4 ° 
Small Holdings 
WE GARDENING WORLD. January 19, 1907. 
A Desideratum. 
We are evidently on the eve of a new 
era in small holdings; the time has ar¬ 
rived when it is absolutely necessary to 
take steps to stop the rural depopulation; 
it is appalling to see the returns issued 
yearly by the Board of Agriculture of the 
decrease of arable land. The term small 
holding is vague, it being anything from 
one to fifty acres, and up to date they 
cannot lay claim to any great success. In 
some districts noted for special crops they 
are fairly successful, but the idea is to 
make them universally so. In many 
cases the want of capital is the cause of 
failure, in others the want of experience. 
There is a natural longing in most men 
to return to the land, but the inducement 
offered must be fair, and with the right 
type of men, who know they are not going 
to Arcadia, but are satisfied with hard 
work, considering it is for themselves. Now 
I consider the most popular holding will 
be one upon which a man will be able to 
maintain his wife and family thereon; but 
of course the size will have to be deter¬ 
mined by the crops cultivated. Another 
item of vital importance is that of taking 
more land than, can be thoroughly culti¬ 
vated, as there is no more sure road to 
failure than half-worked ground. It will 
probably be asked who are the right type 
of men to work these small holdings. 
Naturallv one would give preference to 
rural labourers, but in several instances I 
have known tradesmen who have given 
their minds to this culture, and in a year 
or two have produced excellent results. It 
must be borne in mind that there is no 
royal road to this form of cultivation ; 
practice is absolutely necessary', but with 
the mind given that way and a little 
practice, success will be attained in the 
end. 
This article may not at first appear to 
be appropriate for The Gardening 
World, but the culture of the most popu¬ 
lar holdings will be of the market garden 
class, and to be successful on these, only' 
the very best methods will have to be em¬ 
ployed, as the production of second rate 
quality is always a slump upon the 
market. The best methods of packing 
and grading the produce are also import¬ 
ant, as an attractively' put up basket dtf 
fruit or vegetables will always command 
a readier sale than one put up otherwise. 
Aspirants for holdings of this descrip¬ 
tion cannot do better titan be kept read 
up in The Gardening World, as articles 
are constantly' appearing that are invalu¬ 
able to the old hand and the new. 
The chief difficulty with the small 
holder is to find a market for his produce ; 
the only solution is organisation, and 
cheaper transit to the home markets. 
Spadesman, 
-- 
Women Jobbing-Gardeners.—M rs. T. 
Chamberlain, of the Women's London 
Gardening Association, say's that, unlike 
the male jobbing-gardener, no woman 
jobbing-gardener would ever be guilty of 
such an inartistic crime as allowing twenty 
houses in a row to have the same kind of 
garden each. 
The Flower Garden. 
When I penned my last notes I was away 
on my honey— I will say holiday, and al¬ 
though I referred to the chilly weather at 
the time, 1 little expected to find six inches 
of- snow here when I returned. The back¬ 
woodsman of Canada pays no particular 
heed to snow, indeed he finds it a great aid 
for hauling purposes. The gardener, how¬ 
ever, looks upon snow with mixed feelings, 
for it practically brings outdoor work to a 
standstill. However, it has gone, and right 
thankful are we for it. 
Snow and Garden Pests. 
Gardens in the country usually suffer 
more through heavy snow falls than do town 
gardens, not merely because of the heavier 
fall, but because it drives many pests into 
the gardens in search of food. The recent 
snowfall has cost us dear, for an army' of 
field mice and rats invaded cur garden, and 
almost consumed the whole of our Carna¬ 
tions. I have more than cnce warned 
readers that mice are fond of Carnations, 
and having suffered on several occasions, 
always endeavour to protect my plants. On 
the present occasion, however, the rodents 
beat me all the way, and I must confess 
that I feel just a bit sick. I would advise 
a thorough overhauling of Carnations, 
whether in frames or not. All decaying' 
foliage, etc., should be removed, and the 
soil stirred and freed from weeds. Other 
plants in frames likewise should he looked 
over. 
Damping-Off. 
The severe weather may have caused 
damping-off disease to appear. Freshly- 
slaked 1 lime, and plenty of air will check 
such troubles. Some soils may be unfit for 
working, but wherever possible no- time 
should be lost in getting this work forward. 
There will be plenty of sharp frosts, which 
will do much towards bringing the ground 
into fine condition. 
Pruning Shrubs. 
I have just been whiling away a little time 
by pruning some evergreen shrubs. Unless 
in the form of hedges or special de¬ 
signs, shears should not be used for cutting 
shrubs, and in the case of broad-leaved 
shrubs, such as Aucubas or Laurels, shears 
must never be used, because the mutilated 
leaves look very unsightly. 
Edgings. 
Many people like to see live edgings, the 
evergreen Box being used largely for the 
purpose. Such edgings usually become 
straggly or gappy after a few years, and 
where such is the case, the best plants 
should be lifted and divided. When plant¬ 
ing, make the soil very firm. 
Planting Perennials. 
As soon as the weather is favourable, we 
shall all be hustling to plant Roses and 
various herbaceous plants, and it is really 
astonishing how much rough treatment the 
coarser growing perennials will put up with. 
I remember when making some alterations, 
that all the plants stood closely together for 
weeks without any protection,, and after di¬ 
viding, I planted right away, despite the 
tact that in some places the soil was quite 
pug-like in its consistency. To me it ap¬ 
peared like mud larking, but delay was im¬ 
possible. Nevertheless, practically every 
plant went away splendidly. 
Arranging Borders. 
In malting up borders, it is advisable to 
make sure of the height of the various 
plants. It is no use placing a 3ft. Phlox 
behind a 5ft. Hel.ianthus. At planting 
time there is no indication of their height, 
but, nevertheless, the planter must make a 
point of knowing, or later on he will be dis¬ 
appointed. Theoretically, vistas and the 
like are very nice, but somehow or other the 
coarse growers have a way of taking up 
mere space than anticipated, and so a 
smaller plant which was to be Hewed from 
a certain angle, gets shut in altogether. 
Rockeries. 
Established rockeries should have atten¬ 
tion, and the more rampant plants thereon 
be curtailed somewhat. The pretty, though 
evil-smelling, Crucianella stylosa is a terror 
for getting over the ground, and a plant or 
two placed on a rockery will soon he all 
over it, if not checked 1 . Arabis and Aubri-e- 
tia are also apt to cover more than their 
allotted space. 
Turf Laying and Rolling. 
The thud of the turf beater should be 
heard wherever new turf is to be laid. The 
sooner turf is fixed in position the better. 
“Rolling Home to Merrie England” is a 
famous old nautical song, but I heard my 
boy humming it recently as he trundled the 
garden roller over the lawn. It is surpris¬ 
ing to me that ball bearings are not intro¬ 
duced into tbs varic'Us garden appliances 
that run o.n wheels. A three cwt. roller is 
not such a terror as many might think, but 
I fane}' that a five cwt. roller, if filled with 
ball bearings, would run as easily, or easier 
than one of three cwt. without them. I see 
no reason whatever why gardening should 
be made hard work unnecessarily. The 
easy running of a bicycle is due to its 
frictionless bearings. Why, -then, are bar- 
rows, rollers, and lawn -mowers fitted with 
plain grinding bearings? I once saw an 
American mower with ball bearings, and its 
blades moved" at an amazing speed. 
Sweet Peas. 
All Sweet Tea lovers will have secured 
one or more catalogues devoted to Sweet 
Peas, and I must confess that I am getting 
positively appalled at the way novelties 
increase annually. For ye-ars pa-st I have 
always endeavoured to handle every new 
thing sent out on both side-sot the water, but 
if things go on at the present rate I shall 
not be able to do so, unless I confine my¬ 
self to novelties only, and drop all others. 
I have tracked something like 30 new, or 
supposedly new, things for 1907. What cn 
earth are small amateurs to do? That ther" 
are some really good things being offered 
this year I know for a fact, but I hardly 
dare venture to quote any of the-m, lest my 
opinion be -challenged and a fierce, though 
bloodless, fight be the outcome. 
The Best Two Dozen. 
However, as an exhibitor, I quote the fol¬ 
lowing, which I -consider the best two 
dozen, including novelties : Queen of Spain, 
