582 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 13, 1893. 
time are very fine and full of flower. Most nights 
the temperature has been 40° to 45° at ten o clock 
(thermometer in a fairly open place 3 ft. from the 
ground) and on the 19th it was 55 0 . On four days 
last week it went up in the daytime to 8i°, 82°, 83° 
and 84°, but on the 29th there was a great change ; it 
was a cold windy day, with momentary showers and 
a few hailstones but scarcely sufficient to lay the 
dust. Frost was dreaded, but the thermometer did 
not go below 37 0 during the night. Sunday was 
equally boisterous but there was no rain. To-day 
(May 1st), rain began to fall gently at 9 a m. 
moistening the surface about half-an-inch deep. 
Everybody has been full of praise of the weather, 
though most people would have liked rain sooner, 
and with the experience of Whit-Monday still fresh 
in our memories there have been gloomy forebodings 
that we shall have winterly weather yet before 
summertide. 
It is a common remark of people not directly in¬ 
terested in fruit culture “Are not the Apple blossoms 
unusually large this year?” They certainly are of 
an enormous size, and more abundant than ever, and 
most of the trees seem to be tolerably free from 
caterpillar, a very rare occurrence demanding ex¬ 
planation. One thing I have noticed that may 
partly account for it ; in our garden the small birds 
have paid more attention to the trees whilst in 
flower than I ever saw them before, which I attribute 
to scarcity of food in consequence of the drought. 
Pear blossom was also good, but strange to say in 
our case and that of a neighbouring garden, the show 
on the walls was rather meagre and disappointing. 
I saw a week ago some Jargonelle Pears on a tree a 
a short distance from here the size of a robin 
redbreast’s egg. The tree is a large dwarf standard, 
is sheltered from the north by the end of the dwell¬ 
ing, and partly from the east by other trees, and is 
familiar to many for its regular crops. Plums, in¬ 
cluding Damsons are an enormous size, and I 
noticed to-day on Coe's Golden Drop and others 
fruit half-an-inch long. Gooseberries are forwarder 
than they usually are at Whitsuntide (the usual sea¬ 
son for picking, however late it may happen). We 
gathered our first on the 26th, they were equal in 
size to those the dimensions of which are given in 
a recent issue, p. 546. The crop is of the 
heaviest description, the birds having left the buds 
alone, and the flowers having escaped the frost.— 
W. P. R. 
--r-- 
A HALF - HOLIDAY FOR 
GARDENERS. 
The controversy now going on in your valuable 
paper on this subject, will, I doubt not, fee a means 
to the end, or consummation of this inestimable 
privilege. That young gardeners are as a class, 
somewhat handicapped, both financially and 
physically, during the summer months, as compared 
with mechanics and other skilled workmen, no one 
will deny. Still in the winter months their hours 
are much shorter, and there is no diminution in the 
rate of wages. On these grounds then, I think a 
half-holiday in winter is undesirable, but from March 
till the end of September, I hold that gardeners 
should, where practicable, have this privilege, not 
from any carping or vindictive spirit, but entirely 
from an intellectual point of view, so that the young 
gardener may have time to visit neighbouring places 
and his brother gardeners, where he may be 
enabled, by observing the various systems of garden¬ 
ing, to lay up for himself a store of knowledge 
which I doubt not, would be of the greatest advantage 
and help to him in after life. 
Sunday visiting is, I think, to be deprecated, but 
under existing conditions the young gardener has no 
other course before him. That Saturday is not the 
worst day of the week for a half-holiday, I have had 
ocular demonstration, having served in a place in 
Berwickshire where we stopped work at twelve noon 
on Saturday all the year round. Still the work 
seemed to be kept well under hand all the same. 
The place had to be tidied up, kitchen supplied for 
the morrow, plants watered, houses washed out and 
everything put straight by that hour, and the men 
who were to be on duty on Sunday were left in 
charge for the remainder of the day. This plan 
worked admirably, with advantage, I trust, to em¬ 
ployer and employed. Never, may I say, did I serve 
in a place where there was such harmony between 
master and man, or where the work was got through 
with better spirit. 
I have also had the privilege of two hours off on 
Saturday afternoon, this being granted after it was 
respectfully petitioned for, and was much appreciated. 
But the most suitable hour, in my opinion, at which to 
stop work, would be 2 p.m , which in Scotland and 
a great many places in England is the general dinner 
hour. This is only three working hours of a 
concession, and one that would suit most establish¬ 
ments. There is nothing to hinder the chief to get 
through with the work should he throw precedent 
and conservatism to the winds; old customs die hard 
however. Of course we are aware that there are 
places where should the head gardener propose a 
half-holiday for his men he would be told decisively 
to have one man less in the gardens. I am also 
aware of all the arguments against the movement, as 
to men having too much spare time, visiting public 
houses, &c., there are always a few black sheep in 
every community, but this needs no comment, I have 
more faith in gardeners than that. 
I am afraid a half-holiday will never become 
general, but in the great majority of cases we hope 
soon to see that the half-holiday is conceded. True, it 
is an accomplished fact in some places, and all 
honour to the humane gardeners who take that fellow 
interest in their men, that genuine and friendly feel¬ 
ing, the example of which will in time, we hope, 
fulfil the words of Scotland’s pre-eminent bard, 
“ When man to man the warl o’er 
Will brithers be." 
—IK. M. 
I cannot make out how a Saturday half-holiday can 
be wholly conceded where glass structures are pre¬ 
dominant. Yet I see no great obstacle to a general 
closing time at four, as the solar rays are then losing 
power, and careful stoking, watering earlier, damping 
down, and giving a little ventilation if need be, no 
great risk could possibly be run. It is more a matter of 
determination, perhaps, both on the part of superiors 
and subordinates. Let the two study one another's 
interests and work together, and success would be 
the result. I worked at one place under two separate 
chiefs, and I then invariably noticed that we had 
better crops and a neater kept place when we got 
away by four than was the case when we had to 
toil until near six. It has been related of Sir Joseph 
Paxton that he once fell fast asleep on the magis¬ 
terial bench while a case was being tried, and when 
the officials aroused him he said, “ two months, two 
months,” and being asked why, " Oh,” retorted he, 
“I tried the case to myself yesterday.” The fact 
was that Paxton always anticipated his work, as 
every good gardener will do who intends to succeed. 
If the head will personally supervise his men in a 
kindly and considerate manner, the rule to cease 
labour at four o’clock would follow, as night follows 
day.— B. L. 
'A~ '«2T 
(Gardening §iscellany. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN MAY. 
The admirers of this class of plants are determined 
not to lose sight of their favourite flower whatever 
be the time of the year. A correspondent from 
Edinburgh writes to the following effect:—“The 
twelve Chrysanthemum blooms which I put before 
the Scottish Horticultural Association on the 2nd 
inst. were cut from plants bearing from ten to 
eighteen blooms each, and I said I thought they 
would admit that for size, colour, and breadth of 
petal they were equal to the same varieties when 
flowered in the height of the Chrysanthemum season. 
I may have more to say when I exhibit again in June, 
as I shall have more varieties in bloom by that time. 
The present lot were eight blooms of Madamoiselle 
Melanie Fabre, four of Mons. Freeman, four of 
Madamoiselle Lacroix, and one of Madame Louise 
Leroy. This year I finished cutting my late Chry¬ 
santhemums about the middle of April. At that 
time my early ones were opening their flowers, and 
as far as I can judge at present, like Tennyson’s 
brook, there will be no difficulty in keeping them 
flowing (or flowering) on for ever."— A. McM., 
Trinity Cottage. [Eight flowers of the four varieties 
were sent us, and we must say that their size and 
freshness was wonderful for this season of the year. 
The soft, rose-coloured blooms of Madamoiselle 
Melanie Fabre were particularly fine and distinctly 
fragrant, but were without the gold centre seen in 
autumn.— Ed.] 
RANUNCULUS SPECIOSUS FLORE PLENO. 
Of the several species of Buttercup, of which there 
are double forms in cultivation, that under notice is 
conspicuous for its dwarf habit, yet robust character 
of the leaves and stems as well as in the size of the 
flowers, which are of a bright golden yellow. Double 
forms of R. aconitifolius and R. acris have been in 
cultivation, probably for centuries, and their wide dis¬ 
tribution in gardens should be evidence of their 
popularity. The double form of R. speciosus is of 
more recent origin or introduction, and should be 
accorded a general welcome by those who are fond 
of hardy flowers, for it makes a brave show during 
the month of May, or even earlier, in advanced or 
forward seasons like the present. It increases very 
slowly, and is therefore not liable to overrun its 
neighbours. The flowers are as double as those of 
a Caltha, but even more regular, and might be used 
for mixing with cut flowers as well as in border or 
rock work decoration. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM TCHIHATCHEFFII. 
Some years ago great value was attached to this 
plant as a substitute for grass under trees and similar 
shaded places. It might also be profitably employed 
for planting-in dry positions or for covering banks 
where it holds its own in seasons like the present. 
The finely divided leaves lie close to the ground on the 
procumbent or creeping stems, and are of a rich dark 
green colour. The heads are borne singly on naked 
or leafless footstalks 6 in. to 12 in. long. They have 
white rays generally reflexed, with a prominent 
golden disc, and in themselves are too like those of a 
Matricaria to be highly appreciated. Independently 
of that, however, the plant is serviceable for the 
purposes above named. The species commemorates 
a Russian botanist, M. Tchihatcheff who died quite 
recently, and is often grown in gardens under the 
name of Pyrethrum Tchihatchewii. In any case the 
name is difficult to pronounce, and even more difficult 
to spell, as many Russian names are. 
NARCISSUS TRIANDRUS CALATHINUS. 
This beautiful little Daffodil is sometimes considered 
a distinct species, and although that is stretching a 
point too far, it is certainly the most distinct of the 
varieties of N. triandrus. The segments are oblong- 
lanceolate, reflexed, and white or creamy white, and 
the campanulate corona is equally long and of ttie 
same colour or even purer. In all the rest of the 
varieties of this variable little species, the corona is 
always shorter than the segments. It is a native of 
the Isle of Glenans, Brittany, and has recently been 
reintroduced to cultivation. Under fairly natural 
conditions it flowers with us during April and May. 
Attempts should be made by tlmse who grow it to 
acclimatise it in this country by sowing seeds and 
raising plants of stronger constitution which would 
perhaps enable it to be grown by everybody under 
ordinary treatment in the open border or upon the 
rockery. 
MORISIA HYPOG/EA. 
Without exception, probably, this is the earliest 
flowering species of the Evening Primrose family in 
this country whether wild or cultivated, with excep¬ 
tion, perhaps, of Fuchsias grown under glass and 
which would not, of course hold good here. The 
leaves are linear, runcinately lobed somewhat after 
the style of the Dandelion, with obliquely triangular 
lobes, and of a rich, dark green colour. The flowers 
are of a bright yellow and produced singly on foot¬ 
stalks just arriving above the dark green foliage. 
The plant, therefore, has the appearance of a tuft of 
foliage studded with yellow flowers. The best place 
for it is a sheltered position on the rockery, where it 
will occupy but a small amount of space and prove 
both interesting and pretty in spring. It may be 
seen in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long 
Ditton, Surrey. 
LEWISIA REDIVIVA. 
A fine batch of this curious but showy and 
succulent plant may be seen in the nursery of Mr. 
T. S. Ware, Hale Farm, Tottenham, where 
the plants are grown in small pots in the poorest 
sandy loam mixed with some pieces of sandstone in 
a cold frame. We saw them recently and they had 
commenced to bloom while flowers still in bud were 
