530 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
and are now living a life of drudgery, painfully 
conscious and ready to admit the great error that they 
might so easily have avoided. 
There are, of course, instances where a gardener 
cannot consistently with his own self-respect and 
without sacrificing his manliness of character endure 
the pressure that is put upon him, and he decides to 
take his departure as the lesser of two evils. The only 
consolation attaching to a case of this kind is that the 
really hard and unreasonable taskmaster usually has 
inflicted on him a worse gardener than the one he 
drove way, and it would be no worse if owners of 
gardens w T ould recognise that contingency. 
Individuals who are really the most hard to serve 
are those who are ever changing their minds—fanciful, 
impulsive people, who see something, go into ecstacies 
over it, and “ must ” have it. A gardener strives to 
meet the wish, and works for a season diligently to 
that end, yet when he has accomplished the object for 
which he has laboured, instead of meeting with approval, 
he has the mortification of finding his labour has been 
in vain, time has been lost, space wasted, and patience 
exhausted, for something else is wanted now, and so 
the w T orry goes on. It is in this way that employers 
make mistakes, lose good men, and get inferior 
servants. 
Patience and tact are of great advantage to much- 
pressed gardeners, for, as a rule, those who possess 
these qualities triumph over their obstacles sooner or 
later. Some years ago the family of a gentleman were 
so fond of flowers that they were in the habit of pulling, 
not cutting, Camellias, splitting off the branches, and, 
of course, preventing future flowers; they would also 
in cutting Amaryllises take off the top of the bulb be¬ 
cause they liked the green with the flowers. That was 
an exceptional case, and these things are not done now. 
The gardener’s patience stood him in good stead, for it 
enabled him to continue until the young ladies grew 
up, and he taught them that plants will not live with¬ 
out leaves and with such treatment the bulbs would 
die, and now he is one of the happiest old men alive. 
Mistakes in routine, such as those indicated at the 
commencement of these notes (and which will perhaps 
be further noticed) are often inconvenient enough, 
and should by every possible means be avoided; but 
they are trivial in comparison with the fundamental 
errors that are too often committed by masters and 
men; by the latter often hastily, by the former un¬ 
consciously and thoughtlessly, for, as has been truth¬ 
fully observed, “ evil is wrought by want of thought 
more than by want of heart.” With more considera¬ 
tion there will be fewer mistakes, and owners of gar¬ 
dens will be better satisfied and gardeners more con¬ 
tented.— Experientia docet. 
ELLIOTT’S YORKSHIREMAN AND SANDERS’ 
TELEPHONE CUCUMBERS. 
A BREAKDOWN OF TIIE “EXPRESS.” 
Allow me to call the attention of the readers of the Journal 
to these Cucumbers. It is seven weeks to-day since the seed 
was sown, and I think the plants are worth looking at. Those 
who cannot see them may fancy a plant with six or seven 
Cucumbers, each weighing from 2 lbs. to 1^, these at this 
weight being very young, with the flowers still on them. In 
my experience Elliott’s variety beats all for rapidity of produce. 
The flavour of both is all that can be desired. Telephone is 
not quite so free in bearing, but the fruit is longer. I shall 
grow a larger quantity of it next year ; and now having the pen in 
hand I will endeavour to give you a brief account of my 
attempt at the Express system of Cucumber-growing. 
First, 1 may say my early house is a lean-to, 70 feet long, 
11 feet wide, 10 feet high at the back, and 5 feet in front, this 
giving me 11-feet rafters. The roof is well glazed with 
squares 12 by 20 inches. I am particular in giving sizes to 
benefit others. It is heated with two rows of 4-inch pipes 
under the bed ; two rows along the front, and four rows in the 
path for affording top heat. There is thus a good amount of 
piping, also a good boiler to work it. The back wall is white 
or lime-washed. 
On the first Saturday in March, having strong plants, a start 
was made, under the impression that we had passed through 
the rough weather ; but it was not so, for as you are aware, 
winter began in earnest after the first few days of that 
month. The house faces west, so gets very little morning sun. 
I had been at the trouble to visit one place where the Express 
system was at work, so provided troughs 3 feet in length for 
covering the whole of the pipes, as I was informed that much 
atmospheric moisture would prevent the necessity of ventilation. 
Time went on, and I thought, notwithstanding the cold winds 
which compelled me to fire rather hard, that I was on the right 
track, but I soon found I was miserably disappointed. I got 
the roof nearly covered with grand healthy-looking foliage, 
and fruit showed in plenty. Not one, however, in ten could 
I set. I kept working away, however, with both fire and water, 
yet with no better results. I then called in a cultivator who 
had made a speciality of this system, and he at once told me 
I was wrong. In the first place there were too many evaporating 
pans by two-thirds, and the soil was too loose in the bed, 
causing me to give too much water. The next day, a very hot 
one, the temperature of the house was 120° with no venti¬ 
lation, and of course no shade. The result was that the plants 
were burnt to that degree, that after trying them a fortnight 
longer with shading as required, I pulled them up and planted 
again. Well, these plants are doing on what I call my old 
plan, which is plenty of fire, plenty of water at the roots, not 
too much syringing, as little ventilation as possible ; in fact, 
none if they will do without it, but affording shade with scrim 
canvas as required. The failure of this house was very serious 
to me, as I never in the best week cut over twenty Cucumbers, 
and these of such a pale colour and small, that they only 
realised a low price in the market. 
The causes of failure in this house I attribute to excessive 
moisture in the atmosphere and dryness of the roots, for 
certainly I did not give sufficient water. I believe in a well- 
drained bed with pipes under it that it is almost impossible to 
give too much water. One cause of the burning of the foliage 
I now find to be in the fact of the wires being only 14 inches 
from the glass. They ought to be twice that distance. 
The variety I grew was the “ Special Express ” from Preston, 
obtained through a friend. The fruit I like much, though I 
suppose it is only a crossed Telegraph. It, however, does not 
come large with me. The new lot of plants with shading 
endure a temperature of 120°; in fact, they like it. 
Were I to start early another season I feel sure I could 
succeed, being perfectly satisfied where my mistakes occurred. 
I started on the new plan because last year the plants had a 
slight touch of disease caused by want of water and low 
temperature, the result of being short-handed during the Grape¬ 
thinning period. In my next I will give particulars of culture 
in a house facing east.— Stephen Castle, The Vineyard , West 
Lynn. 
SOME THOUGHTS ON GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 
The term Garden Management is expressive yet relative. 
It may mean management of soil, of means, of men, occasion¬ 
ally of masters ; the latter an accomplishment which it is to be 
hoped does not require a large number of students, though as a 
study it may be an exceedingly useful one in some cases. The 
management of the soil is particularly a matter requiring long 
experience and careful attention. An experience of one or 
two years will not ascertain either the weak or strong points 
in a soil, and anyone taking a garden in hand and thinking 
that just so much digging, manuring, and seed-sowing are 
