214 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 15,1888. 
when valuable prizes are offered for cut Roses, open to all comers. On 
this occasion H.R.H. Princess Ifary, Duchess of Teck, has promised to 
attend and distribute the prizes to the successful competitors in the 
allotment and cottage garden competitions. Ealing has now some 300 
or more allotment gardens of one-eighth of an acre in extent, and many 
working men are still anxious to obtain one. The usual autumn Show 
of Chrysanthemums, &c., will be hehl on November 14th, which it is 
hoped will take place in the new and spacious Jublilee Hall now in course 
of erection, and which forms a part of a very handsome block of new 
municipal buildings. 
- Referring to the Amaryllises mentioned last week, 
“ VV. J.” remarks that he intended saying, “the nine spikes were on 
two bulbs, four and five each respectively, not nine from one bulb.” 
- Judging Bouquets. —A correspondent writes:—'* ‘Florist,’ 
‘ Onlooker,’ and others who took part in the bouquet judging discussion, 
will be glad to hear that their efforts are bringing forth fruit, the Bristol 
Society having inserted a limit as to size of bouquets in their spring 
Show schedule.” 
-At the ordinary meeting of the Royal Meteorological 
Society, established 1850, incorporated by Royal Charter 18GG, to be 
held at 23, Great George Street, Westminster, on Wednesday, the 21st 
instant, at 7 P.M., an address will be delivered by the President, Dr. W. 
Marcet, M.D., F.R.S., on Atmospheric Electricity, illustrated by experi¬ 
ments ; after which Mr. G. J. Symons, F.R.S., will make a short com¬ 
munication on The non-existence of Thunderbolts; elucidated by ac¬ 
counts of searches after them and the exhibition of specimens. The 
meeting will then be adjourned, in order to afford the Fellows and their 
friends an opportunity of inspecting the exhibition of apparatus con¬ 
nected with atmospheric electricity, including lightning conductors^ 
jihotographs of lightning, and damaged objects, and of such new instru¬ 
ments as have been invented and first constructed since the last exhibi¬ 
tion. The Exhibition will, at the request of the Secretary of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers, be open in readiness for their meeting on 
Tuesday evening, the 20th instant, and will remain open till Friday, the 
23rd instant. 
- A HORTICULTURAL Congress has been organised by the SocifiTfi 
Nationale d’Horticulture de France to be held at 84, Rue de 
Grenelle, Paris, during the progress of the Exhibition, which will be 
opened on the 25th to the 31st of May. The first sitting of the Congress 
will take place on May 28th. It is proposed to discuss a variety of 
questions on scientific and commercial horticulture. Several subjects 
have already been decided on, including railway tariffs for horticultural 
produce, horticultural instruction in schools, heatin' apparatuses, pro¬ 
fitable fruit culture, the propagation of hardy plants, and the diseases 
of Zonal Pelargoniums. Other questions may be proposed for* discus¬ 
sion than those included in the programme now issued if notice is pre¬ 
viously given to the President of the Committee, M. A. Hardy. 
- Messrs. Wood & Sons send us samples of Orchid peat and 
loam, both as good as we could desire to use, the former sweet and all 
fibre, the latter turfy and “ unctuous.” 
- Gardening Appointment.—M r. Robert E. Filkins, for the 
last four years gardener to P. J. Slanger, Esq., St. Mary Cray, Kent, has 
been appointed gardener to G. Buchanan, Esq., Tower Field.";, Keston 
near Beckenham, Kent. ’ 
- Testimonial to Mr. Paul of Paisley. —The friends of Mr. 
Paul (late of Crossflat Nursery) purpose giving him a testimonial, in 
recognition of his services to floriculture, on the occasion of his removing 
from Paisley to continue the florist business at his new grounds at 
Bridge of Weir, nearly midway between Paisley and Greenoek. Crossflat, 
where so much has been done in the improvement of florists’ flowers, 
notably of the Pansy and the Pink, has suffered from the erection of 
various manufactories in the immediate neighbourhood. Mr. Duncan 
Keir, The Gardens, Sherwood, Paisley, is the Secretary to the testimonial 
fund. 
- The Employes of the Royal Horticultural Society.— 
11 has been suggested that the occasion of the vacation of the South 
Kensington premises by the R.H.S. is one that should be taken advan¬ 
tage of to invite the employes of the Society at South Kensington and 
Chiswick to an entertainment, by w.ay of expressing some sense of the 
uniform courtesy and attention they have at all times shown towards 
exhibitors, the members of the Committees, visitors, and others. The 
men employed at South Kensington have to leave the service of the 
Society consequent upon the change of home ; and it is rumoured that 
those at Chiswick may have notice to leave, though the order is not in¬ 
tended to be enforced at present. Before they are dispersed it is thought 
they should be invited to a supper, and I shall be very glad to receive 
the names of any gentlemen who would be willing to co-operate by 
forming themselves into a Committee to carry theiproposal into effect.— 
Richard Dean, Ilandagli Hoad, Ealing, W. 
UNDER GARDENERS AND EXHIBITORS. 
This seems, in my opinion, to be a subject well worthy of discussion, 
and it is hoped that under gardeners, as well as others, will benefit 
thereby. I was very pleased to see Mr. W. Bardney’s name approvingly 
mentioned on page 158 as 1 had the pleasure of serving under him 
for two years. We had plenty of work at Norris Green, but the know¬ 
ledge that we were doing it for a friend as well as a master helpeil us to 
pull through the hardest of it with pleasure. 
On the other hand it is as well not to lose sight of the fact that men 
must understand that we, not they, are responsible. Young men are 
met with who before they have been in a place long know far more than 
the head eardener does, and seem to feel they should do as they like- 
Walking through the houses with my emploj'er we found water running: 
to waste through a tap which should have been stopped by a young man 
who had been syringing, but I was politely told the fault was mine, 
and if the young man did not carry out my orders I was to discharge 
him. 
In reference to the question of exhibiting, I think that young men 
should receive some recompense if they work overtime in helping the 
gardener with his exhibits. I am only a young exhibitor, and I find 
that I have exceeded my prize money in expenses this year. Where a 
gardener has all expenses to pay, and stands and other nece=saries to 
provide for showing, his first season will, in nine cases out of ten, be 
unremunerative ; he may win honour, and that is all. But I have 
endeavoured by kindness to repay all my young men for their assistance, 
and I believe to their satisfaction, and should I be as successful this 
year I feel sure they will not have reason to complain that they have 
assisted me in vain. I hope this discussion will create good feeling and 
mutual confidence between master and man. As a parting word to 
those who feel they are, “ like I once found myself,” in a place not 
exactly to their liking ; let them do their duty as long as they are in it, 
hoping for better times, which are sure to come.—P. T. D. 
Under the above heading your correspondent, “ Head Gardener,”^ 
strives to relieve his mind, and exhibits much sj'mpathy on behalf of his 
so-called unfortunate brethren. Being in doubt as to the meaning of 
“ Head Gardener’s ” opening remarks, I must wait for his further eluci¬ 
dation of the subject, and pass on to the more particular part of his 
paragraph—viz., the denunciation of head gardeners. I need not, I 
think, remind “ Head Gardener ” of the fact that we are agreed upon 
the matter of there being good and bad gardeners, for he admits the fact 
of winning golden opinions of some. But when he so far forgets tbe 
responsibility of his position that he requires the intercession of his 
employer to settle trifling disputes arising between himself and his 
subordinates, I confess I shall be greatly astonished if he succeeds in 
winning the golden opinions of many upon that subject.—J. P. L. 
I HAVE reatl with interest the different letters that have appeared 
in the Journal about young gardeners and exhibiting, and I cannot help 
thinking that those who write about their bad treatment from head 
gardeners are those wt o do not take much interest in their work. 
When an under gardener I only lived at two places where exhibiting 
was done, and then we were at work late at night and early in the morn¬ 
ing, and not paid for overtime. We did our work with pleasure, and 
did not even think about being paid or getting any of the prize money. 
We did cur work because we took perhaps as much interest in it as the 
head gardener who was receiving the prize money. I think if under 
gardeners looked at things in the right way, and looked forward to being 
head gardeners themselves some day and getting the credit as well as 
the prize money, it would go a long way in helping them over theiv 
grievances. No doubt there are head gardeners who are never satisfied 
with their young men let them do their work ever so well. But such, I 
think, is not the rule. 
Mr. “ Spectator” has a good paragraph on the subject of pay for over¬ 
time in regard to Grape-thinning. I have spent many an hour of an 
evening thinning Grapes and never had any pay for it. Some may 
think I advocate the no pay overtime system, but I am far from that. 
I do not ask my young men to work at night more than can be avoided, 
but sometimes Grapes and other things are all wanting attention at the 
same time, and cannot be seen to in the ordinary working hours. I 
should not think much of a young man who refused to assist for an 
hour or two in the evening just to pull things straight. I remember the 
subject of “ I’ay for overtime ” was taken up in the Journal of Ilorti- 
vulture some eight years ago, and I think it was Mr. Gilbert who wrote, 
“ If a gentleman has more Grapes than he can afford to pay for being 
thinned let them go without thinning.” But I venture to think no one 
with a love for the art could attend to a vinery with the Grapes hang- 
