of retaining a cord, by means of which the power acts upon the weight, the moving of which has to be facilitated by means of the pulley.

The readiness with which the wheel turns round its axis gives the rope passing over part of its circumference a leverage equal to half the diameter of the wheel. It is true that there is an equal leverage opposed to it on the side of the weight, but the ease with which the wheel turns reduces greatly the friction upon the wheel's circumference. It is in this reduction of the friction that the value of the pulley consists. It also enables men to apply their power at a great distance from the weight to be overcome or moved. For example, men can stand on the ground and hoist, by means of the pulley, a large basket of plants to an elevation far out of their reach, as is done towards the roof of many conservatories, and by which means they can be readily lowered for the purpose of watering, and be raised again when needed. Four pullies, three fixed and one moveable, must be employed for this purpose, arranged in this form.

a

varies in its speed-an irregularity always injurious to the machine, and diminishing considerably its force.

It seems scarcely necessary to observe, that exactly as much as the rope is pulled in from d to P is it shortened between a and b : therefore it is easy to regulate the distance of the basket from the roof of the conservatory.

If the rope passed over the pulley b only, and its end was fastened to the basket, the power, as we have already observed, to balance it must be equal to its weight--that is, 120 lbs., and the one would descend as fast as the other ascended; yet, with such a pulley a man may raise himself to the top of the conservatory merely by his own weight. Suppose a rope is passed over the pulley, and the man ties one end of it round his body and takes the other end in his hands, he has the power of throwing more of his weight on the end in his hands than is on the end round his body: consequently as often and as long as he does this his body rises from the ground. (To be continued.)

FRUIT AND FLOWER GATHERERS. ANY contrivance that facilitates the operations of gardening is always acceptable. Among the novelties in this way we have had Fruit and Flower Gatherers brought to our notice by Mr. Riddle, of Cheapside, which will be found very useful for the purpose for which they are intended. To shake fruit from the tree is to ruin it; to run about seeking a ladder is often both inconvenient and unsuccessful; but with the fruit-gatherer in your hand, of which the annexed fig. 1 is a representation, you

W

P C

These four may serve as an illustration of what is usually called "a system of pullies;" adopted on account of the fact that every bend of the rope, if over a pulley, diminishes by one-half the pressure on the previous pulley of the weight to be moved. If only the pullies a b were employed, and the basket Or weight, W, was 120 lbs., then the power to balance it at P must be 60 lbs. If the pullies a, b, c were used, then the balancing power at P would be 30 lbs. ; and when pullies a, b, c, d are all used, the balancing power at P would be 15 lbs. To effect this, it is indispensably necessary that one end of the rope be attached to the block of the pulley b, and not to the basket or weight, W. Otherwise, although each bend of the rope would bear an equal strain, it must, from the absence of a divided bearing, be every where subject to the pressure of 120 lbs.: consequently it would require a power or resistance at P equal to 120 lbs. to balance the basket or weight, and no advantage would be gained by using more than one pulley.

In the above statement no allowance is made for the weight of the pullies themselves, nor for the friction of the rope on the pullies. In practice, however, it will be found nearly one-third must be allowed for friction alone: therefore the power to raise the weight must be at the least one-third greater than we have stated that is, to move the basket of 120 lbs. there must be a power of 20 lbs. at P. All pullies, says Captain Williamson, have considerable friction. 1stly, because the diameters of their axles bear a very considerable proportion to their own diameters (therefore the larger in diameter the pulley and the smaller in diameter the axle, consistent with the requisite strength, the better). 2ndly, because, owing to their usual narrowness and to the great pressure to which they are subjected and whereby they are speedily worn and loosened, their sides are apt to chafe against the blocks. 3rdly, the rope passing upon their circumferences invariably possesses some stiffness, whereby the motion

need never be at a loss. The gardener may walk about with his gatherer in his hand as a gentleman walks over his field with his spud, using it when occasion requires. The contrivance is an excellent one. It consists of two disks of Indiarubber, which is so elastic as not to press injuriously on the ripest Peach. Communicating with these disks there is a wire, which is let into the six-feet-long handle, and which is connected with a pull at the end. By merely pulling this wire the disks are made to close upon the fruit, and it is then easily separated from the tree. In fig. 2 we have another form of fruit-gatherer, and which is more applicable to Grape-gathering-a fruit with long stalks. It consists of a pair of scissors instead of disks. These are worked in the same way as the disks, and cut the fruit-stalk; the fruit then falls into a small bag or net, which is formed round a hoop or ring. Fig. 3 is a pruner, and is well adapted for the summer pruning of pyramid fruit trees-indeed we quite feel that such an instrument as this was wanted now that pyramids are grown in every garden. It consists of a pair of scissors, also mounted on a long rod, and worked by the same mechanism as the other implements. Fig. 4 is a flower-gatherer, and is so contrived that it cuts and holds firmly the article it cuts. For gathering flowers from tall shrubs, or from the centre of borders on which it would be next to sacrilege to tread, it is well adapted. The rod of this is of brass, and is a very neat instrument. All the instruments are very useful to every gardener, but particularly to the amateur.

ABUTILON INSIGNE, Planchon. (Handsome-flowered Abutilon). -Nat. ord., Malvaceae, § Sideæ.- A charming greenhouse shrub of vigorous growth, thriving in the open ground during summer, and well adapted for a cool conservatory. The young branches are clothed with dense down. The leaves are large, on long petioles, alternate, cordate, somewhat threelobed, and coarsely serrated, palmato-seven-nerved, with reticulated veins. The flowers are about 2 inches in diameter, and grow in axilliary racemes of three to seven flowers; the calyx is campanulate, with triangular acute lobes; the corolla consists of five obovate cuneate petals, crisped, and plicate with erose margins; they are of a lively rose colour, with deeper coloured veins. From New Grenada: mountain regions. Introduced to continental gardens by M. Linden, through his collectors, MM. Schlim and Funck.

It has the advantage of bearing its lovely flowers when the plant is not more than 1 foot or 2 feet high, and these flowers continue some time in perfection, appearing with us in January. The ground-colour of the large petals is white, but that is almost entirely obliterated by the rich carmine veining

2. Lisianthus princeps.

or reticulation, both without and within; but brightest on the upper side.

LISIANTHUS PRINCEPS, Lindley. (Prince of Lisianths.)-Nat. ord., Gentianaceae, § Gentianeæ.-A greenhouse shrub of great beauty. It grows naturally compact, 2 feet or 3 feet high, with dichotomous sub-four-angled branches, and is smooth in every part. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, with two pair of lateral nerves, and a very short footstalk. The flowers grow at the tips of the branches in small sub-umbellate clusters [singly from the axils of the leaves, Lindley]. They are

nodding, with a tube 5 inches long, swollen out to 1 inch in width about half way up, again contracted at the throat, and terminating in a cup-shaped [spreading, Lindley] limb, broken up into five ovate obtuse segments, which are green except at the base, which is orange-coloured, the tube being represented as orange-red. From their size and colour they must be very showy. From Colombia, mountains of Pamplona, at from 10,000 feet to 11,000 feet altitude. Introduced to continental gardens by M. Linden, through his collector, M. Schlim. Flowers in? M. Van Houtte observes, that "a greenhouse is the most suitable place for it. The plants may be grown in a free loamy soil, the pots being well drained; for, in the early part of the growing season, they must be freely supplied with water. They are easily propagated by cuttings placed under a hand-glazs in the usual manner, and may also be raised freely from seeds sown on the surface of the soil in pots or pans, and kept watered with a fine rose; as they grow they may be pricked singly into small pots, and placed in a frame, or the shelf of a greenhouse." Though recommended to be grown in a greenhouse, they require complete protection from a low temperature in winter.

CHRYSANTHEMUM BLOOMING EARLY. A FRIEND of mine in this neighbourhood has had a plant of Chrysanthemum in flower for the last month; it is a large clear yellow, and is, I think, "Annie Salter;" but the tally has been lost. On the 27th ultimo I saw a very fine bloom cut from the plant, which latter is a small starved thing in a four-inch pot, in which it has grown for the last two years, having been potted by myself and given to my friend in June, 1859; since when it has been quite neglected, and has stood, I believe, most, if not all, the two years on a shelf in a small unheated greenhouse, principally used for protecting Tea Roses, and in this situation it has flowered.

Is it not unusual to have a Chrysanthemum in flower so very early ?-E. C. [It is early.]

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE VINEYARDS AND THE VINE DISEASE. (Official Report.)

(Continued from page 341.)

ARRIVED at Somerset (West). The small vineyards about here are all more or less affected. Lime in a dry state, whether from its cheapness being easily procured, or other causes, appears a favourite article for applying to the diseased Vines, but no one is prepared to say it has been successful in removing or arresting the progress of the disease. Sulphur as the proper cure is well known. Advised its immediate use instead of "experimenting" with the lime.

December 7th.-Proceeded to the farm of Mr. Henry Theunissen, Field-cornet, 130,000 Vines. Disease pretty general, attacking all kinds indiscriminately. The Steen Grape at this place is not so severely affected as in most other vineyards. Lachrymæ Christi crop entirely destroyed. Lime both in a dry and liquid form applied; no good results from the application. Diseased last year. Mr. Theunissen begins on Monday to sulphur vigorously.

Mr. P. Myburg, Hottentots' Holland, about 160,000 Vines. Disease general, quite rampant indeed on some of the Vines. Steen, as in nearly all other places, suffers most intensely. Disease prevalent here last year. No remedy applied then or now, except dry lime, which is being applied very liberally. Took leave to assure Mr. Myburg, jun., it was a waste of time and means to dust the Vines with dry lime to remove or stop the spread of the disease. A patch of Vines which were diseased last year, are almost "ate up" this year, and their condition can be detected at a distance of 100 yards by the naked eye. The soil is a good loam, the growth of the Vines luxuriant, and the vineyard densely sheltered from all quarters. Of all the places visited, we have seen none so well sheltered, and none where the disease is in so advanced and rampant a state.

Mr. D. Buisine about 14,000 Vines. Disease prevalent on the Steen Grape, and a few of the other sorts grown. There is a wide contrast between the state of the disease here and at the preceding place. This vineyard is very densely sheltered also, but the Wines generally are clean and healthy; the Green Grape,

in particular, appears to be swelling beyond that size and period most liable to the attacks of the disease. No disease last year. No remedy, except a little dry lime as an experiment, applied as yet. Intends sulphuring, immediately, those affected.

Mr. Theunissen, J.P., Hottentots' Holland, 200,000 Vines of all sorts. Steen Grape diseased, but not severely. No remedy applied, intends sulphuring. Soil stiff. Situation nearly flat, but open and well ventilated. Irrigation, Mr. Theunissin believes, stops the progress of the disease-a belief shared both by those who have tried, as well as by many who are about to try, its effects.

Mr. Daniel Malan, Hottentots' Holland, 10,000 Vines. Disease attacked Steen, Muscadel, and Green Grapes; the firstnamed virulently. No remedy applied as yet except irrigation, which it is believed has stopped the spread of disease throughout the vineyard, some parts of which we find quite flooded with water. All this water to Vines, swelling their fruit fast, will not increase the quantity of saccharine matter in the berries, on which the richness of wines depends.

Mr. J. D. Malan, Harmony, 80,000 Vines. Steen Grape intensely affected-fruit, leaves, and shoots. Pontac, Green Grape, and others, more or less affected. Is using lime, dry; recommended the immediate use of flowers of sulphur.

Mr. Morkel, sen., 160,000 Vines. The disease exists here, but not general, nor in an advanced state. Steen, Currant, Muscadel, and Green Grape are the sorts affected. No remedy applied as yet. The sulphur cure is to be applied at once. Soil a stiff loam; situation much sheltered by trees and rising ground.

Mr. Morkel, jun., 100,000 Vines, mostly Green Grape. The Steen is most severely attacked. Lime and sulphur have both been used here vigorously. Mr. Morkel is of opinion the Vines sulphured show appearances of improvement, but the time elapsed since the application has not been long enough to determine. The proprietor is energetic and intelligent on all matters connected with the cultivation of the Vine and the disease now so prevalent, and will, there is no doubt, do justice to all experiments he may make. The several farms we cannot visit in this neighbourhood are all affected more or less with the scourge, we are reliably informed. The proprietors are well aware of the proper remedy, but are using lime instead, which is a great waste of means and time. (To be continued.)

SPORT IN LOBELIAS.

I HAVE for several years cultivated a blue Lobelia which I have used regularly for bedding, keeping it in the winter in my greenhouse. This year I find, after planting a bed of it, that, instead of the flowers being a bright blue as formerly, most of the plants bear flowers of a dirty white colour, and which has caused me to root them out. I am at a loss to account for the change in the colour, and shall be glad to know if you can explain the cause.-A REGULAR SUBSCRIBER.

[The blue Lobelia is tired of your soil, then it varies and runs out, as we say. That is exactly the reason why yours have gone so bad. Corn, Potatoes, Turnips, Peas, Beans, and everything we sow and reap, pet and precious, require their seeds or the soil to be often changed for them to keep them up to the mark. Fresh seeds will give true blue Lobelias again to a certainty, if the seeds be true speciosa, the best blue kind.]

CAMELLIA-HOUSE.

A Constant Subscriber will be very much obliged for a little advice upon the following matter.

It is my wish to erect a house for Camellias. It is not required to be a large one, nor is it intended to incur great expense. The object is to grow Camellias in the ground, but not to exceed a certain height, no plant to be out of standing reach. To be as concise as possible I will put the following questions: What is the best aspect? What is the best arrangement for such a house, so that each plant shall be separate and easily accessible? Is there any objection to galvanised iron for Camellias ? and is it any advantage to have the glass tinted green? Will a fixed roof (not, of course, without some opening) but avoiding the old system of rafters, afford sufficient ventilation?

[Any aspect will suit a Camellia; perhaps the north-east and

CLEMATIS NOT BLOOMING.

I HAVE a Clematis which has been planted seven years, and makes considerable growth every year, but I have never seen a flower yet. What can I do to it to make it flower? It is trained over an arch that spans the gravel walk running due south, and fully exposed to the sun.-C. E. LUCAS.

[There are three if not four sections of the genus Clematis, and the plants or most of them in one section require a different mode of treatment under such difficulties as yours, from those in another section: therefore, not knowing the kind, we cannot say the right treatment for it; but if it were ours, and it did not flower the third or fourth season, we would root it out entirely and plant another. There is something radically wrong, for no plants are more free to bloom than most of the Clematises. Why not plant Clematis montana, which runs 20 feet to 30 feet in one season when the roots are well established, and every joint of it blooms white as snow in May, in wreaths 10 feet to 20 feet in length, and no place in Great Britain or Ireland is too hot or too cold for it?]

CULTURE OF THE GRAPE IN POTS. THE art of growing and fruiting the Grape Vine in pots forms one of the most interesting, elegant, and profitable branches of modern agriculture. When well understood, the culture of the Vine in this way will be found to be as simple and as easy as in the border, and even better suited to the circumstances and wants of numerous amateurs and gardeners.

Anybody who has a small foreing-house may produce the best Grapes in pots in perfection, without the costly preparations of the vinery, and with very little trouble. If the Grape when fruited is an elegant object in the vinery, it is much more so in the pot; and, when managed with skill, the mass of splendid fruit which a single cane less than 3 feet in height is capable of producing, cannot fail to excite the admiration of every beholder.

A great many persons who have small greenhouses would like to raise Grapes; to such pot culture offers peculiar advantages. The work of growing the Vines can be easily and cheaply done by themselves or their gardeners, and the plants got ready in any number (as will be hereafter described) and brought for ward, say a dozen or two at a time, without interfering with the other plants, and fruited as soon as in a regular hothouse, and in great abundance and perfection.

For early forcing the pot Vine is exceedingly convenient. The owner of a vinery may desire a few early Grapes, but it may be impossible or undesirable to heat the border early in the season, and go into general forcing. In such cases, with the control easily exercised over the pot Vines, we may start them in the hothouse in the month of March, and after the fruit is set ripen in the cold vinery, and cut the fruit in June or July.

There is great economy of space in pot culture, which commends it especially to persons who have hothouses of limited extent. Five hundred square feet of glass will ripen about 250 lbs. of Grapes in a common house with border culture. In pots, 500 lbs., at least, may be obtained under the same surface of glass, and the period of ripening may be more easily hastened or retarded; thus in a single house greatly extending the fruit

season.

Grapes in pots may be for three or four months upon the Vines after they are ripened, by removing the pots to a cool, dry, airy room-even in the parlour-thus presenting all the merits of a beautiful house plant as an object of interest, as well as a delicious source of gratification to the palate. West's St. Peter's, Muscat, and several other late Grapes, ripened in pots on the 1st of October, will keep on the Vines in a cool, dry, airy room, till the 1st of February or March.

As an ornament to the dinner table, or for decorating a room for evening parties, there is no production of the hothouse more truly magnificent in all respects than a pot Vine fully and properly developed, bearing six or seven bunches of the finest Grapes as they may be grown by proper dwarf culture, such as we shall describe in this work.

The early fruiting of dwarf pot Vines is another advantage greatly in their favour, as compared with common Vines. Vines are so easily produced in pots, that it is a matter of little consideration if you fruit them early, at the expense of the existence of the Vine, while in the border you would be more careful to create a strong cane before permitting it to fruit. Vines may be struck from the eye, and forced into perfect and abundant fruiting in eighteen months. You may strike Vines from the eye in March, and fruit them in pots the second season, moderately, without serious injury to them.

Properly and moderately fruited, the pot Vine is not destroyed, as many persons suppose, in one or two seasons, but may be shifted from small to larger pots, root-pruned, and again placed in smaller pots, for years; the proper nutriment for growing wood and perfecting fruit may be added to the soil at each change of pots, and given in solution while bearing. A much greater variety of Grapes may be grown together in pots in the same house than by the common method in borders. When the roots of Vines run together, it is well known that the stronggrowing sorts are apt to injure and drive out the weaker kinds as for instance, the strong-growing White Nice, or Syrian. planted in a border by the side of the Black Prince, or the Dutch Sweetwater, will so seriously check the growth of the latter, that perfect fruiting is almost impossible. With Vines in pots no such accident can happen. Each plant is perfectly independent of every other, and they may be placed side by side without injury.

It will be here understood that we are speaking of true and exclusive pot and Vine culture-not that partial or mixed system which permits the roots of the Vine to extend from the pots into a border.

In pot culture, Grapes, which it is impossible to ripen in the border without cracking, may be produced in the utmost perfection. The Chasselas Musqué is a Grape of this description. The cracking is due to excess of moisture in the border, which it is sometimes difficult to prevent. But in the pot we have entire control over the moisture, and hence perfect Grapes can be produced.

A question which almost every man will ask, in respect to pot Vine culture, is this: "Will it pay?" We answer, most unhesitatingly, it will. We know it will pay. We grant that pot Vines require more care and attention than Vines in borders; but they may be employed by many persons who have only small hothouses, without interfering with other plants, and without any great additional expense; large crops of early Grapes (and late ones too), may be obtained where none could otherwise be grown; and the return, for the space occupied and care required, in pecuniary profit and gratification, will be found highly satisfactory.

Growing foreign Grapes in hothouses is generally considered a sort of rich man's luxury. The pot Vine may, on the contrary, be called the poor man's luxury. The Grape in borders is generally grown on a man's own estate The pot Vine may be called the tenant's Grape. In pots, the Grape may be grown in any sort of hothouse, even in a three-light box, by the tenant of the humblest cottage; and when he is suddenly called upon, by any circumstance, to remove, he may take his Vine with him, at any season of the year, and continue its culture at his pleasure.

There are many persons who have much taste for horticultural pursuits, and for the culture of Grapes in particular, not restricted in means, who yet do not find it desirable to erect permanent graperies; to such, as well as the really poor man, the pot Vine is a desirable acquisition. In city yards, where a greenhouse only 10 feet square can be erected, there the Grape may be grown and fruited in pots as well as in the most costly and extensive structures.