January 10, 1849. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
25 
two sides to every question—see the sparrow in a farmyard 
scanning present and every addition of matter for seed of noxious 
weed or perchance of useful plant but wasted, all winter long 
searching for a living on useless or discarded garbage. It is a nice 
problem—one the farmer ought to be able to answer, How many 
seeds of weeds a sparrow removes from the material being con¬ 
verted into manure in the farmyard in a season ? 
In gardens and orchards no more useful bird exists. I know 
all about the sparrow eating bush fruit buds, taking the leaves of 
Spinach, Lettuces, and a few other plants in their young state. 
Stringing fruit bushes with black thread will keep the sparrow at 
bay, and running two lines of similar string a few inches from the 
ground will effectually protect other things, whether they be vege¬ 
tables or flowers. As the plants grow, adding thread propor¬ 
tionate to the height, about 6 inches apart will do for Peas, and 
nothing else needs it. The Plum and Apricot trees are scanned for 
green smooth caterpillars, Apple and Cherry trees, even Peas, and 
they destroy more aphides than any gardener does with all his 
insecticides. It has been a year of visitations — the plague of 
caterpillars and insects, of cold and wet. 
Leaves scattcrel into hollows, secure against displacement by 
storm, protect larvte, grubs, and worms, 
their quick removal affords employment 
and food for such birds as blackbird and 
thrush. What number of larvae, of insect 
pests, and worms do these birds clear the 
ground of in a season ? The “ tits ” are 
busily scanning every bud, angle and 
crevice, or other place of hiding for in¬ 
sects, their eggs or larvae. Starlings search 
the meadows and pastures in flocks for 
grubs ; rooks make no account of beak 
digging in unearthing grub fattings ; 
finches pursue their gleaning of Nature’s 
seeding ; the hedge-sparrow, wren, and 
robin make man’s acquaintance closer as 
Nature closes her stores against them. 
Two “leaves” have been scattered, 
one found, or ought to be found in every 
mansion and gardeners’ cottage — the 
voting paper of the Gardeners’ Royal 
Benevolent Institution, from which I 
learn that fourteen pensioners are to be 
placed on the funds, for which there 
appear twenty-nine applicants, of whom 
five through “ having in every way com¬ 
plied with the regulations,” and “being 
in distress,” are to be recommended to 
‘ be placed on the pension list without 
Ihe trouble or expense of an election,” it 
being a foregone, because deserving, con¬ 
clusion that they will be elected. Who 
so worthy of aid as those that have aided 
others, or made provision on their own 
account against unforeseen, yet not un¬ 
likely distress? This leaves twenty-four 
candidates to be balloted for ; all appear 
deserving cases, five having made a third, 
seven a second, and twelve a first applica¬ 
tion. Our sympathies are excited, but we 
must discard all sentiment and turn to 
the other leaf—the matter of fact—the 
voting paper, and who can read the top 
line — viz., “ Nine pensioners to be 
elected,” without a pang at what is to become of the remaining 
fifteen ? Besides the disappointment there remains the fact of 
their being unrelieved. It is natural that those for whom 
assistance is asked should first put their “ shoulder to the wheel,” 
right that gardeners give proof of that self-help which does 
more (or, at least, backs solicitations for help from employers) 
to- secure other assistance than a mountain of lamentation. Is 
it not opportune that those of whom contributions are asked 
should have evidence of self-denial, of real need, of inadequacy, 
of unaided effort to meet the emergencies that arise, causing, 
it may be, self-denial in others before response is made to the 
appeal? Was ever self-help and self-denial so necessary for the 
craft as at the present time ? Turn which way you may, you 
are faced by reduced establishments and unemployed craftsmen. 
It means distress, strong and willing hands find nothing to do, 
infirm and aged cannot if they would help themselves. For 
such I appeal—let a request be made to the Secretary of the Gar¬ 
deners’ Royal Benevolent Institution by every gardener (not 
having received them) for the two “leaves’’for a voting paper, 
making sure of receipt by enclosing a post-office order for 21s. 
Fig.3.—IRIGA PROPENDENS. 
Let “ every man do his duty,” give earnest at the beginning of 
the year of “ goodwill to man ” by real not feigned sympathy.— 
G. Abbey. 
TWO PRETTY HEATHS. 
Heaths and hard wooded plants are old favourites of mine, and I 
like to call the attention of readers occasionally to some of those now 
neglected plants. Two Ericas that I have grown for some years and 
found useful for spring flowering are E. propendens (fig. 3) and 
E. princeps (fig. 4). They are very distinct in habit, form of flowers, 
and colours, which renders them all the more acceptable as companions. 
The first named, E. propendens, is of graceful habit with slender 
branches and small leaves, the flowers being produced freely on the 
upper part of the stems, bell shaped and reddish purple in colour. The 
other, E. princeps, is stronger in habit, more shrubby, with stout spread¬ 
ing branches and curving leaves ; the flowers large, in clusters of five to 
Fig. 4.—ERI 'A PRINCEPS. 
ten, and of a brilliant rel hue. They require the usual treatment 
accorded to Cape Heaths.—B. C. 
WATERING FRUIT TREES IN WINTER. 
It is frequently urged to give fruit trees abundance of water 
when they are in active growth, and this is sound advice ; but 
watering fruit trees in winter, and when they are dormant, is not 
so often recommended and practised as it should be. I recently 
received a letter on this subject from an excellent grower in the 
neighbourhood of Liverpool, and he attributed much of his success 
to the attention he gave his Vines and trees while they were out of 
fruit. Watering, in particular, was an important point, and this is 
also my opinion. Many go to extremes in this respect. Ample, if 
not superfluous, attention is given them when they are bearing, but 
neglect follows, and then they gradually but surely degenerate.. 
Fruit trees in the open soil are not very apt to suffer for lack of 
water at the root in winter, but those under glass are. Vines and 
Peaches and Nectarines are the principal, as the inside borders in 
which these are growing are often allowed to become dust dry in 
winter. This, I need hardly say, kills many of the most delicate 
fibres, causes the wood to shrivel, and in the case of Peaches and 
Nectarines it is a fertile source of the flower buds and immature 
fruits falling. When once a border becomes thoroughly dry it is 
no easy matter to soak it again. It must be watered time after 
time to do it, and when this is going on the buds often begin to 
