JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
307 
April  7,  1904. 
damped.  When  the  shoots  have  made  four  to  five  joints  they 
should  have  the  points  taken  out  so  as  to  form  spurs,  but  those 
lequired  for  furnishing  the  trees  ought  to  be  tied  in  position 
early,  and  be  carefully  trained  in  their  full  length.  Aphides 
must  he  kept  under  by  repeated  fumigation,  as,  if  they  obtain 
a  hold,  they  are  not  only  difficult  to  exterminate,  but  spoil  the 
appearance  of  the  fruit. 
VINES  :  EARLY  HOUSES. -  AVhore  the  Grapes  have  com¬ 
menced  colouring,  give  the  border  a  thorough  supply  of  water 
where  needed,  and  mulch  with  rather  short  material.  A  little 
air  should  be  let  in  constantly,  so  as  to  allow  of  a  circulation, 
and  prevent  moisture  from  being  condensed  on  the  berries. 
When  the  Grapes  are  fully  ripe,  only  afford  sufficient  heat  to 
prevent  the  temperature  falling  below  GOdeg,  maintaining  a 
moderate  amount  of  moisture  for  the  benefit  of  the  foliage.  If 
the  weather  prove  bright,  a  light  shading  will  assist  Hamburghs 
in  retaining  colour,  allowing  moderate  lateral  extension. 
SUCCESSION  HOUSES.— Thinning  the  branches  and  berries 
requires  early  and  close  attention,  as  every  surplus  bunch  or 
berry  kept  longer  than  is  necessary  to  make  a  selection  of  the 
best  takes  from  the  ultimate  size  and  finish  of  those  left  for 
the  crop.  Likewise,  in  disbudding  and  stopping,  every  needless 
growth  is  only  .so  much  energy  wasted.  It  is  not  good  practice 
to  allow  more  foliage  than  can  have  full  exposure  to  light  and 
air.  Borders  require  plenty  of  watei',  and  weakly  Vines 
improve  wonderfully  with  tepid  liquid  n)anure.  Avoid,  however, 
a  sodden  and  sour  condition  of  the  soil,  as  this  leads  to  indif¬ 
ferent  colouring  and  shrinking. 
VINES  IN  FLOWER.— Muscats  and  other  shy-setting  Grapes 
require  a  rather  high  temperature  to  set  freely,  the  points  of 
the  bunches  being  kept  well  up  to  the  light,  and  a  free  circula¬ 
tion  of  air,  with  a  fair  supply  of  atmospheric  moisture,  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  young  foliage  suffering  under  the  influence  of  bright 
sun.  The  temperature  may  be  maintained  at  TOdeg  by  night, 
but  with  the  Vines  in  good  condition,  free  setting  is  effected 
with  65deg  or  even  GOdeg  at  night,  a  little  air  being  admitted 
constantly,  and  TOdeg  to  Todeg  by  day,  advancing  to  85deg  or 
90deg  from  sun  heat.  When  the  Vines  are  in  flower  they  should 
be  lightly  tapped  on  the  stem  each  day  after  the  houses  have 
been  ventilated  an  hour  or  two,  or  they  may  be  brushed  over 
with  the  hand,  -which  rids  the  flowers  of  their  caps,  sets  the 
stamens  free,  and  disposes  the  pollen  on  the  stigmas.  If  there 
be  no  pollen  visible  as  a  yellowish  dust  when  bunches  are  brushed 
over  w'ith  the  hand,  it  should  be  taken  from  varieties  that  afford 
it  abundantly,  as  Alicante  and  Black  Hamburghs,  and  a  large 
camel-hair  brush  be  filled  with  it,  and  the  bunches  brushed 
over  after  the  hand  has  been  drau  n  over  them,  refilling  the  brush 
with  pollen  as  occasion  requires,  it  being  collected  in  a  sheet  of 
white  paper  turned  up  at  the  edges.  Alnwick  Seedling,  Mrs. 
Pince,  Lady  Downe’s,  and  other  varieties  liable  to  produce  small, 
.seedless  berries,  should  be  carefully  fertilised  on  fine  days,  when 
the  caps  part  freely  from  the  flowers. 
VINES  SWELMNG  THEIR  CROPS  .should  have  a  moist 
atmosphere,  damping  the  house  two  or  three  times  a  day,  and 
at  closing  time  with  weak  liquid  manure.  Syringing  the  vines, 
except  for  special  purposes,  is  best  avoided,  as  the  water 
generally  leaves  a  stain.  Admit  a  little  air  early,  increasing  it 
with  the  advancing  temperature,  and  maintain  it  at  80deg  to 
85deg  through  the  day  from  sun  heat ;  close  early,  so  as  to 
raise  to  90deg  or  more,  and  admit  a  little  air  at  the  top  of  the 
house  before  nightfall.  This  prevents  moisture  accumulating  on 
the  foliage,  and  is  a  safeguard  against  scorching.  A  tempera¬ 
ture  of  GOdeg  to  Godeg  at  night  and  TOdeg  to  Todeg  by  day  is 
sufficient  from  fire  heat. 
YOUNG  VINES  allowed  to  break  naturally,  and  assisted 
with  a  little  fire  heat  when  the  buds  have  grown  about  half  an 
inch,  make  rapid  progress,  but  they  need  not  have  a  higher 
temperature  than  .50deg  to  o.odeg  at  night,  and  GOdeg  to  65deg 
by  day  after  the  leaves  appear,  relying  mainly  on  sun  heat,  wuth 
gentle  warmth  in  pipes  on  cold  days.  Remove  all  buds  except 
one  at  each  bteak,  retaining  the  .strongest,  and  leave  the  shoots 
about  18in  apart  on  both  sides  of  the  cane.  Crop  permanent 
Vines  lightly,  but  supernumeraries  may  carry  full  crops. — G.  A., 
St.  Albans,  Herts. 
The  Flower  Garden. 
TUBEROUS  BEGONIAS  FOR  BEDDING.— The  tubers  of 
double  and  single  tuberous  Begonias  to  be  used  for  beds,  may 
be  started  now  in  boxes  of  soil  placed  in  a  greenhouse  or  late 
vinery.  A  temperature  of  4.5deg  to  -50deg  is  ample.  The 
growths  will  be  all  the  stronger  for  starting  slowly.  Fill  the 
boxes  with  some  good  light  soil,  and  bury  the  tubers  a  few’ 
inches  apart  according  to  their  size,  just  leaving  the  crowns 
level  with  the  surface.  The  compost  should  be  used  moist,  so 
that  no  water  is  required,  though  a  gentle  syringing  or  dewing 
over  in  fine  weather  will  be  beneficial  until  growths  begin  to 
push,  when  afford  more  moi.sture  to  the  soil.  Allow’  the  Begonias 
to  coirtinue  growdh  in  the  boxes,  gradually  hardening  for  plant¬ 
ing  at  the  usual  season. 
DIVIDING  BORDER  CHRYSANTHEMUMS. -A  selection 
of  good  varieties  from  among  the  older  Japanese,  reflexed,  and 
pompon  varieties  are  usually  cultivated  in  borders  not  only  for 
the  bright  effect  they  give,  but  for  the  number  of  useful  sprays 
of  l)loom  which  may  be  obtained  for  cutting.  Being  very  hardy 
and  rarely  failing  to  produce  good,  strong  grow’ths  if  periodi¬ 
cally  lifted,  divided,  and  replanted,  this  operation  may  be  done 
now.  After  a  few’  years’  growth  in  one  position  the  ground 
liecomes  exhausted  of  food  and  moi.sture,  nence  reducing  the 
plants  in  size.  Deeply  digging  and  improving  the  soil  w’ill  prove 
beneficial.  In  replanting,  the  centre  or  inner  parts  of  clumps 
may  be  discarded. 
YOUNG  CHRYSANTHEMUM  PLANTS.— Small  plants  of 
border  varieties,  including  the  early-flow’ering  section,  rooted 
from  cuttings  in  pots,  boxes,  or  frames,  may  well  be  maintained 
as  they  are  for  a  week  or  two,  allowing  them  to  gain  strength 
and  become  hardened  before  finally  planting  out. 
HALF-HARD  T  ANNUAL  SEEDLINGS.— Pots  and  boxes  of 
seedling  Stocks,  A,sters,  Zinnias,  Antirrhinums,  Salpiglossis, 
Scabious,  Phlox  Drummondi,  Marguerite  Carnations,  and  other 
half-hardy  annuals  should  have  a  period  of  hardening  off  in  a 
cold  frame  preparatory  to  pricking  them  out  in  other  boxes  or 
in  frames.  They  will  also  gain  size  and  strength,  and  be  better 
fitted  for  transplanting. 
PRUNING  IVY. — Ivy  on  w’alls,  buildings,  or  other  places 
w’here  it  requires  curtailing,  may  be  pruned  back  now  to  any 
extent.  It  is  usually  desirable  to  cut  it  in  closely  annually,  and 
secure  a  new’  growth  each  season.  By  so  doing  the  dead  wood 
and  leaves  are  readily  removed.  Carried  out  at  this  sea.son  new 
grow’th  will  .soon  appear,  and  a  long  period  of  bareness  avoided. 
PLANTING  CLEMATISES. — Clematises  of  the  various 
hardy  kinds  may  be  planted  now’  against  walls  and  fences.  Well 
established  plants  in  pots  are  the  best.  The  roots  may  be 
loosened  and  spread  out  in  some  well  prepared  soil.  Partially 
shorten  the  growths. 
SOWING  SEEDS  OF  PERENNIALS.— Many  of  the  best 
perennials  may  be  raised  from  seeds  sown  now  in  drills  on  a 
border  of  light  soil  outdoors.  These  may  include  Aconitum, 
Aly,ssum,  Anemones,  Aquilegias,  Arabis,.  perennial  Aster-s, 
Aubrietias,  Delphiniums,  Erigerons,  Helenium,  Heuchera, 
Hollyhocks,  Iberis,  Lychnis,  (Enothera,  Paeonias,  perennial 
Poppies,  Polyanthuse.s,  Primro,se,  Pyrethrums,  Rudbeckia. 
MONTBRETIAS. — Groups  of  these  with  their  orange  scarlet 
or  yellow  flow’ers  produced  in  August  or  September  must  be 
planted  now'  3in  deep,  and  2in  apart,  on  a  sunny,  well-drained, 
sheltered  border. — E.  D.  S.,  Gravesend. 
■ - - 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
The  Editor  welcomes  short  letters  from  under  gardener.®.  Letters  should  be  con¬ 
fined  to  5"0  words  in  length,  should  be  written  only  on  one  side  of  the  paper, 
as  clearly  as  pos.sible,  with  one  inch  space  at  both  top  and  bottom,  eis  well 
as  at  the  sides.  The  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers  must  accompany 
all  communicitions,  not  necessarily  for  publication,  but  as  a.  guarantee  of 
good  faiih.  If  these  poiu' s  are  not  respected,  the  letters  cannot  be  considere<L 
The  Saving's  Bank,  and  Ambition. 
In  my  previous  note  I  merely  put  the  question  to  “  An  Old 
Boy  ”  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  that  there  are  cases  where 
young  men,  owing  to  circumstances,  cannot  save  money.  The 
individual  I  have  in  mind  does  not,  however,  reside  in  a  bothy, 
nor  has  he  ever  done  so.  In  earlier  years  he  practised  garden¬ 
ing  as  a  hobby  in  his  spare  time,  and  as  his  working  hours  took 
up  practically  all  the  daylight,  he  was  compelled  to,do  much  at 
night,  especially  in  w’inter.  At  that  time  bis  daily  labours  had 
no  affinity  to  srardening,  but  by  some  means  or  other  he  became 
acquainted  with  nurserymen  and  florists,  and  any  moment  likely 
to  be  otherwise  wasted  was  spent  in  nurseries  or  retail  depots, 
and  as  a  salesman,  he  w’as  considered  a  first-rate  hand,  more 
especially  because  he  could  an.swer  queries  on  this,  that,  and  the 
other  subject  put  by  emstomers.  Although  not  possessing  any 
special  education  his  tremendous  capacity  for  reading  up  all 
sorts  of  subjects  gave  him  a  status  somewhat  above  the  average 
youth.  He  has  remarked:  “Everything  is  grist  to  the  mill,” 
and  I  know’  that  he  is  truly  an  omnivorous  reader.  As  a  boy 
he  w’orked  in  the  house,  became  an  excellent  cook,  afterwards  a 
cycle  repairer,  spent  .several  years  as  a  baker,  whilst  his  hobbies 
consisted  of  drawing,  painting,  electricity,  photography,  and 
gardening. 
These  traits  he  .still  posses.ses,  but  his  intuition  appears  to 
be  so  great  that  lie  quickly  grasps  details  upon  all  subjects.  A 
friend  of  mine,  a  chemist,  says  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  talk  w’ith 
tliis  young  man,  because  of  his  keenness  to  know’  something 
about  chemistry.  Yet  a  sculptor  declared  that  he  Avould  teach 
him  the  whole  art  if  he  could  keep  himself  for  a  period.  Again, 
if  he  gets  the  opportunity  to  chat  w'ith  a  motorist  or  engine- 
driver,  his  delight  is  unboimded.  As  a  sportsman,  he  is  nothing. 
Football,  cricket,  Ac.,  have  little  or  no  interest  for  him,  but 
as  a  cyclist  he  is  very  keen,  and  thinks  nothing  of  doing  a  20-mile 
spin,  after  dusk,  at  a  terrific  pace.  In  photography  he  is  by  no 
