336 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Ootobar 14, 1886. 
face. A simple thing is planting a tree neatly and properly, requiring, 
like everything else, care, time, judgment, and skill in labour, perhaps 
very little regarded, but all the same forming the basis of success. 
4th, Before planting, any broken or jagged roots must be cut away, any 
top or straggling roots shortened back, not with a long slanting cut, but 
with as short a one as possible. 5th, After planting stakes will be given to 
such as require it, with the needful ties to prevent scrubbing and rubbing, 
and after a wind any that have their equilibrium disturbed will be put 
straight, and fine soil placed about the stems so as to close the holes. Gth, 
The plants should not be withdrawn from the place where laid in until 
they are wanted, never when frost prevails, and they must not be kept 
hours with their roots exposed to a bleak or drying wind, nor left in the 
run for hours, but be kept from the air as much as possible, and placed 
into the soil again after they are taken out as soon as practicable. 7th, 
The plants in summer after planting must not be allowed to get smothered 
with rubbish—coarse weeds and grass ; but keep a clear space around 
each plant, so that it can have air, light, and the benefit of rain. These 
are the principles upon which general planting may be conducted. More 
trees are planted from November to April than at any other time of year, 
and yet we find some experimentalists continually dinning into our ears the 
details of moving trees in leaf in May or June, and of others in August 
or September, forgetting to take into account that the increased labour of 
such transplantation prohibits its general adoption. For general planting 
the winter season is preferable on account of the lessened risk and labour 
entailed, or that part of it which comes under the category of forestry, 
but ornamental planting is of different character.—A. J. 
PITHY CELERY. 
Nothing is more disappointing in vegetable-growing than to 
sow Celery seed carefully in spring, devoting a great deal of 
attention to rearing the young plants, putting them out in the 
trenches with much care, and earthing them in due season, but 
only to find in October or November that the majority of the 
plants are pithy and almost useless. That this happens in many 
cases there is no doubt, and many growers are caused a great 
deal of inconvenience by it, as the Celery crop is at all times 
and in all places a most important one, and few can afford to 
lose it with impunity. I may explain to beginners that “pithy” 
Celery is that which developes freely and promises well,butis alto¬ 
gether deceptive, as the fine-looking leafstalks instead of being 
firm and solid may be pressed together with the finger and thumb 
like a sponge. Celery of this kind is never relished on the table, 
and what is worse it will not keep, as it soon absorbs a great 
deal of moisture and decays quickly. It is impossible to remedy 
this now, but those who know little or nothing of it may have 
a better chance of noticing it at present than any other time. 
Many causes have been published from time to time as to the 
production of pithy Celery, some thinking it was a question of 
too old seed, others too young seed; but in my opinion the seed 
has nothing to do with it, neither has the variety, as one is just as 
liable to become pithy as another. The soil in which the plants 
are grown is the sole cause of it so far as I can observe by ex¬ 
periment, and I would undertake to produce Celery either pithy 
or not in any season. 
The soil in the main kitchen garden here is old, and contains 
a great deal of decayed vegetable matter. Here we have tried 
Celery time after time, and it invariably became pithy in the 
autumn. Another smaller garden contains soil equally old in 
its cultivation, but it is sharp and gritty, and in this pithy Celery 
is unknown. Indeed, we confine the Celery crop to this soil now, 
and we are never troubled with pithy plants. If 1 wanted to 
cure a soil which produced pithy heads I would mix a great deal 
of sharp sand or ashes with it only manure moderately, and get 
the plants to make a substantial growth in the place of a very 
rank production. In such a soil as 1 recommend worms are not 
common, and the hdads not only turn out sound but quite free 
from worm marks, which is another great advantage.—J. Muir. 
AMATEURS. 
I AM much obliged to “ D., Beal,” for answering my query and 
giving an explanation. Although he is a judge at shows, and has vastly 
more experience than I pretend to, the subject is by no means explained 
by his questions, which are not difficult to answer—viz , in England there 
are persons who go in the capacity of groom and gardener, also of indoor 
servant and gardener combined. A friend of min'e had for two years an 
excellent valet and butler and footman. This man was brought up as a 
professional gardener in a nursery at Oxford, took prizes for Roses at 
Malvern, Hereford and Shrewsbury, and Ludlow. A gardener by pro¬ 
fession, his master, the amateur, had no right to compete in amateur classes, 
because he never touched a Rose except to cut one. His butler, formerly 
professional gardener at Oxford, grew from the first. No man brought 
up as a professional gardener, d >ing all the work, and the amateur 
owner of the article, be it Roses or Melons, and doing nothing but the 
buying and admiring part of the business, can be called an amateur. 
Bona Jide amateurs do all the work themselves, except the digging and 
manuring of ground, which always must be done in case of a lady or 
gentleman by a common labourer, who, not having been trained profes¬ 
sionally under a gardener or in a nursery, is not termed and never claims 
the name gardener. Query, “ Does one who has a gardener in for three or 
four days in a week come under the same description ? ” Answer, Most 
certainly. I have an excellent one ; he gr >ws what I tell him. Not my 
Begonias, Pelargoniums, &c. ; he never touches these from year’s end to 
year’s end, and I should not think of showing publicly any of the things 
he grows as grown by myself amateur fashion. Again, does it mean em¬ 
ploying anyone who is a gardener by profession ? Most certainly it does, 
and in this showing bu iness in horticulture the words amateur and pro¬ 
fessional should be made as strict, and the difference between them as 
fully recognise! as it is on the turf in the cricketing and boating world. 
Pray excuse me, but such queries from a very capable judge require an 
answer from the person who started this subject. In conclusion, allow me 
to thank the Editor and “ D., Beal” for opening up a subject that 
has evidently met with approval from some readers of the Journal. 
Saxoring. 
GROWING FRUIT FOR MARKET. 
“A Thinker’s’’ gentle and excellent criticism of my selections of 
fruit trees for marketing is highly seasonable. I quite agree, as your 
acute correspondent states, that there is not much utilitarianism in grow¬ 
ing many varieties where a short selection would be more profitable. 
Supplying the markets is quite different from supplying a gentleman’s 
establishment. Out of some hundreds of varieties those I have named 
have brought the best returns from the salesmen. Any not mentioned are 
either not grown or they have not shown any value, either from poorness 
of crop or quality for marketing purposes. In reducing the lists of varie¬ 
ties I have made a move in the right direction, and with all deference to 
your correspendent I consider them as limited as they ought to be for an 
establishment conducted on utilitarian principles, as many gardens are at 
the present time. The short selection of your correspondent includes 
only culinary varieties. Are the dwellers in our large town houses to 
have no desseit Plums ? Surely your correspondent knows, or ought to 
know, that these are the largest purchasers of fruit. Out of thirty varie¬ 
ties of Plums for market, only one is singled out through not being able 
to regard it as profitable. This as evidence of the estimation in which the 
list is held by your correspondent, indeed he describes them as “ many 
good Plums for market.” Oullins Golden is the only early Plum that we 
have that combines the three essentials of appearance, size, and quality for 
dessert purposes, and possesses a hardy constitution. It certainly is not a 
great bearer, but what is lacking in bulk is made up by the enhanced 
value through its quality. If it bore better it would, of course, be better 
worth keeping, but if we discard it I do not see what is to take its place. 
Then as to Pears, I thought I had made it all right as to Windsor, and I do 
not think it is at all “ gtntle ” to reproach anyone making a mistake, even 
if it be wilful, which has been admitted and rectified. As to Swan’s Egg 
and Seckle Pears, it is stated on page 298 that the small Pears are 
omitted. Their quality is good, even “A Thinker” describes one of 
them as rich. I stated “ They are great bearers, and unsurpassed for 
quality.” Perhaps your correspondent will tell us what large Pear has 
the richness of Seckle, or the agreeable musk of Swan’s Egg, not to mention 
Aston Town and Autumn Bergamot. They have left as strong an im¬ 
pression on some palates as have the good old Windsor, so that the 
claims of quality cannot always be safely ignored ; besides, what is want¬ 
ing in bulk one way is made up in another, and all tastes, or rather the 
pockets, must be met. This is an aspect of the case I really did not take 
into consideration, and I have reason to thank your correspondent. 
As to Beurrd Capiaumont being “ poor and poor-looking,” I can 
only say that the estimates should be founded on experience. In the 
north, Beurrd Capiaumont is anything but “ poor and poor-looking,” 
being the brightest in colour, and there are many worse in quality taken 
from trees on a wall. Perhaps “ A Thinker ” takes his prompting from 
the “ sunny south.” If so, it will only show the desirability of a more 
extended exchange of views. Fruit is not alike everywhere. 
In the matter of Apples “ Thinker ” appears to have got more than a 
trifle mixed. His first objection is to the Queen as a dessert sort, and points 
to the “Fruit Manual” as verification of its being a culinary Apple. 
Whatever may be its strict character, the Queen is large and very hand¬ 
some, and would pass with most people as a dessert or culinary Apple, 
though it might be too acid for some. That is a matter of taste. That 
“ A Thinker” is a bold man we need no further proof than in his mani¬ 
fest advising of the displacement of Blenheim Pippin by Cobham, I 
have no objection, only if you have trees of Blenheim Pippin I say, 
Decidedly do not seek to displace them by Cobham. They are equally 
fine. If going to plant I should certainly follow the lead of your corre¬ 
spondent were everything to be subordinated to getting fruit in the 
shortest time. Emperor Alexander is too light. All I can say is, it 
weights the pockets heavier than any other Apple of its season. The 
“ Fruit Manual ” states it to be “ a,beautiful and valuable Apple.” This, 
as a set-off to “A Thinker’s” remarks on the Queen. I am pleased to 
know Lord Derby overweights it. Apples are not sold everywhere by 
weight. It is pleasing to have to grant a point in favour of Lane’s Prince 
Albert over Loddington. What is “Thinker’s” experience of Lanes 
Prince Albert as a standard ? I have it only as a wall tree, and in the 
open on the Paradise. As to Worcester Pearmain it is as much one as the 
other— i e., culinary or dessert—one of the highest coloured and most 
taking fru ts. Yorkshire Beauty being unknown to your correspondent 
I may say that it is “ Large, round, angular, orange yellow, flushed bright 
red, second quality, mid-season; a very heavy cropper” in “British 
