the sprouts left three or four days on a board to dry in the hot-house. If the individuals are tolerably strong, the scaly leaves at the trunk are taken off, for the purpose of giving a better opportunity to the new roots for spreading themselves. The crowns are also freed from the fibres at the lower end with a knife, and also dried in the hot-house; and, if necessary, some leaves may be cautiously taken from them at the base. But if it is wished to transfer into moss young or old plants which have taken root in the earth, the mould, on their being taken up, is shaken off, the roots closely cut off the stem (stipes), and the stem cleared of dry leaves, and also of some green ones; which, however, must be done with care. If the stem is too long, or dry or rotten at the base, it must be shortened, and the rotten part cut out. This kind of plants must also be dried in the hot-house like the former.

On transplanting any of the stems, they are placed into the aperture left in the moss, the interstices filled up with fine rich mould, and the whole pressed firm, so as to make the plant stand upright. When the planting is finished, the pots are placed in the pine-apple pits, in a tan bed previously prepared, treating them in the usual manner. I have observed, however, for several years, that pine-apples grown in moss are not so sensitive as those which are grown in earth, and bear watering better; by this, however, I do not mean to say that they are to be kept absolutely wet. Besides being watered, the plants should also be moistened with the following preparation :

In the month of March I put into a cask, holding about two hogsheads, two bushels of cow-dung, one peck of horn shavings, and from 20 to 24 quarts of bullock's blood, filling the remaining space with water; and I leave it for three or four months to a voluntary fermentation, causing the liquid to be well stirred up about once every week.

Use of the Liquid. At the end of those three or four months the fermentation will have been completed, and the liquid may be applied to the pine-apples towards the end of May or the beginning of June, and again in September and October, under the following regulations: When the moss in the pots had got properly dry, I watered the plants copiously with this liquid stirred up, and afterwards each individual plant with clean water, in order to distribute the former equally among the pots. I only used the liquid once, employing water at other times. I used this liquid again in September or October, also for once only, and then again used

pure water.

By this method my plants grew rapidly, having fine green

leaves, and large fruit of from eight to twelve berries, of a fine aromatic taste, much more juicy than those which are grown in mould.

Of the Transplanting of Pine-apples with the Balls. — If it is wished to transplant such roots as have been grown in moss, pots of a proportionate size are again selected, which receive a substratum of the mixture of moss and horn shavings, as described before, rammed in in the same manner. The pots with the plants are then turned over, the latter taken out with the balls, freed from the dry or superfluous green leaves, placed on the substratum in the pot, and the interval between the ball and the pot filled up with the moss mixture, which is properly pressed down, salt having been introduced between the layers as before. It is, however, to be observed, that the plant must always be sunk into the leaves, and no part of the stem beneath them remain uncovered. The sinking of the pots, and the watering, airing, and shading of the plants, require no description.

I must, however, mention a useful observation which I have made. In order to simplify and shorten the other process, I planted the pine-apples this year in March, in a soil prepared of improved loam earth, dung-bed earth, brook slime, and horn shavings, which had such an injurious effect on the plants, that the leaves lost their fine green colour, and faded, and the roots did not show themselves till August, after which the plants certainly again recovered.

But whether this was occasioned by the transfer of the plants from moss into earth, or by the lime which is contained in the two latter kinds of earth, I must find out by farther experiments. I am, Sir, &c.

Bogenhausen, near Munich, Nov. 23. 1828.

JACOB SEIMEL.

ART. XXVIII. Observations on the Management of Vines in the Pinery. By Mr. GEO. FULTON, Gardener to Lord Northwick. Read at the Vale of Evesham Horticultural Society, Sept. 25. 1828.

THE high estimation in which the finer kinds of grapes are held, and the different modes of cultivating the vine in the present day, form an inducement (after considerable practice) for me to state my method, which, although not quite new, may perhaps be regarded as an improvement on the general mode of cultivation.

I prefer raising the plants from eyes of vines to every other mode of propagation, as they root better, are short jointed, and bear more abundantly than by any other method I have adopted or seen practised.

In making a suitable preparation for vines, I agree in the opinion with many, that a good loamy soil, of not too binding a nature, with a considerable proportion of vegetable mould and old tan, is very good for the purpose.

But, with respect to the depth of soil outside of a forcinghouse, I am of opinion, that it is an error to prepare a border 3 or 4 ft. deep (as it is often done): I would rather recommend from two to three, for various reasons. The first is, I believe, a well grounded general opinion, that sun heat penetrates only 3 ft. into the earth; therefore it can be of no use to cause the vine, or any other tree with fibrous roots, to extend them downwards out of the influence of solar heat, except where accidental situation, or other causes, may render it necessary. Secondly, my practice is to plant shallow, that I be may enabled to add to the border whatever kind of soils or manure I think proper, either in summer or winter : I find this of great use in strengthening the vine, and insuring permanent crops of fruit.

The practice of growing vegetables or flowers near the roots I decidedly disapprove of, not only as shading, but, what is of greater consequence, on account of the actual wearing out of the border from the above manner of cropping it.

To have an attentive eye to the young shoots at an early period of their growth is of great importance; and, to procure round short-jointed wood, my practice is to keep a low temperature in the night, and a very high one in the day. Vines by such a mode of treatment are not excited in an unnatural degree, and nature is more imitated than exactly followed, which may be said to be the main principle in the art of forcing.

I have frequently in the spring months had the mercury in the thermometer stand at 110° in a pinery early in the day, when, with abundance of moisture, vines have grown very. rapidly with round short-jointed, instead of flat long-jointed, shoots, caused by an extreme of fire heat in the night. The observations already made I wish to be understood as applicable to pines as well as vines, where they are necessarily grown together.

It may also be proper to remark, that the well constructed copper-roofed forcing-houses at Northwick Park are no less a credit to the taste of their noble owner, than a great recommendation to those who erected them. I consider metallic. hot-houses as forming one of the greatest improvements in

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 row. If planted in September, or early in October, and watered and shaded, they soon take root, and generally bear well the first year.

After the beds have been well cleaned the last time in April, and before the runners begin to grow, I cover them