horticulture in my time for fruits and flowers; as they are not only light and durable, but the advantages that can be taken of sun heat to swell off the finer kinds of grapes are very great. With respect to pruning, my practice is to spur the common kinds, or cut them to one eye; the muscat and others of the finer sorts I find succeed best when the shoots are laid in at four or five: if left longer, they only break a few eyes at the extreme part of the vine; and if cut to one or two, they generally shoot strong without much fruit. This particularity observable in the above kinds, no doubt, proceeds from their being greatly excited by heat, water, and other causes, where so many artificial means are used to vines kept constantly in a pinery. Much has been said and written upon the shrivelling of grapes in hot-houses and vineries: I am of opinion that it proceeds from a combination of causes. The first is evidently too great a crop, as there is only a certain number of bunches, or proportional weight of fruit, the vine can sustain or bring to perfection; and this can only be known from long practice, and a study of the natural habits of the different kinds. Secondly, a deficiency of heat, when the berries are swelling, particularly checks the Frontignac kinds both in fruit and wood. A difference of opinion still exists among practical men respecting wintering or taking out vines in forcing-houses. My practice is, to take out only the branches of those which are planted outside, and let them remain out from November until March: if put in sooner than the returning warmth of spring, it cannot be expected that they will bear good crops, and this is, in my opinion, one great cause of the frequent failures of fruit. Where very early crops are wanted, such kinds as the sweetwater, muscadine, &c., should be planted within the house. A proper selection is too seldom made: hence the cause of failures of fruit, and disappointments to all parties connected with the cultivation of grapes. ART. XXIX. On keeping a fine Bloom on Cucumbers. By Mr. GEO. FULTON, Gardener to Lord Northwick. Read at the Meeting of the Vale of Evesham Horticultural Society, June 24. 1828. THE art of producing and keeping a fine natural bloom on cucumbers, either for a gentleman's table, for show, or for the market, merits great attention, both as to the perfect appearance of the fruit, and also to the general culture of the plant after the fruit is set. From that time a strong bottom heat should be given with dung linings; or, if late in the spring, short grass laid round the frame on the dung will cause a very strong heat. Water ought then to be given plentifully, always at the back part of the frame; and at no time should the plants be watered over their leaves, when the fruit is wanted for its fine delicate bloom and long regular shape. A fine foliage over all the bed is also a very essential point; and leaves should never be picked off near the fruit (as too often done), as it thereby deranges the juices of the plant, and consequently the fruit does not swell off finely. Air also should be given very sparingly in the middle of the day, even in bright sunshine, and generally there should be a little left in the night, when the bottom heat is very strong, as by that means the air in the frame is kept sweet. When the fruit is fit to eat, for any of the above purposes, great care should be taken to pack it in narrow wooden boxes, in the largest stinging nettle leaves that can be got, filling up the interstices with well-thrashed moss, and covering over with soft leaves of any kind. It may then be sent to a great distance with a fine bloom, and, upon the whole, in a perfect state. ART. XXX. On the Culture of the Strawberry on a light sandy Soil. By THOMAS FLEETWOOD, Gardener at Donnington. Read at the Meeting of the Vale of Evesham Horticultural Society, July 24. 1828. HAVING heard many persons complain of the unproductiveness of strawberries on light sandy land, and having long observed their deficiency in bearing in soil of this description, my attention has been directed, during the last eight years, to the improvement of their cultivation, by changing the nature of the soil by the use of different composts. In every instance in which marl did not form part of the compost I have been unsuccessful. The plan of culture I would recommend is the following:- After manuring the ground with dung and soft marl, and digging them in well, I take the first plants that grow on the runners, and plant them in four-row beds; the rows 16 in. apart, and the plants 12 in. from each other in the If planted in September, or early in October, and watered and shaded, they soon take root, and generally bear well the first row. year. After the beds have been well cleaned the last time in April, and before the runners begin to grow, I. cover them 13 in. thick with soft marl, for the young plants to grow in. As soon as the first plants on the runners have taken root, I cut off the runner an inch above the plant so formed, by which its strength is considerably increased. On all light sandy land I have found the strawberry most productive by allowing as many of the young self-planted roots as will cover the beds to remain, and the fruit is also much cleaner than when the roots are single. When the young plants are firmly established, all the old runners and leaves should be carefully cut off, and the ground kept clean by hand-weeding. By the above plan strawberries may be successfully cultivated among new plantations of gooseberries and currants. If the bushes are in single rows, one row of strawberries on each side of them will be sufficient; but if in beds, then two rows on each side, and the path may be made in the centre of the bed between the bushes. ART. XXXI. On the Management of the Hautbois Strawberry. By FRAGARIA. Sir, HAVING this year had an opportunity of visiting the gardens of several gentlemen within thirty miles of London, it is my intention to employ a small portion of my time in making some remarks on the treatment of those kinds of plants which appeared to me not to have received the attention they deserve. My method of treatment, which differs from those I have lately seen, may not be new to many of your able correspondents, but that it is so to a great many I am certain. Like your much respected correspondent Agronome, I must for a considerable time conceal my real name and address; but perhaps, also, like him, I may at some future time be able to give it. Whatever opinion you may form of my humble endeavours, yet if it be true that there is some good to be learned from every fool, perhaps there may be an individual who, like myself, may be much informed by reading some of the most trifling things in your miscellany. At any rate, whatever treatment this or any other communication may receive at your hands, it cannot, of course, affect my interest; so that you are at liberty to do with them just as you please. The first thing I shall trouble you with is the management of the hautbois strawberry. That those people who know but little of gardening, and less of the nature of plants to bear male and female flowers on the same or different plants, should not have observed this variation in the hautbois is not to be wondered at; but that so many gardeners should be either ignorant of it, or so indifferent about it as to make no difference in its cultivation, is surprising. I am aware that some will be ready to say, as others have said, that they frequently had good crops of hautbois, without taking any particular care as to the selection of their plants. I have also seen the same in a kind season, and where the plants have been accidentally mixed: but where this has been the case once, I have many times seen rows of plants with scarcely any thing but males; on the other hand, I have seen beds almost composed of female plants, which, though they may have been impregnated for some distance round the males, yet have not been productive of half a crop. The best way I have been able to discover to insure a good crop (as far as cultivation is concerned) is as follows: In the spring, as soon as the plants are in flower, mark out a piece of ground about two yards square, as that will, with care, produce plants enough for extensive plantations; this must be done by cutting an alley between them and the other part of the bed, which must always be kept clear of runners, in order that they may not mix. This done, look well over your plants, and pull up all the females; and when you have retained a sufficient number of males to occupy the ground, pull up all the others, as there are frequently plants which do not flower, and which, if permitted to remain, would afterwards mix them. Now, let another piece be marked out for the females, pulling up all the males, and leaving none but such as have fruit or fruit blossoms on; out of these two pieces all future plantations are to be made in the following manner. About March, plant out in beds of three rows, each eighteen inches apart, and one foot from plant to plant in the rows or in the borders round the garden, of the same width. Let the two outside rows be planted with females, and the middle one with males. The ground this year may be sown with seeds, be sown with seeds, or planted thinly, and next year (unless a very bad season) it will produce abundantly. They may either be continued a year or two longer, or planted every year from the two beds first marked out. Í prefer the latter method, especially where ground is scarce, as the ground thus occupied may always be planted with something else, except the spring they are to bear fruit; whereas if the old beds remain they cannot be cropped at all, and require a great deal more time to manage than it will take to plant new ones. I remain, Sir, &c. September, 1830. FRAGARIA. PART II. MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. ART. I. Varieties of British Plants cultivated and sold by Mr. James Smith and Son, at Monkwood Grove near Ayr. By Mr. SMITH. ... THOSE marked with a star (*) I consider the rarest in the list. I have added four or five names, as in my manuscript, for want of better authority. I would have sent specimens of several of the varieties, and of those named on my own authority, but could not by the present conveyance if you think them worth seeing, after receipt of your answer I will embrace the first opportunity of sending them. I have sure information that the Soldanélla alpina is a native of Wales: please let me know if it is generally known as such. I have put in the Prímula scótica, as it was I who named it, and, I believe, first detected it as a new British plant. John Dunlop, Esq., brother of the late General Dunlop of Dunlop House, brought it to me for the Prímula farinòsa, as he supposed he had found a new habitation for it. I said, when I received it from him, I was truly obliged to him for it; for, if not a new species, it was a singular variety: this happened eighteen or nineteen years since. I am, Sir, &c. Monkwood Grove, near Ayr, Aug. 30. 1827. JAMES SMITH. THIS Communication has been delayed, partly owing to the extreme difficulty of deciphering the manuscript. That the very latest novelties procured by Mr. Smith might be included in it, we sent him a proof, which has been received, with his corrections, this 4th day of September, 1830. We recommend the first alphabet in this list to the three nurserymen who are forming arboretums, viz. Messrs. Donald, Young, and Buchanan. Smith mentions that he has upwards of 600 species and varieties of plants, and that he is yearly making considerable additions. His son-in-law, who has been all the season in Russia, is daily expected with an extensive collection. Cond. Hardy Trees and Shrubs. Acer Pseudo-Plátanus hýbrida nova v. variegata *v. præ cox *v. simena [?] coccínea campéstre v. fòliis variegàtis E'sculus Hippocastanum v. præ cox Mr. v. variegatum aúreum v. flòre pleno v. longifòlia |