February 23, 1888. J 
JOURNA±j OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
155 
had in flower at almost any season of the year ; in fact, there is a 
constant succession if bulbs in different stages are potted together. 
This Hymenocallis is treated exactly the same as Eucharis, and both 
grows and flowers freely ; it is also readily increased, as the offsets 
are produced in numbers. 
Convenient pits are employed for forcing Strawberries, of which 
about 3000 are required annually of the varieties Keens’ Seedling, 
President, and Sir Joseph Paxton, which afford a succession in the 
order named. The pots are half-plunged in beds of leaves quite 
near the glass, and the plants are looking extremely promising. 
The chief other houses are on the south side of the north wall, 
lofty curvilinear structures employed as vinery and Banana houses. 
Musa Cavendishi is grown in the latter, planted out in beds of 
rich soil liberally supplied with water and heat. Yanilla is also 
extensively grown and abundance of fruit is obtained, at the present 
time there are several large bunches of the long pods ripening. The 
Vanilla is planted in narrow shallow troughs near the top of the 
back walls and at the side of the houses, the growth being very 
vigorous and well matured. 
It only remains to add that Syon garden has been under the 
charge of Mr. Woodbridge for seventeen years, during which time 
his strict attention to his employer’s interests and his kindliness of 
manner have gained him many friends. He has this week been 
appointed a member of the Council of the Eoyal Horticultural 
Society, and by a strange coincidence a former gardener at Syon 
House—Mr. Hoy—was elected a member of the Council formed 
when the Horticultural Society received its first charter of incor¬ 
poration. —Lewis Castle. 
FRUIT AT THE NEWCASTLE SHOW. 
Me. Goodacee places himself in an unenviable position when he 
publicly attempts to throw ridicule upon the exhibits of his successful 
rivals. The authenticity of his statements are challenged, as has been 
the case in his allegation of “Warner’s King Apples” and “Green 
Citrons ” forming part of the collection of fruit that won the Jubilee 
prize. He now finds it convenient to ignore the subject altogether, not 
even attempting to substantiate one of his charges. I can only judge 
of the Pears grown at Elvaston by those exhibited at Newcastle, and if 
they are to be taken as a fair sample of his productions then the less 
said about them the better. Your representative at the Show must have 
correctly described these when he stated Mr. Goodacre “ was not exhi¬ 
biting in his usual style.” He appears to find some comfort in saying, 
“ I am the only exhibitor who staged fifty dishes of ripe fruit, as stipu¬ 
lated, for the jubilee prize.” Eather strong language this, but notwith¬ 
standing, I venture to challenge him to name a single dish in either of 
the colleccions awarded the first and second prizes that was further 
from being ripe and fit for use than was the dish of green Louise Bonne 
of Jensey Pears in his own lot. With your permission I beg to submit 
this question to the decision of the two gentlemen who officiated as 
Judges upon the above named three collections, and let honour go to 
whom honour is due. 
Beyond all question the Tomato is a fruit ; whether Dr. Hogg includes 
or excludes it from his“ Fruit Manual ” will in nowise alter the fact, any 
more than it would do in the case of Melons or Oranges being considered 
fruits. There are more ways of eating Apples than eating them from 
the tree ; so likewise with Tomatoes, the precise form in which we 
partake of them being simply a matter of taste.— An Old Hand. 
SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 
In the Jonmal of Ilorticvltuvv of February 0th “ Experientia 
docet.” in his “ Plain Words to Some Gardeners,” has broached a sub¬ 
ject of the very gravest importance to all who hope to attain success in 
life, and especially to those to whom it is addressed—viz., some pro¬ 
fessional gardeners. 
This illiteracy of head gardeners is more prevalent than is generally 
supposeil, and when it affects themselves only it is bad enough, but 
when it proves detrimental to those employed under them it is much 
worse. Of this fact 1 am painfully aware, for unfortunately it has been 
my lot to serve under no less than three head gardeners who could not 
write a decent letter of recommendation, and this in establishments 
where eight or ten men were employed. Now, as all gardeners know, 
this is absolutely necessary when a young man applies to any of the 
nurseries for assistance in obtaining a change of situation, for invariably 
the usual form is received to be filled up and returned with a letter of 
recommendation from the head gardener. The inability of the head 
gardener to comply with this request, however good his intentions may 
Be towards the young man, places that individual in a difficult position. 
In view of these facts it is much to be deplored that gardeners, and 
especially young gardeners, should be so blind to their owm interest, and 
so careless of their future w^elfare, as to neglect the many opportunities 
which are afforded at the present time for self-improvement. At no 
time in the history of this country, and probably in the history of the 
world, was the necessity of education so important and the means of 
obtaining it so accessible as now. No time also in the career of a 
gardener is so propitious for self-education as the jears of his apprentice¬ 
ship and bothy life—years which all qualified gardeners must pass 
through on their way to preferment. Yet it is painful to relate that in 
instances innumerable those years, the best a gardener will ever have, 
when his opportunities are greatest and his cares and responsibilities 
least, are generally wasted in the pursuit of the most thoughtless and 
unmanly frivolities, if nothing worse. 
During my career as a gardener it has been my lot to live in several 
bothies and to have an intimate knowledge of many more ; ami I do not 
recollect one instance where a young man systematically devoted the 
whole or part of his evenings to self-improvement. In some cases, it is 
true, I have come across those who have made spasmodic efforts to learn 
French, Latin, and even Greek, but their ambition to become linguists 
was generally extinguished before the expiration of many days. My 
knowledge of their attainments has led me to the conclusion that the 
time spent in this way would have been bettor employed in the 
endeavour to acquire a decent acquaintance with their mother tongue. 
I have also in my travels met with young men in bothies who, finding 
the time hang heavy on their hands during the long winter evenings, 
have expressed a desire to take up some kind of study, and I have been 
asked to suggest a subject. In complying with a request of this kind I 
once recommended the course of “ Lessons in English” in Cassell’s 
“ Popular Educator,” knowing it to be a subject of great importance ; and 
I even went so far as to offer the loan of my volumes for the purpose. 
This suggestion was, however, scornfully scouted, the person in question 
declaring indignantly that he “ learned all that at school.” This, how¬ 
ever, was more than doubtful, for many were the bad half hours I had 
had with him when at breakfast he has insisted on reading to ime 
paragraphs of news from the morning paper. His pronunciation was 
not pure, and manifestly he did not always understand the meanings 
of the words he tortured. 
Occasionally I have found young men in bothies who have studied 
in a dilettante fashion such useless things as phrenology, physiognomy, 
and the like ; but, strange as it may seem, I have never yet met one 
who studied in any way whatever the science of botany. This is to be 
deplored, for there is, I presume, no science, the pursuit of which is 
more healthy, more fascinating, and more eminently useful to a gardener 
than this. It is intimately associated with his everyday work, and its 
value to him cannot be over-estimated. 
Before I close this article I would like to mention one means of self- 
improvement, of which I have taken advantage, and of which I recom¬ 
mend all young men to take advantage, if they wish to seriously engage 
in the task of self-education. It is shorthand—and when I say short¬ 
hand, I mean Mr. Pitman’s phonography. I commenced the study of 
this system of shorthand eight or nine years ago, and in a short time 
obtained a certificate of proficiency from Mr. Pitman. I have used it 
almost daily ever since, and to it alone I owe the ability, such as it is, 
to write this article, and numerous paragraphs of news which I con¬ 
tribute weekly to a certain paper in my capacity of local correspondent. 
It has been to me the “ open sesame ” of the storehouse of knowledge, 
in that the study of it has created in me habits of patient application, 
without which nothing can be achieved. It has also strengthened my 
memory, and led me unconsciously into the subjects of spelling, grammar, 
and composition, subjects with which I had previously but a very slight 
acquaintance. I would therefore advise all young gardeners to learn 
phonography. It is easily acquired by persons of ordinary capacity, and 
though no one not a phonographer can estimate the pleasure to be 
derived from the ability to trace fluently the beautiful characters, they 
may be able to see the practical use to which it may be put in keeping 
a commonplace book or diary, instead of the ordinary tedious system of 
writing.—G. B. 
“ Expeeientia docet ” has reopened the question of gardeners’ 
defective education. The British gardener is in a state of evolution ; 
he is in a great measure what his environment has made him, and as a 
matter of course the impress of his surroundings will leave its mark 
upon him in the future as in the past. So far as defective composition 
andblunderingspellingare concerned the march of education will provide 
a remedy, but it will not solve the problem which faces us when we 
take the question in all its bearings, from the gardener of the duke 
down to the single-handed gardener. This problem is, Can we combine 
the high standard to which a gardener may attain in a profession which 
gives scope to the highest intellectual capacity with the social status 
of a mere servant in the light of which a great portion of employers 
view their gardeners I It will at once be seen what a serious obstacle 
confronts us if all gardeners arc to be educated to a high standard. It 
goes without saying that when employers can get a more intelligent 
class of gardeners for the same amount of remuneration they will of 
course take advantage of the opijortunity, and neither gardener nor 
employer be the w'orse for it. But let us look at things as they are at 
present. We shall find that, generally speaking, as we descend in the 
scale of establi.shments, there is not in the same proportion a correspond¬ 
ing deterioration in the capacities of the men who preside over them. 
If employers engage the ignorant and incompetent when there is abun¬ 
dant good men to choose from, it is more the fault of the system 
under which gardeners have been engaged than the lack of really good 
men. If ignorant men get pitchforked into good places the superior 
men, for the want of influence, are often driven to accejit situations 
considerably below their capacities and merits, hoping that by their 
industry and talents to work themselves into a decent position by im¬ 
proving the places under their charge and getting credit for so doing 
iSome few succeed, but how many fail because neither sympathy nor 
