484 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ December 26, 1878. 
my shrubs and plants by his heedless ways, and yet—and yet,” 
said my friend, “he is a very good gardener; but he is not 
like me, he does not love his plants as I_do.” 
“That is just it,” said I, and as I walked home I thought 
how often—oh! how often—I had seen my own gardener 
stand on one of my best beloved plants. In fact, I had one 
gardener who, whenever I went to talk to him, invariably 
went on the flower bed, as if he felt then on his own ground, 
and only the path was mine! I lose quantities of good things 
year by year by being trodden into the earth. I had one plant 
that I was choice of in particular. I went to look at it last 
week to see how it got on, but the gardener’s heel had got the 
start of me. There was the mark, and my dear little one 
scarcely visible, with its heart crushed out. 
It is no new thing this that I write about. All who have 
borders know it, feel it, grieve over it. Talk to your man how 
you will, gently, kindly, loudly, or softly, the result is just 
the same—he does not mind where he puts his foot. He says, 
“Oh! yes, I'll mind, I'll be careful,” and at the moment he is 
standing on your only Aquilegia chrysantha. When gardeners 
love the plants under their care, as true gardeners should and 
do, they will then mind where they put their foot. They will 
look on every plant as their children, love them and nurse 
them assuch. I do. Hoping this will meet the eye of my 
friend’s gardener and my own, besides that of others that [ 
know, I conclude, wishing and hoping for better times—times 
not so crushing.—CYRIL. 
THE LATE EXHIBITION OF THE NATIONAL 
CARNATION AND PICOTEE SOCIETY. 
On page 444 “D., Deal,” says, “I was talking the other day 
to one of the exhibitors, and a very good grower and dresser 
of the Carnation and Picotee, when he expressed his surprise 
at the position which one of our southern growers occupied, 
and he attributed his inferior position entirely to his mode of 
dressing. He said, ‘I have always thought his style of dress- 
ing—that of bringing them up full in the centre, the best; 
but the winning flowers were dressed much more flatly. Iwas 
told this was the northern style, and as I believe the Judges 
were northerners it is easily accounted for.’ ”’ 
One may wonder that upon a matter so easy of solution as 
the question whether the Judges at the late Show were north- 
erners or not, that your correspondent did not at least expend 
a postcard before promulgating the opinion of the good grower 
and dresser, whoever he may be, and thus adding to the list of 
myths his imagination or ready credence of unfounded rumour 
has given currency to. 
The Judges acting at the late Show of the National Carna- 
tion and Picotee Society were—for the open ciass, Mr. Thomas 
Moore, Mr. Richard Gorton, and Mr. Wm. Hewitt; for ama- 
teurs, twelve-bloom classes, Mr. Charles Turner, Mr. John Ball, 
and Mr. Jonathan Booth ; six-bloom classes, Mr. Douglas, Mr. 
George Rudd, and Mr. E. 8. Dodwell; for single specimens, 
Mr. Simonite and Mr. Lord. 
Of the opinions of “D., Deal,” as to dressing Carnations 
and Picotees I have nothing to say beyond commending the 
readers to the excellent and practical remarks of Mr. Farren 
on page 443, and stating the fact that there is not a solitary 
exhibitor of these flowers, and, [ believe, no one entitled to be 
called a grower, who is not utterly antagonistic to the views 
“1D., Deal,” has expressed. 
With “D., Deal,” I see with great pleasure the communi- 
cation from Mr. Slater, especially as Mr. Slater so honourably 
recants opinions he formerly expressed, and admits the evils 
he feared have never been produced. I wish I was able to say 
Mr. Slater’s circumstances were as comfortable as could be 
desired fur his great age; but as that is unhappily not the 
fact, I hope I may be permitted to say that the bounty of any 
reader of this paragraph will be gladly received and dispensed 
for Mr. Slater’s benefit by Mr. Samuel Barlow of Stakehill 
House, Chadderton, Manchester, and it will be a source of 
great satisfaction to me if this reference shall add to Mr. 
Slater’s much-needed comfort.—E. 8. DODWELL, 
CARBOLIC ACID AS AN INSECT KILLER. 
My experience teaches me that sulphur, no matter how used 
or in what form—.e., either dusted on the affected part or 
painted on highly heated hot-water pipes, is in no way fatal to 
red spider. Inspite of all known precautions and care last 
year, both my Cucumber plants and Vines were most terribly 
infested last summer with the ravages of this destructive pest. 
My belief, the result of experiment is, that carbolic acid water 
not too strong, say one part of the acid previously dissolved in 
an equal bulk of glycerine, and then diluted with about forty 
parts of pure filtered water, and either used as spray to the 
leaves, or even used by means of an ordinary garden syringe, is 
as certain an insecticide as sulphur is an antidote for mildew. 
But my reason more especially for writing to you is to ask 
for the following information—viz., is it your opinion that the 
solution of carbolic acid I haye named, and used as I have 
stated to the surface of the infested leaves, proves in any way 
injurious or detrimental to the health or well-being of the 
Vines? And further, would adding carbolic acid to the paste 
used for dressing the rods, or the use of carbolic acid soap in 
washing the woodwork and glass of the vinery, prove detri- 
mental either to the Vine rods or the young leaves as they 
arrive? Iam convinced that carbolic acid is the surest insecti- 
cide and preventive that can be used ; and if it does not prove 
injurious—and I opine it will not—we have in carbolic acid a 
remedy which will surpass all others, and prove an incalculable 
boon to all Grape-growers.—W. E. B. A., Faversham. 
CHRISTMAS VEGETABLES. 
ASPARAGUS, French Beans, Mushrooms, Seakale, Rhubarb; 
Tomatoes, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Sayoys, all 
kinds of roots, and plenty of Celery, Lettuce, Endive, Mustard 
and Cress, Radishes, Chicory, and Cucumbers, are the principal 
vegetables from the kitchen garden with which we are fur- 
nishing our employer’s table during the Christmas week. 
Most of these vegetables have been referred to before in these 
pages by me, but now that we are in the midst of them I may 
say, with a little care they are produced easier than many 
suppose. 
Asparagus we can never have toomuch of. Next spring we 
shall plant about half an acre with two-year-old plants of it. 
This will supply us with forcing roots for several years. What 
we are cutting now is growing in the bed of a Melon pit; 
3 inches of soil is spread out on boards, below which there is 
a flue. The roots are packed close together above the soil and 
just barely covered over. With a top and bottom heat of 
about 60° and plenty of water it grows freely and luxuriantly. 
French Beans.— Osborn’s and Fulmer’s Forcing French 
Beans are fruiting in 8-inch pots on a stair-like stage at the 
back of the centre pathway in the same house. We fill a num- 
ber of pots every two weeks and are never without Beans. 
Those which we are gathering from now, however, are growing 
in cutting boxes 2 feet long, 1 foot wide, and 4 inches deep. 
The seed is sown in 3-inch pots, five and six seeds being placed 
in each pot, and as soon as the young plants are about 3 inches 
high they are turned out of the pots and planted in the boxes, 
eight and ten potfuls are put into each box. They thus fruit 
equally well, and do not take half the space up as those in 
pots. French Beans are a great delicacy at Christmas as well 
as during the whole winter, and they have as good a flavour 
now as in summer, 
Mushrooms are quite indispensable as a winter vegetable. 
They are easily cultivated provided the spawn is good, without 
this no one will grow Mushrooms. As the horse droppings are 
gathered daily at the stables they are emptied in an open 
shed and allowed to lie there until there is a good cartload, 
when they are brought to the garden, spread out again in an 
open shed for a few days or a week, as they may be wet or 
dry, and are then made into a small bed in the Mushroom 
house. We never make the bed more than 10 inches deep, but 
this thickness is made very firm. Little pieces of spawn are 
dibbled in 3 inches deep and 6 inches apart when the heat in 
the bed is about 80°. When the heat is likely to go down 
quickly the spawn is covered over at once, 2 inches of soil 
from any of the kitchen-garden quarters is spread over and 
beaten down firmly all over the surface of the bed. As a rule 
the Mushrooms appear about five weeks after this has been 
done, but sometimes they do not come for six and seven weeks. 
Mushrooms may be grown in any dark shed or cellar where 
the heat ranges from 55° to 65°. 
Seakale and Rhubarb will do in the same place and with 
the same heat, but they should have a little bottom heat ds 
well. The Rhubarb takes three or more weeks longer to come 
up than the Kale, and allowance should be made for this 
when the roots are put in. The quicker the Seakale is forced 
the more tender it is, but at the same time a temperature of 
65° should never be exceeded, as more heat than that makes 
