544 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 27, 1883. 
common in every garden as tlie old scarlet Pelargonium.— 
R. W. Beachey. 
THE “JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE.” 
That admirably written and sensibly expressed communication 
by “A Working Gardener” in last week’s Journal set me thinking. 
It took back my thoughts to the days of twenty and thirty years ago 
—to the days when Robert Errington, Robert Fish, Donald Beaton, 
Thomas Appleby, and John Robson were writing in the then Cottage 
Gardener as no other writers (now, don’t stop me, Mr. Editor, 
please) have ever done either before or since in any paper. There, 
now! Crack that nut all ye modern scribes! I read my Journal 
now as I have read it all these thirty years and more. I read it 
dutifully and respectfully as I ought. I am fully alive to the ability 
and earnestness of the writers in their several departments. I appre¬ 
ciate their labours in the cause of good gardening, and in all that 
concerns the gardener at its highest estimate ; yet the Journal of 
to-day has not the same flavour to me as it had in “ the brave days of 
old.” 
Of course some Philistine will suggest that I am getting into 
the “ sere and yellow leaf ” of life, and therefore cannot be expected 
to appraise at its proper value the work of the present time, nor the 
manner of doing it or speaking of it. I grant all that; but now, 
my Philistine friend, just let me ask you one question. I will take 
you to be a head gardener, and I ask you fearlessly and honestly, Do 
the young men under you read any gardening paper with the same 
eagerness, the same greediness, almost the same relish, as you and I 
read at their age and in tbe : r circumstances? Well, you’ll hum and 
ha, and say, “ No, I don’t think they do ; but, then, you see there’s so 
much now-a-days to attract young men, even in country villages, that 
did not exist in our day.” Perhaps there is ; but, then, is that right or 
good for them ? 1 know quite well that the old plodding spirit is fast 
dying out of our young men, and that there is a large section, far 
too large, of our young gardeners who prefer to walk about with gloves 
and cane rather than sit down and read ; and there is as large a class, 
if not larger, who oniy read superficially, skimmingly, slightingly, 
who want all their thinking done for them by other people, and the 
results administered to them in a concentrated form and in sugar- 
coated homoeopathic doses by publicly read essays or lectures. The 
class of young men like you and I, dear Philistine, and our good 
brother, “ A Working Gardener,” is, I am afraid, very small. There 
are a few members in it we know, but not many. 
Said a brother head gardener to me not many days ago w T hen 
speaking on this very subject, “ I don’t know what’s come over the 
young men in the bothy. Our lady takes in for them all the horti¬ 
cultural journals, the “ Quiver,” “ Cassell’s Magazine,” and other 
serials for their use, and I can go into their room any week and find 
the gardening papers with not even the leaves cut, to say nothing of 
being read. I know it was not so in my time. I had to find my 
own gardening paper, and pay for it myself out of very small wages, 
and then I read every word of it from end to end. I begin to think 
that there’s too much done for them.” Is this so, and that our young 
men do not prize the papers because they come too easily ? The old 
saying that “ proffered service always stinks ” has some truth in it we 
know. How many gardeners twenty years hence will be able to 
write such a letter of sound sense and such a testimony to his early 
reading as that of “ A Working Gardener” in the Journal of the 13 th 
of December ? It’s a grand letter ; his words to young gardeners 
are most excellent, and deserve the attention of every young man in 
a garden. If he and I could have changed bodies we should have 
the same things to say. I, too, owe a deep debt of gratitude to the 
Journal of Horticulture. In 1856 the then editor, Mr. G. W. John¬ 
son (God for ever bless him) did me an altogether inestimable service. 
Through him I was introduced to those who helped me up to my 
present position ; and to the writings of the staff of the Journal of 
that time, specially mentioning Mr. R. Fish, I am largely indebted 
for the ability and skill to maintain that position. Herein again is 
one characteristic feature of our Journal—its warm personal con¬ 
nection with its readers ; its home-like, family-like union of directors, 
writers, readers. There is no stiff, formal, unfamiliar flavour about 
it, as if both editors, writers, and readers were abstractions rather 
than substantialities or living personalities. That is what I feel 
about the matter, though I may not be able to put my thoughts 
in the clearest words. May our Journal go on doing the good work 
it has done in the past, and may such readers as “ A Working Gar¬ 
dener” be multiplied a thousandfold. A happy new year to every¬ 
body.—H., Notts. 
TRAINING RASPBERRIES. 
I cannot name any better methods of doing this than those described 
by Mr. J. Wright (page 480), and I am not writing to go beyond his in¬ 
structions but merely to confirm them, The fence way of training is very 
familiar to us, as seven years ago we put down six of them 30 yards in 
length each, and they are as good and useful now as the first season. 
The end posts and some of the uprights are of iron. The stools are those 
planted seven years since, and I think it speaks well for the system that 
we have annually secured first-rate crops of fruit from these rows. I 
could never wish for a better way of training them, as it is most con¬ 
venient in every respect, and agrees with cultural details admirably. The 
top wire is 5 feet from the ground, and the tops of the canes are about 
1 foot above this. In July they often grow much higher than this, but 
when we thin out the old canes in September the young ones are cut 
back to the height indicated, and then they never fail to ripen and swell 
their buds to the fullest extent. 
No digging or forking is ever done amongst Raspberry roots here. Late 
in autumn or some time during the winter a quantity of good manure is 
spread over the surface of the soil, and this is all the attention the roots 
ever receive. The rows are 5 feet apart, and the centre of this space is 
forked over now and again, and in the early spring before the leaves 
produce any shade worth speaking about we grow a row of Spinach, 
Radishes, or Lettuces between the rows of Raspberries. 
There is one profitable way of growing Raspberries which I have not 
often seen practised. Tins is not cultivating them in gardens, but plant¬ 
ing them in odd corners under trees and about the rubbish heaps which 
are to be found in the back grounds of all gardens. It is astonishing how 
well Raspberries do in such positions, and the enormous quantity of small 
fruit they produce. In positions of this kind they are treated quite 
naturally, or in fact they are not treated in any way, but simply left to 
themselves, and they form both a pretty undergrowth and a good cover 
for game, which is a consideration in many places. Raspberries will 
grow and fruit better under the shade of trees than any other fruit we 
could name, and if those with surplus canes would plant them in such 
places as I have mentioned I am sure they would be pleased with the 
result.—J. Muib. 
SELECT TABLE PLANTS. 
The following is a selection of useful decorative table plants, 
well-grown examples of which cannot fail to give satisfaction. For 
this purpose well-furnished plants in 4-inch pots are more desirable 
than those grown in larger sizes, as many of those plants which have 
vaiiegated foliage develope their rich colours best when somewhat 
restricted at the roots. 
Pandanus Veitchii. —This is one of the best and most popular 
table plants in cultivation, and being of slow growth it remains a 
long time useful. To have well-coloured plants select offsets from 
the old plants which have most colour, insert them singly in small 
pots in a mixture of cocoa-nut fibre and sharp silver sand, and plunge 
them in a brisk hotbed. They will soon form roots, but they may 
remain in these pots till they are well filled with roots, when they 
may be shifted on into 4-inch pots, in which they will attain to a 
most serviceable size. I find they colour best in a rather poor com¬ 
post, equal parts loam and peat, with about a third each of charcoal, 
broken bricks, and sharp river sand. The months of March and 
April are the best to insert cuttings, but it may be done well at any 
time. 
Croton Weismannii superb a. —This is a great improvement on 
that old and truly useful sort C. Weismannii. It is of a more densely 
compact habit, and assumes a beautiful golden variegation more freely. 
It ought to have a place in the most select collections. 
Croton Warrenii. —Undoubtedly this is the most majestic and 
graceful Croton grown. The leaves on well-grown examples attain 
a length of more than 2 feet, and are of a beautiful spiral form, 
boldly arching and very regular. The colour is of a deep olive green, 
irregularly blotched and spotted with yellow and carmine. This I 
believe to be one of the richest-coloured table plants. 
Croton angustifolius . —Well-coloured plants of this old favourite 
are very highly esteemed for table work, and deservedly so, possessing 
as they do a most graceful habit. They give a light and cheerful 
appearance to the surrounding objects on the table. 
Crotons are easily propagated from cuttings inserted in the spring 
in a rather brisk hotbed, using as a compost that recommended for 
the Pandanus. When rooted pot them into small 60’s, and again 
plunge in the hotbed, and as they require it transfer them into 4-inch 
pots, using as a compost equal parts of loam and peat, about a third 
each of sand and charcoal, with a handful or two of ground bones. 
To bring out their beautiful variegation to the greatest perfection 
they will require more exposure to the sun than is generally accorded 
the inmates of the stove. If possible they ought be placed together 
in a position w r here they can enjoy the full light of the sun during 
the early morning and afternoon, shading being necessary during the 
middle of the day to prevent scorching. To maintain a supply of 
useful plants the propagating bed should never be kept empty, as 
they are very fast-growing, consequently they soon become too tall. 
A good and safe plan is to strike the tops by mossing them—that is, 
by cutting the stems of those that are too large nearly through, 
firmly tying wet moss with a dash of silver sand round the wound, 
and allowing it to remain until roots are emitted, when they should 
