60 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  15,  1903. 
surrounding  ground,  and  a  good  bed  of  forinents  can  be  used 
wiib  advantage,  placing  it  on  the  border  about  18in  thick.  This 
will  to  some  extent  warm  the  soil  and  encourage  the  growth  of 
the  roots,  but  it  must  be  removed  by  the  time  the  sun  gains 
power  to  warm  the  ground,-  leaving  enough  for  a  mulch. 
Late  Grapes. 
Maintain  a  meaii!  temperature  of  SOdog  for  Muscats,  5deg 
less  for  other  varieties  that  have  finished  late,  with  a  dry  atmo¬ 
sphere  where  such  are  hanging.  Examine  every  bunch  at  least 
twice  a  week,  and  remove  any  decayed  berries.  Ventilate  the 
house  on  fine  days,  and  keep  it  closed  when  the  weather  is  damp ; 
but  a  gentle  warmth  in  the  pipes  is  necessary  to  prevent  the 
deposition  of  moisture  on  the  berries.  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  keep  Grai^es  in  good  condition  beneath  leaky  roofs,  and  it  is 
a  capital  plan  to  cut  the  Grapes,  the  ends  of  the  stems  being 
inserted  in  bottles  of  water,  which  should  be  soft  and  clear, 
secured  in  an  inclined  position,  so  as  to  admit  of  the  berries 
hanging  clear  of  the  bottles. 
Some  growers  put  a  piece  or  two  of  charcoal  in  each  bottle 
to  keep  the  water  sweet.  Any  dry  room  will  be  a  suitable  place 
for  keeping  the  Grapes,  an  equable  temperature  of  40deg  to 
45deg  being  maintained.  Cutting  the  Grapes  admits  of  the 
Vines  being  pruned  and  the  house  cleansed,  and  the  rest  thus 
given  is  very  advantageous  to  the  Vines,  the  house  being  kept 
cool  and  dry. — A.. 
Raising  Cucumber  Piants  in  Frames. 
Most  people  make  a  point  of  having  fruit  by  Easter.  This 
is  about  as  early  as  can  be  effected  under  the  old-fashioned — it 
dates  from  the  foundation  of  the  Roman  Empire^ — hotbecl 
system.  The  weather  has  much  to  do  with  producing  Cucumbers 
early,  and  the  means  at  command  make  just  all  the  difference 
between  one  grower  having  them  by  a  given  time  and  the  other 
not. 
The  period  of  starting  has  something  to  do  with  matters  of 
this  kind,  but  there  is  little  gained  in  time,  and  certainly  much 
expended  in  labour  and  material  by  commencing  early.  Indeed, 
I  have  found  that  early  February  is  a  good  time  to  start  seeds 
for  raising  plants  to  fruit  from  April  onwards.  The  material 
for  making  up  the  bed  being  collected,  two  parts  leaves  and’one 
part  .stable  litter  should  be  thrown  into  a  heap,  moistened  if 
neces.sary,  and,  when  warm,  turned  outside  to  inside  and  top 
to  bottom,  again  sprinkling  with  water  if  any  parts  are  too  dry, 
will  part  with  rank  steam  and  induce  a  sweet  regular  heat. 
A  site  for  a  bed  should  be  chosen  with  full  south  exposure 
and  having  shelter  to  the  north,  as  that  of  a  hedge  or  wall.  '  If 
the  ground  be  rather  higher  than  the  surrounding  level  all  the 
better.  The  bed  should  be  about  5ft  high  at  back  and  4ft  6in 
in  front,  which  will  allow  for  settling,  as  it  will  do  about  one- 
third,  and  it  should  be  18in  larger  all  round  than  the  Box  to 
be  placed  on  it. 
In  forming  the  bed  beat  the  sweetened  dung  and  leaves,  well 
down  with  the  fork  as  the  work  proceeds,  and  a  few  sticks 
l^laced  across  and  along  the  bed  at  intervals  not  only  prevents 
overheating,  but  admits  heat  from  linings  being  conveyed  to'  the 
interior  of  the  bed. 
For  early  work  frames  with  double  sides  are  preferable,  iin 
boards,  9in  in  depth  at  the  back  and  Gin  in  front,  less  than  the 
box,  being  secured  to  the  inside,  nailing  strips  of  wood  lin 
■wide  and  thick  vertically  to  the  box,  then  the  boards  which 
form  lin  cavity  all  around  the  inside,  and  thus  heat  is  got  in 
the  atmosphere  from  the  linings.  In  about  a  week  from  making 
up  the  bed  the  heat  will  be  up.  Level  the  bed,  replace  the 
box,  apply  sufficient  material,  duly  sweetened,  to  raise  the 
inside  within  2in  or  3in  of  the  top  of  the  inner  frame  or  cavity, 
placing  sawdust,  dry,  partiallj'  decayed  leaves,  or  spent  tan,  for 
plunging  the  pots  in.  To  raise  the  plants  half-fill  3in  pots  with 
rich,  light  loam,  placing  one  seed  in  each  pot  at  the  centre, 
covering  with  fine  moist  soil,  so  that  no  water  is  required  for  the 
germination  of  the  seed.  Space  is  thus  left  in  the  pots  for  top- 
dres.sing,  which  is  preferable  to  potting  the  seedlings.  Cover 
the  pots  with  a  square  of  glass,  which  hastens  the  germination, 
but  remove  it  as  soon  as  the  plants  appear.  The  plants,  from 
a  sowing  made  early  in  February,  will  be  fit  to  plant  out  earlj^ 
in  March. 
Cucumbers  in  Houses. 
To  maintain  steady  progress  in  the  plants  and  secure  clean, 
straight  fruit,  the  temperature  .should  be  maintained  at  Godeg 
at  night,  odeg  more  in  mild  and  5deg  less  in  severe  weather, 
TOdeg  to  7odeg  by  day  from  pure  heat,  and  80deg  to  85deg  or 
9Ddeg  from  sun.  When  the  external  air  is  mild  a  little  ventila¬ 
tion  may  be  given  at  80deg,  closing  before  the  temperature  is 
reduced  below  that  degree,  but  it  is  better  to  close  so  as  to 
secure  90deg  to  95deg  in  the  early  afternoon,  and  at  all  times 
exclude  external  cold  air,  which  injures  the  foliage  and  causes 
the  fruit  to  become  stunted  and  curl  at  the  end.  Planfs  in 
bearing  will  require  to  be  examined  about  twice  a  week,  removing 
all  weakly  and  exhausted  growths,  reserving  as  much  of  the 
young  bearing  wood  as  necessary  for  filling  the  allotted  space, 
stopping  the  shoots  at  one  or  two  joints  beyond  the  fruit. 
Young  plants  coming  into  bearing  must  not  be  cropped  too 
heavily,  giving  them  all  the  assistance  possible,  removing  the 
male  flowers,  also  surplus  female  blossoms  as  they  appear.  Let 
the  root  and  atmo.spheric  moisture  be  governed  by  the  condition 
of  the  soil  and  external  circumstances.  Avoid  watering  too 
heavily,  and  supply  liquid  manure  when  vigour  is  needed.  Except 
on  fine  days,  syringing  should  not  be  practised  over  the  foliage, 
a  light  sprinkling  on  very  fine  afternoons  being  beneficial,  but 
damp  the  floors,  Ac,  moderately  at  about  8  a.m.  and  2  p.m., 
also  in  the  evening  if  the  surfaces  become  dry.  Encourage  the 
roots  to  spread  evenly  on  the  surface  of  the  bed  by  adding  a 
little  fresh  lumpy  loam  from  time  to  time,  and  feed  them  with 
a  dusting  occasionally  of  some  approved  fertiliser,  such  as  phos¬ 
phate  of  potash,  two  parts,  and  nitrate  of  ammonium,  both, 
however,  dear  articles,  yet  giving  excellent  results  in  growth 
and  crop. 
If  there  be  any  lack  of  colour  in  the  foliage  or  fruit,  use  a 
small  handful  of  light,  dry  soot  per  square  yard  of  bed  surface, 
the  nitrogen  and  mineral  matters  of  this  article  encouraging  the 
development  of  the  chlorophyll.  If  aphides  appear  fumigate  on 
two  consecutive  evenings.  Dust  with  flowers  of  sulphur  on  the 
appearance  of  mildew,  and  arrest  canker  by  rubbing  quicklime 
into  the  affected  parts. 
As  the  seedlings  from  a  sowing  made  at  the  new  year  grow 
add  a  little  warm  soil,  keeping  the  plants  near  the  glass,  and 
look  out  for  slugs  and  other  predatory  pests.  Soil  should  be 
placed  under  cover,  so  as  to  become  dried  preparatory  to  forming 
into  ridges  or  hillocks  in  the  Cucumber  house.  Good  turfy 
loam,  light  rather  than  heavy,  with  a  fourth  of  well  sweetened 
horse  manure  added,  will  grow  Cucumbers  well. 
If  the  turfy  loam  has  been  laid  in  ridges,  so  as  to  reduce  the 
herbage,  it  will  be  in  a  fit  condition  for  the  purpose.  If  there 
is  a.  suspicion  of  eelworm  in  the  compost,  moisten  it  evenly  with 
a  1  per  cent,  solution  of  formaldehyde,  or  11b  formaldehyde  to 
ten  gallons  of  water,  and  allow  a  month  or  six  weeks  to  elapse 
before  planting  the  Cucumber  plants.  The  solution  must  not 
be  used  to  growing  plants,  a.s  it  destroys  the  young  rootlets,  as 
well  as  kills  every  nematode  reached,  but  the  soil  is  not  per¬ 
manently  prejudiced. — G. 
Labyrintlis  and  Mazes. 
Our  neighbour,  “  Punch,”  recently  represented  the  picture- 
costume  of  the  grandmamma  revived  in  that  of  her  grand¬ 
daughter,  who  was  looking  at  her  portrait;  and  so  it  must  needs 
be,  for 
Fashion,  fickle,  vagrant  thiiigd 
For  ever  gaily  on  the  wing, 
must  return  from  time  to  time  to  forms  and  colours  previously 
a.ssumed.  Such  recurrences  are  in  the  garden  as  much  as  in 
the  dressing-room.  The  bedding-out  system,  the  arranging 
flowers  in  patterned  beds,  is  only  a  return  to  the  ”  knots,”  of 
which  drawings  are  contained  in  Meager,  Blake,  and  other 
authors  who  wrote  on  gardening  two  centuries  by-gone. 
Another  fashion  of  that  age,  is  reviving,  for  we  have  had 
inquiries  how  “  a  ma^:e  or  labyrinth  should  be  constructed,  and 
what  shrubs  are  suitable?”  In  reply  we  might  refer  our  ques¬ 
tioners  to  a  volume  i^ublished  in  1250 — De  Cerceau’s  “•  Archi¬ 
tecture  ” — foi'  nearly  every  garden  plan  in  that  contains  either 
a  round  or  a  square  labyrinth,  or  one  of  each.  A  later  authority 
Stephen  Blake,  we  have  already  referred  to,  and  from  his 
quaint  and  rare  quarto  our  figure  is  selected.  This  and  every 
garden  labyrintji  is  formed  of  walks  about  5ft  wide,  enclosed 
at  each  side  by  a  hedge.  If  Y^ew  hedges  could  be  promptly 
created  and  attain  rapidly  to  such  a  height  and  breadth  as  those 
at  Blickling  Hall,  in  Norfolk,  they  would  be  the  most  prefer¬ 
able.  If  we  were  about  to  construct  a  labyrinth  we  should  try 
to  form  the  hedges  of  Laurustinus,  for  we  have  on  our  memory 
the  broad  Laurustinus  hedges  at  Battle  Abbey;  but  Privet, 
that  cheapest  and  live-anywhere  evergreen,  is  vei'y  suitable. 
The  labyrinth  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Garden  at 
South  Kensington  occupied  about  a  quarter  of  an  acre,  which 
is  about  the  smallest  size  advisable.  Its  hedges  were  formed,  the 
outer  one  of  Holly,  the  inner  ones  of  Hornbeam.  That  at 
Hampton  Court  is  of  similar  extent,  and  the  hedges  of  Elm, 
which,  of  course,  are  leafle.ss  during  half  the  year.  Switzer,  in 
his  “  Icnographia,”  published  in  1788,  published  a  drawing  of 
a  very  intricate  labyrinth,  and  another  of  that  at  Versailles, 
which  he  says  was  “  the  noblest  in  the  world.” 
