621 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 11, 1884, 
places manure Tfill assist rather than prove prejudicial. 
Placing coarse sand about the corms I believe is a verj good 
practice. They turn out clean with firm coats, and the “ spawn ” 
seem to revel in it, and when lifting recently I was struck with 
the difference between the corms treated with and without sand. 
Storing the corms through the winter is a knotty point with 
many, but surely there should not he much difficulty about the 
matter when once their requirements are understood. At least 
two points must be practically considered — viz., keepiug the 
corms in a solid and plump condition, and to prevent them 
growing. If either of these are allowed the corms will suffer, 
and in proportion to that allowance so will be the loss of vitality 
and the subse quent and at least partial failure. A cool, steady, 
slightly moist atmosphere in frost-proof quarters is necessary 
to keep them well. Especially does this apply to those purchased 
from dealers, and the sooner they are got in the better, for as a 
rule they necessarily do not improve upon their hands, as the 
conditions under which they are usually kept as a matter of 
convenience are by no means those which I would select for the 
purpose. Many gardeners wait until the spring before ordering ; 
but this is surely a mistake, because those who look ahead will 
have had the best corms. Eather order at the earliest oppor¬ 
tunity and store them in your own fashion until planting time. 
As to the storing of those which have been grown, that is 
I think, especially in private places, another matter. The follow¬ 
ing is a very simple plan. As each variety is lifted place them 
in pots, the label with them, and cover them loosely with a little 
soil or moist sand, leaving them precisely as taken up ; and 
when all are done the pots can be stood in a cool place such as 
a vinery or shed, in which they may remain all winter, and it 
will not be necessary to remove the tops until they will fall away 
of themselves, most likely when being prepared for planting. 
It is necessary with this treatment to see that the soil or sand 
does not get very damp, or the corms will start into growth early 
in the new year, which will not be at all satisfactory, for there 
should not be a root emitted till they are in the proper place to 
succour roots —viz., mother earth. The spawn should be removed 
and labelled, and at the end of March it may be placed in small 
drills about 3 inches deep and covered with sand, when useful 
little corms will be produced by the end of the first season, which 
must be raised and stored after the fashion of the elder ones, 
and after liberal treatment another season many will flower 
the succeeding year.—T. 
THOUGHTS ON CURRENT TOPICS. 
Chkysanthemums have lately received the lion’s share of attention 
in the Journal, and the cultivators and exhibitors of the “ Autumn Queen ” 
have, I think, had a very good innings, and either are or ought to be 
satisfied with the prominence that has been accorded to the several 
^^exhibitions in which they are interested. It seems to me that the Chrys¬ 
anthemum fever must have about reached its height. I have had the 
opportunity of visiting one show of these flowers that I perceive is pro¬ 
nounced a very good one, and I am bound to say that the crush of 
visitors surprised me, and the intensity of interest taken in the exhibits 
was such as I never saw equalled—not even at a great Rose Show that 
was held in the north last year. 
A VERY prominent thought that haunted me as I examined the 
magnificent blooms, and it haunts me still, is that gardeners in various 
parts of the country, and good gardeners too, who have never seen a 
first-rate Chrysanthemum sho.v, have no conception of what may be 
accomplished by special knowledge and great cultural skill in the 
development of the blooms. They have been growing Chrysanthemums 
for years and as they think growing them well, as I have done, and been 
vain enough to think that no one could grow them much better; but I 
have had the conceit taken out of me and have become very conscious of 
the fact that I have still something to learn, and I mean to learn it if I 
can. 
But I think I may fairly claim to be already somewhat the wiser for 
my visit. I picked up a few hints that I think I should never have so 
well obtained by reading, and this shows the advantage of inspecting 
exhibitions. The older I get the more fully am I convinced of the 
advantage that accrues to owners of gardens by not only allowing, but 
encouraging their gardeners to attend two or three shows during the 
year at which the very best produce of gardens is to be seen. I may 
possibly have been more fortunate than some better men of the craft 
in enjoying the privilege for some years of having had my expenses 
to a few of the leading shows defrayed. I am quite sure the little outlay 
has been well invested^, and if others had not thought so too, it is scarcely 
conceivable that the practice would have been continued so long. 
No gardener is worth his salt if he is not stimulated to greater eSort 
when he sees products superior to his own, and which he has the means 
of producing ; nor is a man or a “ servant ”—if “ A. F. M.” prefers that 
good old-fashioned term—worthy of filling a responsible position if he 
permitted an emqffoyer or considerate “ master ” to lose anything by con¬ 
ceding a favour now and then of the nature indicated, aud which is so 
highly appreciated. 
No earnest gardener is, as the late Mr. Robert Fish used to say, a 
mere “ six o’clock man.” He works for something more than wages, and 
works for hundreds of hours in a year, first to make, then maintain his 
reputation, and to render the gasden in his keeping in the highest degree 
satisfactory both in appearance and productiveness. Such a man is as 
happy thinning Grapes at three o’clock in the morning and in attending 
to Chrysanthemums, for instance, for two or three hours in the cool of 
summer evenings, as the “ six o’clock ” men and those with hard task¬ 
masters are either sleeping or grumbling in their cottages. 
Ready, willing, cheerful service is far more effectual and infinitely more 
to the advantage of those who not only purchase but win it than labour 
can possibly be that is given grudgingly on the do-as-little-as-can-be-helped 
system. There is no knowing when a person commences thinking how 
far his thoughts will reach. Mine on the present occasion have run far 
beyond Chrysanthemum shows, yet not beyond their scope, for I found 
on inquir)', and was not at all surprised by the information, that the 
splendid plants and marvellous blooms that I had the pleasure of 
examming w'ere in many, if not in most, cases to a very great extent the 
results of the attentive care bestowed in producing them in what are 
known as ‘‘ over-hours.” In some instances I have reason to believe that 
not one prescribed hour of labour has been withdrawn from the general 
work of the garden in gi’owing Chrysanthemums that have won prizes ; 
but on the contrary, the ordinary routine work has been pressed on more 
briskly in preparation for the absence that is necessary in attending the 
shows. 
I THINK 8u:h men deserve all they win, and I think, too, it would be 
a mistake not to give them reasonable encouragement—a mistake in every 
way : on the part of the workers in suppressing their energy and skill ; 
on the part of the masters in restricting the development of the resources 
of their gardens ; and in the interests of superior culture and the con¬ 
sequent advancement of horticulture generally in placing a clog on the 
machinery, if the term is permissible, by which the best examples of 
success are achieved. 
Not a few of the men, I venture to think, have encountered difldculties 
at the commencement of their exhibiting career. They have had to 
combat the jeilousy that existed lest time should be spent in indulging 
in a mere “ fancy ” or “ fad ; ” but by the exercise of that tact which all 
gardeners should possess, with untiring diligence and conscientious labour, 
they have gained the confidence and eventually the encouragement of 
those who before mistrusted them, the outcome being united effort, 
harmony, and mutual goodwill. That is what I meant when I said that 
” Masters, as a rule are pretty much what men make them and I am not 
surprised that “ A. F. M.” believes the converse is true. I take him to be 
a master (but may be wrong), and have formed an opinion that he is a good 
one. I think, too, if I were his servant his conduct (judging by his sen¬ 
timents) would be such as to make me a better man, and I am sure, if I 
found him to differ, as the doctors say, from my diagnosis of him, I should 
try and make him a better master. “ A. F. M.” has fairly gained his 
point on the question of terms, and I think he will not be much surprised 
to hear that 1 would much rather be the “servant” of a good master than 
the “man” of a bad one. That is my last thought on this subject at 
present. _ 
A moment’s attention is due to the remarks of your Cork corre¬ 
spondent “ F. 0.” on page 480. So far from my thinking that the lifting 
of Peach trees in large borders is unnecessary in a district so dull and 
wet that the leaves are retained in the winter, I said that “ No doubt your 
correspondent does quite right under the circumstances” (see page 458) 
which is the exact opposite of what he adduces as my convictions after 
he had read my words above quoted. I fear he does not read carefully, 
but I also respectfully suggested to him the desirability of restricting the 
roots still more, and my remarks on this subject are pronounced by your 
correspondent “Very good.” 
It will be conceded, I think, by most, if not all, practical gardeners 
that the more the roots of trees are restricted the shorter and firmer will 
be the growth ; and it follows, I think, as a natural consequence that the 
duller and wetter the district in which Peach trees are grown the greater 
the necessity for preventing succulent shoots which retain their leaves all 
the winter. Of one thing I am certain, that Peach trees of the size 
named, or 10 feet high, with a 15 feet spread of branches, can have all 
the support they need in borders 8 feet wide and 20 inches deep in the 
driest and sunniest district in the country. 
When Peach trees need lifting annually it appears to me pretty 
conclusive proof that the borders in which they are growing are, as a 
rule, either too large or too rich. There are exceptions we know to most 
rules, and these, in fact, show that the rules are sound ; and an exception 
to the rule in question arises when by an accident or unpreventible frost 
the blossoms are destroyed, and no crop follows, as the trees would then 
grow more strongly, and even too luxuriantly, in a border that would 
have neither been too large nor too rich had the trees been laden with 
fruit. These are matters in which gardeners must exercise judgment 
