May  12,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
403 
give  a  little  air  at  75',  and  to  90'  with  sun.  A  mat  over  the  light  at 
night  will  prevent  the  heat  falling  below  65'  in  the  morning,  and  by 
uncovering  early  the  plants  will  grow  sturdily.  There  must  be  no 
drawing  up ;  most  Melons  being  mined  before  they  reach  youth  by 
giving  as  much,  or  more,  heat  than  is  required  to  ripen  the  fruit.  It  is 
well,  however,  to  observe  more  natural  conditions.  I  give  a  little 
air  at  75°,  and  let  the  heat  rise  as  near  90°  as  possible  while  daylight 
lasts,  closing  early  in  the  afternoon  right  through  the  season. — 
Experimentalist. 
(To  be  continued .) 
PROFITABLE  FRUIT  GROWING. 
(Continued  from  page  38C.) 
About  the  temperatures  best  suited  to  the  Vine,  I  would  say, 
speaking  generally,  that  to  get  a-  high  colour  in  white  Grapes  you 
must  have  a  higher  temperature  than  what  is  required  for  black.  As 
a  rule  you  cannot  put  high  finish  on  black  Grapes  with  hard  firing. 
I  know  of  two  instances — one  with  Lady  Downe’s,  the  other  with 
Gros  Colman — where  they  were  grown  at  the  bottom  end  of  houses 
which  had  a  considerable  rise.  Owing  to  the  cooler  position  they  were 
always  the  last  in  the  house  to  be  thinned,  and  often  quite  a  month 
behind  others  of  the  same  kinds  in  the  same  place ;  but  they  were 
always  the  first  to  be  black,  and  generally  better  finished  than  any  of 
the  others.  I  do  not  believe  in  any  set  temperatures  to  be  scrupulously 
observed  at  set  periods  of  the  Vine’s  growth — such  as  70°  at  night  for 
iNIuscats,  and  so  on-  Go  more  by  the  weather  and  the  health  and 
constitution  of  the  plants.  A  good  and  safe  plan  is  to  have  sufiScient 
pipes  arranged  in  the  house,  and  keep  them  warm  but  never  hot,  and 
the  temperature  will  generally  be  right.  Guard  against  fire  heat  on 
bright  days,  then  the  pipes  cannot  be  too  cool.  Another  point  is  not 
to  wait  until  the  temperature  has  fallen,  but  have  it  ready  to  keep  up 
the  heat,  bottled  as  it  were  from  the  sun  as  long  as  possible.  I 
consider  a  temperature  of  70°  too  high  if  from  fire  heat.  A  high 
night  temperature  is  w^eakening  to  most  plants,  the  same  as  sleeping 
in  close  warm  rooms  is  weakening  to  the  individual.  From  a  night 
temperature  of  60°  Vines  will  rise  fresher  and  fitter  for  their  day’s 
work.  No  higher  is  required  to  set  the  most  difficult  kinds.  I  know 
Muscats,  both  Canon  Hall  and  Alexandria,  which  are  well  set  annually 
with  an  average  night  temperature  of  55°.  One  other  point  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  heating — the  arrangements  of  pipes.  The  sole  use  of  pipes 
in  any  hothouse  is  to  give  off  heat  for  the  benefit  of  the  occupants 
of  the  house.  This  should  be  noted  and  remembered,  and  made  the 
first  consideration.  Other  matters  which  are  of  secondary  importance, 
such  as  where  they  will  look  best  or  be  most  out  of  the  way,  are 
often  placed  first.  Now,  anyone  can  see  that  the  more  the  pipes  are 
spread  over  the  border,  the  better  and  more  regular  will  the  heat  be 
distributed — not  too  hot  here  and  too  cold  there.  I  would  strongly 
recommend  this  plan  not  only  for  Vines  but  other  crops  as  well.  The 
inconvenience  in  working  is  only  in  name. 
I  do  not  think  it  good  practice  to  keep  the  atmosphere  dry  and  hot 
during  the  flowering  period.  If  everything  else  is  right  you  will  get 
as  good  a  set  if  the  ordinary  routine  of  damping  is  carried  on  and  the 
temperature  not  increased  ;  at  least  you  will  have  less  red  spider  by 
this  method. 
I  have  very  little  faith  in  the  artificial  aids  generally  recommended 
to  assist  Vines  in  setting  a  good  crop,  unless  it  be  in  the  case  of  such 
sorts  as  Alnwick  Seedling,  where  the  reproductive  organs  are  of  peculiar 
and  unusual  construction  ;  though  I  have  seen  this  variety  set  thicker 
than  any  Hamburgh  by  a  simple  daily  tap  to  the  rods.  It  is  wise,  how¬ 
ever,  to  assist  in  such  cases,  and  I  know  of  nothing  better  or  speedier 
than  a  good-sized  feather  duster,  which  should  be  gently  drawn  over 
the  bunches  when  in  flower  once  a  day.  If  the  right  material  is  not 
in  the  wood  and  buds  the  previous  autumn,  all  the  foxes’  or  rabbits’ 
tails  in  the  world  will  not  give  a  good  set.  It  is  a  very  silly  plan,  and 
one  often  adopted  with  shy  setting  varieties,  to  leave  all  bunches 
on  the  Vine  till  after  the  flowering  period,  so  that  a  better  selection 
can  be  had  if  the  set  is  bad.  If  a  horse  cannot  draw  one  ton  up  a  hill, 
it  will  not  be  likely  to  succeed  any  better  with  five  tons.  If  your 
Vines  will  not  set  one  dozen  bunches,  how  do  you  think  they  will  set 
five  dozen  ?  All  bunches  should  be  removed  to  at  least  one  on  a  shoot 
as  early  as  possible,  and  this  on  other  kinds  as  well  as  shy  setters.  If 
your  Vines  appear  healthy,  but  do  not  set  well  or  go  wrong  at  the 
finishing,  lift  their  roots.  I  know  a  house  80  feet  long  that  was 
planted  with  a  mixed  selection,  including  Muscat  of  Alexandria  and 
Canon  Hall.  It  cropped  well  for  a  few  years;  then,  though  the  Vines 
did  not  make  gross  wood,  they  failed  to  set  satisfactorily,  shanked  and 
shrivelled  badly  at  finishing.  The  inside  border  was  turned  out,  all 
roots  taken  up,  half  of  the  soil  mixed  with  fresh,  and  put  back  and  the 
roots  relaid.  This  was  all,  and  only  the  work  of  a  few  days.  The 
following  crop  was  splendid.  The  Muscats,  both  Canon  Hall  and 
Alexandria,  which  were  the  worst  before,  were  now  the  best — perfectly 
set,  no  shrivelling,  large,  well-coloured  berries,  and  not  one  shanked  in 
the  lot.  An  example  is  shown  in  the  illustration  (fig.  76). 
Another  important  point  is  the  best  style  of  training  to  adopt. 
The  close  pruning  single  rod  system,  which  is  almost  universal,  I  do 
not  think  the  best.  A  method  which  allows  the  Vine  to  extend  and 
occupy  a  larger  space  each  succeeding  year  is  not  only  the  more 
natural  way  of  training,  but  heavier  crops  and  finer  fruit  can  be 
maintained  over  a  longer  period,  with  less  expense,  in  this  way  than 
the  usual  method.  I  have  seen  a  bad  case  of  shanking  cured  in  one 
season  by  this  extension  system.  A  few  Vines  of  Gros  Colman  were 
planted  at  one  end  of  a  span  house.  These  were  trained  up  the  usual 
way  and  stopped  at  the  top.  They  were  inclined  to  grow  strong,  and 
the  fruit  shanked  badly.  Two  leaders  were  allowed  to  grow  from  each, 
and  trained  down  the  other  span,  and  left  at  pruning  time  the  full 
length,  or  about  12  feet.  They  broke  well  and  regular,  and  bore  a 
splendid  crop  of  large-berried  bunches,  and  not  one  shanked.  I  am 
confident  that  for  private  establishments,  as  well  as  market,  where  a 
house  is  often  devoted  to  one  kind,  much  better  results  would  be 
Fig.  76. — Muscat  Grapes. 
THE  RESULT  OF  BORDER  RENOVATION. 
obtained  if  one  Vine  filled  the  whole  house.  I  have  thought  of  a 
method  whereby  this  could  be  done  and  not  lose  space  while  the  Vine 
was  extending. — D.  Buchanan. 
[The  excellent  photograph  by  Mr.  Buchanan  not  only  shows  a 
well-shaped  Muscat  bunch,  good  thinning,  and  fine  even-sized,  well- 
finished  berries,  but  also  shows  that  he  provides  ample  space  between 
the  laterals  for  the  free  development  of  foliage  under  the  direct  action 
of  light,  and  thus,  with  otherwise  correct  treatment,  insures  leaves 
which  make  the  most  and  the  best  of  the  materials  supplied  by 
healthy  roots  freely  working  in  suitable  soil.  But  even  thinly  disposed 
leaves  cannot  be  of  the  best  if  a  faulty  method  of  ventilation  is 
pursued  by  the  abuse  of  front  sashes  during  critical  periods  of  growth. 
Mr.  Buchanan’s  remarks  on  this  subject  (page  386)  last  week  are  in 
our  opinion  worthy  of  attentive  consideration.  We  have  more  than 
once  observed  that  those  cultivators  who  grow  the  heaviest  crops  of 
Grapes,  and  make  the  most  of  them  by  sale,  are  those  who  admit  the 
least  amount  of  air  through  side  ventilators ;  some  admit  none  at  all 
in  that  way,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that  moveable  front  sashes  or 
slides  are  dispensed  with  in  their  vineries.] 
(To  be  concluded.) 
I  AM  glad  Mr.  Buchanan  has  called  attention  in  last  week’s  Journal  of 
Horticulture  to  top  ventilation.  It  is  a  matter  which  I  wrote  about  long 
ago  in  the  Journal.  In  the  very  last  range  of  houses  erected  under  my 
supervision  each  horticultural  builder  sending  in  plans  showed  bottom 
ventilation.  This  was  struck  out  from  the  plan  selected,  but  I  had  the 
ridge  ventilation  made  to  open  separately  on  each  side.  This  is  a 
simple  matter,  the  importance  of  which  is  known  to  all  good  gardeners  ; 
yet  each  builder  showed  back  and  front  ridge  ventilators  to  open 
together! — Edward  Luckhurst. 
