JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  26,  1901. 
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the  type.  0.  luteo-purp  ireum  is  another  very  variable  species,  many 
varieties  of  which  have  been  given  specific  rank  by  some  authorities. 
It  must  be  considered  the  easiest  of  all  to  grow,  and  is  very  free. 
0.  Pescatorei  is  perhaps  the  greatest  rival  to  0.  crispum,  which  it  very 
much  resembles,  the  principal  difference  beiog  in  the  shape  of  the  lip, 
while  the  flowers  in  the  majority  of  cases  are  smaller.  It  is  a  lovely 
plant  in  all  respects. 
0.  pulchellum  is  a  small  white  flowered  species,  very  pretty,  and 
sweetly  scented,  while  the  useful  0.  Rossi  would  doubtless  be  thought 
a  lot  more  of  were  it  less  plentiful.  The  flowers  of  this  are  very  freely 
produced  over  a  long  season,  and  s<  me  of  the  larger  and  richer  coloured 
forms  of  it  are  excellent  Orchids.  The  splendid  0.  triumphans  must 
not  be  forgotten,  its  large  bold  yellow  flowers,  spotted  with  chestnut 
brown,  making  it  a  favourite  everywhere,  and  although  there  are 
many  other  beautiful  plants  in  the  genus,  those  named  will  make  a 
very  interesting  collection. — H.  R.  R. 
- 1  t - 
Early  Grapes. 
The  most  reliable  and  advisable  method  of  securing  a  supply  of 
thin  skinned,  fre^h  ripe  Grapes  early  in  spring,  which  are  a  necessity 
in  some  establishments,  is  that  of  forcing  the  Vines  specially  prepared 
for  the  purpose  in  pots.  The  best  varieties  I  have  tried  are  Royal 
Muscadine,  White  Frontignan,  Foster’s  Seedling,  Black  Hamburgh, 
and  Madresfield  Court.  To  secure  satisfactory  results  the  canes  must 
be  brown  and  bard,  as  stout  as  walking  sticks,  and  with  eyes  like 
Hazel  nuts.  But  the  great  evil  in  early  forcing  Vines  in  pots  or 
anywhere  is  overcropping,  the  berries  not  attaining  the  size  and 
perfection  of  colour  and  finish  so  essential  to  their  high  appreciation. 
Where  bottcm  heat  can  be  given  to  start  the  Vines,  they  will  show 
their  estimation  of  it,  and  the  constant  soft  glow  of  moisture  given  off 
by  the  fermenting  material,  in  breaking  freely.  It  is  desirable  to  stand 
the  pots  on  brick  pedestals,  placing  the  bricks  loose  and  so  high  that 
the  rims  are  slightly  higher  than  the  pit  edge,  the  arrangement  berng 
such  that  the  pots  will  be  in  the  centre  of  the  bed,  which  should  be 
about  3^  or  4  feet  wide,  and  as  much  in  depth.  Leaves  being  placed 
in  to  fill  the  pit,  a  gentle  warmth  will  be  afforded  the  Vines,  and  the 
roots  will  pass  from  the  pots  into  the  leaves,  deriving  support  beneficial 
to  the  health  of  the  Vines,  swelling  and  perfecting  of  the  Grapes. 
To  have  Grapes  ripe  at  the  end  of  March  or  early  in  April,  the 
Vines  should  not  be  started  later  than  the  early  part  of  November,  and 
they  ought  to  be  placed  in  position  by  the  middle  of  October,  so  that 
they  may  have  about  a  fortnight  of  preparation  in  the  way  of  admitting 
air  freely  above  50°,  this  being  secured  by  artificial  means,  and  then 
the  sap  will  become  quickened,  ready  for  starting  the  Vines  away 
strongly  when  forcing  proper  commences.  The  canes  must  be 
depressed  to  a  horizontal  position,  or  lower,  to  insure  their  breaking 
the  buds  regularly.  Damp  the  canes  in  the  morning  and  afternoon, 
but  not  keeping  them  constantly  dripping  with  water.  In  an 
atmosphere  kept  at  a  temperature  of  50°  to  55°,  the  buds  will  soon 
begin  to  swell,  then  gradually  raise  it  day  by  day  to  60°  to  65°  when 
they  are  breaking,  allowing  an  advance  of  10°  to  15°  from  sun  heat. 
The  temperature  at  the  base  of  the  pots  ought  not  to  exceed  75°,  and 
it  is  better  to  ccmmence  with  65°  about  the  pots,  and  increase  the 
warmth  as  the  growth  advances.  Water  must  be  given  very  carefully 
at  first,  suffice  that  the  soil  he  kept  evenly  moist,  not  in  any  case 
wet,  as  this  retards  rather  than  forwards  root  formation,  and  it  is  only 
when  the  Vines  have  leaves  and  evaporate  largely  that  plentiful  supplies 
of  water  are  required. 
Early  Forced  Planted-out  Vines. — The  Vines  that  are  to  furnish 
ripe  Grapes  with  certainty  next  April  should  be  started  by  the  middle 
of  November.  It  is  not  an  advisable  procedure  to  start  Vines  perma¬ 
nently  planted  at  so  early  a  season.  Very  early  forcing  places  a  great 
strain  cn  them  through  their  having  to  make  growth  when  the  natural 
conditions  are  at  the  worst  for  elaboration  and  assimilation,  and  to  rest 
at  the  hottest  part  of  the  year,  there  being  danger  of  collapsing  from 
attacks  of  red  spider,  or  ripening  too  early  from  climatic  conditions. 
I  his  may  cause  the  buds  that  are  to  furnish  the  next  year’s  crop  to 
start  into  growth  at  the  time  the  Vines  should  be  resting.  It  can  only 
be  avoided  by  retaining  some  lateral  growths  as  an  outlet  for  the  sap 
which  the  roots  absorb,  and  it  will  not  do  any  harm,  but  good,  by 
securing  a  considerable  amount  of  stored  matter,  always  provided  the 
lateral  growths  are  not  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  free  access  of  light 
and  air  to  the  principal  leaves.  These  laterals  should  be  removed 
gradually  and  continually  from  late  August  until  early  September,  so 
as  to  admit  of  the  \'ines  intended  for  starting  early  in  November  or 
December,  by,  or  soon  after,  the  middle  of  September  being  pruned, 
and  they  will  not  bleed,  nor  will  the  buds  start  into  growth  if  the 
house  is  kept  cool  and  dry.  There  is  no  need  to  wait  until  the  leaves 
are  down,  as  the  resting  having  set  in,  there  will  not  be  any  upward 
flow  of  sap  ;  but  bear  in  mind  this  must  have  been  secured  by  the 
gradual  reduction  of  the  laterals,  and  the  resting  apparent,  otherwise 
the  fo'ming  buds  may  start.  If  not  already  pruned,  lose  no  time  in 
pruning,  alw.iys  at  least  a  month  or  six  weeks  in  advance  of 
starting,  the  beginning  of  October  being  late  enough  for  Vines  to  be 
started  early  in  December,  not  'deferring  it  beyond  the  time  the 
foliage  commences  to  fall,  so  as  to  give  the  Vines  a  few  weeks’^rest. 
Outside  borders  are  a  great  mistake  in  early  forcing  Vinesr 
especially  Muscats,  and  whether  heated  below  by  hot-water  pipes,  or 
above  by  fermenting  materials,  not  nearly  equal  to  due  internal 
provision  for  the  roots.  Still  there  are  such  borders,  and  have  to  be 
made  the  most  of,  or  the  Vines  in  them.  The  old  practice  ot  shielding 
them  from  the  heavy  autumnal  rains  by  spare  lights  has  not  been 
improved  upon,  as  it  lets  the  border  have  the  benefit  of  anv  sun  than 
may  appear,  and  that  without  depriving  the  soil  of  air.  Thus  later 
on  the  border  can  be  covered  with  a  good  thickness  of  dry  leaves  or 
fern,  with  some  litter  on  top,  so  placed  as  to  throw  oft  some  of  tie 
wet,  and  the  heat  thus  covered  up  remains  most  of  the  winter. 
Where  there  may  be  plenty  of  leaves  and  stable  litter,  the  well  tried 
practice  of  keeping  out  cold  and  getting  some  warmth  into  the  border 
by  placing  them  on  top,  renewing  them  from  time  to  time,  answers  as- 
well  as  ever.  But  I  do  not  advise  such  procedure  where  better 
conditions  obtain,  yet  adaptation  to  circumstances  is  a  fine  thing,  and 
marks  the  cultivator  as  successful  or  otherwise.  The  very  old  practice 
of  using  fermenting  material  inside  early  forced  houses  has  not  been 
bettered,  as  ridges  of  sweet  fermenting  material  always  give  off  heat, 
moisture,  and  nutrition,  favouring  good  breaking  and  development  of 
the  growths,  bes:des  saving  fuel.  In  the  heap  fashion  ridges  like 
outdoor  and  indoor  Mushroom  beds,  for  a  very  successful  Grape 
grower  uses  the  stuff  for  growing  Mushrooms,  and  then  spreads  the 
beds  over  the  border  as  a  mulch  for  the  Vines.  Three  parts  of  leaves. 
Oak  or  Beech,  and  one  of  stable  litter,  thrown  into  a  heap  a  week  or 
ten  days  before  being  placed  in  the  house,  get  warm,  then  placed  in 
ridges  about  a  yard  wide,  and  nearly  as  much  in  height,  on  the  border, 
soon  become  hot,  and  then  turned  a  time  or  two,  give  out  all  the  heat 
that  starts  the  Vines,  and  the  beds  are  spawned,  earthed,  and  anon 
lots  of  Mushrooms  appear,  so  there  is  a  sweet  air  for  the  Vines,  as  the 
Mushrooms  give  out  carbon  after  they  start,  and  the  roots  come  infer 
the  sweet  material.  The  whole  thing  means  abundance  of  nitrogen, 
for  the  old  spawn  decays  along  with  the  manure,  prime  stuff,  rich  in 
potash  as  well  as  organic  matter,  speedily  passing  into  ammonia,  and 
with  occasional  sprinklings  of  basic  slag,  phosphate,  and  double 
sulphate  of  potash  and  magnesia  in  mixture,  soon  gets  into  nitrates, 
and,  better,  into  the  Vines.  This  may  be  a  wrinkle  for  someone  hard 
set  to  make  ends  meet ;  anyway,  I  advise  the  ridges  of  fermenting 
material  in  early  forced  vineries,  always  using  that  rare  articl", 
discriminative  judgment,  where  there  are  p’ants,  sweetening  the 
manure  properly,  or  the  foliage  may  be  seriously  injured  instead  of 
benefited  by  ammonia  vapour  given  off;  therefore  mix  well  together 
when  thrown  into  the  heap,  damping  the  material  if  dry,  turning 
when  getting  warm,  again  damping  if  necessary,  and  when  well 
warmed  through  they  are  fit  for  placing  in  the  house. — G.  Abbey. 
Book  Notice, 
“He  Gardener’s  Assistant.”0 
With  rather  more  promptitude  than  obtained  with  the  fore- 
published  volumes,  this  fourth  book  of  the  series  has  appeared.  The 
contents  embrace  the  culture  of  Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  Damsons, 
Peaches,  Nectarines,  and  every  operation  from  the  selection  and 
formation  of  a  suitable  orchard  down  through  planting,  staking, 
pruning,  spraying,  and  cleansing  of  the  various  trees  or  bushes.  The 
seldom  practised  operation  of  fruit-tree  spraying  has  had  one  solid 
chapter  devoted  to  its  consideration.  The  author  refers  to  the 
devastation  amongst  fruit  trees  caused  by  insect  and  fungus  pests  during 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  and  attributes  these  attacks  to  ill-chosen 
sites,  over-manuring,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  poor  cultivation,  that  is, 
starvation,  and  other  causes  that  are  patent  to  the  thoughtful.  The 
inventions  in  the  form  of  knapsacks,  Ac.,  that  from  time  to  time  have 
come  into  use,  with  a  side  review  of  how  our  Canadian  and  American 
congeners  and  practitioners  have  vigorously  applied  themselves,  both  in 
the  employing  and  improving  of  spraying  machines,  have  their  merits 
discussed,  and  a  number  of  illustrations  of  spray-pumps  and  spray- 
carts  accompany  the  text  of  this  exceedingly  interesting  and  valuable 
chapter.  This  is  the  first  publication  in  England  that  has  so  thoroughly 
brought  spraying  to  notice,  or  so  fully  described  the  working  and 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  it.  How  often,  when  eating  home¬ 
grown  Apples,  do  we  suffer  disgust  by  finding  the  larvse  of  the  Codlin 
moth  in  the  core  ?  Very  frequently,  indeed,  is  our  own  experience.  It 
is  only  by  spraying  at  the  proper  season  that  the  female  Codlin  moth 
can  be  prevented  from  laying  her  eggs  on  the  flowers  or  ovaries. 
As  we  have  stated  in  our  former  reviews,  Mr.  Watson  has  taken  the 
*  “  The  Gardener’s  Assistant ;  a  practical  and  scientific  exposition  of 
the  art  of  gardening  in  all  its  branches.”  New  edition,  revised  and 
entirely  remodelled,  by  William  Watson.  Divisional — Vol.  iv.  Price  8s. 
London  :  The  Gresham  Publishing  Co. 
