February  20,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
163 
carmnTWeanincs 
Late  Houses  of  Black  Hamburgh. 
The  Vines  should  be  kept  cool  and  the  soil  only  moderately 
moist  to  preserve  the  roots  in  sound  condition.  It  will  be  neees- 
vSary  to  ventilate  freely  at  and  above  50deg,  and  when  that 
becomes  the  mean  of  the  external  air,  or  a  little  before,  the 
Tines  will  break  naturally.  The  Vines  will  set  their  crops  by 
the  early  part  of  June,  and  the  berries  swell  with  sun  heat, 
•artificial  heat  only  being  reciuired  after  the  Grapes  begin  to 
colour. — A. 
Grapes  for  July  and  August. 
The  Vines  must  now  be  started.  Damp  the  rods  three  times 
.a  day,  also  the  floor  and  similar  surfaces.  A  temperature  of 
bOdeg  at  night,  55deg  by  day,  and  65deg  from  sun  heat  is  suit¬ 
able  until  the  buds  begin  to  move.  Bring  the  inside  border  into 
a  thoroughly  moist  state  by  repeated  supplies  of  tepid  water  or 
.liquid  manure.  Afford  outside  borders  sufficient  protection  to 
prevent  chill.  Depress  young  canes  to  the  horizontal  line,  or 
lower,  to  insure  the  buds  breaking  evenly. — G. 
Auriculas  and  Polyanthuses. 
The  time  to  top-dress  these  charming  flowers  has  arrived. 
Look  in  the  compost  yard  for  some  very  rotten  cowdung,  twm 
years  old  at  least,  and  .some  rotten  leaf  mould  and  light  loam. 
If  these  are  not  dry  use  means  to  make  them  so  ;  mix  them  well 
together  and  add  a  little  .sand  ;  then  have  your  plants  in  some 
‘Convenient  place,  remove  a  portion  of  the  old  soil,  clear  away 
all  decayed  leaves,  and  apply  the  top-dressing  of  fresh  compost ; 
pre.ss  it  rather  cloisely  to  the  stem  of  each  plant,  give  a  gentle 
watering  with  a  fine-rose  Avatering  pot  to  settle  the  neAV  earth, 
and  attend  to  them  carefully.  This  top-dressing  greatly 
strengthens  the  plants,  and  consequently  the  blooms. — T.  A. 
Late  Grapes. 
To  do  justice  to  late  Vines,  they  require  a  long  season  of 
growth,  as  to  ensure  the  Grapes  keeping  tvell  they  should  be  ripe 
by  the  middle  of  September.  To  effect  this,  the  Vines  ought  to 
be  started  at  the  end  of  the  present  month  or  early  in  March. 
Let  the  inside  border  be  well  supplied  with  wa,ter,  and  a  supply 
•of  liquid  manure  will  assist  w'eakly  Vines,  but  avoid  making  the 
soil  sodden  by  needless  applications.  Remove  the  loose  surface 
soil  from  the  border,  and  supply  fresh  loam  with  one-third  of 
well-decayed  manure  intermixed,  sprinkling  over  each  square 
yard  4oz  of  this  mixture ;  Dissolved  bones,  dry  and  crumbling, 
five  parts;  sulphate  of  potash,  tAvo  parts;  and  sulphate  of  mag¬ 
nesia,  one  part;  mixed. 
Strawberrlea  in  Pots. 
The  earlie.st  plants,  those  started  in  November,  have  set  the 
fruit  fairly  Avell,  and  being  thinned  to  about  half  a  dozen  fruits 
to  each  plant,  are  SAvelling  freely.  The  December  plants  have, 
hoAvever,  been  brought  on  sloAvly,  and  are  commencing  to  floAver 
strongly.  These  Avill  give  a  far  better  crop  of  fruit  than  those 
started  very  early,  provided  air  be  freely  admitted,  the  Aveaker 
flowers  removed,  and,  Avhen  the  pollen  is  ripe,  each  floAver  is 
lightly  brushed  over  Avith  a  feather  charged  Avith  the  fertilising 
pollen.  After  the  fruit  is  set,  thin  them  to  the  number  the  plant 
is  likely  to  SAvell  perfectly,  this  being  a  matter  for  judgment, 
n,nd  must  be  regulated  by  the  condition  of  the  plant  and  variety. 
Whilst  the  fruit  is  setting  SOdeg  to  55deg  Avill  be  sufficient  heat 
artificially  and  70deg  to  75deg  by  day,  supplying  liquid  manure 
until  ripening  commences ;  then  employ  AA^ater  only,  and 
sparingly.  Whilst  SAvelling  they  require  a  moist  atmosphere. 
Succes-sional  plants  must  not  lack  water;  but  needless  watering 
is  highly  prejudicial,  therefore  examine  each  plant,  and  afford  a 
supply  only  Avhen  required.  The  plants  succeed  best  Avhen 
brought  on  gently,  a  temperature  of  50deg  artificially  being 
ample.  Examine  the  plants  carefully  for  aphides,  and,  if  there 
be  any  trace,  fumigate  moderately,  taking  care  to  have  the  plants 
perfectly  clean  before  they  come  into  flower. — A.  G.  S. 
Starting  Pine  Suckers. 
Suckers  Avill  liaA^'e  to  be  started  about  the  commencement  of 
March  to  provide  plants  to  give  a  succession  of  fruit  from  next 
December  onAvards.  Therefore  attend  to  the  preparation 
of  the  soil  for  potting,  and  a  fermenting  bed  in  some 
close  structure  to  generate  and  maintain  a  bottom  heat 
of  8.5deg  to  90  deg  near  the  surface,  and  Avith  means  of  main¬ 
taining  a  temperature  of  55deg  to  65deg  by  fire  heat  with  regu¬ 
larity. — Pkactice. 
Begonia  Gloire  de  Lorraine. 
The  sports  from  this  charming  hybrid  are  becoming  numerous 
and  someAvhat  varied  in  their  characteristics.  The  sports,  so 
far  as  is  knoAvn  to  us,  include  the  light  pink  Mrs.  Leopold  de 
Rothschild,  the  earlie.st  break  from  the  type  that  is  recorded. 
Then  came  Caledonia,  AAuth  ivory  white  floAvers ;  later,  “  Turnford 
Hall,”  taller  in  groAvth,  with  white  floAvers  profusely  borne;  then 
alba  grandiflora,  which  is  remarkably  like  “  Turnford  Hall  ”  ;  and 
the  latest  addition  Ave  hear  of  is  an  American  member  named 
Dreehs  nana  (erecta)  compacta.  From  a  photograph  we  have 
seen,  the  foliage  is  large  and  fleshy,  and  the  habit  of  plant  close, 
condensed,  and  lacking  the  grace  of  the  parent. 
Watsonia  rosea. 
The  Watsonias,  or  Bugle  Lilies,  are  exceedingly  graceful  and 
beautiful  South  African  Iridaceous  plants,  that  are,  unfortu¬ 
nately,  only  hardy  enough  to  be  groAvn  out  of  doors  in  well 
favoured  gardens  soutliAvard  from  the  Thames  and  the  Bristol 
Avon.  They  are  much  like  Gladioli  in  appearance,  as  the  figure 
on  page  162  so  Avell  illustrates,  and  flower  during  May  till  August. 
Watsonia  ro.sea,  indeed,  is  sometimes  wrongly  named  Gladiolus 
pyramidatus.  The  someAvhat  bell-shaped  floAvers  are  borne  on 
croAvded  spikes  in  July  and  Augu.st,  the  colour  being  a  beautiful 
rose-tcne,  the  basal  spathes  purple.  Seeds  can  be  sown  in  cold 
frames  in  a  Aveek  or  two  ;  or  the  cormous  offsets  may  be  placed 
in  pots  or  frames  among  rich  sandy  loam,  Avith  a  little  leaf  mould 
or  peat,  and  thoroughly  well  drained. 
Starting  Pines  into  Fruit. 
The  batch  of  plants  selected  about  the  beginning  of  last 
December,  and  started  by  an  advanced  temperature  and  mois¬ 
ture,  Avill  noAV  be  showing  fruit.  As  it  is  advisable  to  enhance 
the  ripening  of  the  fruit  of  these  plants  as  much  as  possible,  the 
temperature  about  them  may  be  maintained  at  65deg  to  70deg 
at  night,  and  75deg  to  SOdeg  in  the  daytime  under  favourable 
circumstances,  ventilating  at  SOdeg,  allowing  an  advance  to 
S.odeg,  and  close  about  that  figure.  With  fruits  advancing,  the 
plants  Avill  require  more  water  at  the  roots,  examining  the  Avhole 
stock  once'  a  week,  as  Avith  increased  light  and  heat  the  need  for 
liquid  Avill  correspondingly  increase.  It  must  not,  however,  be 
applied  indiscriminately,  but  only  to  such  plants  as  need  a 
supply,  ahvays  in  a  tepid  state,  and  with  a  little  stimulant  in  it, 
as  guano,  or  some  approved  fertiliser.  Recently  started  plants 
to  succeed  those  already  named  should  have  a  night  temperature 
of  65deg,  and  70deg  by  day  artificially,  which  will  be  sufficient 
for  them  for  some  time  longer.- — G. 
Scented  Persian  Cyclamens. 
There  was,  at  a  very  recent  date,  a  grand  display  of  Persian 
Cyclamens  to  be  seen  in  Messrs.  Sutton’s  London  Road  Nurseries, 
Reading.  Nowhere  else  could  better  groAvn  plants,  or  more 
beautiful  varieties,  be  seen,  and  it  would  seem  that  this  section  of 
Cyclamens  have  reached  perfection.  Several  new  shades  of  colour 
have  been  developed,  and  more  are  in  the  process  of  being  evolved, 
the  finer  forms  being  Sutton’s  White  Butterfly,  Salmon  Queen, 
Giant  ClieiTy  Red,  and  Vulcan,  all  of  Avhich  originated  in  these 
nurseries.  Not  only  are  Messrs.  Sutton  succeeding  in  greatly 
beautifying  the  foliage  of  their  several  strains  of  Cyclamen,  but 
they  are  also  turning  their  attention  to  scented  varieties,  Avith  a 
vieAv  to  communicating  these  scents  to  otherAvise  perfect  varieties 
which,  unfortunately,  are  a  little  deficient  in  that  respect.  One 
plant  shoAvn  me  Avas  exquisitely  scented.  It  compares  most 
favourably  A\dth  the  very  pleasing  odour  of  the  Lily  of  the 
Valley ;  in  fact,  the  scent  closely  resembles  that  of  this  most 
popular  flower,  and  I  hope  soon  to  learn  that  Messrs.  Sutton  are 
in  a  position  to  offer  seed  of  a  Lily-scented  strain  of  Cyclamen, 
thereby  gaining  the  gratitude  of  innumerable  admirers  of  Cycla¬ 
men  lovers  generall.y. — W  I. 
