December 31, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
281 
than when cut in squares and left open. Planks or 
boards should be placed in the rear, across the ground 
on which to wheel or carry the turves. In re-laying, 
the operator may work across the ground from right to 
left, or vice versa, levelling and raking evenly all foot¬ 
prints he, in working backwards, may have made. 
It is immaterial which way the turves have been 
wrapped up, provided their edges have been cut perpen¬ 
dicularly with the edging-iron. If cut by a spade the 
inward and outward edges would 'be on an angle, and 
must be rolled up, so as not to produce by their meeting 
edges when unrolled again the letter V or the reverse /\, 
thereby causing delay. Set the edges closely together, 
and when two or three rows of turves have been laid, 
lieat them evenly with the back of the spade or sod- 
maul, proceeding in a like manner till the whole is 
completed, after which it may be left for two or three 
weeks and ihen be well rolled. 
Sowing. 
As before stated, where good turf cannot be got, 
sowing is, in the end, the better and cheaper way, 
being mindful to select a good and responsible firm to 
supply the seeds. The 
finest piece of turf I ever 
saw was a small plot at 
Dalton, some twelve or 
fifteen years ago, with seeds 
supplied by a local firm 
(Messrs. Armitage & Son) 
well known for their speci¬ 
ality in grasses. That plot 
at the time converted me 
to the plan of seed sowing 
more than anything else, 
and I have never forgotten 
it. Evidence has been given 
me since in different places 
by other special firms ivhich 
abound in the seed trade, 
an instance of which was the 
beautiful sward—the result 
of one summer’s growth— 
around the Liverpool Ex¬ 
hibition. 
April is the best time for 
sowing, as the sun is then 
less powerful and the soil 
and atmospheric conditions 
are favourable to the ger¬ 
mination. In ordering grass 
seeds it is well to describe 
the soil—heavy, medium or 
light—as special sorts can 
be included or excluded 
accordingly, and to leave 
the selection and weight 
per rood or acre to such 
firms as are best able to 
judge.— B. Lockwood , Hud¬ 
dersfield. 
mains if requisite, finishing with a coating of soil some 
inches in thickness. A gutter, 8 ins. wide and 3 ins. 
deep, must run round the green. A gravel or asphalte 
w T alk is desirable, to encompass the whole for the use of 
spectators. 
The turf should be of clean grass and wiry, so as to 
withstand the large amount of treading. The ground 
should be thoroughly settled, either by the weather, 
treading, or ramming, as it may require. If it could 
be got into form at once, and lay until early in March 
before turfing, the frost and rain would be the means of 
settling the whole of the recently-moved soil. If I have 
failed to make myself properly understood, or “ J. McE.” 
should require more information, I am willing to send 
through the post a rough sketch, v'hich could be more 
easily understood.— R. G. Waterman, Woolton, Liver - 
pool. -.**«.- 
A FAMOUS SCOTTISH FLORIST 
Foe. the long period of nearly half-a-century the name 
of James Dobbie has been intimately associated with 
horticulture in Scotland, and we have this week much 
In reply to “J. McE.” 
(p. 207), a bowling green 
should contain from 1,200 
to 1,600 square yards, the 
latter preferred if space can be 
obtained. A “crown” green 
should fall every way from the centre, and should, if 
possible, be exactly square, although few greens are so, 
because in most cases the green is made according to 
the space at disposal. The ground should fall 1 ft. in 
20 yds., that is, if we have a green 40 yds. square, which 
will give a total of 1,600 square yards. Your correspon¬ 
dent does not say whether the management thoroughly 
understand levelling and laying turf. In making a 
bowling green this is most essential, as there is no 
grass or lawn used for any purpose which requires so 
true a surface as this in laying out the ground. 
The centre must be found, and a peg driven in, the 
top to be 9 ins. from the soil; let a cord be looped 
round the peg, and a circle drawn round 20 yds. from 
it, which gives a diameter of 40 yds., or just the edge 
of each side of the ground. Then by means of a truly 
parallel rule, spirit level, and borning rods, the exact 
level of the circle can be obtained, which should then be 
dropped 12 ins., and the line pegged down at every 
15 ft. or 20 ft. The outside of the circle should fall at 
the same rate, which, at the corners, will be nearly 
17 ins. 
If the ground is at all retentive, a thorough draining 
should be made with a good layer of cinders or similar 
material, with channels running from the centre into 
James Doebie. 
pleasure in presenting our readers with an admirable 
likeness of this veteran, who, at the age of seventy, is 
still hale and hearty. Like many others w r ho have 
attained to high positions in the horticultural w r orld, 
Mr. Dobbie was not, to use a common phrase, “brought 
up to the business.” Following the bent of his inclin¬ 
ations, however, so long ago as 1840, while located in 
Berwickshire, he began to take an interest in growing 
flowers and vegetables, and one of his earliest important 
triumphs was gained about the year 1850, when he 
carried off four first prizes, two in the open class and 
two in the amateurs’, for Pansies, at a great show held 
in Berwick-on-Tweed, in connection with the Highland 
and Agricultural Society. Mr. Dobbie, on receiving the 
appointment of Chief Constable and Public Prosecutor 
at Renfrew, in the west of Scotland, removed thither 
in the year 1855, and continued the cultivation of his 
favourite subjects as assiduously as ever, carrying 
everything before him in competition with Leeks, 
Onions, Pansies, Phloxes, Marigolds, &c., at the 
most important flower shows held in Glasgow and 
Paisley. 
He was one of the first in Scotland to practice the plan 
of raising Onions in heat and afterwards transplanting 
them to where they are to be grown, a process which is 
now invariably followed with great success. In 1866 
Mr. Dobbie resolved to commence business as a florist 
and seedsman, and he resigned his official appointment 
very shortly thereafter. He had entirely in his own 
hands the strains of flowers and vegetables with which 
he had attained such wonderful success as an exhibitor, 
and, surely, if ever strains of anything were entitled to 
be called so and so’s selected, those possessed by the 
present firm of Dobbie & Co. are entitled to that 
distinction, because they have been selected by Mr. 
Dobbie and his firm continuously for almost an ordinary 
lifetime. The business was originally started on quite 
unique lines, the principal object aimed at being to 
supply competitors and exhibitors with select stocks of 
flowers and vegetables ; and ever since the commence¬ 
ment the same unvarying purpose has been kept in 
view, and the house is now the recognised source of 
many of the most reliable strains in the market. The 
position attained by the specialities of the firm in 
recent years, combined with the constantly increasing 
magnitude of the business, proves that the principle 
adopted at the outset was a correct one, and that it has 
been carried out to the satis¬ 
faction of all concerned. 
Although started in Ren¬ 
frew, the head-quarters of 
the firm are now, and have 
been for a considerable 
time, at Rothesay, in the 
Island of Bute, a place which 
is blessed with one of the 
most salubrious and equable 
climates in Britain, and, 
consequently, specially 
adapted for plant-culture. 
This has often been demon¬ 
strated on the tables of our 
great international exhi¬ 
bitions, where the exhibits 
of the Messrs. Dobbie, no 
matter whether they con¬ 
sisted of Pansies and Violas, 
or specimens of other 
flowers and vegetables, have 
generally been regarded as 
of the highest excellence. 
The leading specialities of 
the firm in the flower 
department are Pansies, 
Phloxes, Dahlias, Violas, 
Marigolds, Quilled Asters, 
Antirrhinums, &c., all of 
which are grown by them 
largely, both for seed and 
for the purpose of propa¬ 
gation by cuttings. The 
firm tjiis year showed, at one 
of the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s meetings in August, 
some of the finest African 
Marigolds ever seen in 
London, which were awarded 
two First Class Certificates. 
Their Leeks and Turnips 
are notable amongst vege¬ 
tables. Dobbie’s Champion, 
as their famous Leek is 
called, has been awarded the 
first prize at all of the recent international horticultural 
exhibitions, and is a general favourite in Scotland and 
throughout the North of England. The same might 
be said with equal truth about their Golden Ball 
Turnips, select Parsnips and Parsley. 
Instead of having their ground all in one spot, the 
Messrs. Dobbie have numerous seed grounds, and this 
is rendered necessary so as to keep the different strains 
absolutely pure by preventing all injurious cross¬ 
fertilisation. 
In recent years some new blood has been introduced 
into the firm, and a period of the most active prosperity 
appears to have set in, every season marking a very 
decided advance on its predecessor. Mr. Dobbie, while 
enjoying well-earned rest, and being retired, as the 
saying goes, still continues to work on in a quiet way 
at the improvement of Pansies, Marigolds, Leeks, 
Turnips, &c., and no doubt will do so as long as he is 
able to move about. It was said of the first Napoleon 
that the “ master passion ” was strong even in death, 
and there is no doubt but that this is the sort of 
feeling we want more of in these days—not necessarily 
the warlike feeling of the great general—but a sense of 
more devotedness and enthusiasm in whatever branch 
of work or study we make our life’s work. 
