582 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  19, 1895. 
N.R.S.  Prizes— The  Resting  Season. 
I  NOW  hardly  ever  see  anything  about  Roses  in  the  Journal,  and 
even  in  last  week’s  number,  although  a  notice  was  given  by  the  National 
Rose  Society  about  some  prizes  for  Messrs.  Dickson’s  Roses  in  1896  and 
1897,  the  news  was  placed  amongst  a  miscellaneous  assortment  of 
paragraphs  instead  of  under  the  heading  of  Roses.  Being  only  a  small 
Rose  grower  I  am  not  so  interested  as  many  of  your  readers  probably 
are  in  Rose  prizes.  I  do  not  know  who  the  amateur  donor  of  these 
prizes  may  be,  but  I  think  that  a  notice  from  the  principal  Rose  Society 
as  to  important  gifts  is  as  worthy  of  prominent  notice  in  your  Rose 
columns  as  one  I  saw  there  recently  as  to  Lord  Penzance’s  contribution 
to  a  Rose  book  on  the  hybridisations  of  Sweet  Briar  Roses.  In  any 
case,  the  prizes  seem  to  me  unusual  ones. 
My  views  may  be  wrong,  and  if  so  I  am  prepared  and  willing  to  be 
corrected,  but  I  think  a  few  remarks  by  the  Editor  as  to  which  are 
Messrs.  Dickson’s  most  noted  Roses  and  the  most  desirable  for  amateurs 
to  grow  for  such  a  competition  would  be  helpful.  Such  of  us  as  are 
rosarians  I  suppose  must  bear  patiently,  but  some  of  us  regret  the  times 
which  are  past  and  trust  they  may  yet  return  when  Potatoes,  Ripened 
Wood,  Seakale  and  “  Mums  ”  did  not  occupy  all  the  space  of  our  old 
friend  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  to  the  exclusion  of  Rose  information. 
— R.  J.  Frost. 
[Our  correspondent  need  have  no  fear  that  history  will  not  repeat 
itself.  Judging  from  past  experience  we  fully  anticipate  that  towards 
the  end  of  next  July  or  in  August  complaints  will  pour  in  of  “  nothing 
but  Roses”  and  “ nothing  about  Chrysanthemums.”  The  fact  is,  as  in 
the  garden  so  in  the  Press,  flowers,  fruits  and  vegetables  have  their 
respective  seasons,  and  even  the  “  Rosarian’s  Year  Book  ”  admits  that 
Roses  have  their  “  resting  season.”  At  present  Ripened  Wood  is  “off,” 
Seakale  coming  on  ;  Potatoes  are  generally  with  us.  We  shall  have 
spring  flowers  by-and-by,  then  our  summer  beauties,  while  “  mums  ”  will 
be  sure  to  come  again.  As  to  varieties  of  Roses  for  winning  the  prizes 
referred  to  on  page  530,  December  5th,  it  will  perhaps  be  best  to  write 
either  to  Messrs.  Dickson  or  the  N.R.S.,  and  as  to  the  position  of  the 
paragraph  (which  was  not  overlooked)  we  may  perhaps  say  that  the  page 
oa  which  our  correspondent  thinks  it  ought  to  have  appeared  was  with 
several  others  made  up  for  press  at  least  ten  hours  before  the  information 
reached  this  office,  and  it  had  to  appear  where  it  did  or  be  left  out.  We 
shall  be  glad  when  the  Rose  pens  awake  from  their  rest ;  we  have 
known  them  to  be  active,  even  in  frosty  weather.] 
WHEN  THE  SHADOWS  BEGIN  TO  LENGTHEN. 
“  Wanted,  a  head  gardener,  endowed  with  all  the  qualifications  ; 
age  must  not  exceed  thirty-five  to  forty.”  In  brief,  such  is  the  general 
run  of  the  present-day  advertisement  for  gardeners  to  fill  public  official 
positions.  In  another  form,  the  same  slur  is  cast  on  age  and  experi¬ 
ence  in  private  establishments  ;  the  foreman  secures  the  head  appoint¬ 
ment,  whilst  the  experienced  head  gardener  has  to  drift  about  in  the 
vain  hope  that  something  may  eventually  turn  up,  until  through 
“  Hope  deferred  the  heart  grows  sick,”  he  begins  to  realise  that  at 
middle  age  he  has  to  face  the  inevitable  by  beginning  life  again  from 
the  bottom  of  the  ladder,  often  under  new  circumstances  and  uncon¬ 
genial  surroundings.  Many  gardeners,  owing  to  the  hold  their  life 
calling  has  on  them,  are  unable  to  wrench  themselves  free  of  it  by 
starting  life  afresh,  and  eventually  settle  down  to  the  menial  condition  of 
nursery  labourers,  at  a  mere  pittance  which  makes  life  a  mockery  of  the 
conditions  and  comforts  that  they  may  have  previously  been  able  to  obtain. 
For  this  state  of  matters  I  am  casting  no  reflections  on  the  fore¬ 
man,  who,  because  having  his  opportunity  to  better  his  condition  seizes 
on  it,  as  his  predecessor  has  done  ;  or  on  the  nurserymen,  who,  like 
other  tradesmen,  pay  their  labour  bill  on  the  same  lines  which  they 
■conduct  the  other  branches  of  their  business.  Whilst  the  employer 
recognises  no  rights  of  the  employ^  beyond  those  of  demand  and  supply 
in  this  matter  we  may  also  fairly  claim  that  all  the  benefits  of  the  con¬ 
nection  between  the  employer  and  the  gardener  are  not  monopolised  by 
the  latter  ;  allowing  the  face  that  “there  are  gardeners  and  gardeners,”  it 
must  be  conceded  that  those  who  cover  the  term  in  its  best  sense  are  a 
majority  who  ungrudgingly  and  without  stint  have  taken  their  part  in 
the  elevation  of  the  nineteenth  century  civilisation  to  which  it  has 
attained.  The  benefits  thus  accruing  to  employers  of  gardeners  and  the 
world  at  large  can  never  be  estimated  by  the  sum  total  of  what  the 
gardener’s  service  may  be  obtained  for  in  the  labour  market. 
Through  the  force  of  circumstances,  the  evils  from  which  are  daily 
accumulating,  the  gardener  in  the  interests  of  his  employer  has  adopted 
a  system  of  turning  nearly  every  gardening  establishment  into  a  manu¬ 
factory  of  “  head  gardeners,”  which,  having  now  reached  the  climax, 
scarcely  leaves  an  opening  for  the  unfortunate  head  gardener  who  may 
be  thrown  out  of  employment  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  although  at 
the  time  both  his  bodily  and  mental  vigour  is  undiminished,  with  a  store 
of  accumulated  experience  which  must  perforce  be  practically  wasted  to 
himself,  like  a  bankrupt’s  stock  when  forced  into  the  market  where 
there  are  no  purchasers. 
At  the  age  of  forty  it  is  the  refinement  of  cruelty  to  shut  the  door  of 
employment  in  the  gardener’s  face,  which  calls  for  vigorous  protest  not 
only  from  those  who  are  thus  unfortunately  circumstanced,  but  also 
from  those  who,  being  apparently  fairly  and  comfortably  settled  for  life, 
yet  do  not  know  how  soon  the  stroke  of  fate  may  overtake  them.  If  we 
read  the  signs  of  the  times  aright  public  opinion  has  become  an 
important  factor  in  redressing  real  grievances,  and  although  we  may  be 
unable  at  present  to  restrict  the  “ output”  of  young  head  gardeners, 
surely  the  head  gardener  of  the  present  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and  as 
such  is  entitled  to  fair  treatment  and  support  of  his  confreres  in  main¬ 
taining  his  status,  which  may  have  cost  him  more  than  riches  to  obtain. 
Therefore,  a  candid  and  temperate  discussion  on  this  important  subject 
would  do  no  harm,  but  would  carry  with  it  the  possibility  of  much 
good. — Azoto. 
THE  POTATO  IN  FIELD  AND  GARDEN.* 
Those  who  are  fully  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  Potato,  its 
varieties,  its  culture,  and  general  surroundings,  with  all  of  which  the 
horticultural  Press  has  made  the  reader  well  acquainted,  may  naturally 
exclaim,  “What!  another  book  on  the  Potato?”  Certainly  there  is 
lying  before  me  a  new  one  having  the  above  title.  It  is  for  the  humble 
vegetable  to  which  its  pages  are  devoted  a  somewhat  pretentious  book, 
though  as  books  go  perhaps  neither  cheap  nor  dear.  The  author  seems 
to  have  been  intimately  associated  with  Potatoes  all  his  life,  and 
undoubtedly  possesses  wide  knowledge  concerning  them.  Still,  he  has 
little  or  nothing  that  is  new  to  tell  us — a  fact  of  which  he  may  or  may 
not  be  aware,  and  those  who  are  habitual  readers  of  the  gardening 
papers  may  well  ask.  Is  there  anything  to  be  said  concerning  the  present 
varieties  of  Potatoes  that  has  not  previously  been  written  ? 
Our  author  deals  with  the  tuber  partially  historically  and  partially 
physically,  at  the  outset  covering  in  some  degree  similar  ground  to  that 
covered  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Sutton  in  his  recent  admirable  lecture  at  the 
Westminster  Drill  Hall.  One  observation,  however,  calls  for  comment. 
The  variation  in  the  character  of  the  plant  in  now  producing  tubers  in 
great  abundance,  and  in  failing  so  generally  to  fertilise  flowers  and 
!  produce  seed,  the  author  regards  as  evidence  of  physical  debility.  From 
I  the  botanists  point  of  view  that  may  be  so  ;  from  the  gardeners  aspect 
j  it  is  not  only  matter  for  congratulation,  but  strong  evidence  that  so  far 
from  there  being  debility  the  Potato  plant  evidences  robustness  of  the 
most  satisfactory  nature. 
The  assumption  that  this  form  of  development  has  led  to  the  plant 
falling  an  easy  prey  to  disease  may  be  put  aside  as  inexact,  seeing 
that  not  only  do  real  species  grown  here  in  all  their  pristine  habit  also 
become  subject  to  disease  rapidly,  but  so  also  do  those  few  varieties  of 
the  garden  Potato  that  produce  pollen  and  seed  in  abundance.  Our 
author,  in  referring  to  cross-fertilisation  of  flowers,  says.  New  varieties 
;  can  only  be  obtained  by  cross-fertilisation — that  is,  by  fertilising  the 
“  anther  ”  of  the  blossom  of  one  with  pollen  taken  from  the  blossom  of 
another  plant.  This  indicates  either  indifferent  knowledge  of  the 
essential  organs  of  the  Potato,  or  a  deplorable  slip  of  the  pen.  There 
is,  too,  rather  odd  information  close  by,  for  after  stating  that,  “  until 
within  the  past  few  years  new  varieties  were  obtained  from  seeds 
taken  haphazard  from  the  fruits  of  any  Potato,  but  systematic  crossing 
was  not  practised.  It  was  found  that  one  apple  would  often  produce 
seeds  which  developed  several  distinct  varieties.”  “  Of  recent  years 
crossing  has  been  conducted  on  scientific  or  systematic  lines  with  much 
more  satisfactory  results.” 
Now  everyone  who  has  engaged  in  the  intercrossing  of  Potato  blooms 
knows  that  nothing  tends  more  to  produce  extreme  variation  in  the 
pUnts  from  seed  so  obtained  than  does  this  intercrossing.  Thus  a 
couple  of  fruits,  products  of  the  very  same  cross,  will  give  perhaps 
200  seedling  plants,  not  two  of  which  shall  in  every  respect  be  exactly 
alike.  On  the  other  hand  fruits  naturally  produced — i.e.,  in  the  absence 
of  systematic  intercrossing,  generally  produce  seedlings  near  to  or  a 
reproduction  of  the  parent.  If  any  one  wishes  to  test  the  natural  inter¬ 
crossing  theory  let  them  plant  rows  of  any  variety  that  blooms  and 
produces  seed  freely  by  self-fertilisation,  intermediate  with  rows  of  a 
variety  that  always  sheds  its  bloom  and  never  produces  seed  apples 
naturally,  and  they  will  then  learn  in  one  season  how  much  of  trust  to 
place  in  the  theory  of  natural  cross-fertilisations. 
However  tempting  a  theme  as  this  is  to  dilate  on,  it  will  not  do  to 
dwell  longer,  for  the  cook  goes  on  to  deal  with  the  development  of  new 
varieties,  the  surprising  statement  being  made  that  to  secure  successful 
results  in  inter-crossing  the  plants  operated  on  should  be  isolated. 
That  is  indeed  news  to  an  old  cross-fertiliser  and  raiser,  whose  chief 
trouble  always  was  to  get  pollen  at  all.  The  instruction  as  to  the  raising 
and  testing  of  seedlings  seems  to  be  fairly  correct ;  also  in  relation  to 
soils  and  methods  of  cultivation,  although  what  is  written  seems  to  be 
more  applicable  to  field  than  to  garden  culture.  The  author  thinks 
Potatoes  need  liberal  manuring.  Our  experience  is  rather  in  favour  of 
planting  after  a  crop  that  has  previously  been  well  manured,  but  then 
that  seems  to  be  almost  a  universal  experience.  He  is  right,  however,  in 
suggesting  that  dressing  land  with  lime  that  has  in  the  past  been  highly 
manured  is  good  practice. 
With  reference  to  the  best  season  for  planting  tubers,  from  January 
to  May  is  held  to  be  long  enough,  Jane  being  too  late.  That  is  so,  but 
all  experience  tends  to  show  that  too  early  planting  gives  no  gain,  and 
the  month  of  April  is  the  best  average  time  generally.  Submitting 
*  “The  Potato  in  Field  and  Garden,”  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Malden.  Published  at  the 
‘  “  Mark  Lane  Express  ”  Oflice,  150,  Strand,  W.O.  Price  3s.  Cd. 
