136 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 14, 1903, 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Exigencies of space at times compel delay in the insertion of many interesting Letters. 
Gardeners’ Bothies. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, — I have read several letters in The Gardening World 
under the above heading, and by what I can gather from these 
letters I think I have had about double the experience of bothy 
life that any of the complainers about bad bothies who write to 
this paper have had. I can tell “ Aberdeenshire Loon ” if he and 
the other two chaps had a bothy of 25ft. by 12ft., they had all 
that they would keep tidy ; and there are no such bothies as 
“Aberdeenshire Loon’’ describes there are in his part of the 
country. As a native of Aberdeenshire, T know about most of 
the bothies in and around that particular shire, and to confirm 
this, would “Aberdeenshire Loon ” kindly mention the name of 
one bothy in his part of the country that resembles a cowshed ? 
I have 1 never seen a bothy yet but had a window of some sort 
that would open far enough to ventilate any room ; only I know 
from experience that- some people, too lazy to open the window, 
ivould rather nearly suffocate, so there is no use for the sun 
shining when that is the case. 
I consider “Fifer” has been a very unlucky Fifer. I have 
lived in nine bothies which got the full benefit of the sun, and I 
could reckon up any amount of bothies that are better, as regards 
being free of damp, than the head gardener’s house. There 1 are 
no doubt a few bothies which could be improved, but they are 
not so bad on an average as a few idle-minded fellows would 
make them out to be. Gardeners generally, living in bothies 
throughout England and Scotland, are the healthiest and most 
robust class of working men one will find. Thanking the Editor 
for an intimation.— I am, etc., Head Gardener. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I will revert to the above words again, on the dictum 
that we cannot say too much of a good subject if we can so pre¬ 
dict this to be. Should there be no good derived from it ? There 
has been at least an exposition of the gardeners’ bothies, and it 
would seem that they want to be exposed if such be the case 
our writers maintain. Subscribers to this much improved 
paper have got some rare illustrations of the bothy. Cowsheds 
and miniature zoological gardens are the cream of their com¬ 
parison regarding their abodes, but that could allow of the in¬ 
vestigation party, primarily, before being consumable. “Fifer,” 
who has had such a wide and varied experience of bothies, fails 
to improve himself in his lean-to structure when he enlightens 
us that he has not the courage to ascertain the condition of his 
dwelling when in the way of going to a situation. It is surpris¬ 
ing to hear that from one who has been in such extensive places 
and under such eminent horticulturists, which he impressed 
upon us in his brief letter recently. 
We must not trust to our landlords and head authorities to 
amend our grievances. It lies with the young gardeners 
themselves, who must amalgamate for improvement of 
bothies, wages, etc., and whatever is likely- to need improve¬ 
ment in the way of proficiency. It is not essentially good 
enough to wait for the law to amend that; every in¬ 
dividual place can only advance by their combined energy. I 
acknowledge “ Fifer’® ” remarks regarding his training in such 
important places pertaining to horticultural matters, and will 
give our friend credit to that effect, relative, of course, to the 
lean-to and the above. I do not attribute any particular 
knowledge of horticulture to be obtainable from where I write. 
Irrespective of these small items I would commend that 
places of most value to the gardening world should receive at¬ 
tention in another paper, and not confound such in this con¬ 
troversy. Needless to say, to my knowledge I know of in¬ 
numerable bothies where the rays of the sun strike them, but 
is it consistent for the sun to shine in at the window to attain 
comfort? y y jyj_ 
About Trenching. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I ain an advocate of this operation, if conducted in a 
judicious manner, and I do a breadth annually, and would do 
more if labour was available. In twenty years ‘l have increased 
the depth of workable soil 15in. in this garden, for at the outset 
1 Icund hardly any portion that had been dug more than a 
spit deep. It has been a slow process, but by cropping the 
trenched ground with those plants requiring a deep root run, 
patient labour has been well rewarded. I did not bring the 
crude substance to the top in the first instance, as advised by 
some writers. Some of the claj r was wheeled out and burnt, 
the other turned over and left roughly in the bottom and covered 
over with partly decayed horse manure, after skimming the 
surface to reduce the stock of weeds, and throwing it, as well 
as the burnt clay and refuse, amongst the lumps. The object 
of leaving the bottom rough is to assist drainage. 
At the next trenching two or three inches of this comes to 
the top, and the bottom dug still deeper. Too much clayey soil 
brought to the surface at one time makes it inconvenient to sow 
small.seed ; but for Strawberries, Peas, Beans, and the Brassica 
tribe there can be no objection to a few inches, as it will be 
turned under after these crops are oif, and having been amelio¬ 
rated by the weather and mingled with other soil will have lost 
its tenacity. Nodules of clay over the surface are most objection¬ 
able where small plants have to be dibbled in, and they should 
be sufficiently low so as not to obstruct the passage of the 
delicate roots at the start. 
Trenching heavy soil increases its temperature by allowing 
the water to pass low down. I cannot write into the drains 
for we have none, though they are sadly wanted. There were 
some that had been made perhaps before tiles were invented, 
but they did not seem to have an outlet, and we have got below 
them long ago. 
Light or medium light soil, it appears, does not require 
trenching ; at any rate, most of the farmers about here grow, 
amongst other things, Peas, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflowers, and 
Cabbage on loamy or peaty soil, and they do not trench, culti¬ 
vation being done with ordinary ploughing, and they can grow 
the vegetables named far better than I can, and with one-half 
the manure I use. This I attribute to lighter soil affording a 
ready root run. For Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, and Cauli¬ 
flower they form ridges as for Turnips and Mangold and plant- 
on the top. Some wonderful crops are grown on the reclaimed 
bog land, of which there are hundreds of acres on each side of 
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from ' Preston to 
Liverpool. On the east side turf-cutting and drying is still 
going on, and cultivation follows. Celery is a favourite crop, 
and is planted on the level and earthed up mainly with a 
specially-made kind of plough. 
Preston. W. P. R. 
Gloriosa superba. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —I do not know what measure of success Mr. J. W. 
Huckvale has had by his method of cultivating the Gloriosa 
(see page 127). He says it will thrive in an intermediate house, 
and recommends giving it a north aspect in a span-roofed house. 
My experience is that plants growing in a high temperature and 
fully exposed to the sun give the best results. Ours are grown 
in a span-roofed Pine stove facing the south. I have not heard 
anyone say that they have seen better, nor yet so good. I have 
tried them in a span-roofed plant stove on the west and east 
side, but they diet not grow so vigorous, neither were they so 
floriferous as those in the Pine stove. Many years ago I exhi¬ 
bited two plants at one of the meetings of the R.H.S. at South 
Kensington, where very few knew the plant, and no one had 
seen their equal. They were grown on the south side of a span- 
roofed Pine stove. Some were tried near the front of a hip-span 
Cattleya house, the blinds being rolled down to. them, but they 
did not do so well. 
It would be interesting to know where the plant flowered first 
in this country. My first acquaintance with it was more than 
40 years ago in the gardens of Earl Fitzwilliam, Wentworth, 
Yorks. I was told then that its requirements were plenty of 
sunshine with top and bottom heat, but I find it will give satis¬ 
factory results without the latter. W. P. R. 
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entering in their books the new address of THE 
GARDENING WORLD, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, 
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