380 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 9, 1901. 
prepared to argue “ that lords and dukes make 
skilled gardeners," but noblemen are sometimes 
prepared to pay a good wage for the services of one. 
<• a. V. M." discounts the value of a diary because 
of the diversity in climate and soil of different shires. 
It would be just as logical to argue that a capable 
gardener who acquired his experience in the north 
would be but an indifferent one in the south. What 
do my " irrepressible " Scottish friends say to that ? 
Perhaps our lot as probationers is not a very en¬ 
couraging one, but why make it worse with useless 
grumblings ? If grumbling will remedy a grievance, 
there is some purpose in grumbling, but I think it 
would be more profitable, as "C. P. C." says, "to 
struggle on and try to improve our knowledge by 
every means available." 
I confess to have some sympathy with the lad who 
cries for the moon if he sets about to obtain it. He 
does know what he wants. He may not get it, but 
perhaps will secure somefhicg near it which will 
satisfy him. I know as well as many what deficient 
education, long days, small pay, long weary months 
of waiting on miserable nursery pittance means. The 
young gardener must be prepared for much of that, 
but none the less let him map out his path and his 
goal and start to win—and win. He may not break 
any records. It is not always necessary to do that 
jn order to receive a prize.— Young Gardener. 
Mr. Editor, I hope you will allow me space in our 
useful paper The Gardening World to answer 
some of the questions put b to me by some of our 
readers in last week’s issue. I am very pleased to 
see so many good writers taking an interest in this 
discussion. Certainly I do not agree with Mr. Ross 
in some points. I have been in places where I was 
both inside and outside, and I say that I never yet 
could take an interest in either department, simply 
because I had too much to attend and give attention 
to. It was a case like this—Watering in the morniDg 
till breakfast, then digging or.planting " Curly Kale " 
for an hour or so, then had to run and take the “ air " 
off the " plant stove " and " Melon pit ” (the sun had 
gone down), and so on like that. No one could take 
an interest in his work in a place like that, could he ? 
B;sides, the minister or doctor does not like to see 
his men running so often from their work. 
The "diary writing " is an old habit, and I know 
a great maay good and able bead gardeners that have 
shown me thsir diary after keeping it for > ears. I 
I have met the "footballers'’ too, and five out of 
every eight, kept his diary, the most of them being 
good tradesmen, yet, still, could enjoy a game at 
cricket or football after bis hard day’s work was 
finished. The "great lot" that could be d me by 
head gardeners is a very wide question, and I am 
afraid that space will Dot be granted to go into the 
question thoroughly, but the chief one is " Get his 
men comfortable both in bothy and in wages as far 
as possible." I may say that if chaps were a litne 
more looked after in comfort, &c., they would do far 
more in return to their masters. In the most of big 
places in Scotland, where a number of journeymen 
are kept (not including inside or outside foreman) 
their wages are all the same, namely, as a rule i6s., 
no matter whether Peter Green has just served his 
time, or John Experience been ten or twelve years at 
the " profession.” 
Could it not be possible to give John Experience a 
shilling or so more a week, although Peter Green had 
only to get 15s. for a start ? This is where matters 
could be improved by many a head gardener. A.V.M. 
seems to think that making of seed bids, sowing 
seed, digging, pruning, potting, disbudding, &c., is 
not taught in large places. I am afraid he has been 
one of the unlucky then, as I have always, and w 11 
always give the apprentice a chance, while I am in 
a big estab’ishment or not. As has already been 
said, " we are a brotherly lot," yes ; and “ one good 
turn deserves another.’’ I hope no ill feeling will 
exist between the writer and-his critics as this is 
only “ an argument.”—T. S. Dick, Castlemilk Gardens, 
Lockerbie, ' 
I think 11 C. P C.’s ” interesting article on “Gar¬ 
deners' Grievances" encouraging to young gardeners 
who are struggling onwards in the hopes of getting 
a good position in gardening. For myself I do not 
think there is any profession that has more 
grievances than gardeners, who have long hours of 
work and anxiety, and, as a rule, poor wages. Just 
consider what a gardener has to learn before he can 
obtain the post of a gardener, compared with a 
mechanic. As a rule a young man may go into a 
trade and in six years be a first-class workman, and 
take top wages. Not so with gardeners. They have 
to start as garden boys and work their way up to 
head gardeners. This takes as a rule fifteen to 
twenty years to obtain, and then ODly with bard 
work and study. Of course some are more lucky 
than others, and often we find some of the best men in 
small places, perhaps through no cause of their 
own. 
" Gardening " I consider a game of chance, and 
nothing else, and my advice to young men is to take 
up some trade, without they have their heart and 
soul in gardening. With a trade they are far better 
off than the poor journeyman gardener, and have a 
better prospect in view. More situations open to 
them than journeymen when they have served their 
time, better pay and less hours, and when they leave 
off work they have done for that day. Not so with 
the gardeners, who have scores of little things to do 
and think about after leaving-off hours. 
Another side of the question is large versus 
medium places. Which are the best for a young man 
to enter ? Well, if I had this to answer, I should 
say the medium one. I have made a careful study of 
young men in different gardens (large and medium) 
that I have served at in various parts of England, 
and have no hesitation in saying that some of the 
best men are found in medium-sized places, where 
eight to ten men are kept. And as many readers of 
The Gardening World know from locking round 
places, that better stuff (both inside and out) is 
found in these places than the larger ones, and men 
get a far better knowledge all round. It is all very 
well telling you to keep your eyes and ears open, but 
that is not all. I quite agree with what Mr. F. 
Ross, p 358, says about jourceymen keeping a 
dihry. How many do ? They are few and far be¬ 
tween. Recently I asked a young journeyman why 
he did not keep a diary of the work he did, and very 
soon I had the answer :—" Did I think he was going 
to trouble his head about such things for 16s. per 
week ? And when he had served twenty years to get 
a single-handed place, and be generally useful for 
the large sum of a pound a week ; for as things are 
now I can go and earn fid. per hour without refer¬ 
ences, &c., that would be required if I keep to gar¬ 
dening."— J. Botley, Blythewood Gardens, Maidenhead. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The awards mentioned below were made by the 
Royal Horticultural Society on the 29’h ult. :— 
Orchid Committee. 
Cattleya chocoensis alba.— The typical form of 
this Cattleya is cicely allied to C. Trianaei, the 
chief or leading distinction being that the sepals and 
petals, but particularly the latter, are nearly erect, 
that is, they-almost take the same direction as the 
lip. The petals are no able for their relative short¬ 
ness, great breadth and crisped margin. The lip is 
funnel-shaped. The variety under notice has a 
yellow blotch in the throat, and a faint blush tint on 
the lip, otherwise the whole flower is white. (Award 
of Merit) Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart, (grower, 
Mr. W. H. Young), Clare Lawn, East Sheen. 
Calanthe Oakwood Ruby.— The flowers of this 
hybrid are of an intense carmihe-red, with a white 
eye to the lip, the petals being darkest. It is pro¬ 
bably the darkest Calanthe now in cultivation. 
(Award of Merit) Norman C. Cookson, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. Wm. Murray), Oakwood, Wylam-on- 
Tyne. 
Odontoglossum nevadense rosef.eldense.— 
The lanceolate sepals are revolute at the tips, and of 
a deep shining chocolate with a yellow margin and 
tip. The petals are similar, but have yellow mark¬ 
ings at the base. The lip is white, with caDary- 
yellow fringes on the margins, and the disc and side 
lobes are blotched with brown. (Award of Merit.) 
de B Crawshay, Esq., Rosefield, Seveaoaks. 
Phalaenopsis Boxallae. —The lateral sepals are 
much broader than the dorsal one, all being yellow 
and barred transversely with deep purple fading to 
brown with age. The lip is white, fading to pale 
yellow. (Botanical Certificate.) Sir F. Wigan, 
Bart. 
Floral Committee. 
Rhododendron King Edward VII.—The parents 
of this greenhouse hybrid were R. javanicum 
(female) and R. Teysmanni (male). The flowers are 
of great size, produced in massive trusses, and of a 
deep golden-primrose colour. The filaments are 
darker yellow, and the anthers violet-purple. ( 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Apple Beauty of Kent. —The fruits of this fine 
old variety are of large and handsome size, the skin 
being yellow and covered from one-half to two-thirds 
with a rich suffusion of red, with crimson splashes 
and markings. The flesh is tender, juicy and of 
excellent quality. The fruits shown were of unusual 
size, very handsome and received a Cultural Com¬ 
mendation as well as an Award of Merit. Roger 
Leigh, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Woodward), Barham 
Court, Maidstone. 
Apple Brabant Bellefleur. —The conical fruits 
of this variety are yellow, aDd deep, shining,crimson- 
red on the exposed side. It is a cooking Apple of good 
quality, in season from November to April. (Award 
of Merit.) Lord Poltimore (gardener, Mr. T. H. 
Slade), Poltimore Park, Exeter. 
Apple Reinette du Canada. — The five-angled 
fruit of this variety is dull yellow, suffused and 
spotted with russet. The flesh is of sufficient 
excellence for table use and is equally available for 
cooking purposes. (Award of Merit.) Mr. W. 
Strugnell, Rood Ashton Gardens, Trowbridge, 
Wilts. 
Apple Claygate Pearmain. —The ovate fruits in 
this instance are of medium size, dull yellow and 
heavily suffused with russet on one side, and 
splashed with red on the other. The variety is a 
good dessert Apple and continues in usable condition 
to the end of next month. (Award of Merit.) Mr. 
W. Strugnell. 
- « e- 
4 
Gardening 
APPLE BUTTER. 
Apple butter should be made from new Cider, fresh 
from the press, and not yet fermented. Fill a porce- 
lair.-lined kettle, and boil until reduced one half. 
Then boil another kettle full in the same way, and 
so continue until you have sufficient quantity. To 
four gallons of boiled Cider, allow half a bushel of 
nice juicy Apples, pared, cored, and quartered. The 
Cider should be boiled the day before you make the 
Apple butter. Fill a very large kettle with the 
boiled Cider, and add as many Apples as can be kept 
moist. Siir frequently, and when the Apples are 
soft beat them with a wooden stick until they are 
reduced to a pulp. Cook and stir continuously 
unt l the consi tency is that of soft marmalade, and 
the colour is a very dark brown. Have boiled 
Cider at hand in case it becomes too thick, and 
Apples if too thin. Twenty minutes before you take 
it from the fire add ground Cinnamon and Nutmeg 
to taste. It requires no sugar. When cold put 
into stone jars and cover ever.— Rural New Yorker. 
LOBELIA POISONOUS. 
The sw^t and dwarf little edging Lobelia, which in 
gardens everywhere is one of the first favourites, has 
been found, says Fhe IrishFarmingWorld, particularly 
dangerous for sheep to eat. At the end of last 
October it had been determined that this plant had 
been the cause of death of a considerable number of 
sheep in the Western district of Victoria, where the 
plant grows wild. The symptoms are convulsions 
and rigid stiffening of the limbs, similar to strychnine 
poisoning, and a sheep very rarely survives an 
attack. The Lobelia so commonly grown in 
gardens (L. Erinus) is a native of South Africa. 
L. gracilis, of Andrew's Botanical Repertory, t. 340, is 
a native of Australia. L. tenuior comes from W. 
Australia. 
LENTIL RISSOLES. 
Pur quarter pound Egyptian Lentils in a pan with a 
gill of water and simmer till tender. Pour into a 
dish and add a little Thyme, Parsley, fine-cut fried 
Onion and seasoning. Stand aside till cold. Roll 
some short paste thin, and cut into small rounds, 
place a little of the Lentil mixture on each, and 
form into little turnovers. Brush over with beaten 
egg, and fry in oil or butter. Pastry may be made 
by adding three ounces of nucoline or albene to half 
pound of flour. 
fJtSCELLANY. 
