January 10. 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
27 
occupied with Camellias flowering freely, Richardias, Azalea amcena, 
Roman Hyacinths, Tulips, and fine Cyclamens. Lily of the Valley was 
also plentiful, this Mr. Thompson is very successful in forcing. In the 
stoves we observed Phajus grandiflora growing strongly, while the 
charming Oncidium obrysatum was showing fourteen spikes. In one 
of the vineries against the wall is planted Tropteolum Ball of Fire ; this 
has been allowed since the Vines have gone to rest to run down the 
canes, the consequence is just now that the growths are full of bloom and 
are as good as Pelargoniums to cut from. 
THE GOOD YOUNG MEN OF OLD. 
Your correspondent “ H , Notts,” in his retrospect of the last thirty 
years, pays a very poor compliment to the young gardeners of the 
period ; and as one of them I trust you will allow space for my few 
remarks in our defence. It occurs to me that “ H., Notts,” is one of 
these persons who cling wiih tenacity to the days of their prime, and 
who are prejudiced against everything and everybody of the present 
day. This is evident from his laudatory reference to the writers of 
old in preference to our modern scribes, whose articles in the pages 
of the Journal I venture to assert will compare more than favourably 
with anything that appeared in any gardening periodical of thirty years 
ago, whether scientific or practical. 
Gardening has most assuredly made rapid strides since “ H.” and his 
colleagues so assiduously studied the current literature, “ not skimmingly, 
as the young men of the present ; ” but progress in future must indeed 
be slow if all “ H.’s ” assertions be true, which I deny. True, there are 
many who serve a few years at gardening, but not proving worthy of the 
calling have to relinquish it; yet the majority of young gardeners are, 
I hold, a credit both to themselves and their calling, and will in turn 
prove as good trainers to the future generation as many of the existing 
staff of head gardeners are of the young men of the present. Perhaps 
I am wrong ; but I maintain that head gardeners are not altogether 
faultless, and not all of them treat their subordinates as members of 
their own craft. What a different state of things exists where the head 
gardener takes his men partly into his confidence and converses freely 
on horticultural topics, thereby introducing harmony into all the daily 
duties, and gaining for himself the respect of his young men, in itself an 
unspeakable satisfaction. 
“ H., Notts,” also refers in tones of high praise to “ A Working 
Gardener’s ” letter to young men. Granted the advice there given to 
be good, it carries but little weight unless based on practice. Let 
“Working Gardener” first practise, then preach. Singing classes are 
not approved of, but I would say to every young man having an ear 
for music, Cultivate that taste ; it is a harmless pastime and an intel¬ 
lectual recreation. The man who spends one evening in the week at a 
singing class can, I have no doubt, perform as much dry study in the 
remaining evenings as another would in a full week. Had “ H., Notts,” 
been a musician he would not have written in his melancholy style. 
I shall conclude with urging my young fellow men to keep on plodding, 
and read all essays and attend all public lectures they can that tend to 
their self-improvement.—T. L. 
[Our correspondent has no right to insinuate that a “ Working 
Gardener ” does not practise what he preaches. He is one of the 
most skilled and accomplished of gardeners, and his many communi¬ 
cations, founded on practice, rank amongst the most useful that have 
ever appeared in our columns.] 
I CANNOT agree with your correspondent “ H., Notts,” in what he 
says about the young gardeners of the present day in your issue of the 
27th. I fail to see why they should be so much worse than their pre¬ 
decessors. Perhaps when “ H., Notts,” was a young man the head 
gardeners were not quite so high in the world as they are now. I hope 
some of the young gardeners will learn something from your corre¬ 
spondent, but I think he might be a little more lenient, and instead of 
being harsh give us a hint how he managed to do so well and not go 
astray. He would then be doing service to gardeners young and old ; 
some of the seed would be sure to fall on good ground, and we should 
ever bless him. I would like to thank him, also “A Working Gardener,” 
for kindly calling our attention to the state we are drifting into, and I 
hope before this year is out he will be able to say we are improved.— 
T. R. M. 
STORED-UP SAP IN YINES. 
In justice to myself and those who have supported me in this matter, 
allow me to place these two passages in juxtaposition in order to show 
your readers how Mr. Taylor stands now. At page 396 in my first note I 
said, “It is impossible to reconcile Mr. Taylor’s theory of stored-up sap 
in Vines (p. 372) with facts or common observation, and I believe there 
are few experienced gardeners who believe that Vines subsist on * the 
stored-up food ’ of the previous autumn till the shoots are 7 inches long 
and the leaves 5 inches broad, as Mr. Taylor states.” In his last note 
Mr. Taylor says, “ Now for the little bit of theory which has caused so 
much discussion. It is to the effect that the appearances noted above 
and recorded within inverted commas ‘ indicate that the roots have com¬ 
menced action, and that the leaves are no longer dependent on the stored- 
up food which was prepared last autumn and preserved in the stems for 
early use,’ True this is pure theory, in which, as far as I know, I am not 
supported to the full length by any professed physiologist.” 
For “professed physiologists” substitute “experienced gardeners,” 
which means much the same thing, and Mr. Taylor and 1 are quite 
agreed about himself. His words here look very like a confession of 
error, and an acknowldgement of the correctness of my first words. I 
beg, however, to tell Mr. Taylor in the most unequivocal manner that he 
did not advance the above statement of bis in inverted commas as a 
“little bit of theory,” but as a fact in practice ; and instead of saying or 
admitting that “professed physiologists” did “ not support him,” he 
quoted them to prove that they did, and attempted to twit his opponent 
with ignorance of the latest authorities on the subject. This is Mr. 
Taylor’s true position in this discussion. I regard his last statements as 
neither more nor less than an ungracious submission to the force of the 
evidence from several sources which has been brought against him. His 
latest idea that “the Vine has an economy peculiar to itself” is just as 
groundless as his other assertions.— Non-Believer. 
WILTON HOUSE. 
Continuing the record of these excellent gardens from page 11, we 
arrived at a range of pits, in one division of which the most celebrated of the 
occupants are undoubtedly the Vines “ growing without soil.” Some per¬ 
sons fail to grow Grapes with whatever soil they are supplied with, others 
succeed as it were independently of soil. Some of the best Black Ham- 
burghs I ever saw and tasted were grown in a bed of leaves and manure, no 
loam being used, by Mr. Hunter at Lambton Castle ; and now at Wilton I 
find Vines of the same variety in admirable condition, and produce Grapes 
of the highest quality without either manure or loam in the border. At the 
time of planting, a “soil difficulty ” having arisen, Mr. Challis resolved to 
try an experiment. Rather than plant in what he knew was unsuitable 
soil that was supplied him, he determined to plant a pit without any soil 
at all. If I remember rightly the compost is as follows One-fourth of 
broken bones, one-fourth of lime rubbish, one-fourth of bruised charcoal, 
and one-fourth of pounded bricks. If this is not the mixture I shall be 
favoured by being corrected. In such out-of-the-way material the Vines 
were planted and the surface mulched with manure. With good attention 
they made steady solid progress, and have for years afforded fruit 
superior in quality to all others in the garden. In the same house, on 
the opposite side of the path, Vines are planted in a border of good 
Vine-growing soil, and the rods are trained down alternately with the 
others, but the rods are the finest and hardest, and the Grapes invariably 
the best that are grown in the soilless border. There is no mistake 
about this. It is a simple record of facts, and the truth cannot be told 
in any other way. There is not a particle of sensationalism about it any 
more than there is in the character of the quiet studious gardener, the 
author of the experiment; and he, as all who know him will readily 
admit, is among the last persons in the world who have the slightest 
disposition to draw the long-bow. But let it be remembered that 
success of the kind indicated can only be achieved by masters in the art 
of Grape culture, and amateurs and lovers of change generally would not 
act wisely by rushing headlong into a similar method of culture. If they 
have good results in the good old way let them be content to travel in it; 
it is only on a small scale, and experimentally, that these innovations 
can be wisely indulged, however well the above-named practice has 
answered at Wilton. 
Another range of similar dimensions is occupied with plants, of which 
there is an enormous demand for decorative purposes and affording 
flowers for cutting. It must suffice to say that all the popular kinds are 
largely and excellently grown, and that there is a remarkably fine 
collection of Orchids, not a few species being represented by such grand 
old specimens as are not seen every day ; and that a houseful of seedling 
Cactuses, or rather Phyllocactuses, was not a common sight. Having 
been raised from fertilised flowers and the plants approaching the 
flowering stage, they are being watched with some interest. I only 
know one other similar batch of seedlings in a private garden—namely, 
Mr. Major’s, at Cromwell House, Croydon. If these hybridisers and 
lovers of old plants should make Cactuses once more fashionable patience 
will have had its merited reward ; and since the Sunflower mania 
nothing is impossible in the floral world. 
We pass on, and pass through quickly, the last range in this block. 
It is larger than the others, has been twice filled with splendid Vines, 
and once emptied in consequence of the presence of the great Vine 
scourge the phylloxera. The victim of a double outbreak Mr. Challis is 
to he pitied, and the only thing consolatory about the matter is that by 
his close observations and investigations he may be able to obtain know¬ 
ledge of the life history of the insect, and methods of subduing it that 
may be useful to others. We will leave this unfortunate house and pass 
to another range of no common excellence. 
A GRAND PEACH HOUSE. 
The range, which includes divisions for Peaches and late Grapes, 
must rank amongst the most complete and best in the kingdom. It 
is 200 feet long ; back wall 12 feet high, front of the house 7 feet, 
height to the ridge about 15 feet, aDgle of roof 37°. The back wall 
contains an air passage with perforated ventilators at the top on the 
outside, and at the bottom in the inside of the house. Provision is also 
made for a supply of heated air in front, apart from the ordinary method 
of ventilation, which is abundantly provided for both by the front lights 
and on both sides of the ridge, the whole worked by continuous crank 
movement with the greatest ease. Rafters 9 by 2 inches are placed 
