520 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. December 8, 1881. 
shoul 1 be made, and it may be kept in flower till Christmas. 
These annuals may be sown where they are to flower, but may 
require guarding against slugs with circles of perforated zinc 
3 imhes high. If the rockery is not yet filled for the season, such 
dwarfs as Alonsoa incisifolia, Mimulus Harrisoni, Lobelia Erinus 
may be planted in May in the vacant positions.— C. WOLLEY Dod, 
Edge Hall. 
SPECIMEN-PLANT GROWING. 
Under the somewhat singular heading of “ Responsibilities of 
Gardeners” a discussion appears to have arisen as to whether 
plants in pots are better grown in large or in small gardens. 
Your correspondent “ Single-handed ” appears, as is natural, 
to consider the best examples are seen in small or moderate-sized 
gardens, while some “ many-handed ” contributors, also very 
naturally, appear to think differently. One of them on page 431 
stated that “ almost without exception ” the plants exhibited at 
metropolitan and provincial shows were grown “by subordinates.” 
This in my experience is certainly not so ; but in saying this I do 
not imply that those who have the charge of large gardens could 
not have grown the plants equally well had they been required to 
do so, and had the opportunity of giving the necessary personal 
attention to the work. 
It is idle for anyone to argue that routine work of the garden is 
done better in a large place than in a small one, or vice versa. 
The question is often one of means rather than of men, or how 
would stand the cases of those men who have passed from small 
to large gardens ? 
In large gardens the multitudinous duties of a gardener prevent 
his devoting personal attention to specimen-plant growing, nor 
are exhibition plants needed in one large garden out of ten. I 
should doubt even if your correspondents who claim that the best 
plants arc grown in the largest gardens grow exhibition plants 
themselves ; but whether they do so or not, their capacity as 
gardeners remains the same. 
Generally speaking, the best specimen plants are grown in 
comparatively small gardens and not by subordinates in large 
gardens. If your correspondent, to whom I have alluded, had 
seen the wonderful examples of Chrysanthemum culture at the 
chief metropolitan and provincial shows lately he would have 
found that scarcely any of them were grown by subordinates in 
great places, but by the exhibitors personally in small gardens. 
The same rule holds good in respect of exhibiting specimen plants 
in summer, not 5 per cent, of which come from the so-called 
“great gardens.” Such specimens are of little or no use in the 
mansions of the great. What are known as “ decorative ” plants 
are needed there, and are generally well grown and spoiled 
quickly. That many young men can grow those plants well goes 
without saying, or they would not retain their positions ; but this 
is no evidence that the chiefs could not grow them equally well 
if they could bestow on them personal attention. 
It is not wise to contrast the work done in gardens in the way 
in which the subject has been treated, and I am unable to con¬ 
gratulate any of your correspondents on their judgment in this 
matter. Many men in both large and small places do well, and 
would do better if they had the means ; and although I have had 
some experience in showing that satisfied me, I am far from 
saying that those are the best gardeners who win the most prizes. 
Some of the most competent men never exhibit, in fact many of 
them are not allowed to do so. 'ihese cannot be judged by the 
exhibition standard, and asking gardeners to show their cards as 
a test of ability is not far removed from childishness. Let no 
one think I am reflecting on the abilities of men who do exhibit 
successfully. I am not likely to do that. They have the means 
of showing their work, but they could not show it if they did not 
do it. 
The gardener who gives the greatest satisfaction to his em¬ 
ployer, whether by growing huge specimen plants and large 
bunches of Grapes for exhibition, or by growing smaller plants 
for house decoration and medium-sized bunches of good Grapes 
for everyday use, is best contributing to his own comfort and 
professional reputation, however large or small the garden may 
be in which he is engaged.— A Judge. 
branches, three-quarters of an inch being left so as to form a spur. 
As to how many shoots should remain entirely depends on the 
strength of the branches, two to four being the maximum, selecting 
those pointing outwards, shortening and leaving them about 8 inches 
long. Some gardeners cut the shoots smoothly off close to the old 
wood, and say if the least portion be left it produces useless shoots 
the next season, and what shoots are left should be left entire. In 
pruning Red Currants I have been taught to cut back lateral growth 
to about half an inch, leaving short spurs which are covered with 
fruit buds, and shorten the leader, leaving it about 6 inches long. 
Some gardeners trim them well, cutting what are removed clean 
away, and say the terminal shoot should be left and three or four 
below it, leaving them entire ; the fruit being borne on the previous 
year’s wood, and the clusters of fruit being much finer than those 
from spurs.— A Young Gardener. 
LAWNS IN WINTER. 
In our pleasure grounds of twenty-five acres or more we have- 
much short grass and many trees, both evergreen and deciduous, 
and from Ihe beginning of October until now the latter keep our 
awns in an untidy state ; but now the leaves have all fallen we 
give one thorough cleaning, and this is all that is wanted the 
whole winter. In cleaning lawns and pleasure grounds all rubbish 
should be removed. Allowing the leaves to remain under the 
clumps and bushes will soon produce more work, as the first 
wind will biing many of the leaves on the grass again ; but if all 
Ihe leaves aic raked from round the bushes first, and the lawns 
swept afterwards, there will be an end of cleaning for several 
months. Where there are many worms in the turf their casts are 
now disfiguring the grass, and these should also be swept away. 
As soon as the sweeping has been done a roller should be run 
over the surface, and this will impart a very neat appearance to 
it. If the roller is light it should be taken over the same part 
two or three times. 
When the ground is rather dry is the best time to sweep, but 
the rolling may be done when the turf is quite soft. Where the 
grass is very rough it might be cut after it is rolled some days, 
but it is tough now. We are finishing dressing our lawns for the 
winter, and they look almost as well as they did in summer.—M. 
Pruning Gooseberry and Currant Bushes.— As the pruning 
of small bush fruits is on hand it would be well to know the ex¬ 
perience of others on the subject. In pruning these bushes there are 
two ways adopted by cultivators, and as the best way has not yet 
been decided a discussion on the subject would be useful to many. 
I am a young gardener, and the way I have been taught to prune 
Gooseberries is this :—Leave such branches as contain good firm buds 
with the bark of the shoots cracked: this is good ripened wood. 
Small shrunk wood should be removed but not cut off close to the 
FLOWERS FOR CUTTING. 
It is surprising how greatly the demand for flowers has increased 
in recent years. I know cases where the supply of fruit to the 
house has been decreased in order to allow much of it to be sold ; but 
there are few cases where the flower supply is treated in the same 
manner. On the contrary, year by year shows a steady increase 
in the quantity grown. Quite as many flowers are required and 
produced in what was called the dull season for flowers as at 
any other season of the year. Now there is no particular month 
when flowers may be allowed to become scarce without some 
danger to the credit of the gardener. As gardeners, we have 
great reason to thank the floiist for the help he has given us. It 
would have been impossible twenty years ago to cut a hundred 
trusses a week of brilliant Pelargoniums through chill November, 
and still have as many at the beginning of December as there was 
a mouth earlier. I am not talking of a large collection, but of 
as many as filled a four-light frame. Then that sweetest of 
winter flowers, Bouvardia Yreelandi and its red counterpart 
B. Hogarth, or the deeper-coloured B. elegans, which have yielded 
us six hundred trusses through last month from a score of plants. 
Or the Chinese Primula in its many-hued shades, which, single or 
double, forms a bouquet of itself, and with its foliage. But what 
need is there to recapitulate the lovel 3 r flowers the present gene¬ 
ration of gardeners have at this period i Provided always we have 
stroDg-grown healthy plants, the main principle is to keep them 
growing healthily. This may seem a mere truism, but I have 
noticed repeatedly that with the advent of short days there also 
arises a tendency to starve plants in that greatest of all necessities 
water, and heat sufficient to keep the roots moving. There is no 
greater fallacy in gardening than that of expecting plants which 
naturally bloom in summer to bloom healthily and profusely in 
late autumn and winter without help from fire heat. Let us take 
the Pelargonium as an example. Give it an even temperature of 
55°, it may sometimes be a little lower, sometimes a little higher ; 
give water as you would in summer, or whenever you see the soil 
requires it ; keep the plants near the glass, and you will find that 
active and healthy roots are continually produced. A short 
healthy growth is produced with a truss from every joint, with 
large and well-coloured pips. It is just the same with Bouvardias, 
Primulas, Callas, double Pelargoniums, and Azaleas. They may 
vary in some respects, but the same principles hold good, and, if 
acted ( d, how satisfactory to everyone concerned are the results. 
TheD, having the flowers, what about cutting them l Personally I 
