452 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
November  11,  1897. 
which  has  not  yet  forfeited  its  charming  fragrance  ;  Madame  Pernet 
Ducher  ;  Niphetos,  heroically  blooming  on  the  south  wall  of  my 
garden  ;  and  Souvenir  de  S.  A,  Prince,  which,  without  any  protection,  is 
achieving  similarly  gratifying  results.  The  absence  of  frost,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  prevalence  of  a  strong  east  wind,  may  account  for  this  long 
continuance  of  bloom. 
I  have  an  Auratum  Lily  at  present  in  flower,  the  latest  I  have  ever 
seen  in  any  garden ;  but  the  blooms,  of  which  there  are  twenty-one,  have 
not  their  normal  brightness  of  aspect,  and  are  limited  in  dimensions. 
Nevertheless,  from  a  distance  it  has  a  striking  effect.  The  white  flowers 
of  a  very  late  speciosum  Kraetzeri  are  wrestling  with  the  winds.  Sweet 
Peas,  single  Dahlias,  and  -‘early  flowering”  Chrysanthemums  still  appear 
to  flower  with  considerable  facility,  and  will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  do  so 
until  the  full  severity  of  winter  has  come.  Even  then  -Jasminum  nudi- 
florum  will  console  us,  and  the  Snowdrop  and  Crocus  will  not  be  far  away. 
—David  K.  Milliamsox. 
GROS  COLMAN  GRAPES  AT  COBHAM. 
A  FEW  years  ago  Mr.  A.  A.  Bennett,  of  Cobham,  Surrey — a  worthy 
member  of  a  respected  family  of  land-owning  farmers  there — was  impelled 
to  depart  from  the  beaten  track  and  indulge  a  little  more  freely  than 
before  in  his  taste  for  gardening.  He  started  with  small  houses,  and  these 
answering,  he  erected  larger.  Altogether  there  are  about  twenty  now  ; 
as  compact  a  block  and  as  well  occupied  as  anyone  could  desire  to  see. 
He  was  fortunate  in  securing  as  a  cultivator  such  a  sound  gardener  as 
Mr.  J.  G.  Smith.  Not  the  Vines  only,  but  various  plants  grown  for  cut 
flowers— and  notably,  perhaps,  Freesias— are  entirely  creditable  to  all 
concerned. 
The  vinery  (of  which  we  give  a  photo^  is  a  span-roof  structure, 
rather  flat  and  low,  its  dimensions  being  160  feet  by  20.  It  is  one  of 
three  similar  houses  erected  in  1888,  which,  not  being  intended  for  vineries, 
were  not  provided  with  any  front  ventilation,  and  not  very  much  at  the 
ridge ;  in  spite  of  this  drawback  the  Grapes  have  always  coloured  fairly 
well,  the  berries  being  of  good  size. 
The  Vines  were  planted  3  feet  apart  in  1892,  having  been  raised  from 
eyes  the  previous  season.  They  made  good  growth  to  the  top  of  the  house 
and  part  of  the  way  down  the  opposite  side  of  the  roof,  the  canes  being 
well  ripened,  and  at  pruning  time  were  allowed  a  length  of  3  feet  from 
the  first  training  wire. 
The  following  season,  1893,  they  carried  832  lbs.  of  Grapes,  and  at  the 
winter  pruning  were  left  with  an  extension  of  rod  of  about  3  feet,  the 
crop  in  1894  weighing  3144  lbs.  In  1895  with  rods  2  feet  longer, 
2702  lbs.  were  cut,  the  reduction  in  weight  being  accounted  for  by  the 
smaller  bunches,  which,  however,  were  of  a  good  saleable  size.  The 
following  year,  1896,  fruiting  to  the  top  of  the  available  space,  the  weight 
amounted  to  2920  lbs.  The  total  length  of  rod  is  10  feet  from  the  first 
wire  to  the  apex  of  roof,  and  about  2  feet  from  the  surface  of  the  border 
to  the  frst  wire.  The  other  houses  have  borne  weights  very  similar  to 
the  above,  the  three  houses  varying  but  very  little. 
The  borders  are  composed  of  the  natural  soil,  which  before  the  Vines 
were  planted  was  trenched  about  5  feet  wide  on  each  side  of  the  house, 
road  sidings  and  burnt  garden  refuse  being  mixed  in  as  the  work  pro¬ 
ceeded.  An  additional  width  of  2  feet  was  added  in  1894,  and  now  the 
border  extends  the  whole  width  of  the  house. 
It  will,  perhaps,  be  assumed  that  the  soil  is  naturally  an  ideal  one  for 
Vines.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  so  sandy  that  half  the  gardeners  in  the 
kingdom  would  have  voted  for  its  removal  and  the  making  of  new  borders 
of  sound  turfy  loam.  There  is  one  great  advantage  of  sandy  soil  - 
namely,  that  it  can  be  generously  fed  without  souring.  What  has  been 
used  in  feeding  in  what  are  known  as  the  Ashford  Vineries  we  are  unable 
to  say,  but  there  were  bags  of  steamed  bonemeal  about  — a  better  fertiliser, 
perhaps,  than  everybody  comprehends.  Whatever  may  have  been  used, 
and  assuming  that  the  crop  this  jmar  equals  that  of  last,  over  5  tons  of 
Grapes  have  been  taken  from  the  house  in  as  many  years,  which  is  not 
bad  for  sandy  soil. 
The  Vines  have  been  under  the_  care  of  IMr.  Smith  the  while  of 
the  time.  The  photo  (page  459)  was  taken  for  Mr.  A.  A.  Bennett  by 
Mr.  Walter  Johnson,  Cobham. 
POTENTIAL  PLANT  FOOD. 
There  is  very  little  plant  food  in  sandy  soils,  but  what  there  is  is 
readily  available.  In  clays  there  is  more  potential  plant  food,  but  not  so 
readily  available.  In  order  to  make  it  useful  the  soil  requires  more 
tillage.  This  is  an  important  means  of  releasing  plant  food  which  other¬ 
wise  might  remain  locked  up,  as  it  were,  in  the  soil.  The  question  of 
moisture  is,  however,  quite  as  important.  Water  is  the  medium  by 
which  the  soluble  food  in  the  soil  passes  into  the  root-system  of  plants, 
thence  to  the  stems,  leaves,  and  every  part  requiring  development.  An 
excess  of  soluble  plant  food  applied  to  the  soil  when  the  latter  is  in  a  very 
dry  state  would  prove  injurious  to  the  tenderest  rootlets  because  there 
w'ould  not  be  a  sufficient  amount  of  water  present  to  dilute  the  soluble 
food,  making  it  safe  for  the  roots  to  receive.  It  is  well  known  to 
gardeners  that  highly  concentrated  liquid  manure  is  injurious  if  given 
when  the  soil  is  dry  to  plants  in  pots. 
Taking  the  soil  as  a  whole  there  is  an  enormous  amount  of  dormant 
food  in  it.  Of  the  most  important  essential  food  constituents  for  the 
maintenance  of  vegetable  life,  potash  occupies  a  leading  place.  It  has 
been  computed  by  reliable  authorities  that  in  the  first  8  inches  of  an 
average  soil  there  are  16,000  lbs.  of  potash  per  acre,  3000  lbs.  of  nitrogen, 
and  4000  lbs.  of  phosphoric  acid.  In  the  second  8  inches  there  are  over 
4000  lbs.  of  nitrogen,  2000  lbs.  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  nearly  7000  lbs. 
of  potash.  These  experiments  were  carried  out  with  soils  of  very 
diflerent  character.  Peat  soil  contained  much  humic  matter  ;  sandy  soil 
had  but  little. 
The  results  show  conclusively  what  an  enormous  amount  of  food  in 
a  potential  form  lies  at  hand.  Soil  cannot  really  be  exhausted.  When 
any  particular  plot  of  ground  is  said  to  be  exhausted  of  plant  food,  it  is 
frequently  more  to  the  point  to  say  that  all  its  available  food  is  exhausted. 
In  a  soil  of  a  mixed  character  tillage  will  help  largely  in  restoring  fertility, 
rendering  hitherto  dormant  constituents  readily  available. 
Besides  these  enormous  stores  of  food  in  the  soil,  there  are  other 
sources  from  whieh  essential  elements  for  the  nutrition  of  plants  are 
derived.  The  nitrogen  added  to  the  soil  by  the  growth  of  leguminous 
plants  is  one  instance,  another  is  the  stores  of  food  brought  by  rain  to 
the  earth.— E.  D.  S. 
KALES  AT  CHISWICK. 
A  LARGE  collection  of  Kales  has  been  grown  at  Chiswick  this  year. 
These  are  indispensable  winter  vegetables,  but  in  the  case  of  several 
varieties,  especially  those  with  bluish  green  leaves,  a  fungus  or  something 
else  has  literally  eaten  them  up  in  the  summer.  Of  such  kinds  as  the 
Bagged  Jack,  Asparagus,  Delaware,  Buda,  and  Lapland  Kale,  not  a  plant 
is  left,  while  one  stock  of  Cottagers’ Kale  is  half  destroyed,  as  are  most  of 
the  plants  of  Chou  de  Burghley.  Generally,  however,  the  Cottagers’ 
Kales  have  escaped,  while  the  several  stocks  of  Scotch  Curled  Kale  appear 
uninjured  ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  Chou  de  Milan,  Variegated  Kale, 
the  Dwarf  Purple  Arctic  Kale,  and  the  Portuguese  Cabbage,  Couve 
Tronchuda. 
Several  members  of  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  (Mr.  H. 
Balderson  presiding)  examined  the  collection  on  Friday  last,  and  while 
they  found  a  few  stocks  worthy  of  three  marks  (*  *  *)  of  merit,  many 
were  disappointing.  Scores  of  plants  of  “hearting”  Kale  had  no  hearts 
in  them.  Scores  more  of  so-called  Dwarf  Curled  Kale  were  neither 
dwarf  nor  curled;  while  not  a  few  of  the  tall  kinds  were  characterised 
by  irregularity — in  lankiness,  and  there  was  not  very  much  to  see  about 
them  beyond  long  stems. 
Granted  that  the  site  and  soil  were  not  well  adapted  for  the  several 
plants,  and  that  many  of  them  would  have  been  much  better  in  the  firm, 
thin  soil  of  an  open  field,  it  was  all  the  same  clear  that  several  of  the 
stocks  or  strains  were  far  from  being  so  pure  as  the}'  ought  to  be,  and 
it  is  evident  that  there  were  “  rogues  ’  among  those  plants  from  which 
the  seed  was  saved.  That  the  soil  is  not  accountable  for  all  the  irregu¬ 
larities  was  evident  from  those  stocks  which  were  pure  ;  and  these, 
perhaps,  showed  to  the  better  advantage  by  contrast  with  the  others. 
It  should  be  said  that  the  site  of  the  trial  had  for  many  years  been 
occupied  with  fruit  trees.  These  had  been  cleared  out;  and  the  ground 
trenched  2  or  3  feet  deep.  This  had  to  be  done  in  the  process  of 
levelling  and  securing  uniformity  in  depth  after  the  digging  up  of  the 
trees,  and  for  clearing  out  the  roots.  It  could  not  be  regarded  as  an  ideal 
preparation  for  Kales  for  growing  sturdily,  and  passing  the  winter. 
Still,  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  it  was  as  fair  for  one  stock  as  the 
other.  Those  which  obtained  ***  were  as  follows  : — 
Cuthhertson's  Curled.—  Dark  green,  well  curled,  and  stock  “  true.  ’ 
Bryden’s  Selected  Curled. —  Good  substantial  plants,  and  all  nearly 
alike. 
Veitch's  Variegated  Aa/e.— Fine  plants,  colouring  well,  and  far  in 
advance  of  any  other  stock. 
Dohhie's  Victoria  Curled.  -  The  most  densely  curled  of  all,  all  the  plants 
alike  ;  a  true  and  excellent  stock. 
Chou  de  Milan  (Watkins  &  Simpson). — Fine  plants,  yielding  abund¬ 
ance  of  produce,  and  all  true. 
Coitoger.?’ /fafe  (Watkins  &  Simpson).— An  equally  fine  and  charac¬ 
teristic  strain  of  this  serviceable  winter  vegetable. 
Cidzean  Castle  Curled  (Hurst).  — A  fine,  hardy  looking  stock  of  the  “  old 
Scotch,”  and  quite  pmre. 
Late  Hearting  Kale  (Hurst).— Less  curled  than  the  foregoing,  but 
dwarf,  sturdy,  robust,  and  well  hearted. 
Dwarf  Purple  Arctic  Kale,  from  Messrs.  Barr  &  Dobbie,  was  awarded 
two  marks  (**).  It  is  very  dwarf  and  hardy  looking.  It  is  singular 
that  the  green  form  was  not  represented. 
Two  stocks  of  Brussels  Sprouts  were  examined,  but  the  plants  were 
driven  out  of  character  by  the  deep-rooting  medium  in  which  they  were 
grown. 
Four  varieties  of  Potatoes  were  cooked,  and  two  marks  of  merit  given 
respectively  to  Vert’s  Jubilee  and  Sutton’s  Supreme  ;  but  it  was  the 
opinion  of  the  Committee  that  the  season  had  been  the  reverse  of  favour¬ 
able  for  the  development  of  high  quality  in  Potatoes,  and  this  year’s  trials 
could  scarcely  be  regarded  as  conclusive. 
