Usy 16, 1867. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIOULTDRK AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



a4» 



in it immensely. How jolly it is to bask in the sunshine when 

 the east wind whistles outside ! I am rather glad I built it, 

 after all. When that barren spray is clean cut out plenty of 

 Spurs will remain, and several of them, I am glad to see, are 

 furnished with double shoots. Hurrah ! one for wood, the 

 other for fruit ! Alternate pruning ! 



Black. — My trees were covered with blossoms, but not a 

 quarter have set ; they strew tlio ground, and make me think 

 of a place said to be paved with good intentions. I believe 

 those little busy bees have knocked half of them off. I wish 

 they would improve each sliining hour instead of injuring my 

 property. I saw a great bumble fellow on a very promising 

 blossom, making it quite top-heavy. 



White. — I suspect that it all the blossoms had set they 

 would have been more than my trees could bear. A dozen 

 Peaches on ea"h t'ee would not be a bad crop at a period when 

 my trees can harrlly be said to have arrived at years of dis- 

 cretion, and more thiin a Hneen blossoms have set. In any case, 

 I need not take the trouble to thin them — an operation recom- 

 mended in the books, but requiring great strength of mind. 

 By-the-by, I remember to have heard that bees are invaluable, 

 and they seem to have been sent for the special purpose of 

 soattering the pollen, which it would be tedious to effect 

 with a camel-hair brush. How wonderful is the economy of 

 Nature ! 



Black. — Alas ! some boys have been throwing stones over 

 the wall, and have smashed several panes of glass. What 

 wretches boys are! I should like to give them all a sound 

 cuffing. At this rate a fine glazier's bill I shall have to pay ! 



White. — Boys will be boys. I was a boy once myself, and 

 a bit of a pickle. 1 am fond of pickles, and appreciate exube- 

 rant spirits. There is something very charming in that free- 

 dom from care, that recklessness of consequences, and that 

 mischievous disposition which chaiacterises boys. It was very 

 natural now of those urchins, who have accidentally broken 

 my glass, to have been testing their projective powers, and it is 

 a comfort to reflect that the apertures they have made in my 

 roof will materially increase the ventilation of ray house — no 

 mean factor, I am told, in the product of orchard-house success. 



Black. — The leaves that have made their appearance look 

 queer. What makes them seem as if they had been twisted in 

 curl-papers ? Why ! I declare they are covered with aphides ; 

 whence did they all spring from, I wonder? It is of no iis: 

 killing one when a thousand come to his funeral. No wond' 

 flies were considered one of the plagues of Egypt. I will mak? 

 instant arrangements for giving my house a thorough fumi- 

 gation. 



White. — Others are quite as much bothered with insects as 

 lam. Is there not comfort in the thought? I cannot help 

 feeling glad that so miuy innocent creatures have been in- 

 debted to me for the jolly time they have had of it. Why, my 

 house must have been to them a perfect Elysium. My man, 

 who, bellows in hand, is busy in the work of fumigation, must 

 have the lung! of a rhinoceros to stand that smoke ; he seems 

 to like it, for he has a pipe in his mouth as well. The smoke 

 almost stifled me, and the one whiff I bad of it suffioed to con- 

 vince me of its necessarily fatal effects upon entomological 

 existence. 



Black. — Why, I declare some enemies have been and bitten 

 in half several of the young fruit. My patience is sorely tried, 

 and will soon be exhausted. I suspect the thieves are some of 

 those sancy sparrows that I see flying out when I come in. I 

 should like to put some salt on their tails, and teach them, as 

 Cowper so poetically has it, " never to come there no more." 



White. — -If those little birds have diminished from my 

 prospects of a crop, at all events they have filled their own 

 crops. I never would be a member of a sparrow club, for 

 sparrows do more good in a garden than harm, and merry 

 England would soon become like France if we were to wage 

 an exterminating warfare with our little birds. 



Black. — The hill has come in for the tobacco paper. Let 

 me see, 6s. for one lot (not the right sort), 4s. for shag (too 

 damp), 9s. for more tobacco paper, which had, as my man 

 quaintly observed, a pretty strong se('?i( to it — 10s. altogether. 

 Surely my better half will renew her charge of extravagance. 



White. — I have earned a little experience, which, though 

 dearly bought, is invaluable. It is not good to be penny wise 

 and pound foolish. I have derived intense satisfaction from 

 witnessing the fatal effects of fumigation on insect life. It is 

 true that tobacco paper has cost me some shillings, but money 

 is a circulating medium, and, no doubt, this outlay has con- 

 tributed towards the remuneration of a very respectable class 



of manufacturers, whose profits (and I wish the same could be 

 said of certain proprietors of tall chimneys), mainly depend 

 upon the consumption of smoke. 



Black. — I know not how it is, but whenever I go into that 

 orchard-house I am bitten, some mysterious insect ingeniously 

 contrives to find its way inside my trowsers, and bites me on 

 my legs. It must be a very poisonous kind, for the inflamma- 

 tion it causes is painful and lasting ; scratching makes it worse. 

 I hardly bargained for this, Mr. Elvers, when in deference to 

 your judgment I invested in an orchard-house. 



White. — The insect, no doubt, derives satisfaction from 

 biting me ; it evidently thinks me a nice man. Live and let 

 live is a humane and generous sentiment. A little sweet oil 

 has a most soothing effect, and relief from pain is nearly akin 

 to pleasure. I daresay Mr. Rivers himself gets bitten, and I 

 almost hope that he does, only as an advocate for orchard- 

 houses he is wise to say nothing about it ; it is for him to 

 stick to the pros, and leave it to others to speak of the cons. 



On the whole I consider — 1st, That my contribution to your 

 Journal will he considered too lengthy for publication ; and 

 2ndly, That White has the best of it. I will only add my re- 

 commendation that the orchard-house cultivator should have 

 a few Vines to train up his rafters, in case his trees in pots 

 should turn out a failure. — A Constant Reader. 



GARDENERS' EXAMINATIONS FOR HONOURS. 



The Royal Horticultural Society's examinations of gardeners 

 for the present year are fixed to take place on the 3rd and 4th 

 of July, and on the 30th and 31st of December. 



The following are the conditions under which candidates will 

 be required to compete, and the advantages which may be 

 secured in the event of success. 



*' 1. Diplomas will be granted to those who, having been certificated 

 by the Society of Arts, or other public body of J^xaminers recognised 

 by the Coancil, in Mensuration, in Book-keeping, in Practical Geo- 

 metry, in Botanical knowledge, in Floriculture, and in Fruit and 

 Vegetable Culture, shall also receive Certificates from the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society for practical skill in the cultivation of fruit and 

 vegetables, and in the culture of flowers, and shall show a fair amount 

 of skill in Survepng and Plan-drawing, and taste in Laviug-out gar- 

 dens. Such diplomas will confer the title of Associates of the Society. 

 , '• 2. First and Second-class Certificates for the following branches 

 of practical Gardening will be granted by the Royal Horticultural 

 Society to candidates who shall pass the Society's examinations in 

 those branches: — {a) In the operations of the Fruit and Vegetable 

 Garden ; [b] In the operations of the Flower Garden. 



" 3. A Medal will be presented annually to the candidate who, 

 having taken the Certificates of the Society of Arts in Botany, and in 

 the cultivation of Fruit and Vegetables and in Floriculture, shall gain 

 the highest number of marks in Practical Gardening at the exami- 

 nations of the Royal Horticultural Society. 



" Candidates will be eligible for examxnatir n in Practical Garden- 

 ing, if they have previously obtained Certificates from the Society of 

 Arts in Botany and in Floriculture, or in Botany and Fruit and Vege- 

 table Culture. A candidate who can present a written recommendation 

 from any Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, from the Presi- 

 dent of any Floral or Horticultural Association acknowledged by the 

 Society, or from the Director of any public park or garden, may also 

 be examined in Practical Gardening." 



The subjects of examination are very nearly the same as 

 those laid down for tho Society of Arts' examinations, given at 

 jiage tilJ of the present volume, and are as follow : — 



Floriculture. — The leading flowers of the different seasons, in- 

 dicating those to be obtained naturally, and those by artificial means. 

 Leaf-buds and flower-buds, the conditions favourable to their develop- 

 ment respectively. Food of plants, how and whence derived, and in 

 what form received. Manuring substances best adapted for flower 

 culture. Improvement of races in plants, how has it been effected, 

 and by what means can it be carried forward ? Hvbridisation, objects 

 and guiding pi-inciplcs of. Conditions necessary to ensure fertility in 

 flowers. Construction of houses for Plant Culture. Warming and 

 Ventilation. Influence of ventilation on plants confined in forcing- 

 houses. Limits of temperature endurable by plants, and bow to tarn 

 this to advantage in practical Floriculture. Bottom heat, value of in 

 plant culture. Watering, the rational of — what to avoid. Liquid 

 Manures. Propagation, the various modes of, and their special adapt- 

 ations. Germination of seeds, conditions favourable and unfavourable 

 to. Vitality of seeds, duration of, and how best preserved. Treat- 

 ment of seedling plants. Budding, grafting, and inarching, how per- 

 formed, and to what subjects best adapted. Increase by cuttings and 

 by layers. Leaf-cuttings, how is it that they can organise bads ? 

 Potting. Composts. Acclimatisation : Is it possible to increase the 

 hardiness of any race of plants, and by what means? 



Text books ; Lindley'a " Theory and Practice of Horticulture," 



