Jannary 3, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
13 
may be inducements on the part of the gardener to follow the same 
party leaning, yet it is certain that gardeners cannot only think for them¬ 
selves, but are legally empowered to act also ; therefore it is distinctly 
and decidedly the duty of the employer to his gardener not to in¬ 
fluence him in any way as to what his politics should be, or even how 
he should record his vote. I grieve to kno .v that such influence is 
brought to bear upon many gardeners. I do not attribute this to any 
one party, for I believe it is, if not commonly, yet somewhat frequently 
practised by both. For my own part I long for the time to come when 
we can all unite with Macaulay in saying— 
“ When none is for a party, 
But ail is for the State; 
The rich man helps the poor man, 
And the poor man loves the great.” 
The employer should give to his gardener when engaging a written 
copy of the agreement which may be made, and which should be drawn 
on just and honourable lines, because the gardener is a person who is 
expected to manage faithfully and economically a considerable portion 
of his employer’s property, and not only administer to, but anticipate 
his wishes. The employer should at all times notice what flowers, 
and fruits his garden produces, and which the gardener sends to table 
because delicacies are tempting to persons who are not employers, and 
who find no difficulty in appropriating the earliest Peach or the most 
cherished Tea Rose. 
WINTER CUCUMBERS. 
In reply to Mr. M. Coombe’s remarks at page 561, I beg to say that 
I meant every word I penned in my short note on the above subject at 
page 513, and to assure him that fresh air is quite as essential to the 
health and vigour of plants at all seasons of the year as it is to animals. 
Hence it is that skilful horticulturists admit a little fresh air to their 
houses during “ favourable ” weather for an hour or two on bright or 
mild days. This promotes a short-jointed and consolidated growth in 
the plants, without which success cannot be attained. On sunny days 
we always close the house early enough to run up the temperature 
5° or 10°, damping the plants and house generally more or less heavily 
with tepid water, the distribution of moisture being, as stated in my 
previous note, in accordance with the temperature thereby secured. 
Of course great care—I mean judgment—should be exercised in the 
matter of admitting and shutting off air in forcing houses at all times, 
but especially during the winter and spring months. 
I have yet to learn that Cucumber plants can be kept in a healthy, 
vigorous, and fruitful condition during the winter months at a day and 
night temperature of 60° or thereabouts, and that fruit of ordinary 
size and “ crispness ” can be grown in the temperature indicated. I 
think your correspondent has quite forgotten the natural habitat of the 
Cucumber, and the conditions under which the plant does best in its 
natural state. It is certainly not in a temperature of 60° and an atmo¬ 
sphere devoid of buoyancy. Mr. Coombe says, “ What I consider so pre¬ 
judicial to healthy fruitful growth is the practice of forcing hard 
through the dull dark days adding, “ that weak attenuated growth 
is the result of that, and generally the total collapse of the plants 
before the end of the year.” If this is your correspondent’s experience 
it shows that there was something wrong in the method of "procedure 
followed. I have had recourse to hard forcing, and have never yet ex¬ 
perienced any such undesirable catastrophe as that indicated, simply 
because the plants had been treated specially—as suggested at page 513 
—for yielding a supply of Cucumbers during the winter and spring 
months in a night temperature of 65° to 70°, 5° higher by day with fire 
heat, running it up to 90° with sun heat whenever the chance of doing 
so offered, closing and damping the house between twelve and one 
o’clock in the afternoon. The conditions under which the plants in 
Mr. Coombe’s charge appear to be grown are more favourable to 
attenuated growth than hard forcing is when carried out in the 
manner recommended in my previous note, and practised by growers 
generally. 
With regard to mildew, your correspondent is too ingenious in 
quoting me. What I said, and now repeat, is that “ in dull mild 
weather, when but little firing is required to keep up a minimum tem¬ 
perature of 65° to 70°, no moisture should be distributed in the house 
other than that arising from the application of water at the roots, other¬ 
wise mildew would be likely to attack the plants,” thus showing plainly 
enough that I considered an “excess of moisture in connection with a 
low temperature ’’ productive of mildew. No practical man would for 
a moment entertain so obviously wrong an idea of a hot moist atmo¬ 
sphere being favourable to the growth of mildew. It is the low moist 
atmospheric temperature that causes the disease to attack the plants, 
and 1 fail to see how any practical man could possibly mistake the 
mould engendered by damp organic matter by reason of the fancied 
similarity of organism for mildew. The mould referred to above is 
never present on healthy weli-cared-for plants. 
In reference to giving air Mr. Coombe says, “ We let the previous 
sun-heated air escape that gives life and energy to the plant, and admit 
in its place a body of cold air.” This reads very well, but it is never¬ 
theless illogical. Skilful practitioners do ventilate their forcing houses 
indiscriminately during the winter and spring months, or at any other 
time for that matter. They know very well that a certain amount of 
fresh air is quite as essential to health and vigour in the plant and 
vegetable kingdom as it is in the animal kingdom, therefore they avail 
themselves of every favourable opportunity that offers to admit a little- 
fresh air to their plant and fruit houses from about 11 A.M. to 12 p.m. 
on clear sunny days, varying the interval of admission from a quarter 
of an hour to the time indicated, according to circumstances. This is- 
the practice of sound practical men—men who cannot by any possible 
stretch of imagination be classed as “horticultural faddists.” I know that 
there is a good deal of reckless and haphazard air-giving being done in 
gardens throughout the country. It is, notwithstanding the. full and 
repeated instructions given to young men on this very important 
cultuz'al detail, hard for them to discriminate how much and when to 
give air, sometimes on two consecutive days. The desired knowledge in 
this matter is the result of many years’ experience and judicious cogita¬ 
tion. Experienced and thoughtful cultivators ventilate in accordance 
with “ circumstantial requirements, and not by rote.” They give air, in 
addition to the reasons already given, to prevent the internal tempera¬ 
ture of their several houses, pits, and frames from getting too hot by the 
action of the sun’s rays on the glass during the month of March and 
following five or six months. Mr. Coombe says, “ We promote evapora¬ 
tion and favour the escape of moisture, and consequently induce the 
attacks of red spider and moisture.” The escape of moisture being 
favourable to the growth of mildew is a new and misleading doctrine to¬ 
me. The promotion of evaporation some time before putting on air in 
the morning and immediately after taking it off in the afternoon, as 
well as the allowing of the moisture that had not evaporated at the 
time of admitting air escape, are sound and practical operations, being 
alike necessary and conducive, to the requirements of health and perma¬ 
nent vigour of the plants.—H. W. Wahd. 
THE PROGRESS OF HORTICULTURE. 
At the annual dinner of the Aberdeen Royal Horticultural Society, 
held a few days since in the Douglas Hotel, Mr. J. Murray Garden pre¬ 
sided, and in proposing the success of the Society he made a very in¬ 
teresting speech upon horticultural advancement, from the report of 
which in the Aberdeen Daily Free Press we cull the following :—He: 
said the Society had come through many difficulties and many vicissi¬ 
tudes, and it must be a matter of great gratification to them all that it 
appeared now to be established on a sounder basis than ever before. It 
had a substantial balance at credit in the bank, and it had a prospect of 
still greater success in the future. He thought that there were 
more favourable circumstances now attending the Society than 
before. For one thing, they had the advantage of those public parks, in 
which the Town Council of Aberdeen were endeavouring to rival them in 
cultivation. He might say that these parks were being cultivated with 
the greatest success. This matter of horticulture, which was the main 
object of that Society’s operations, was an increasing, in improving 
industry and enterprise. It was an art, and it was also a science. The 
art of horticulture made no real progress until science was brought to- 
bear upon it, and the results of the application of science to the art of 
horticulture had at the present time been most marvellous. It was very 
difficult to obtain reliable statistics on the subject, but be was very 
much struck to observe that while during the past twenty years the 
population of this country had increased only 7 millions—from 30 
to 37 millions—the imports of the products of the market garden from 
foreign countries had increased from two millions and a quarter to more 
than six millions of money every year. (Applause). He did not think 
that that was a result to be applauded—(laughter)—because he fain 
would have seen that the demand for the products of the garden and 
orchard and forest had been made from our own soil. No doubt the 
area in market garden cultivation had been doubled. Whereas there 
had been 36,000 acres twenty years ago, there were more than 62,000 
acres under cultivation now, but still after all the supply fell far short, 
of the demand. And it was not because the soil of this country was a. 
soil that was incapable of producing the food required for its inhabi¬ 
tants. The real reason was that the public of this country—the working 
classes in this country—had not given attention, had not directed their 
attention, to that industry as they ought to have done. He looked upon 
it as a very serious question for our country that the labour power was. 
being congested in the large town3 and not spread abroad over the face - 
of the country, for that would conduce to a healthy population, and it 
would conduce to much that was good. If they looked to foreign 
countries they would be surprised at the results that were obtained from 
this industry. He could not take up time by giving them many of these 
results, but he should like to mention one of which he recently read, 
and which showed to him what could be done by those who applied- 
skill and brains and industry to the work. In one of the market 
gardens adjoining Paris, extending to two seven-tenths of an acre, there 
was a capital outlay of about £1100 to provide glass and other appli¬ 
ances, including a steam-engine for watering. And what had been the- 
result ? From that little plot of ground there was now raised annually 
about 250,000 lbs. weight of vegetables. The gross income had been 
about £800, and the profit, after deducting £100 a year for rent and’ 
taxes, had been between £200 and £300. That showed what could be 
done. That little plot of ground had been worked by eight people and 
a horse. Now, let him take another example from our own country, 
and that was in reference to the cultivation of Mushrooms. He took 
one single product out of hundreds. In one case where Mushrooms were- 
cultivated the result had been as follows :—From one acre there had 
been grown, taking Mushrooms at an average price of Is. per lb.. 
