398 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  9,  1899. 
NOTES  ON  VINES. 
Each  season  brings  its  own  work  in  connection  with  gardening, 
and  according  as  Vines  have  been  well  or  ill  treated  during  the 
growing  season,  so  will  the  work  at  this  time  of  year  he  pleasant  and 
agreeable  or  the  reverse.  Possibly  this  sentence  reads  rather  vague  to 
some,  but  experienced  growers  will  at  once  see  the  drift  of  it.  Take 
the  case  of  a  young  set  of  Vines  planted  early  in  the  year  now 
drawing  to  a  close.  The  careful  cultivator  has  kept  his  eye  on  them 
daily,  and  has  noted  with  satisfaction  or  the  reverse  their  well-doing 
or  otherwise.  He  has  pinched  here  and  tied  there,  ventilated,  shaded 
when  necessary,  given  fire  heat  for  a  day  or  two  in  dull  weather, 
damped  freely  when  the  weather  was  bright,  and  otherwise  done  his 
best  to  insure  well-ripened  consolidated  canes. 
Another  cultivator  (?)  has  rushed  the  growth  along  in  fair  weather, 
and  in  foul  has  allowed  them  to  go  straight  away,  and  under  the 
Impression  that  a  big  head  of  lateral  growth  means  something 
approaching  miraculous  root  efforts  by  the  Vine,  has  let  them  take  a 
great  deal  of  their  own  way.  Last  June  the  man  who  believed  in 
hurrying  his  Vines  was  in  high  feather,  and  pointed  with  a  good 
deal  of  pride  to  the  fast  advancing  rods ;  he  put  on  rather  a  super¬ 
cilious  air  when  walking  through  his  careful  neighbour’s  vinery,  and 
noticed  his  young  friend  pinching  his  main  stems  as  well  as  his 
laterals,  and  otherwise  diverting  the  sap  to  channels  where  it  was 
needed. 
What  is  the  consequence?  The  foimer  and  wise  cultivator  has 
now  little  pruning  to  do,  but  the  latter  uses  the  pruning  knife 
where  his  neighbour — erstwhile  looked  down  on — was  using  his 
finger  and  thumb.  And  really  the  finger  and  thumb  man  has 
the  best  of  it,  for  our  hasty  friend  has  plenty  of  large  wood,  but  very 
little  of  it  ripened.  It  is  ripened  the  wrong  way  up;  in  fact,  the 
laterals  are  as  forward,  or  rather  more  so,  than  the  main  rods. 
The  main  leaves  that  in  the  former  case  have  been  busy  performing 
their  functions  of  sap  elaboration  have  in  the  latter  had  to  fight  their 
way  against  a  swarm  of  small  ones  on  the  lateral  shoots,  one  Vine 
encroaching  on  another,  and  each  of  them  having  the  best  shoots  very 
near  the  top  ventilators. 
Then  along  comes  the  hasty  man  with  a  pair  of  more  or  less 
murderous  looking  secateurs  and  half-prunes  the  laterals  to  strengthen 
up  the  lower  eyes,  a  proceeding  that  has  all  the  while  been  going  on 
with  the  Vines  on  which  the  finger  and  thumb  have  been  at  work. 
But  the  worst  of  it  is  that  the  plan  does  not  seem  to  answer,  and  the 
wood,  instead  of  ripening,  keeps  the  same  greenish  brown  tinge,  and 
shrivels  instead  of  swelling  ;  it  keeps  the  foliage  on  after  the  colour  is 
%  gone  out  of  it,  the  leaves,  in  fact,  looking*  as  if  their  day  had  been 
laigely  wasted,  and  too  late  they  were  making  an  effort  to  co  what 
they  were  intended  to  while  young  and  vigorous.  What  a  lesson  is 
here  for  cheap  moialists!  I  will  leave  readers  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  to  moralise  for  themselves,  however,  and  will  now  state 
m  as  few  woids  as  possible  what  I  consider  the  best  mode  of  treatin'* 
young  Vines  lrom  the  eve,  in  the  hoj  e  that  those culti vat ois  w'h<>  ague 
with  me  will  say  so,  and  those  who  can  show  a  more  (xcelknt  way 
will  give  their  experience  also. 
Insertion  of  Eyes. 
The  eyes  should  be  taken  about  inches  from  well  ripened  wood 
in  length  in  February  or  March,  the  wood  as  a  matter  cf  course 
having  been  kept  over  from  the  previous  year’s  pruning.  Some 
cultivators  take  a  thin  slice  of  bark  off  the  under  side  of  the  wood,  the 
idea  being  to  present  a  larger  surface  for  root  emission.  It  matters 
little  whether  this  is  done  or  not.  Place  the  eyes  singly  in  small 
pots  (60’s)  and  surround  them  with  silver  sand,  just  allowing  the  eye 
to  show  above  the  surface,  the  whole  of  the  wood  being  hidden. 
Water  them  thoroughly  through  a  fine  rose  and  plunge  the  pots  over  a 
very  gentle  bottom  heat.  In  a  moist  propagating  house  there  is  no 
need  to  close  the  cases,  but  if  the  atmosphere  is  at  all  dry  it  is  safer 
to  do  so,  as  the  growth  from  the  eye  will  be  more  rapid. 
Repotting  should  take  place  as  soon  as  the  growth  has  attained 
about  4  inches  or  6  inches  in  length  according  as  the  variety  is  a  strong 
or  a  weak  one  ;  such  vigorous  growers  as  Gros  Colman  and  Gros  Maroc 
may  safely  be  left  to  grow  6  inches  By  this  time  the  roots  will  have 
advanced  sufficiently,  and  this  is  a  better  test  than  turning  the  plants 
out  of  their  pots,  this  being  apt  to  damage  the  roots.  Place  them  in 
6-inch  pots  in  a  compost  of  clear  fibrous  loam  and  wood  aslus  or 
crushed  charcoal.  Burnt  garden  refuse  is  what  I  use,  this,  of  course, 
always  containing  a  large  amount  of  woody  matter,  and  it  is  of  a 
gritty  nature.  It  is  important  that  the  soil  be  well  warmed  prior 
to  use,  or  a  check  to  the  roots  is  unavoidable. 
Temperature. 
No  more  bottom  heat  is  necessary,  but  the  plants  must  be  grown  in 
some  such  house  as  a  midseason  vinery  or  early  Peach  house,  where 
atmospheric  moisture  is  abundant,  and  the  temperature  genial.  In 
a  few  weeks  they  will  have  filled  their  pots  with  roots,  and  may  be 
shifted  into  the  9  inch  size  if  intended  for  planting  or  cutting  back, 
another  inch  or  two  being  an  advantage  if  they  are  intended  for  fruiting 
the  next  season.  A  noted  fruit  grower  recently  told  me  he  got  some 
of  his  best  bunches  in  this  way  from  one-year-old  Vines,  and  this  when 
they  were  quite  small,  but  cut-backs  are  more  usual.  Pot  very  firmly, 
and  return  to  the  vinery  in  such  a  position  that  the  sun  reaches  every 
part  of  each  one.  Stop  all  laterals  and  sub-laterals  at  the  first  leaf, 
and  also  pinch  the  main  stem  when  3  feet  high.  Grow  it  another 
3  feet  and  top  it,  again  taking  either  the  first  or  second  shoot  as 
leader. 
In  this  way  canes  will  be  made  9  feet  or  more  in  length  by 
August,  and  they  will  be  well  ripened.  Harden  them  by  degrees  by 
allowing  all  the  air  possible,  and  by  the  end  of  the  month  they  may 
go  outside  in  the  full  sun,  still  keeping  the  roots  moist,  and  if  con¬ 
venient  plunging  the  pots  in  ashes  nearly  to  the  rims.  When  the 
Vines  have  been  in  the  open  air  a  few  weeks  they  may  be  cut  down 
to  whatever  length  is  thought  desirable.  Fruiting  canes  may  be  cut 
to  about  5  feet  or  6  feet,  planting  canes  to  about  3  feet,  and  placed  in 
a  vinery  or  Peach  house  at  rest  to  remain  for  the  winter. 
The  Border. 
Some  time  during  the  winter  or  early  spring  the  border  will  be  got 
ready,  but  particulars  of  this  must  be  left  for  another  note.  Suffice  to 
say  that  it  must  be  made  as  firm  as  heavy  ramming  will  make  it,  and 
all  must  be  in  readiness  for  planting  by  April.  Start  the  Vines  into 
growth,  and  when  the  top  eyes  have  made  shoots  about  6  inches  in 
length,  most  of  the  under  ones  having  bee  i  rubbed  out,  plant  the 
Vines  carefully,  shaking  them  quite  clear  of  the  soil,  but  avoiding  the 
least  injury  to  the  fresh  growing  points.  Spread  the  roots  out, 
cover  lightly  with  soil,  giving  a  thorough  soaking  of  tepid  water,  and 
mulch  with  short  manme  as  far  as  the  roots  extend. 
This  is  rather  a  critical  time  for  the  roots,  and  everything  must  be 
done  to  avoid  a  check.  Treat  the  young  Vines  exactly  as  advised  for 
those  in  their  first  year,  stopping  frequently,  or,  say,  once  for  every 
yard  of  growth,  tying  them  loosely  in  position,  and  pinching  each 
lateral  when  the  leaf  is  as  large  as  a  crown  piece.  They  will  climb  an 
18  feet  or  20  feet  rafter  this  season,  and  ripen  along  the  entire  growth. 
Crop  them  lightly  the  first  year,  and  you  have  a  house  of  Vines  that, 
given  due  attention,  should  go  on  and  improve  for  a  great  many  years, 
until  in  fact  the  border  is  exhausted. — H.  R.  Richards. 
CLEMATIS  IN  POTS. 
The  large,  beautifully  flowered  specimens  of  Clematis  exhibited 
annually  by  Messrs.  Smith  &  Son  of  Worcester,  and  one  or  two  other 
firms,  at  the  Temple  Show  are  alw’ays  a  great  source  ol  interest  and 
one  ot  the  chief  attractions  of  the  exhibition.  From  the  attention 
accorded  these  exhibits  by  horticulturists,  one  would  imagine  that  in 
places  where  much  decoration  has  to  be  done,  or  a  large  conservatory 
kept  gay  with  flowers,  a  quantity  of  these  plants  would  be  grown, 
but  it  is  on  very  rare  occasions  that  anything  of  the  sort  is  seen. 
Possibly  the  reason  is  that  on  the  first  trial  the  plants  have  not  been  a 
success,  and  so  have  been  discarded  ;  if  that  is  the  case  the  following 
notes  may  be  of  use  to  those  who  wish  to  try  again  or  to  those  who 
are  about  taking  up  the  culture  of  the  Clematis  in  the  way  under 
notice. 
In  the  first  place  strong,  healthy  plants  should  be  obtained  of  any 
of  the  best  varieties  in  early  spring.  As  soon  as  growth  commences 
they  should  be  put  in  12-inch  pots,  two  plants  being  put  in  each. 
The  pots  must  be  well  drained  and  a  compost  of  good  fibrous  loam, 
with  a  little  leaf  mould  and  charcoal,  and  a  fair  quantity  of  rough  sand 
used.  After  potting  a  wire  balloon  ought  to  be  placed  in  each  pot, 
secured  in  position  with  a  good  stake  in  the  centre.  They  should 
afterwards  be  placed  in  a  light,  airy  house,  and  tying  must  be  care¬ 
fully  attended  to  as  growth  progresses.  All  flower  buds  should  be 
removed  the  first  year  to  encourage  growth.  In  June  if  the  lights 
of  the  house  cannot  be  removed  the  plants  may  be  stood  outside 
where  they  will  remain  until  frost  comes,  when  they  should  be 
removed  to  a  house  without  fire  heat.  Here  they  can  remain  to 
make  their  growth.  If  sufficient  shoots  have  not  been  made  to  cover 
the  balloon,  the  flower  buds  should  be  again  removed.  If  the  plants 
have  been  planted  in  good  soil,  in  well  drained  pots,  they  will  not 
require  disturbing  for  seve'ral  years,  an  annual  top-dressing  of  decayed 
manure,  with  liberal  feeding  while  growth  is  active,  being  all  that  is 
necessary  to  secure  abundance  of  shoots  and  quantities  of  flower. 
The  chief  reasons  of  failure  with  these  plants  in  pots  appear  to  be 
in  allowing  the  plants  to  flower  before  they  are  properly  furnished 
with  shoots  or  strong  enough,  in  leaving  them  outside,  unprotected 
during  severe  frosts,  by  giving  too  much  heat  and  too  little  air  when 
they  are  growing,  and  by  disturbing  the  roots  too  often.  If  these 
little  points  are  kept  in  mind  good  plants  can  be  had  in  almost  any 
shape,  which  will  flower  well  for  a  couple  of  months  in  late  spring. — 
W.  D. 
