March 17,1887. ] 
JOURNAL ON HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
207 
tenanee for each child, inclusive of what arc called house charges—that 
is, superintendent, schoolmaster, schoolmistress, Ac., can be taken at less 
than j£ 30, and here I think again 1 am putting it below the mark. This 
would involve an annual expenditure of £3000. Will this be obtainable, 
and if so from whom ? I have had a long and varied experience in the 
working of societies, and I know very well how difficult it is to keep 
subscriptions going. There may be a spurt at first and everything may 
look promising, but after a while they become more promising but little 
performing. More especially has this been the case during the past few 
years. I know that some people think money must not be spent on 
bricks and mortar, and that therefore the idea of expending the large 
sum I have named must be brushed on one side ; but if so, then the 
annual expenditure must be increased to provide a place which will 
probably be inadequate and unsuitable. Now how is this large sum to 
be raised ? I am sure that gardeners would not wish it to be done for 
them, can it be done by them ? I very much doubt it, and I do so 
because of the state of the Gardeners’ Benevolent Institution, which is 
about one of the best life insurance societies a gardener can belong to, 
and yet on looking through its list of subscribers it will be seen that the 
number of gardeners who subscribe bear but a small proportion to those 
who can never have any personal interest in this matter. 
The mention of the Gardeners’ Benevolent induces me to bring that 
forward as another reason why I look on the scheme as undesirable. It 
would, I fear, interfere with it. Many gardeners say that they can with 
difficulty subscribe to its funds, and were the Orphanage to be started 
I fear that subscriptions would be withdrawn, and it would suffer. Why 
cannot some such plan as this be adopted? There are orphanages 
already in existence—the London Orphan Asylum, Wanstead, &c.—and 
if a sum of money can be got together why not purchase the right, and 
have a certain number of orphans admitted without canvassing, just as 
beds can be secured at a hospital ? This I know can be done, the right 
of presentation vested in a committee. This would not be so grand a 
scheme, but it strikes me as being more practicable.—D., Deal. 
I have read with interest the various propositions and letters 
relating to them, and I hope that, as an under gardener, I shall not 
be out of place in giving my opinion. I consider that Mr. Penny’s 
proposition is a most noble one, and ought to be brought into action, as 
I think it would meet with the highest appreciation and the greatest 
amount of help from all classes connected with horticulture. With 
regard to under gardeners, I think it would meet with a fair share of 
assistance, for although they are not in immediate danger of leaving a 
family, I may say, “ What man his end can tell ? ” and what could be a 
greater consolation to a man leaving a family than to think they are 
provided for? and how many young men are cut off in the prime of life 
without having had time to prepare for the little ones. I am afraid I 
shall be encroaching upon your space, so I will conclude by saying that 
I hope a trustworthy committee will soon be formed and business 
commenced, and as an encouragement to other under gardeners I will 
promise at least 10s.— An Under Gardener 
l am very pleased to see the support given in your columns to the 
above-named proposition, especially by such well-known practical men 
as Mr. Thomson and Mr. Goodacrc, and I hope that in due time some 
wcll-considered scheme for carrying out the idea may result from the 
discussion. I can the more heartily wish to see it succeed, as I was the 
author of a few notes in a contemporary advocating the same idea, and 
in similar words to Mr. Penny the same week his note was published. I 
quite agree with your remarks in the leader of Journal for March 3rd, 
bearing on the necessity of a strong influential Committee being formed 
to take the matter into consideration. Then if this Committee decide 
that the matter is of a practical nature, I would suggest that printed 
circulars be sent, through lopal secretaries in each county, to all persons 
interested in horticulture soliciting subscriptions for the proposed Orphan¬ 
age. The circular should be drawn up by the Committee, and be of a 
uniform character for all the country. A few pounds spent in this way 
would soon ascertain the feeling of the country on the subject. I think 
that if a tenth part of what Mr. Goodacre mentions were secured a fair 
start might be made. 1 would by all means, as far as possible, avoid 
bricks and mortar at first. A suitable house to accommodate, say, from 
ten to twenty orphans, with a good garden attached, could, I should say, 
be easily had in the London district. If this could not be purchased it 
might be leased for a term of years. It would be necessary to secure 
the services of a really worthy couple, man and wife, to act as “ father 
and mother” to the home ; one who had spent his lifetime as a gardener 
woukl be necessary. The requisite schooling of the children could 
easily be managed by drafting them into the nearest and most efficient 
school in the district where the home was. As funds accumulated, 
which I, for one, feel sure they would in the course of time, then by all 
means extend the operations of the home, either by adding to it or by 
securing land and building a new one. Perhaps, though, a supplemen¬ 
tary one might be established in the north to take in the district north 
of the Trent. There are a number of other suggestions that could be 
made if the matter is gone into ; but your generally crowded columns 
are perhaps not available for them just now. First get the funds, then 
the matter will soon be organised. I scarcely think it will be wise to 
join the Orphanage to the Gardeners’ Benevolent—at present, at all 
events. The necessary working expenses would not be heavy for a time, 
as doubtless some influential horticulturist would act as Secretary to 
the Orphanage for a time without any salary, only expenses out of 
pocke*. When once on a sound footing, then perhaps the G. B. I. and 
the Orphanage might with advantage be worked under one management. 
There is certainly room and need for both, and likely to be for .all time. 
—H. J. Clayton, Qrinuton, Tadcatter. 
It seems very strange that while some of the most prominent n < fi ¬ 
bers of the gardening profession are striving to establish a Jubilee 
memorial in the form of a home for the maintenance and education 
the orphans of gardeners, a contemporary of a certain status in the gar¬ 
dening world should be found publishing an article throwing cold water 
on the scheme. When I also find that the journal in question proceeds 
to throw vague hints about “ charities that are fruitful sources 
income to some of their promoters,” I am really astonished at the 
effrontery of the writer. Were it not too absurd it might be inferred 
that the promoters were expecting to reap some present benefit from 
the fund themselves. The name of the worthy originator should be 
sufficient answer to such insinuations. To the average mind there can 
be no question of the advantage of such an institution, and I am quite 
sure that few will require to have it proved to them “ why the need 
has suddenly arisen.” The need was always there, because the race of 
gardeners is no more exempt from early and sudden death than any 
other class of men. Indeed, when one considers the chills to which a 
gardener leaving the heated atmosphere of his greenhouses is always 
subject, it is evident that the risks he runs are greater than those of 
most men. It is also stated as a fact that but little encouragement has 
been received from those whose children the scheme is intended to 
benefit. So far from this being the case, letters are pouring in with 
promises of assistance from all quarters, but principally from gardeners 
themselves. In the course of a few weeks there seems little doubt that 
the scheme will be fairly floated, and will be beyond the power of any 
carping criticism to injure it.— J. H. Pratt. 
The suggested Gardeners’ Orphanage must certainly be desirable to 
all sensible gardeners, therefore one and all ought to exert themselves to 
carry it out. Although it is Jubilee year, I do not think it best to press 
the subject until later, as in every town and village something has been 
proposed for the public to carry out; therefore everyone is expected to 
put their hand into their pocket for the purpose required, and the 
suggested sum of £30,000 will require much energy on the part of all 
concerned to collect. 
Now, supposing the list is started and the sum falls far short in the 
end, could not that collected be used for a small orphanage ? perhaps 
much smaller than many would like ; still, for all that, it would exist, 
and we know that many a great and glorious ending had a very small 
beginning. 
Or, supposing a sum of money is collected and invested in the Gar¬ 
deners’ Benevolent Society for the purpose of assisting widows and 
children who may be in real want when they have no longer the support 
of the husband and father ; what will the readers of the Journal say to 
it l —A. L., Worcester. 
May I venture to propose through your columns that by way of 
commemorating the Jubilee a special medal be struck, and one such 
presented to each prizewinner at the National Rose Society’s shows this 
summer ? I think, too, an additional prize might be given in each class, 
consisting of a medal (without money) when the exhibit is of sufficient 
merit; no exhibitor, of course, to receive more than one medal, however 
many prizes he might win. I would willingly subscribe for this purpose. 
—W. H. J. 
POTATOES OLD AND NEW. 
ARE THEY DEGENERATING ? 
It has been asserted by an experienced and much-esteemed con¬ 
tributor to the pages of the Journal of Horticulture that Potatoes 
are degenerating, the natural inference being that fresh blood is 
needed, or, in other words newer and more reliable sorts are required 
to replace the worn-out varieties. As far as my experience goes, 
this tendency of the ‘‘ noble tuber ” to become weaker and there¬ 
fore much less profitable is not yet apparent, and where any variety 
is found to be either less vigorous, prolific, or disease-resisting than 
formerly, the cause is traceable, not to the decline in the Potatoe’s 
vitality, but rather to faulty treatment on the part of the 
cultivator. 
If Potatoes are so rapidly degenerating as some appear to 
imagine, why is it so much value is attached to one of the oldest 
yet in cultivation—viz., the true Old Ashleaf ? I have sent planting 
tubers of this to friends in various parts of the country, and have 
been obliged to refuse applications by other gardeners, who assert 
they cannot purchase it. Those who possess it are well aware that 
it is the most valuable early sort whether for frames or warm 
borders, no novelty that I have yet tried being equal to it. Neither 
this nor any other good so-called Ashleaf variety can be said to have 
degenerated, nor will they so long as the sets are properly stored 
and prepared. Store any variety of the Ashleaf or Lapst-one Kidneys 
iD heaps, and allow them to form and lose one and perhaps two sets 
of sprouts ; the shoots that will follow are bound to be weak and 
altogether opposite to what are needed for producing a good crop 
of tubers. Weaken the sets by premature sprouting, and degenera- 
