546 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ December 28, 1876. 



this devotion they cannot excel. The gardener's life is in the 

 aggregate a healthy life — -that is, it is not a killing occupation, 

 as the average death-rate shows ; but it is nevertheless en- 

 feebling, and its votaries are subject to maladies which dis- 

 able if they do not suddenly destroy. The wise will consider 

 this and make such provision as they can. The best men of 

 the past have exercised foresight and frugality, and the men 

 of the present must do the same if their " closing year " is to 

 glide smoothly away. 



" Heaven helps those who help themselves " is an adage full 

 of truth. By self help other help has been given during the 

 closing year. Let not the examples of good afforded at least 

 by one institution during the year be forgotten. One of the 

 brightest pages of the Journal is in the first number for July, 

 wherein is recorded the annual meeting of the Gardeners' 

 Boyal Benevolent Institution. There are other means than 

 this of providing for the " unseen vicissitudes of life" — some, 

 possibly, being more tempting ; but few are more sure, more 

 strong than the Society, rejoicing in the patronage of the Queen. 

 I will extract a few lines from the address of the Chairman (Dr. 

 Hogg) touching the soundness and the benefits of the Institu- 

 tion. "We start," said Dr. Hogg, "this year with a balance 

 in hand of £441 9s. 8d., and our income from all sources is 

 £1634 2s. 9d., of which £693 is from subscriptions. We have 

 £10,750 invested in 3 per cent, consols, a balance at the 

 bankers and in hand of £430 12s., and seventy-four aged 

 pensioners on our list who are receiving sums of £16 and £12 

 a-year." Who can tell what miseries have been averted and 

 what comforts conferred by these pensions on the persons of 

 the venerable seventy-four ? More recipients have been added 

 to the list since then, and before the first month of the new year 

 has passed a further enrolment of pensioners will have taken 

 place. I have seen the list of applicants, and could not fail to 

 note the peculiar incidence of rheumatism to gardeners who 

 have passed through the sudden changes of extreme tempe- 

 rature inseparably connected with their vocation. No one 

 knows how soon he may be smitten, but everyone may know 

 — and I trust that not only gardeners but their employers 

 will ponder over the fact seriously — that a guinea a-year Bub- 

 scribed cannot fail to alleviate the sufferings of some who have 

 laboured in the work of horticulture, and have been the means 

 of adding countless pleasures and substantial benefits to others 

 in their (the gardeners') prosperity. Gardeners contributing 

 may thus invest for their own after-benefit, and those who 

 are never likely to want may be certain that their assistance 

 will be well and directly applied to an object which is empha- 

 tically deserving of substantial support. The past year has 

 taught the aged recipients how valuable is this Institution, 

 and those who are now in prosperity will do well to commence 

 the new year by joining this exoellent organisation. 



A pleasing episode of the year in connection with the Society 

 was the recognition of services of the Chairman for his success- 

 ful labours in adding to the funds for the benefit of British 

 gardeners. All who know " the Doctor " know how earnest 

 is his desire to improve the condition of all worthy members 

 of the craft, and the simple address on vellum to that effect 

 will doubtless be regarded as one of the most cherished of his 

 many honours. Thus, if the past reveals some mournful 

 features, it also^has some pleasant points worthy of being re- 

 capitulated. 



There are many other events of the closing year which may 

 well be kept in remembrance — many records of the successful 

 practice of present workers and of the able teachings of 

 ancient writers. The condition of horticulture is worthy of 

 review — the shows, the fruits, the plants, the influences of 

 the season, the endeavours which have been made for mutual 

 improvement, the facilities which have been provided for the 

 growth and spread of professional knowledge by and through 

 the gardening press. Some of these I may refer to at a future 

 time, for I have " laid down the shovel and the hoe," and have 

 time for reading, and perhaps I may now and again venture 

 on wielding that potent instrument the pen. My hand may 

 be elnmBy from much hard work, but my desire is great to 

 benefit others by the means which have benefited me. 



To the Journal I can conscientiously say I am indebted for 

 muoh of the success of a life of practice, and to many hours 

 of pure and congenial enjoyment which the perusal of its 

 pages have afforded me. Its contributors — professional and 

 amateur — I seem to know personally, and its Editors I like to 

 fancy are my intimate friends. If distance dispels the dream, 

 the vision nevertheless appears to possess much natural reality, 

 and my " closing year " is rnucio the more pleasant. Do not 



others feel much the same? I know that hundreds — thousands 

 do, and must share my satisfaction. Let us hope, then, that 

 we may go on as before — enjoy the same matured counsels, the 

 same sound information, the same genial expressions, and in 

 return give what we can, that another year — now near its 

 dawning — may open pleasantly, progress smoothly, and close 

 satisfactorily. 



And now as my final greeting — my "laBt words" — of the 

 dying year, let me wish new life to Editors, contributors, and 

 artists. — A Betieed Gakdenee. 



SEEDLING BKIAES. 



In answer to several correspondents I wish, before giving 

 any advice, to state that I do not believe in this Btock except 

 for Teas. My friend Hercules gave this stock a very fair trial 

 indeed, and has, as he says, " made nothing of it at all." On 

 the other hand a very great authority, the Bev. Beynolds Hole, 

 states that it is the best of all stocks. So that the opinions 

 of two of the greatest amateur cultivators of the Bose are 

 diametrically opposed. As to where the stocks can be obtained 

 in Devonshire, Mr. James Walters of Mount Eadford Nurseries, 

 Exeter, can supply any amount of seedling Briars. Very good 

 they are, too, for I havo seen them and talked to that good 

 practical grower. As to continental stocks, any of the great 

 French Eose-growers (such as Margottin, LevSque, E. Verdier) 

 supply them. But they are most difficult to work; and as 

 for most soils the Manetti is a better stock, and certainly much 

 easier to deal with, I strongly recommend it. 



As to raising the Briar from seed. The seed should be 

 gathered about November or December, and allowed to lay in 

 a heap or pit until about the second February after — that is, 

 about fifteen or sixteen months, in order that it may rot — that 

 is, one summer and two winters. During this time the heap 

 Bhould be several times turned. After February the seed 

 should be sown in beds and covered about an inch deep, and 

 it will come up as thick as grass the same spring. After 

 another year's interval the grower may bud the seedlings, 

 and next year he will probably find ten per cent, of them have 

 taken ; and if he has patience to do all this when he oan buy 

 splendid plants for about 9d. each, he deserves to win every 

 prize that is offered for competition the year he shows from 

 his own seedling Briars. 



There is no greater mistake, however, than to suppoBB that 

 old plants will not throw good flowers. If they are properly 

 treated they will, and it was only the other day that I heard 

 of a grower who won the amateurs' challenge cup at Birming- 

 ham who shows from plants ten or twelve years old. May I 

 take this opportunity of wishing you, gentlemen, and all the 

 readers of our Journal, particularly rosarians, a very merry 

 Christmas, though I am afraid the great day itself will be a 

 thing of the past before these lines appear. — Wild Savage. 



MBS. PINCE'S BLACK MUSCAT. 



I have grown the above Grape now for the last six years, 

 but I must confess that I have not succeeded every season in 

 sending fruit to table in the best condition. The berriesfor 

 size and flavour are all that could be desired, but I have failed 

 in getting that finish of bloom which adds so much to the ap- 

 pearance, and is also one of the chief points of excellence and 

 perfection in all black Grapes. I have one Vine growing in a 

 mixed house, and at the warmest end, and this house is gene- 

 rally assisted with fire heat about the beginning of March, and 

 the Grapes on this Vine always attain a very fair colour, which 

 leads me to think that Mrs. Pince requires a longer season to 

 finish-off properly than is generally allowed it, for being a late 

 Grape it is in most cases kept back as long as possible, and 

 only assisted with fire heat after the Vines start ; and if the 

 autumn provo dull and unfavourable, so that the Grapes are 

 not finished-off by September, very little bloom can be put on 

 after that. 



I have likewise two late houses planted chiefly with Mrs. Pince 

 and a few Lady Downe's. The latter invariably finishes off to 

 perfection ; but it is not always so with Mrs. Pince, and notably 

 so this season. Three parts of the berry colour very fairly, the 

 other part next the footstalk remaining of a dull red. Now, 

 there are some who succeed in putting a very creditable finish 

 on Mrs. Pince, but, from what I can learn and have seen, a far 

 greater number have failed, and amongst them some of the 

 best Grape-growers of the present' day. 



Now the question arises, Are there two varieties of this 



