part  will  be 
rubbed  off  as  they  attain  1  inch  in  length,  and  a  bud  on  each  cane  will 
be  selected  that  just  reaches  the  top  of  the  inside  front  stage,  or,  in 
other  words,  18  inches  from  the  base.  This  method  answers  my  case 
admirably.  It  would  have  been  folly  to  have  pruned  the  young  canes 
to  within  two  eyes  of  the  base,  as  the  young  growth  would  have  been 
made  in  partial  darkness.  The  Vines  would  have  been  planted  earlier 
had  the  weather  permitted. — A.  J.,  Moor  Hall. 
- <«♦»> - 
Auriculas. 
The  meeting  of  the  Koyal  Horticultural  Society  at  the  Drill  Hall 
on  April  24th  will  be  associated  with  the  annual  show  of  the  National 
Auricula  Society  in  the  South,  and  is  naturally  being  looked  for  by 
lovers  of  spring  flowers  with  much  interest,  because  that  charming 
family  of  plants  Primulaceie  is  invariably  widely  represented  at  the 
meeting.  Primarily  the  chief  attraction  will  be  found  in  the  Auriculas. 
It  does  not  say  very  much  for  the  labours  of  the  society  that  for  the 
past  two  years  the  show  has  not  exhibited  the  high  quality  seen  some 
years  since  in  its  Auriculas.  That  the  shows  have  lost  much  in  the 
absence  of  some  northern  growers  there  can  be  uo  doubt,  and  it  is 
equally  certain  that  in  the  varieties  of  Auriculas  staged  there  is  no 
advance  in  quality  also. 
Practically  the  Show  Auricula  stands  still.  It  seems  incapable  of 
improvement  or  development.  Certainly  a  perfect  flower  as  seen  in 
the  best  varieties  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all  floral  combinations  that 
florists  have  created,  but  the  power  of  the  florist  seems  incapable  of 
further  expansion.  Then  the  Show  Auricula  is  too  much  the  creature 
of  artiflcial  production.  Probably  at  the  present  moment  of  writing 
hardly  an  intending  exhibitor  but  has  his  plants  in  warmth,  for  Nature 
is  slow  this  season,  and  plants  in  cold  frames  or  houses  will  not  bloom 
until  some  time  later,  and  plants  outdoors,  where  the  Auricula  seems  to 
be  most  at  home,  will  be  nearly  a  month  later  to  bloom. 
The  beautiful  varieties  classed  as  border  Auriculas,  however,  and 
which  flower  so  profusely  and  for  many  years  outdoors,  have  no  attrac¬ 
tion  for  the  exhibiting  grower  of  Auriculas.  His  plants,  indeed, 
hardy  as  they  presumably  are,  would  make  almost  as  poor  a  show 
outdoors  as  Cinerarias  or  Chinese  Primulas.  They  need  much  protec¬ 
tion  sometimes,  as  now,  some  warmth,  and  not  a  little  coddling.  Of  all 
plants  grown  to  give  pleasure  that  produce  flowers,  few  give  less  show 
in  the  way  of  bloom  than  do  Auriculas ;  indeed  a  year’s  constant 
attention  and  careful  culture  seem  poorly  repaid  by  some  three 
weeks  of  bloom.  One  reason  for  this  short  period  of  florescence  is 
found  in  the  practice  of  reducing  the  flower  stem  to  one  generally  on 
a  plant,  and  in  thinning  down  the  pips  to  quite  a  few,  that  when  the 
plants  are  presented  for  exhibition  the  whole  of  the  few  pips  forming 
the  truss  may  be  open  at  the  same  time. 
In  the  case  of  Alpines — and  these  seem  to  present  greater  general 
attractions  to  the  public  than  do  the  choicer  and  even  more  delicate 
Shows — more  than  one  truss  of  bloom  is  permissible ;  but  even  with 
these  late  buds  are  usually  removed,  that  each  truss  may  seem  alike 
in  development.  With  so  much  that  is  quite  artificial,  in  association 
with  what  is  a  beautiful  and  naturally  very  hardy  flower,  it  does  seem 
a  pity  that  the  National  Society  should  do  nothing  to  encourage  the 
hardy  border  varieties,  which  do  so  much  in  May  when  well  grown  to 
make  gardens  attractive.  A  few  prizes  offered  for  these  in  pots  would 
be  useful,  but  in  such  case,  to  be  in  bloom  so  early  as  the  24th  of  April, 
they  too  would  have  to  be  pushed  on  in  gentle  warmth. 
For  that  reason  it  would  be  so  much  better  could  a  couple  of 
classes  be  established  for  hardy  border  varieties  in  pots,  not  exceeding 
6  inches  in  diameter,  for  the  first  meeting  in  May,  as  by  that  time 
most  of  the  plants  might  be  in  bloom,  or  would  need  very  little  assistance 
to  get  them  into  flower.  It  seems  probable  that  border  Polyanthuses 
will  not  be  seen  at  their  best  this  year  so  early  as  the  24th,  for  these 
never  look  better  or  fresher  than  when  lifted  from  the  open  ground 
direct  into  pots  and  brought  to  the  show.  Few  plants  suffer  more  or 
become  drawn  and  put  of  character  or  colour  and  freshness  when  pat 
into  warmth  under  glass  than  these  Polyanthuses  do.  Hence  it  is  that 
so  many  of  the  plants  seen  at  the  Drill  Hall  look  poor  and  drawn  when 
compared  with  outdoors  stock. — A.  D. 
- o#*) - - 
A  New  Paek  for  Philadelphia. — It  is  largely  owing  to  the 
exertions  of  Mr.  Thomas  Meehan  that  the  City  of  Philadelphia  has 
secured  the  dwelling  and  part  of  the  grounds  that  belonged  to  James 
Logan,  who,  with  William  Penn,  founded  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  estate  Avill  be  known  as  Stenton  Park. 
