June 3, 1386. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
441 
3arge as Victoria Regina, it will bear a dozen blooms when the latter 
would bear one, and as sweet as any. I fancy your correspondent has not 
grown the true one, as he terms it a small flower.—G. W. Boothby, 
Louth. 
PLASHING HEDGES. 
Articles were published in our columns a few weeks ago on the 
■management of hedges, and a “ Bailiff and Gardener” advocated, on 
page 333, the method of plashing which is successfully practised in some 
districts. We have since had inquiries for details of the method, and 
%ave pleasure in publishing the following letter with sketches supplied 
by a gentleman in Lincolnshire. Mr. Beaulah, Manby House, Raven- 
thorpe, writes :— 
“ My daughter has sketched a portion of hedge newly plashed, fig. 81 ; 
it is exactly like the portion she copied. As a guide to readers she has 
Also sketched a piece of two years’ growth since plashing from nature and 
trimmed last autumn for the first time (fig. 82). Our usual practice here 
with hedges, old and new, is to plash or lay them every few years ; even 
after hedges are closely trimmed for several years it is a good practice to 
let them grow up (wild, as it were) for a few more and then plash them 
New quickset hedges should also be plashed after about eight years’ wild 
growth. When done by a skilful workman they never fail to make good 
fences. Large old fences sometimes require a rope to lower the tree-like 
branches down, and when these are well done and planted in and out 
they make a fence sufficient to prevent any domestic animal, or even a 
lion, from passing through. We let them grow two years before siding up 
which we do in the form of an inverted V, or wedge shape. 
“ The cost varies from Is. 6d. per chain of 22 yards for young hedges 
to 4s. for old bullock fences. We have down here about a mile, 80 chains 
yearly for the past four years, and some of the earlier are now very good 
sheep fences. When the land is grazed by beasts a dead fence called a 
•“ Beard ” is placed 3 to 4 feet from the side of the hedge when there is no 
Fig. 82.—Hedge Two Years Plashed. 
ditch. As to the latter, we have them always kept open whether there is 
water or not to be taken off the land, and a good workman when he makes 
a good bank, fresh soiling the bottom of the hedge which has been 
plashed, makes, to my mind, one of the best-looking jobs about a farm.” 
The growths are often too numerous for laying down, and several are 
•chopped out close to the ground, the young growths which start from the 
stumps contributing to the closeness of the fence at the base. When 
these plashed hedges are properly trimmed they are not only strong but as 
ornamental as could be produced by any other system of management. 
The laid branches or “ ribs ’’ of the hedge are soon entirely hidden by the 
growths. As was stated by a “ Bailiff and Gardener,” binders are often 
run along the top of the stakes, which increase the rigidity at the (first 
and impart a neat appearance. 
THOUGHTS ON CURRENT TOPICS. 
It is very easy to think too fast, or at least to record impressions too 
hastily. For once at least I appear to have exercised a little caution in 
waiting to hear the other side of the question in respect to the alleged 
extortion of money from a young man under circumstances that have 
been described. It would also appear that while it is easy to “ rush into 
print ” hastily there is the possibility of waiting too long for evidence, 
and thus find the case closed. I am debarred, then, from saying what I 
think on the particular case that has agitated the minds of correspondents, 
but not from referring to the subject of “ premiums generally.” I do 
not, however, imagine that the jury has lost much through my absence 
from the witness box, for the moment I saw the intimation of a “ strong 
petition ” announced I made up my mind to say very little on the subject 
in dispute, feeling it would he more seemly to wait the issue of events 
than to enter largely into the discussion of a question under those 
circumstances. 
On the general subject, then, of the payment of premiums by young 
gardeners one or two thoughts naturally arise. There is clearly the pos¬ 
sibility of a young man paying £5, or any other sum, “ down,” for the 
privilege of working in a certain garden, then after a few weeks proving 
his incompetency for the duties pertaining to his charge. 1, Would a 
gardener be justified in keeping such a man? 2, If he did keep him, 
would he not be spending his employer’s money in tin form of wages for 
services not satisfactorily rendered ? 3, If, as a faithful steward to his 
master, he di charged the man, would he he justified in keeping the £5 ? 
4, If a man is sent away as incompetent, on what grounds would a 
gardener be justified in stopping any portion of the pupil’s wages for the 
period of his admitted mcompetency ? 5, Is it legal for any portion of a 
man’s wages to be deducted at all in the absence of any covenant signed 
by the gardener and sanctioned by his master (whose money is diverted) 
and by the man who agrees to its diversion? These appear to me to be 
pertinent, proper, and not unimportant questions directly bearing on a 
subject in which three parties are directly interested, all of which have an 
inalienable right to equal justice. 
A VERY excellent letter, as it appears to me, on the general subject of 
premiums was published on page 398, from “ A Gardener to an Earl.” 
He does not say whether he receives premiums or not, but if he does it is 
clear he feels morally compelled to personally interest himself in the 
training and welfare of his pupils, and feels bound to advance them in 
life, or in other words, to give “value for money received.” That is as it 
should be, and in such cases there can be scarcely any objections to the 
practice, provided pupils are worthy and fairly earn the money that is 
paid by their masters ; but in some cases there is reason to suppose that 
whatever is taught the young men is taught by their foremen, who, I 
think, do not, as a rule, share in the teacher’s “ pay.” 
The system of premiums for learning gardening will die out, just as 
premiums for apprentices in trades are dying rapidly. I am no advocate 
for “snuffing out,” as that is attended with injury to individuals, and 
gradual and natural changes are, I think, the safer and fairer for all. I 
see “ Observer” rather contemplates a retrograde movement, and appears 
to be considering the advisability of the imposition of premiums on the 
ground that young men are not sufficiently “ grateful ” for the teach¬ 
ing they receive “ gratis.” I rather suspect, however, that gratitude is 
an inherent virtue, and I think the man who is not grateful for what is 
given him will not be extra grateful for what he pays for. I have learned 
a little of gardening through paying, a little without, and I do not feel 
more grateful to the men who shared in my small wages than to those 
who did not, while I was taught much more by the latter than by the 
former. If “ Observer ” has experienced benefit from paying, and his 
gratitude has been’deepened towards those who have received his money, he 
has then grounds for his projected change. I have none, and if I have 
not taken a penny from a gardener, it is not because I have not had 
opportunities for “making” several £5 notes. However, this is just a 
question of feeling, and I am willing to believe that “Observer’s” 
motives in accepting premiums, if he conclude to accept them, are just 
as good as my own. 
An “Outside Foreman” contributes a sensible letter on page 417. 
He admits having had good value for his £10, and at the same time 
points out some of the evils attending the premium system. Paying 
money does not make able men. It opens the door to appointments, as 
in the instance cited, giving young men of sense an opportunity of 
becoming good gardeners; but “fops” innumerable bave bought their 
way into positions, and their services were dispensed with as soon as pos¬ 
sible, and thus the country has been flooded with failures, who pass as 
gardeners, to the prejudice of really able and accomplished men. It is 
readily granted that some of the best gardeners in the kingdom originally 
paid for their learning; but there are others just as good who paid no 
premiums. The custom can only be justified on the principle indicated 
by “ A Gardener to an Earl,” if then as regards the master’s or wage- 
payer’s interests, and it will die out—in fact is dying—for I know at the 
least half a dozeD gardens where it has lapsed, and it is not likely to be 
