44 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Januar/ liS 8 P» 
Being happily in charity with all men at the beginning of the year, 
and desirous of continuing in this placid frame of mind, I will try and 
be modest and unassuming ; but with all my care may fail, as others 
have failed before me in practising what they preach. But I am not 
going to write in fear and trembling, nor suppress my opinions on sub¬ 
jects that may come to the front. I shall ignore all individualities in 
my observations, and know no rank nor class. Matters, not men, will 
be the leading idea, though sometimes they get so mixed as not to be 
very easy to separate. I hope all this is consistent with modesty ; if it 
is not I cannot be modest, and there ends the matter—that is, as the 
theatrical people say, the prologue, and now for the “ patter.” 
My first impression is that we have begun the new year well. A 
buoyant feeling of hopefulness pervades the editorial address for the 
reasons stated therein. Gardening is not going to recede but advance ; 
public interest in horticulture is not destined to contract but expand. 
I am as confident of this as I can be of anything that is coming to pass. 
The difficulties that have been encountered have sharpened endeavour, 
and the greater and better the supply is of that which is essential to 
life—food and refreshment, the outcome of the soil, with the beauties 
®f Nature as developed by skill—the more surely will a demand for them 
be created. I heard something like a groan the other day because plants 
had to be sold for half a crown now that would have realised half a 
guinea a few years ago ; but what of that ? The person who sold a 
hundred in one day, as he did, would not have sold a dozen if half that 
number in the palmy days he seemed to long for. When tea was 6s. a 
pound it was no better for the dealers, and when newspapers were half 
the size and twice or thrice the price they are now, it was no better for 
the vendors. On the contrary it was worse for them and for everybody. 
Such are my impressions of the editorial; but I must pass on. 
“A Yorkshire Amateur,” who writes like a clergyman, follows with 
greetings, thoughtful and kindly. He recognises the facts of life, and 
more—reminds us of the Great Beyond. There are moments of sadness 
in the life of everyone ; but then comes, as he shows, the sunlight on 
the page. May it be a happy omen to him and to all who love their 
gardens and do what he urges—their duty. Our friend informs us he is 
in gardening patter a Bose man. It is an honourable designation, and 
possibly no section of the community than the Kose-loving section, 
scattered as its constituents are all over the land, has done more to 
foster a taste for gardening. Many a plot previously dismal, little more 
than a weedy waste, has been by the in8uence of good examples made 
bright and sweet with what is and will remain the national flower—the 
B,ose. May the year be a great Bose year, and all who strive to make 
it so reap reward for honest endeavour in the good work. 
Then our good adviser tells us to cultivate the virtue of kindness in 
®ur little controversies, and not to use verbal brickbats for arguments. 
Very good. I hope we shall not, nor what is less vulgar, perhaps, though 
not more admired, seek a vulnerable point in the armour of a supposed 
enemy for shooting a dart, scarcely visible in transit, but which wounds 
iim for whom it was intended. To speak the plain truth, however, I 
have observed persons w’ho do not pretend to like literary eombats enjoy 
them immensely when out of the fray. But they may easily continue 
too long and grow too severe, friendly though the combatants may be 
personally. I have often thought they understood each other, and were 
merely playing before the public. 1 am at any rate in the happy 
position of not having, to my knowledge, lost a friend nor made an 
enemy in a few literary skirmishes in which I have been engaged. We 
cannot be always digging and delvin?, or “ singing sweet songs of love ” 
to each other, but must have our little fracases to sharpen the wits, like 
sparkling wine. But -we may all remember, and we ought to bear stead¬ 
fastly in mind, the great truth brought before us so opportunely, that “ a 
soft answer turneth away wrath.” I suspect, however, it is in the nature 
®f our race to be combatant; anyhow there is always a crush in Par¬ 
liament when a “ row ” is expected, and we ought to find the best of 
aatures there. 
Next a great gardener speaks, a man of whom British horticul¬ 
turists ought to be, and are, proud—Mr. David Thomson. I have had 
the pleasure of seeing him at home in the “old Duke’s time,” when the 
noble demesne of Drumlanrig was nobly kept. It was a treat to s-e 
the gardens then, and whatever changes death may have wrought, the 
chief centre of interest to gardeners remains in the man (though some 
lesser souled than he would object if so described) who has done so 
much with spade and pen to improve the craft that he adorns. Like a 
veteran he stands back on a point of vantage and surveys the field. To 
see the extent of a wood wi'. must get from amongst the trees. Becog- 
nising the mighty strides that have been m.ade in his time in the domain 
ef gardening, he has faith in its future extension. So have I. Bemedies 
are found for ills by thrifty, prudent, and enterprising nations, and 
peace brings prosperity, of which gardens are sure to have a good share 
in this land of gardens. Great Britain, and let us all in one deep wish and 
prayer add, Ireland. I thank you, Mr. Thomson, for your cheery con¬ 
tribution, and should like to whisper in your ear. Write again. 
Possibly, however, even a gardener so eminent, and with such a 
wide range of experience, may fancy he does not know what to write 
abont. Let me reproduce a text. “ It is sad to see the public tendency 
to prefer mere size to quality, for in the markets all good qualities 
must go to the wall in favour of size.” Nor does this apply to fruits 
alone, but to vegetables ; nor to markets alone, but to shows. It is 
“ sad to see ” leading prizes awarded to Potatoes unfit to form part of a 
respectable dinner. Brussels Sprouts will be spoiled if a reaction does 
not soon set in, and Onions in the form of flat-footed monstrosities are 
on the road to ruin. Seedsmen cannot be blamed, as they must meet 
the demand for big things, but judges at least should give due weight to 
quality. Not long ago a prize was very nearly awarded to Potatoes 
averaging more than a pound each, when the third judge put in an 
emphatic “ No,” remarking “ if you honour such coarse tubers, and con¬ 
demn the smaller, and obviously superior, what do you think the 
character of the show will be next year ? ’ They saw the point, and 
were glad they escaped making a great blunder. The multitude, no 
doubt, must have bulk, as much as can be had for money, but the 
majority of gardeners do not cater for the multitude, and many of them, 
if not most, grow the produce of gardens too big by half. 
“ 0. T. C.” (page 3), writes well, on what is not often written about 
by a master of its culture, that gorgeous terrestrial Orchid Disa grandi- 
fiora, and the extract from Dr. Harvey in which its natural habitat is 
so vividly described is highly suggestive and instructive. I have seen 
plants apparently quite happy in handlights, with the lids propped up 
in a damp position on the north side of a wall in summer, also in the 
little greenhouse of an amateur, facing north from which frost was only 
just excluded in winter. “ D., Deal," and Bev. P. Tymons have also told 
us how they succeed with this plant, which is not difficult to manage 
when its requirements are understood, and the citation on page 3 makes 
these clearer than I have hitherto seen. The best Disas that have come 
under my observation were near a tank at the end of the Heath house 
at Chatsworth, “between a door and a ventilator,” just as described in 
the notes of your correspondent, who perhaps has seen them too. There 
are blue Disas now, I believe, but I have not seen them ; perhaps some¬ 
body can tell us something about the new comers. 
Whoever penned the articleon“ Melon Growing Made Easy ” (page 5) 
is, I venture to say, a worker. There is no flourish about him. You may 
almost see “ P. D. T.” carrying out the details he points out, with good 
crops at the end. Such practical notes are of real service to many, for 
the inexperienced are always with us taking the places of others who 
have passed to higher grades, and it is hoped they always will be, for 
armies can only be kept at the full strength by the accession of 
recruits. 
And now I come to my old friend, Mr. Iggulden. His “ Facts about 
Grapes” have been throughout sensible and good, but I am lucky 
enough to find a little to differ about in his notes. He says, on page 4, 
that “ Alicante is superior to Gros Maroc as usually met with, Gros 
Colman and Alnwick Seedling.’’ That is not quite my experience. 
Gros Maroc vari s greatly, and is not, as a rule, so good as it looks. I 
have tried samples of all the Grapes named from three districts lately. 
The Gros Colmans in each were superior to either Alicante or Gros 
Maroc, and so was Alnwick Seedling. I have only once found this 
inferior to Alicante from Vines in the same house, but it cannot be com¬ 
pared with it for easy culture, and as a late Grape for untrained 
amateurs. By far the best Gros Colmans I have tasted this year and 
much superior to any Alicantes I have tried, were grown at the West 
Lynn vineyard. Mr. Iggulden does not appear to have a very high 
opinion of Golden Queen. I know only of two gardeners who grow it 
well—Mr. AlUs at Old Warden, and Mr. Wallis of Keele Hall. Mrs. 
Pearson, to my mind, is far in advance of it. Mr. McIntosh has it fine 
at Duneevan every year, where it ranks among the best in his good col¬ 
lection, and now Mr. Goodacre speaks a strong word in its praise, and a 
Grape, I fancy, cannot be very bad that he calls good. But I see the 
“ facts ” are not finished, therefore I will say no more on Mrs. Pearson 
at present; but just one more word about Alicante. I think it is a good 
variety for bad Grape growers, though many good ones produce it grand 
in appearance and even fairly good in quality, though in that respect I 
am not able to regard it otherwise than a second or third-rate Grape. 
I PASS the Orchids with the remark confirmatory of the observations 
of “ J. J.” that more Orchids are ruined by overpotting than by any 
other mistake in management, except a want of cleanliness, and I do not 
think that such names as Mrs. Gamp and Mrs. MacMuggins are 
appropriate for this aristocratic race of plants. If Oncidium Jonesianum 
had been named in “ popular ” fashion it would be Oncidium Bev. Mr. 
Jones—the clergyman who flowered it, and this would scarcely be more 
euphonious and suitable than the latinised appellation. But perhaps I 
may be prejudiced in this matter through my aristocratic tendencies, 
which I have tried to shake off, but they were renewed the other day 
through dining with a noble lord, and I fear I shall not be quite myself 
again till I have done a little digging. 
I COULD say much about woods and plantations, having had a few 
scores of thousands of trees through my hands and watched them grow 
into money. Mr. B. Parker has placed his finger on a great blot in the 
management of many estates, or rather two blots—1, neglect in planting; 
2, what is perhaps still more sad to see—ruined plantations through 
want of timely and systematic thinning. Similar neglect is painfully 
flagrant in many shrubberies where evergreens and ornamental trees 
have been purchased at considerable cost, only to bo spoiled. A 
reformation is greatly needed in the planting and management of trees 
and plantations. Vast tracts of land now profitless mLht bring in a 
