328 
■JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 1], l&R. 
but left to be drawn as required. Store a quantity of bracken, 
straw, or some kind of covering material, to have it ready for 
covering Celery and other crops as soon as frost comes, but do not 
on any account begin protecting until then. We have frequently 
saved the crowns of Parsnips and Salsafy by spreading a quantity 
of leaves over the ground in which they were growing, and this also 
protected them from frost, so that there was no difficulty in digging 
up the roots as the ground was not hard. 
We are now housing our Chrysanthemums. The last of them 
will probably be in before these notes are in print. As extra 
attention has been given them this year, the buds are large and 
promising, and wo were afraid they might be injured by frost. 
This must be avoided, and the best place for all plants of value 
now is in the greenhouse, a Peach house, or vinery from which the 
fruit has been gathered. Do not shut them up. Let them have 
air day and night so long as there is no severe frost. They will 
then be in good order to stand the winter so far as they last into it. 
Begonias, Primulas, Cinerarias, and all tender greenhouse plants 
that have been in frames during the autumn should now be moved 
into a house. This applies more particularly to plants in cold 
frames. Where the frames are heated the plants may remain. Be 
sure that all the dead leaves and superfluous growths are removed, 
and it is equally important that the pots be washed. It is remark¬ 
able how easily a plant in a clean pot is kept in health as compared 
with one covered with green slime and dirt. I attach the utmost 
importance to having clean pots in winter ; indeed it is one of the 
secrets of successful wintering of plants. In applying fire heat to 
plants in winter, a mistake is often made when it is said “ the nights 
are getting very cold ; I fear our plants will suffer,” and heat is 
forthwith applied. This may suit tropical plants, not greenhouse 
and bedding plants, and it does more harm than good, as it makes 
them very tender before the winter has really set in. If we have 
a long period of wet we light the fires sometimes to expel the damp, 
but apart from this we avoid firing as much as possible until it is 
needed to keep frost out. After the new year this is not so im¬ 
portant, as if plants do begin to grow then they can generally keep 
it up, but when prematurely excited in November the tender 
growths are almost sure to dwindle and die before March. 
A great distinction should be made between plants that are 
only stored for the winter and those that are grown to be useful 
at that season. The want of sufficient light is the cause of many 
plants becoming unhealthy or dying altogether in winter, and all 
of any value should be so arranged that they may receive it, and 
any sunshine that may appear as well. Careful ventilation is 
another operation which adds much to their health and safety. If 
the houses or pits are at all air-tight keep them closed up on wet 
days, and open the ventilators when the atmosphere is inclined to 
be dry outside. As a rule front ventilators should not be much 
used in winter, but as the damp air ascends let it escape at the top. 
After a few days or weeks of wet the pipes or flues should be 
heated when air is given. 
We are now coming to the time which is admitted to be the 
worst of all for keeping Grapes. If they can be safely taken through 
the latter part of October and November they will not be very 
troublesome afterwards, and to accomplish this keep the surface of 
the inside borders rather dry, remove every leaf as soon as it 
decays, clip decaying berries out as fast as they appear, and work 
the fires and ventilators so as to keep the atmosphere always very 
dry. If these details are carried out, and they are simple enough 
I will guarantee the Grapes to winter well. Too much water at 
the root is a dangerous condition to plant life in winter. To those 
in a strong heat it may not be very injurious, but all plants in cool 
houses will suffer severely. We have some large plants of various 
kinds in a house where we cannot apply fire heat in winter, and it 
is astonishing how healthy these remain by a close observance of 
the rule of keeping the soil at the roots somewhat dry from October 
until March. We all know how much vegetation in the open 
suffers in winter in badly drained land, and this applies so forcibly 
to plants in pots that the drainage of every one ought to be in 
good order before winter. —A Kitchen Gardener. 
A LIBEL ON NURSERYMEN. 
A great deal of rhodomontade on fruit-growing appears from 
time to time in the daily papers that is not worth notice in these 
columns, but a paragraph, as stupid as it is scurrilous, was pub¬ 
lished last week that cannot be passed in silence. It is signed by 
the “ Secretary” of a so-called “ National Fruit Growers’ League,' 
and is as follows :—“ Why is it that tons and tons of fruit are left 
to rot in the orchards where they fall from the trees ? Simply 
because they consist of useless and unsaleable kinds. The nur¬ 
seryman’s stock in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred consists of 
these worthless trees. In this country at the present time there 
are millions of these useless trees in existence—-what is to become 
of them ? They are only fit to be burnt. In this sense it is a pity 
that at our conferences nine out of every ten committeemen are 
nurserymen having a pecuniary interest in the disposal of these 
worthless trees.” 
From the first two sentences we do not dissent, but the alle¬ 
gation that “ the nurseryman's stock in ninety-nine cases out of a 
hundred consists of these worthless trees ” is a gross and palpable 
untruth. The trees in nurseries are as unlike the decrepit and 
useless standards in old and neglected orchards as it is possible for 
trees to be ; and to imply that nurserymen procure grafts from 
such worthless trees and varieties for propagating and distributing 
among their customers, betrays an amount of ignorance on the part 
of the writer of the paragraph in question that we did not suppose 
existed in these days, while it attributes to the men assailed positive 
foolishness, amounting even to trade suicide. Does not the assailant 
know that worthless varieties of trees would, if raised, occupy as 
much of the precious space in nurseries as the most superior, while 
the latter have a ready sale, doing credit to the vendors, and bring¬ 
ing more business through giving satisfaction to purchasers ? Nur¬ 
serymen have to keep many varieties of fruits in stock for garden 
culture, and the completion of collections that many persons derive 
pleasure in forming ; but these are a very small minority, the great 
majority, amounting to ninety-nine out of a hundred, consisting of 
the very best and most profitable varieties in cultivation, these being 
in the greatest demand, and their raisers have the greatest pleasure 
in supplying them. 
No one understanding what he sees can visit the establishments 
of the leading raisers of fruit trees without recognising the 
cleanness and general excellence of the stock, and it is easy to 
ascertain that the most useful varieties are produced in the 
greatest numbers ; and no persons know better than those growers, 
and few as well, the best varieties to choose for different purposes 
and positions. It is a pity a respectable newspaper should be 
deluded into publishing such trash as is contained in the above 
paragraph, the closing sentences of which are positively insulting to 
as honourable a body of men as can be found in any other craft or 
calling. It is not for this “ Secretary,” whoever he may be, to 
malign men whose position and antecedents are at least as good and 
unsullied as his own ; and to suggest they have got themselves 
appointed on committees to enable them to sell “worthless” trees 
is indeed pitiable, while to assert that “ nine out of ten ” of con¬ 
ference committeemen “are nurserymen” is entirely and absolutely 
false. There are only a sufficient number to render the com¬ 
mittees fairly representative, and there are no more useful members 
than those alluded to. If the Secretary of the “ League ” con¬ 
tinue to indulge in such reckless assertions and unworthy insinua¬ 
tions as those cited he can scarcely fail to speedily bring it into 
disrepute. 
TRITOMAS. 
The Tritomas are unrivalled among hardy perennials during 
the autumn months. They are the most valued when the cold 
nights and nipping frosts have blackened and disfigured the 
Dahlias ; and when the usual bedding plants have once more com¬ 
pleted their task then it is that these “ Red-hot Pokers,” “ Flame 
Flowers,” or “ Torch Plants,” as they are often called, are seen to 
greater advantage than ever. There is nothing fastidious about 
these plants beyond some requiring slight protection in winter, and 
this may r readily be given in the shape of a mulching of dry litter 
or bracken ; and should they occupy positions much exposed then I 
would further advocate making them protect themselves by tying 
their leaves up in the shape of a sugar-loaf or cone late in autumn 
after flowering is complete. This may easily be accomplished by 
gathering the leaves rather closely together, and should they be at 
all massive a little dry straw may be placed between the foliage to 
prevent decaying, tying the whole up in a pyramid with three or 
