358 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 3, 1894. 
As regards the method of thinning out, I advocate 
the use of small bladed hoes such as are used by the 
market gardeners, as this reduces the necessity of 
drawing the plants out by hand to a minimum, and it 
is a far more expeditious method. This applies to all 
root crops with the exception of Turnips; pulling out 
the young plants is often attended with serious results 
to those remaining, especially if dry summer weather 
sets in immediately afterwards, as the sun and air 
gets at the roots to a degree which injures their 
growth ; and another, and more serious evil is that 
it renders them a more easy prey to insect pests 
As frost does not injure the roots a very common, 
practice is to leave them in the ground till wanted, 
but they can be pitted and placed away like Beet or 
Carrots, and the advantage of doing this is that it 
leaves the ground sooner at liberty. —IF.S.G. 
-- 4 -- 
A GARDENER ON 
THRIFT. 
At the meeting of the Devon and Exeter Gardeners 
Association, held on the 24th ult., Mr. A. Hope pre¬ 
siding, Mr. T. E. Bartlett, gardener, Knightley’s, 
Exeter, read a paper on " Thrift, or how to become 
independent.” Mr. Bartlett prefaced his paper by 
saying that he did not expect it to be a popular one 
His excuse for writing was that he felt it a duty to 
his fellow gardeners to place before them a few ways 
of making old age a pleasant time instead of, as was 
so often the case, a miserable one. The chief aim 
and ambition of every working man, began Mr. 
Bartlett, should be to make himself independent. 
The man who had a nice little account at his 
banker’s had respect for himself and commanded it 
from others. If he wished for better terms from his 
employer he could ask for them, and if his just and 
fair request were refused he had no fear of being in 
want should he be out of a situation for a time. He 
was persuaded that employers knew or guessed 
pretty near about those things, and acted accord¬ 
ingly. 
If they thought a man was poor, they knew 
he could not afford to leave, and so he seldom got a 
rise unless his master was kind-hearted, and he (the 
lecturer) was proud to say there were some of the 
good old sort still living. He always thought there 
must be something wrong in the man who depre¬ 
ciated his employer. It was good to cultivate a con¬ 
tented mind, to be thrifty in work and careful in 
expenses, for it was not what a man earned that 
made him rich, but what he saved. It was the 
beginning that was difficult. The trouble was to 
make the first £5, but when it got to £100 it was 
plain sailing. It must be very pleasant to feel 
money coming in when he did not work for it, 
although one might have worked hard and deprived 
himself of many things to obtain it, but when that 
was past one forgot all about the privations, and 
was none the worse, but the better for it. 
There were many ways .of providing for old age ; 
there were the insurance companies, which he 
thought very highly of. They could get the tables 
for themselves and work the thing out. He thought 
there must be something wrong in clubs such as the 
Odd Fellows and Foresters. They were conducted 
on gigantic principles, but they either charged their 
members too high a contribution, or else gave too 
small benefits. He did not think it right for a 
Society to accumulate such immense sums of money, 
and the ordinary members had not part of the sums 
accumulated. It was time for the working men to 
think for themselves and find out what was the best 
thing to do with their small savings. There was an 
institution he wished to bring before their notice, 
namely, the “ United Horticultural Provident and 
Benefit Society,” of London. It was fhe nearest 
approach to perfection of any he knew. Mr. Bartlett 
then read an extract from the report of the twenty- 
fourth annual meeting of the Society, setting forth as 
the Society’s essential points its safety and stability ; 
The advantages it offered over general benefit 
Societies; its careful, economical, and admirable 
management. They all knew that gardeners were 
not well enough paid to save money—to save a 
fortune would be impossible; but every man should 
make some provision against sickness, old age, and 
-possible death in the prime of life, for to leave a 
wife and family without some temporary provision 
was, he considered, a crime of the worst kind. 
There was not much need to remind them of the 
Building Society, Investment Trust, and others that 
had lately carried off the savings of thousands of 
people, causing great distress and poverty. Bricks 
and mortar could not run away. What was wanted 
for gardeners was some scheme of superannuation at 
sixty years of age. No living man shonld be com¬ 
pelled to work, nor should he be allowed to hold a 
place after that age. At that age let men retire on a 
pension, that others might have a chance. It would 
ease the pressure of over population. He was in 
favour of state pensions. No doubt they would 
come in time, but not soon enough for them Still 
they could hope for the best. There was a glorious 
future for the v.'orking man. Times were much 
better than they were thirty years ago, and every 
year got better still—more comforts, better food, and 
better houses. 
Education had given them cheap literature. The 
thrifty had been the means of bringing all those 
changes and improvements. Their thrifty men had 
their eyes upon, and with their capital had used 
every opportunity of improving trade, art, and 
science, till England had became the foremost 
country in the world ; and what was to prevent the 
gardeners of Exeter from becoming the foremost 
association in England. Let every man do his best 
for himself and his second best for his brother gar¬ 
dener. For that Society to become the finest of its 
kind in England it was necessary to strike out some 
new line of thought and action. In these go-ahead days 
the man who stopped was lost; there was no middle 
course, they must either be going forward or back¬ 
ward. As they did not believe in going backward, 
what did they say to going forward, and starting a 
new line by adding a new branch to their Association 
in the shape of a ” pension for old members.” He 
did not think there would be much danger of rivalry 
from the Government this year. Surely there could 
be no objection to using the surplus funds for the 
benefit of their old members. At present they had 
none, but in time they would have. He did not like 
to cast off old garments, much less old friends. To 
be mutual they must help one another, and in so 
doing themselves. By the payment of ;^io a 
member could become a life subscriber to the Gar¬ 
deners’ Royal Benevolent Institution. By that pay¬ 
ment a man was entitled to a pension at the proper 
time. [?] If that plan were adopted and carried out 
they could vote in one or more members each year, 
according to the funds in hand. The spring bulb 
show could be made the means of putting on a 
member, and no doubt many other ways could be 
found. With such a splendid institution as the 
Royal to help them they would be wanting in their 
duty to one another if they failed to take advantage 
of it. Should that be carried out in some workable 
form there should be no delay. It would be the 
means of uniting the members in a bond of self- 
interest, and they would have done a good and 
lasting benefit to all gardeners who were members, 
for each would be put on in succession. 
Mr. Charles Head, gardener, Wonford House, 
thought Mr. Bartlett’s remarks as to Odd Fellows 
very misleading, and cited the case of an Exonian, 
to whom the Odd Fellows’ Society had paid more 
than £200. —Mr. A. George, lecturer on horticulture, 
under the Devon County Council, spoke strongly on 
behalf of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institu¬ 
tion. If all gardeners, he said, would join that 
Institution, they would not want any Government 
pensions. They could pension themselves.—Mr. 
Weeks, gardener. Stoke House, thought it would be 
one of the grandest things the Association had ever 
done if they could manage to get a few old hands 
on the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.— 
The Chairman thought Mr. Bartlett would never 
have suggested his scheme if he had thought over 
the matter. One could not expect a twenty pound 
annuity for ten pounds. The £10 qualified for 
election, but it did not amount to a demand upon the 
fund, or a right to be put there. He also drew 
attention to the United Horticultural Benefit and 
Provident Society. For 6d. a week, he said, could 
be drawn los. 6d. per week in time of sickness, and a 
larger amount for a larger subscription. The member¬ 
ship was about 500, and the amount of sick pay paid 
in 1892 was only ^88. The funds were invested in 
3 per cent. Corporation Stock.—Mr. Bartlett, in 
reply, said he could not see Mr. Hope’s objection to 
his suggestion.—At Mr. Bartlett’s request, a vote of 
the meeting was taken. There were nine in favour 
of his proposal, and three against it. Many did not 
vote .—Westeyn Times. 
ROOT ACTION: ITS EFFECTS ON 
VEGETATION.^ 
Every observer of the vegetable kingdom will, I 
think, at once admit that the principal external 
features of all plant life are—first, the root; secondly, 
the trunk and branches, or stem ; thirdly, the leaves ; 
and fourthly, the flowers and seeds. In the forma¬ 
tion of these Nature has many forces in operation. 
The varying atmospheric conditions and changes 
from summer’s heat to winter’s extreme cold, act 
and re-act on Mother Earth, keeping in motion 
the chemical transformation of nutriment to supply 
the constant demand of the multitudinous forms of 
vegetation. It is a notable fact that variety 
characterises the vegetable kingdom, and yet it is 
possible to maintain a supply to its needs, the study 
of which constitutes a source of great commercial 
profit, and the dispensing of the numerous composi¬ 
tions of soils, manures, water, and air forms the 
special duties of horticulturists. The functions of 
roots are to hold the plant in position in the soil, to 
absorb through the root hairs and epidermis of the 
younger rootlets the necessary nourishment required 
by the plant. The young and thin-walled organs 
just alluded to when the plant is in a healthy 
condition are full of activity, taking from the soil 
the elements supplied by the process of decomposi¬ 
tion from the effects of heat, cold, air, and water, 
also the action of different products on each other, 
brought about by cultivation in the exposure by 
digging, trenching, draining, and otherwise manipu¬ 
lating the land, according to the knowledge we have 
of its requirements, for the encouragement of the 
fibrous roots. In our selection of fruit trees, for 
instance, we would at once choose those trees which 
have an amount of these small roots, recognising 
them as so many food suppliers, and the trees will 
more readily be given support when replanted, as 
each healthy rootlet, given fair conditions, will soon 
resume its natural work of imbibing food if not for 
immediate use, for storage to meet the strong demands 
of spring-time. For this reason the Paradise stock 
is recommended to graft Apples on when early 
fruiting is desired, the nature of this tree being to 
root freely and keep near the surface, where it is 
easily influenced by the sun, and by whatever manure 
may be supplied to it. One precaution I would 
suggest in the treatment of all plants that root near 
the surface, viz., that in their summer management 
when hot and dry seasons prevail, these roots should 
be mulched with short litter of any kind, that the 
fibres be not contracted by hard-baked soil and 
rendered unable to conduct their work until others 
are formed, encouraged by a supply of water arti¬ 
ficial or otherwise; the opposite extreme should also 
be guarded against during the winter and season, 
when hard frosts and biting east winds seem to starve 
and render useless the soft pulpy points or feeding 
portion of the roots. When this weather is antici¬ 
pated, or any time after the foliage has fallen, the 
surface soil may be lightly forked, and, if thought 
necessary, an inch or two of soil may be removed for 
a distance of two or three feet around the stem of the 
tree ; this soil may be replaced on top w’hen three 
or four inches of good manure have been laid over 
the roots. The process has the threefold advantage, 
of protection from frost, manuring the deeper roots; 
and acting as a great encouragement for the develop¬ 
ment of fibrous roots, without which good stout 
growth with abundant fruiting wood, laden with 
buds, are almost an impossibility ; this principle 
holds good whenever good plants and trees are 
desired. While speaking so strongly in favour of 
fibrous roots, I do not ignore the use and purpose of 
the strong far-reaching roots, pushing and tunnelling 
beneath the surface almost regardless of the texture 
of the soil, extending themselves according to the 
branches above ground. They are, in fact, the 
evident cause of such extension ; cripple or damage 
the root-action or withhold the supply of nourish¬ 
ment, and growth stands still, many of our more 
tender plants taking a long season to recover from 
its disastrous effects. These strong roots are also 
the anchorage against the wildest gales that sweep 
with such fury, and, sad to say, play havoc amongst 
our much prized forest giants, and the growth of 
centuries is laid low with a crash. These unfortunate 
disasters often robbing a beautiful landscape of some 
of its most picturesque features, are very frequently 
traceable to failing root action. 
(To be continued.) 
* A paper read by Mr. Williams on the 6th ult., at the meetinj; 
of the Preston and Fulwood Horticultural Society. 
