June 6th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
627 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”—B acon. 
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SATURDAY, JUNE 6th, 1885. 
Fruit-growing in Guernsey.— It is very 
evident that the Channel Islands fruit-growers, 
and notably those of Guernsey, are displaying 
remarkable energy in developing the resources of 
their sea-girt lands, and in utilizing those favours 
which Nature, and a favourable position, so 
bountifully showers upon them. Whilst never 
afflicted with winter such as we know that season 
to be here in England, the sun generally bestows 
upon those islands at least one third more of 
light and warmth than it gives to us; hence it is 
not difficult to see that enterprise with such help 
may, indeed, display itself in an hopeful fashion, 
and in the production of remarkable results. An 
out-door fruit-cultivator from the Metropolitan 
district has recently been to Guernsey, and, by 
reason of the fact that he had favourable 
introductions, and was not himself a fruit or 
vegetable forcer, has been permitted to enter into 
many remarkable sanctums, from which eyes 
bent on prying, for the purpose of learning what 
was being done for personal objects, would have 
been excluded. 
His description of the wondrous houses there 
devoted to fruits and vegetables, reads almost 
like a fairy tale, but it is most obvious that the 
Channel Islanders so favourably placed with 
regard to the sun’s presence have hardly to force 
products as we have ; indeed they may be said to 
assist Nature only. Naturally, did their fuel 
bills approach the amounts which forcers find 
themselves compelled to pay here, their enterprise 
might be materially limited, especially as their 
coal has to be imported into the islands. The 
cost of erecting vast areas of glass structures is a 
first or prime cost, but the fuel bill is a never 
ending, still increasing one, and must have the 
first consideration when forcing on a large scale 
is contemplated. 
“I entered one house,” says our informant, 
“540 ft. long and 45 ft. in width, all under 
Grapes; and indeed it was a wondrous sight to 
see the Vines full of fruit, looking along the 
vista. There were plenty of other big houses, 
in fact enormous areas of glass, but I only took 
note of the dimensions of this one. In nearly all 
cases the houses have span roofs. Specially was 
there one noticeable in which the Vines were 
planted out in rows 6 ft. apart, running cross¬ 
wise, and then trained up to stakes fan-shaped. 
This was a new method of Vine-culture under 
glass; in fact, it resembled a Vineyard under a 
glass roof. The sides of this huge house were 
10 ft. high, and the roof a span, resembling in 
area a huge barn. In another house the entire 
area was planted with Canadian-WAnder Dwarf 
Beans, sown in rows, and not in pots as we grow 
them here, under glass. From this house, it 
was stated, ton of produce had already been 
taken it was of such Brobdignagian dimensions. 
“ Tomatos, too, are grown in immense quan¬ 
tities, and Potatos from the open air are indeed 
staple articles of production. Guernsey may be 
said to be almost an island garden, for the 
quantity of glass erected during the past ten 
years would be—the area of the island considered 
■“fabulous, could it be stated. The growers in 
this favoured locale are very hard workers ; men 
who labour and grub away with rough hands, 
rough clothing, and thick nailed boots, just as 
though common labourers, yet large employers 
of labour, and worth, probably, thousands. They 
seem to be profound believers in the potency of 
labour and of riches. Life in such a case may 
be worth living to some whose souls do not soar 
above their breeches pockets, but its light must 
be terribly clouded over with labour, pain, 
anxiety, and avarice. Still, these people are 
wonderfully enterprising; and if they pick up 
the best plums in the trade, we must not envy 
them their fortune.” 
Sunday Gardening. —Amidst the turmoil and 
strife created by contending factions over the 
sanctity of Sunday or otherwise, it is instructive 
to note the fact, so obvious to gardeners, that 
nature knows no seventh day of rest, and con¬ 
tinues her. work with the same regularity and 
despatch that she shows on all other days of the 
week. We say this natural fact is so obvious to 
gardeners, because their labour in certain depart¬ 
ments, and in certain seasons especially, can know 
no cessation. We have often heard very good 
people, or at least persons who have their own 
estimate of goodness, declaiming against certain 
trades and occupations, just because they 
rendered Sunday labour imperative. 
But argument of that kind is open to sharp 
retort, and especially so when employed by those 
who have large gardens, or keep live stock of any 
kind necessitating Sunday labour on the part of 
their employes, if not on their own. Let us take 
the present season for instance, especially when the 
sun shines out warmly, and houses and plants 
need incessant attention. The most conscientious 
of Sabbatarians knows that the neglect of the 
requirements of nature for one day may undo all 
the work of the year, just because whatever man 
may ordain with reference to the seventh day 
rest, nature is not amenable to his will. 
Plants must be watered, air must be given and 
withdrawn, shading must have attention, for the 
sun will shine, the rain will fall, the wind will 
blow, the frost will be as intense on Sundays as 
on other days, and neglect of ordinary precautions, 
even but for a few hours, means loss and mis¬ 
fortune, as many a man in charge on Sundays has 
discovered to his sorrow. 
Even those whose vocation lies in the pro¬ 
duction of seeds find that here, too, there is no 
standing still, no waiting for the pleasure or 
convenience of man. Seeds will ripen and waste, 
if not carefully gathered, let the day be what it 
may, and the grower cannot live on waste. Nay, 
waste of anything good is wicked, and there are 
many forms of wickedness in the world very 
much worse than are those found in Sunday 
gardening. We have seen fruit spoiling—who 
has not ?—on Sundays, as on other days, from 
neglect to gather, and we have seen numbers of 
persons employed on Sundays gathering, that it 
may be good food for man, and not be spoiled, 
The exigencies of gardening are many and 
imperative; they necessitate much absolutely 
necessary work, but still work that is not found 
in many other vocations not so dependent on the 
operations of nature. Persons of strong religious 
views may be gardeners, and assume all the 
weighty responsibilities incidental to gardening 
with the utmost conscientiousness, if they view 
their positions and duties with wisdom and 
judgment. If they cannot -do so, and are ever 
declaiming the absolute perfection and force of 
the Fourth Commandment, they are grossly 
inconsistent if they still continue to exist in and 
by a vocation that renders Sunday labour so 
imperative. 
Our great dramatist has told us to find sermons 
in stones, books in the running brooks, and 
good in everything. This abjurgation is one 
that needs constant repetition, for men sadly 
and cantankerously fail to find, or rather look 
for the good which is so universal. The hum- 
blest garden labourer, if he be a thoughtful man, 
and goes about his work with love and veneration 
for all the beauty and goodness which surrounds 
him, may indeed find sermons in his surround¬ 
ings, and sacred harmonies in the sweetness and 
beauty which it is his happy lot to enjoy. A 
simple flower, or tiny plant or insect, may speak 
home to some hearts with more power than could 
the most eloquent of human preachers. 
-hH- 
Poppies. —What a grand plant, even for its 
foliage alone, is Papaver orientale, but when in 
bloom it is superb. It is easily raised from seed, 
and a quantity of plants so raised some sixteen 
months since are now blooming finely, some of 
the flowers being of enormous size and of rich 
deep red hues. There is a slight divergence, 
both in size and in shade, seen in the batch, and 
the foliage is more or less striking ; but, as a 
rule, the latter compares with the finest models 
for Corinthian architecture. As a perennial this 
Poppy will develop into huge plants, and form 
in the shrubbery borders, with Pseonies and similar 
things, truly noble ornaments. A large bed of 
this Papaver would be a striking mass ; indeed 
single plants convey no idea of the wondrous 
beauty and effect seen in big masses. 
A big patch of the new and singularly lovely 
Papaver umbrosum, one of the grandest 
biennials to be found, and apparently one of 
the hardiest, is a sight which can hardly be 
realized by those who have seen it only in single 
plants. The flowers are large, single, and bold, 
colour rich reddish-crimson, each petal having 
in its centre a dense black blotch, which is as 
marked inside the flower as outside. Seed sown 
in September in the open field, the plants put out 
in March where now blooming, has given this 
grand bed. It is one of the hardy flowers that 
all should grow. 
The common forms of garden Poppies are well 
known, but are chiefly annual in habit. One of 
the most remarkable displays of these seen in any 
private garden is probably found at Dropmore, 
where the veteran Philip Frost makes his old- 
fashioned garden borders all aglow with these 
gay but easily grown flowers. The finer forms 
alluded to above may some day also become 
common, but at present they are far from being 
such, and we commend them to all who love 
hardy flowers. 
-H*- 
Tulips. —At the meeting on June 9th of the 
Loyal Horticultural Society, Mr. Samuel Barlow, 
of Stakehill House, Manchester, will exhibit a 
collection of his finest varieties of rectified and 
breeder Tulips, with a view of showing something 
of the character of the newer forms of these 
beautiful flowers. There is a superb collection of 
Tulips at Stakehill, and Mr. Barlow will this 
season have something like 5,000 blooms. They 
are very late this year, but the few warm days 
now being experienced is bringing them on 
very rapidly. If the contributions from Stakehill 
awaken some renewed interest in the Tulip 
among the florists of the South, then Mr. 
Barlow’s purpose will be well served. The contri¬ 
bution from Stakehill will show what are the good 
points in a Tulip, and this is all the more neces¬ 
sary, as the popular estimate of a Tulip is of a 
somewhat hazy character. 
■— --Tr <> 6T——s — 
The Statue of Darwin. —We may remind those 
Horticulturists and Botanists who intend being at 
South Kensington on Tuesday, that the statue of 
Darwin will be unveiled in the great hall of the 
Natural History Museum at twelve o’clock. Places 
will be reserved for the committee and subscribers to 
the memorial, but the greater part of the ball will be 
open to the public during the ceremony. 
