December 24, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
565 
the soil until it is cut to prevent its making spindly growth. My ex¬ 
perience of covering with a few inches thick of sifted leaf mould is 
that the “ grass ” is thereby improved in quality, being cleaner, better 
blanched, and crisper. 
Beds which are specially made for Melons and Cucumbers should 
have a layer 5 or 6 inches deep of leaf mould or sawdust placed 
over the short dung in which to plunge 3-inch pots three parts filled 
with light rich mould and containing one seed each of Rollisson’s 
Telegraph Cucumber and Highcross Hybrid Melon (which is well 
suited for frame cultivation) or any other approved variety. Cover 
the seed with a little soil and the pots with a square of glass, which, 
however, should be removed as soon as the plants appear, and the 
latter when they have made a couple of inches of growth should be 
top-dressed with soil of the same temperature and description as that 
in which they are growing, taking care in doing so not to injure the 
stem of the plants, which is easily done at that stage of growth by a 
slight pressure of the hand. Various bedding and other plants can at 
the same time be raised from cuttings and seed ; these, however, 
must be removed as the Melon and Cucumber plants extend their 
growth. Both Melon and Cucumber plants should be planted on 
mounds 7 or 8 inches deep and 15 inches through in the centre of 
each light as soon as they have made three rough leaves and before 
they become root-bound in the pots. The Melon delights in a cal¬ 
careous loamy soil, and the Cucumber in a light rich compost, con¬ 
sisting of three parts light sandy loam and one of short dung and 
leaf mould well mixed. In planting press the soil firmly about the 
roots and afterwards supply tepid water to settle the soil. Put a 
mixture of fresh soot and lime around each plant about 3 inches from 
the stems as a protection from the attacks of slugs and woodlice. 
This, moreover, will prevent a superabundance of moisture from 
settling on or about the stems of the plants, which should on being 
planted be kept well above the mound, especially with Melons. As 
the roots push through the sides of the mounds some more soil of a 
like temperature should be added thereto to the thickness of 3 or 
4 inches, and which additions continue to make until the intervening 
space is filled to within a couple of inches of the summit of the minia¬ 
ture mounds on which the plants have been set. Take three or four 
leading shoots from each plant and train them regularly over the 
allotted space, cutting or pinching out all superfluous shoots. Stop 
those left when they have attained a length of 18 or 20 inches to 
induce them to send out firuit-bearing laterals, which may be stopped 
a couple of joints beyond the fruit. However, this part of the 
subject I must leave to be treated later od. I need hardly point out 
that Melons, Cucumbers, and Vegetable Marrows can be grown in 
frames on hotbeds previously occupied with Asparagus, Potatoes, 
Carrots, and Radishes during the summer and autumn months. 
I may remark that the linings of Melon and Cucumber frames 
should be made up regularly every week or fortnight, according to 
the weather and the state of the fermenting material to within a 
couple of inches of the top of the frame, and for this purpose a good 
heap of fermenting dung and leaves should be kept in readiness. In 
making up the linings the old can either be freshened by adding 
thereto some fresh warm manure and leaves, or removing them and 
supplying fresh material over the frames at night with mats and dry 
fern sufficient to exclude cold as well as to prevent the internal heat 
escaping. Frames containing Asparagus, Potatoes, &c., will only 
require to have the linings made up from the top of the hotbed 
(where a space of 2 feet at the sides and ends is reserved as a 
foundation for the purpose) to the top of the frame, more with a view 
to keeping out the cold than to impart heat to the interior of the 
frame.—W. W. L. 
THE FUTURE OF GARDENING AND GARDENERS. 
There is a question which keeps pressing itself nearer and nearer 
to us every season, and which is probably destined soon to come on 
with a much greater speed, and that is—What is to become of our 
great private gardens and our army of professional gardeners ? It 
says much for the class of men engaged in this work that hitherto 
they have against great odds been almost able to keep up appearances 
as of old, and to make ends, if not to meet, at least to come within a 
“ measurable distance " of doing so. But does anyone suppose that 
this state of things can continue ? 
A dozen years or more ago when the country was in great pro¬ 
sperity a large amount of money was spent in gardening, and what 
was called gardening. Some of it certainly deserved another name, 
but I suppose it pleased those who found the money, and we had no 
right to grumble, although our taste often rebelled. Well, in those 
prosperous times even the head of a large gardening establishment 
had to work very hard, and it was no easy task to keep abreast of his 
duties. He never found he had more men than he knew what to do 
with if they were good ones, and he was fortunate indeed if he could 
not during the spring months at least see a fortnight's work waiting 
to be done. 
The limes changed, bad seasons came. But bad seasons had 
come before, and good ones had followed, bringing prosperity in 
their wake. There was, however, a succession of bad seasons, and 
agriculturists who, by-the-by, had grown somewhat luxurious in their 
prosperity, could not pay their way, and the great landowners speedily 
found the consequences. One of the luxuries of this class is their 
gardens, and many of them quickly decided to curtail their expendi¬ 
ture in this direction, and they were perfectly justified in doing so. 
But how do we find they set about it? A case within my own know¬ 
ledge will, I am afraid, answer for many more. “ Brown,” says the 
Squire, “ I see my garden expenses for the last year were over 
£1000 ! ” “ Yes sir, what are called garden expenses did reach that 
amount, but at least one-third of it ought to be debited to other parts 
of your establishment. For the bona, fide garden expenses you have 
certainly had the worth of your money in the keeping of the flower 
gardens, pleasure grounds, the kitchen garden kept as a pleasurable 
promenade, and in supply of flowers, fruits and vegetables." 
“ Well,” says the Squire, “ it is an enormous sum of money to 
spend on a garden, and remember I could not always depend on 
getting things when I wanted them. Last season in London I had 
to buy Mushrooms, Peas, and other things. I cannot be expected to 
spend this large sum of money on my garden and then have to pur¬ 
chase common vegetables.” 
In vain Brown protested that he could not grow Mushrooms with¬ 
out the aid of the Squire's horses which he took away with him when 
he went to town, and that Green Peas were neither profitable nor 
easy to produce in the middle of May. His argument was not 
acknowledged, at any rate as convincing, and he did not find the 
Squire very reasonable on the other part of the question. After a 
considerable amount of what that gentleman would call reasoning 
and which many of my readers are only too familiar with, he winds 
up by saying, “ You must reduce the expenditure unless you wish to 
see me in the workhouse.” 
“ Certainly I will, sir ; I will reduce it to any reasonable sum you 
can name, but I cannot do it all myself, I must have your assistance. 
I cannot do as much with 15s. as I could with 20s. Reducing the 
labourers’ wages, discharging some meD, and selling some of the pro¬ 
duce as you suggest will not do it unless you consent to give up 
something which at present costs a large sum to produce or keep in 
order. Shall it be a portion of the flower beds, which at present 
take some 30,000 plants annually, and half a dozen men to keep in 
trim ? The place would be improved by sweeping away the greater 
portion of these gaudy patches, and replacing them with what I 
should call more of an English flower garden. Shall it be a partial 
substitution of foliage for flowering plants in the mansion or less 
trimly kept pleasure grounds ? " But the Squire would have none of 
these things. He went away saying, he “ could not reduce the expendi¬ 
ture 6d without having his garden spoiled,” and poor Brown was 
left to struggle on with a less number of men, more limited materials, 
and act as a sort of market gardener who sells his wares in the 
nearest towns for less money than they cost to produce. 
Good seasons, as good as fine weather could make them, have re¬ 
turned, but unfortunately they were not accompanied by the expected 
good times, and consequently the screw has been put on again 
and again. 
Poor Brown is still alive and plodding away, but he is getting 
terribly shaky. His nerves appear to be unstrung ; and although he has 
been a good honest fellow all his life, never injuring anyone but 
himself, there is a sort of timidity in all his actions, such as an honest 
man never ought to exhibit, and which betoken a gradual breakdown 
of the nervous system. He still works wonders with the means at 
his disposal ; making bricks without straw or even without clay 
would be child’s play compared to the miracles he is expected to per¬ 
form. But he is, and is likely to remain, in this predicament—he can 
neither satisfy himself nor anybody else. 
Query. —Has anyone gained anything by the line of action I 
have indicated ? And what is to happen after the next move or two 
in the same direction ? —Wm. Taylor. 
GRAPES AT CULZEAN CASTLE, AYRSHIRE. 
So much has lately appeared in the horticultural press regardiag 
the Grapes that have been exhibited from this fine fruit-growing 
establishment, that perhaps a few particulars of their appearance at 
home, especially the wonderful weight of fruit annually produced, 
may interest many readers of the Journal. At the outset 1 may re¬ 
mark that Culzean Castle is the principal Ayrshire seat of the Marquis 
of Ailsa, and is distant some fifteen miles from the town of Ayr, and 
five from that of Maybole ; the former celebrated as the birthplace 
of the poet Burns, and the latter famous for its boot and shoe manu¬ 
factories. The castle—a most imposing pile of modern buildings—is 
built upon the edge of a precipitous rock overhanging the sea nearly 
200 feet high, and cons : dered one of the most picturesquely situated 
