226 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  18,  1897 
kitchen  garden  and  m?  Potato  trial  grounds.  I  was  in, earnest  so 
long  ago  as  then  “beating  about  the”  Potato  “bush”  by  selections  from 
the  best. 
I  find  you  will  not  be  able  to  afford  me  room  in  this  issue  to  allow 
me  to  complete  what  I  want  to  say  about  the  memorable  plantings, 
but  you  may  perhaps  find  space  to  admit  the  detail  of  a  circumstance 
which  happened  almost  ou  the  spot  where  Mrs.  Stackhouse  drew  her 
pretty  picture.  Almost  every  farm  around  there  pertaining  to  a  fair 
size  had  its  limekiln,  and  plenty  of  stone  for  the  getting  to  burn  into 
excellent  lime,  which  I  availed  myself  of  largely  in  the  year  of  the  fatal 
Potato  disease,  1847.  I  remember  I  was  very  busy  dusting  quicklime 
over  the  stricken  haulms,  when  Mr.  T.  A.  Knight  of  Downton  Castle,  and 
the  Hon.  R.  Clive,  M.P. ,  of  Bromfield  Park  (neighbouring  parishes')  called. 
Both  gentlemen  were  enthusiasts  in  the  cultivation  of  the  esculent.  They 
called  on  Mr.  St.  John,  to  consult  possibly,  as  we  were  becoming  “  an 
authority  ”  on  the  Potato,  about  the  sudden  infliction.  All  strolled  to 
the  “  trial  ground,”  and  caught  me  in  full  blast  upon  a  patch  of  the 
“  Birmingham  Blue.”  “Dusty  Miller”  could  have  answered  for  my 
appearance.  I  had  often  hob-nobbed  with  Mr.  Knight,  and  I  was 
not  unknown  to  Mr.  Clive.  The  visitors  said,  in  fact  I  knew,  they 
were  trying  different  specifics  upon  their  Potato  haulm.  They  decided 
also  to  use  the  lime.  I  learnt  afterwards  that  every  nostrum  failed,  as 
the  lime  did  with  me,  to  check  the  fatality. 
Papers  are  now  appearing  in  the  “  papers”  about  some  desirable  new 
vegetable  being  invented  in  com - .  I  have  a  new  species  of  Solanum 
tuberosum.  The  seed  was  sent  to  me  from  Mexico  last  spring.  I  have 
raised  some  beautiful  little  tubers  from  it.  I  had  also  another  wilding 
sent  to  me  from  “New  ”  Mexico  twenty-two  years  ago,  and  if  it  takes 
me  as  long  to  bring  my  new  comer  into  the  same  promising  productive 
capabilities  I  shall  have  attained  to  the  age  of  over  100.  It  is  expensive 
work,  though,  is  the  raising  of  new  varieties  of  the  esculent,  for  however 
excellent  they  may  be  one  cannot  secure  a  patent,  or  even  the  credit  of 
having  raised  them.  But  this  par  parenthesis,  I  have  much  more  to 
do  and  unfold  to  you  (if  the  workhouse  do  not  prevent  it)  re  the  noble 
tuber  ;  after  my  two  parishes  overseers’  audit,  for  which  I  have  received 
notices,  I  shall  have  to  return  again  to  Stanton  Lacey  in  1837  before  I 
detail  my  experiments  with  the  murphies  in  1896. — Robert  Fenn, 
Sulhamstead. 
DUKE  OF  BUCCLEUCH  GRAPE. 
I  am  often  asked  about  this  Grape,  and  have  written  much 
privately  to  gentlemen  in  various  quarters  regarding  it.  It  has 
occurred  to  me  that  if  I  were  to  state  in  the  column^  of  the  Journal 
a  few  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  noble  Grape  it  would  save  me 
some  trouble,  and  be  advantageous  to  many.  They  have  been  treated 
before,  it  is  true,  but  that  is  some  time  ago. 
First  of  all  I  would  remark  that  “  the  Duke  ”  is  a  splendid 
Grape,  raised  by  my  late  father  when  at  Dalkeith,  and  named  after 
his  noble  employer,  the  late  Duke  of  Buccleuch,  at  his  special 
request.  It  has,  however,  certain  peculiarities  of  constitution  that 
require  special  treatment,  and  it  is  to  these  that  I  would  like  at 
present  to  draw  the  attention  of  all  who  think  of  going  in  for  the 
cultivation  of  “  the  Duke.” 
First  of  all,  I  may  remark  that  it  fruits  best  on  the  young 
wr'od,  therefore  it  should  be  the  aim  of  all  its  cultivators  to  main¬ 
tain  a  succession  of  young  rods.  Then  when  pruning,  the  spurs 
should  be  left  at  least  three  or  four  eyes  long.  When  the  Vines 
break  the  best  shoot  can  then  be  retained,  and  the  others  removed. 
“  Tying  down”  should  not  be  done  as  soon  as  in  the  case  of  most 
other  Vines,  as  “  the  Duke’s  "  shoots  are  very  strong,  and  at  the 
same  time  rather  brittle. 
Supposing  that  the  “tying  down”  has  been  successfully 
accomplished,  the  next  thing  to  consider  in  the  culture  of  the 
Duke  is  the  “  setting  ”  of  the  bunches.  We  have  always  found 
that  artificial  impregnation  is  required,  and  in  addition  to  shaking 
the  Vines  we  go  over  the  buncheB  very  lightly  with  an  ostrich 
feather  or  a  rabbit’s  tail.  This  insures  a  good  “set.”  The  next 
thing  is  the  thinning.  Let  the  berries  be  as  big  as  possible  before 
thinning,  and  then  when  one  can  judge  of  the  proper  “set”  the 
bunches  must  be  well  thinned  out,  for  the  Duke  has  an  enormous 
berry  when  well  grown. 
Sometimes,  like  the  Muscat  and  Lady  Downe’s,  the  Duke  is 
apt  to  scald  a  little  during  the  stoning  period.  We  have  found  a 
very  slight  shading,  thrown  on  the  glass  with  the  syringe,  quite 
sufficient  to  prevent  this.  Then  when  the  berries  are  ripening  the 
atmosphere  should  be  kept  as  dry  aB  possible,  and  water  withheld 
from  the  roots. 
With  treatment  such  as  I  have  described  we  have  for  many 
years  grown  the  Duke  to  perfection,  and  only  those  who  have  seen 
and  tasted  this  variety  in  its  prime  can  realise  what  a  noble  fruit 
tbe  Grape  is.  With  a  thin  skin,  one,  or  at  the  most  two,  stones  in 
each  berry,  grand  appearance,  luscious  flavour,  and  most  refreshing 
and  sustaining  qualities,  the  Duke  is  well  worth  all  the  extra  trouble 
that  may  have  to  be  bestowed  upon  its  culture. — John  Thomson, 
Clovenfords . 
Orchids  in  Flower. 
At  no  time  in  the  year  is  the  house  devoted  to  flowering  Orchids 
so  gay  and  interesting  as  now,  the  number  of  choice  things  in 
bloom  being  remarkable.  Almost  every  genus  has  a  few  member* 
that  flower  during  the  present  and  succeeding  months,  while  many 
— such,  for  instance,  as  Dendrobes  and  Cypripediums — are  giving 
us  of  their  choicest.  The  number  of  Cattleya  species  in  bloom  is 
not  great,  but  so  rich  are  they  in  varieties  that  they  are  quite  a 
host.  Take  C .  Triange  as  an  instance  of  this.  From  the  lovely 
pure  white  C.  T.  alba,  with  only  a  dash  of  orange  in  the  throat, 
which  enhances  its  beauty,  we  have  a  chain  of  intermediate  forms 
to  the  brightest  rose,  the  markings  on  the  lip  being  especially  beau¬ 
tiful  in  some  of  the  paler  forms. 
I  consider  the  most  beautiful  varieties  are  those  having  the 
colours  well  defined  and  clear,  the  splashed  sepals  and  tints  running 
into  one  another  lacking  character.  Anyone  interested  may  easily 
see  for  themselves  what  pleases  them  by  looking  in  at  any  of  the 
large  nurseries  where  these  plants  are  made  a  speciality.  A  beau¬ 
tiful  species  too  is  C.  Schroderac,  elegant  in  form  and  delightful  in 
its  soft  colouring,  while  getting  away  from  the  labiata  group 
C.  intermedia  and  the  sweetly  scented  C.  citrina  find  a  host  of 
admirers. 
With  Cypripodium*  one  hardly  know*  where  to  begiD,  so 
numerous  and  varied  are  the  species,  varieties,  and  hybrids. 
C.  Argus  is  well  known  and  appreciated  ;  rightly,  too,  for  it 
ia  a  capital  species,  but  C.  Argus  superbum  is  much  better,  the 
flowers  larger,  brighter  in  colour,  and  more  profusely  spotted. 
C.  tonsum  i*  a  very  distinct  plant,  the  flowers  lighter  in  colour, 
while  G.  Rothschildianum,  with  its  immense  and  highly  coloured 
blossoms,  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten  when  once  seeu  in  good 
cultural  condition  and  well  flowered.  The  hybrid  C.  marmoro- 
phyllum  combines  the  beautiful  foliage  of  C.  Hookeriae  with 
flowers  almost  intermediate  between  this  and  C.  barbatum,  its  other 
parent. 
C.  Calypso  and  C.  Latbamianum  (fig.  53,  page  237)  are  two 
beautiful  hybrids  now  flowering,  while  the  well  known  and  free- 
blooming  C.  Chamberlainianum,  and  the  lesser  known  C.  Victoria 
Marie,  are  also  in  full  beauty.  This  latter  ha*  the  same  twisted 
petals,  and  the  habit  of  flowering  from  close  green  bracts  as  C. 
Cbamberlainianum.  The  foliage,  too,  is  almost  identical,  but  they 
are  quite  distinct  from  each  other.  C.  virens  is  a  curious  specie*, 
the  flowers  almost  entirely  green,  of  various  shades,  but  not  large 
or  showy  enough  to  find  favour  at  the  present  day. 
Cymbidiums  are  in  strong  force  ;  the  chaste  pure  white 
C.  eburneum,  the  popular  C.  Lowianum,  and  the  hybrid  kind 
raised  between  them  making  a  fine  show.  Those  who  have  not 
seen  C.  Lowio-eburneum,  the  later  and  better  of  the  two  hybrids 
raised  between  them,  may  be  interested  to  know  that  the  flowers 
are  larger  and  brighter  in  colour,  and  retain  the  delicate  perfume 
of  C.  eburneum.  C.  sinense  is  an  old  and  not  very  showy  kind, 
but  worth  a  place,  if  only  for  its  delightful  fragrance,  a  single 
plant  in  bloom  quite  scenting  a  large  house. 
Dendrobiums,  as  mentioned  above,  are  very  numerous  now,  and 
not  the  least  beautiful  are  the  well-known  D.  nobile  and  its  many 
choice  varieties  D.  n.  Sanderiana,  D.  n.  albescens,  D.  n.  pendulum, 
and  Wallich’s  nobile  are  only  a  few,  but  the  list  could  be  almost 
indefinitely  extended.  D.  crassinode  Barberianum  is  a  superb 
thing.  How  often  this  name  is  seen,  but  how  seldom  the  true 
plant !  D.  Ainsworth!  is  a  beautiful  hybrid,  so  is  D.  Leechianum, 
a  better  one  from  the  same  parents.  This  is  only  touching  the 
fringe  of  what  are  in  bloom,  but  to  mention  all  would  become 
tiresome.  Dendrochilum  (Platyclinus)  glumaceum  is  an  elegant 
and  free-blooming  Orchid,  the  arching  scapes  on  a  well-flowered 
large  specimen  being  very  beautiful,  though  the  individual  blossoms 
are  rather  small  and  insignificant. 
Orange  and  scarlet  Orchids  are  perhaps  more  freely  represented 
now  than  at  any  other  season,  and  include  the  beautiful  Lselia 
cinnabarina  and  L.  harpophylla,  Ada  aurantiaca,  Cochlioda 
Noezliana,  and  a  few  rarer  and  lesser  known  kinds.  Masdevallia* 
are  not  yet  in  their  prime,  but  I  saw  in  a  large  collection  recently 
about  twenty  species  in  bloom,  the  best  known  of  these  being 
M.  Shuttleworthi,  M.  ignea  and  its  varieties,  M.  militaris, 
M.  Chimmra,  M.  bella,  and  M.  speciosa.  The  pretty  hybrid 
M.  Chelsoni,  too,  and  its  parents  M.  Veitchi  and  amabilis  are  all 
fine  showy  plants. 
