February 20, 1904. 
THE QARDEH/NQ WORLD. 
161 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
Watering. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
g IR; —I most heartily congratulate your correspondent who 
signs himself “Experienced One,” on page 112, as being so 
fortunate never to have known cases of careless watering. 
Surely he might have some sympathy for “ Japonica ” and 
myself, who have found it otherwise, instead of being so bitter 
in' his remarks. “ Japonic-a,” I am sure, by the able way in 
which he compiled his letter on the subject, will be well able 
to take care' of himself, but I venture to suggest his motive 
for writing was purely for the benefit of our young men who 
hope to become efficient gardeners, and I am quite sure the 
majority will value his advice rather than take it as an 
insult, and I can assure “ Experienced One ” and all 
readers of The Gardening World it was for this pur¬ 
pose alone that I endeavoured to Supplement his re¬ 
marks. During my experience I have always found that 
the young men who are really anxious to make headway 
in the profession never object to being instructed, espe¬ 
cially on, a- matter which, though it. may appear a small 
one, is of the utmost importance to successful plant- 
culture, and I notice we are not alone in thinking SO', 
for on the next page to “ Experienced One ” Mr. T. B. 
Byram has written .an excellent short article on the 
same question. I can fully sympathise with all those 
who are so unfortunate as to be undermanned. I know 
there are many such cases, as I have been in that posi¬ 
tion myself; but. surely that cannot, alter the facts o f 
the case. Even in establishments where ample help is 
at command, sufficient care is not .always exercised 
with the water-pot by many of the young men who 
have a charge entrusted to them. 
When once this is thoroughly mastered, it takes very 
little longer to apply water properly than to use it in¬ 
discriminately, and how different the after results! If 
“ Experienced One ” will do me the justice to read my 
remarks again, he will observe that. I stated practice 
and discrimination can alone make one perfect in thi.-/. 
I also stated that some plants are much more suscep¬ 
tible to injury than others, and I had in my mind 
such plants, as he mentioned, but. even those plants re¬ 
quire a proper system- of culture. It is quite true such 
require plenty of moisture, but allow these to become 
thoroughly dry, what will be the result.? Why, that 
these moisture-loving plants will resent such -treat¬ 
ment in the same way as others which require less-. 
E. Beckett. 
Adapting Fruit to Soil. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —Everyone will agree that there is much good 
sense in your suggestion for endeavouring to adapt 
fruit to soil and climate (page 139), but. when you refer 
to the futile attempts at Raspberry growing on the dry, ex¬ 
posed hillsides of Kent. ” . with “ the plants cut down 
to 2 ft. to 2J ft-.,” in order to avoid having to stake' them, I 
may, perhaps-, be .allowed an explanatory word. So far from 
these attempts being “ futile',” they are decidedly successful, 
and I have seen magnificent crops on these warm slopes. It is 
‘not, I think, so general .as you infer to cut the naturally tail 
varieties hard back. Dwarf varieties, like Carter’s' Prolific 
and Maclaren’s Prolific, are largely grown because, with very 
little cutting, they succeed without, support. Carter’s Prolific 
is rather short-lived, but it is a. profitable variety. 
W. P. Wright, 
Horticultural Superintendent, Kent C.C. 
Goldfish, 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, — I have kept goldfish under the same conditions .a.s W. 
Murray since May, 1902. For sixteen weeks they were per¬ 
fectly healthy, during which time I fed them on bread daily. 
Then they began, to. die off, and I lost many. Then I was told 
they required fresh water, .and I have found that quite a. sin ail 
flow (there is a. fountain in the pond) for twelve hours once a 
week is sufficient to keep them in health, and keep the weeds 
down also.. I do not- believe they mind cold weather. They 
are- fed on ants’ eggs occasionally, but bread is what :hey love 
best, and eat from my hand and nibble my fingers. 
The cat used to carry off my fish, so I had to put a lit lie 
wire netting round the tank. Since then I have lost none. 
Harriet Gordon. 
Sowing Seeds. 
T'o the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I n answer to W. Birkensha.w’s remarks on the sowing 
Primula Carter’s Holborn Queen. (See p. 157 )3 - A 
of seeds, I think it would have been wiser on his part if he 
had given the readers of “ G. W.” a. short, article on the way 
he sows his seeds, stating the quantity and space he allows for 
each sort. I must inform him that I should he pleased to-have 
charge of a garden where rats, mice, birds, and slugs are 
extinct; but, unfortunately, my present garden is the worst 
I have ever known for those kinds of pests. The soil being 
very wet and heavy, I will here mention that I have tried both 
thick and thin sowing, and therefore can prose from experience 
that the latter method is by far the best to adopt, as it sives 
you the least trouble in thinning, costs less money, besides pro¬ 
ducing the best crops if well looked after. I think “ W. B.” 
has no larger household to supply than I have; the inmates 
here number about 100. It tries one’s wits to meet 'be 
demand, and all'from a garden under 3 acres. In concluding 
these remarks., let me say I hope W. Birkeushaw and oilier 
readers of The Gardening World wall state their way of 
sowing seeds. 
H. Rowles. 
