April  21,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
341 
only  should  you  know  the  theory  of  a  few  of  the  most  useful  and 
common,  but  if  you  are  able  to  turn  your  hand  in  a  creditable  way  at 
them  you  will  find  it  to  your  advantage ;  besides,  it  is  a  most 
interesting  and  instructive  pastime.  You  have  met,  perhaps,  as  I 
have,  men  who  were  possessed  of  as  much  mechanical  genius  as 
would  enable  them  to  make  a  creditable  tooth-pick,  but  no  more. 
I  have  found  in  my  experience  that  those  who  were  most 
“knacky”  with  their  hands  were  always  the  best  and  most  useful 
workmen. 
Have  an  ambition  to  excel.  Remember  that  you  need  not  be  a 
born  genius  to  be  successful  in  your  business.  The  greater  part,  if 
not  the  whole  of  succes«,  is  made  up  of  strict  and  intelligent  attention 
to  every  little  detail  connected  with  the  thing  you  wish  to  accomplish. 
Did  you  ever  calculate  the  difference  there  is  betw'een  the  amount 
of  heat  lost  or  gained  by  a  right  or  wrong  system  of  ventilating  a 
vinery  or  other  house,  where  the  object  should  be  to  make  the  most 
of  the  heat  from  the  sun  wTile  it  shines  ?  A, careless  man  will  open 
his  ventilators  when  the  sun  shines,  and  shut  them  when  it  does  not, 
and  as  often  as  not  he  will  do  the  latter  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  minutes 
after  the  sun  has  gone  off  the  house,  and  in  this  time  the  temperature 
will  have  fallen  20°.  This  may  happen  half  a  dozen  times  a  day. 
Averaging  a  loss  of  20°  for  four  months,  you  have  a  total  of  2240° 
of  the  best  and  most  natural  heat  you  can  have  for  the  life  and 
health  of  plants.  You  cannot  afford  to  neglect  the  smallest  detail. 
Pay  as  much  attention  to  the  airing  of  a  cold  frame,  and  do  it  on  the 
same  principle  as  you  do  a  grand  vinery.  The  results  will  astonish 
you,  and  you  will  be  training  yourselves  into  a  system  of  thoughtful 
attention  and  methodical  practice  which  alone  will  make  you  clever 
men  and  good  workmen.  Good  men,  remember,  are  scarce.  The 
supply  is  not  equal  to  the  demand.  I  consider  a  really  good  and 
capable  gardener,  whether  head  or  under,  receives  only  about  half 
the  remuneration  he  should,  for  the  care  and  responsibility,  the 
intelligent  thought,  and  ingenious  resource  he  has  to  put  into  his 
business  is  ten  times  more  than  a  mason,  joiner,  or  like  tradesman 
has  to  do  to  earn  his  £2  per  week.  If  commercial  gardening  is  not 
already,  I  think  it  soon  will  be  the  most  important  branch  of  our 
vocation.  Plenty  of  openings  there  are  for  able  brains  and  clever 
hands.  Their  ability  will  meet  with  its  due  reward. 
We  wull  next  consider  a  few  general  principles  w'hich  are  the  root 
and  foundation  of  all  successful  fruit  cultivation.  Outside  fruit  trees 
do  not  receive  the  attention  they  deserve.  A  crop  of  Grapes  or 
Tomatoes  will  be  either  fed  each  time  they  are  watered  or  at  least 
have  five  or  six  dressings  of  some  fertiliser  during  the  growing  season. 
Did  you  ever  hear  of  an  orchard  or  bush  fruits  getting  this  attention  in 
the  way  of  feeding?  If  they  have  some  manure  dug  among.st  the 
roots  or  a  top-dressing  once  a  year  it  is  about  all  they  get,  and  if  they 
do  not  fruit  well  the  weather  gets  the  blame.  I  do  not  say  that  more 
feeding  would  make  all  our  trees  and  bushes  as  they  are  at  present 
more  fruitful.  No;  it  would  most  likely  do  the  very  opposite  to 
many,  and  make  them  worse  than  they  are,  for  I  believe  there  are 
more  trees  unfruitful  through  being  too  gross  than  through  starvation. 
But  have  them  planted  in  the  right  rooting  medium  and  you  will 
have  the  right  fruiting  wood ;  then  give  ten  times  more  feeding  than 
what  is  given  now,  and  it  will  repay  you. 
The  right  rooting  medium  !  That  brings  me  to  the  most  important 
point — the  A  B  C  of  successful  fruit  culture,  for  unless  the  growth 
made  by  a  fruit  tree — either  out  of  doors  or  under  glass,  from  a  Vine  to 
a  Gooseberry — is  of  the  right  material,  and  made  in  the  right  way,  you 
will  either  get  inferior  fruit  or  no  fruit  at  all.  This  perfect  fruitful 
growth  cannot  be  made  without  an  abundance  of  small  fibrous  feeding 
roots.  These  small  fibrous  roots  cannot  be  made  unless  the  rooting 
medium,  or  in  other  words  the  soil,  is  in  the  right  condition  for  their 
formation ;  three  essentials  of  which  are  warmth,  moisture,  and  a 
degree  of  firmness,  without  which  wood  roots  and  not  fibres  will  be 
formed. 
I  leave  out,  at  present,  the  consideration  of  the'soil  containing  the 
proper  ingredients  essential  to  the  formation  of  fruitful  growth — for 
you  could  have  this  in  all  due  proportion,  and  still  have  unsatisfactory 
ifruit,  or  none  at  all.  I  think  I  am  safe  in  raying  that  nearly  all  the 
failures  or  partial  failures  in  Grape  and  Tomato  growing,  and  in  many 
cases  hardy  fruit  growing,  could  be  traced  to  loose,  or  too  rich  a  root 
run,  or  both.  It  is  very  interesting  to  study  the  analogy  there  is 
between  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  kingdom,  how  the  same  law 
operates  for  the  same  end  in  both.  To  get  a  horse  into  the  best  possible 
condition  for  hard  and  trying  work,  we  do  not  feed  him  on  soft  sloppy 
food  to  make  him  fat  and  sleek,  like  an  unfruitful  Apple  or  Pear  tree, 
with  its  gross  shoots  over  a  yard  long.  The  athlete  is  neither  soft, 
fat,  nor  flabby.  Neither  should  be  the  wood  of  any  fruit  tree.  I  do 
not  think  there  is  sufficient  attention  given  to  this  matter  of  firm  fruit 
tree  borders.  A  firm  bf>rder  will  not  suffer  from  drought  to  the  extent 
a  loose  one  will.  It  will  not  get  wet,  consequently  will  be  warmer. 
It  acts  as  a  check  on  the  formation  of  strong  wood  roots.  Every  care 
and  attention  should  be  given  when  making  borders,  or  preparing 
ground  for  fruit  trees.  Every  few  inches  of  soil  as  it  is  put  on  should 
be  well  firmed— not  merely  treading  the  top  after  the  job  is  done  to 
make  it  look  firm. 
In  reference  to  the  many  mixtures  and  fertilisers  we  see  recom¬ 
mended  to  add  to  the  soil,  I  would  say,  if  you  have  good  ordinary  fresh 
loam,  the  less  you  add  to  it  the  better,  and  never,  unless  under  most 
exceptional  circumstances,  mix  farmyard  manure  with  the  soil  for  fruit 
trees.  When  I  say  loam,  I  do  not  mean  the  top  few  inches  of  turf 
taken  from  old  pasture.  Wonderful  results  are  no  doubt  got,  and 
sensational  samples  of  fruit  seen  from  the  use  of  this,  but  for  lasting 
qualities  and  jirofitable  results,  the  whole  soil,  as  well  as  the  turf, 
should  he  taken,  stones  and  all.  Q’here  is  not  only  a  mysterious 
something  in  fresh  loam  which  suits  the  requirements  of  a  fruit-bearing 
tree  better  than  any  artificial  compound  that  can  be  added,  but  the 
firmness  and  solidity  of  the  soil  in  its  natural  state  forms  the  best 
best  medium  for  the  production  of  the  right  kind  of  roots  to  make 
fruitful  growth,  and  I  think  better  results  would  be  secured  if  the 
fruit  trees  were,  so  to  speak,  oftener  brought  to  the  soil  than  the  soil 
to  the  trees. 
I  have  of  late  had  a  few  opportunities  of  noting  the  beneficial 
results  of  Vine  roo's  finding  their  way  into  fresh  original  soil.  And 
now,  when  v/e  have  an  outside  Vine  border  to  make — which  we  do  by 
•rimply  deepening  the  soil,  as  it  is  very  shallow,  after  the  subsoil,  which 
1  may  state  is  hard  red  till,  is  deepened  the  required  depth,  the  soil  is 
put  back  with  more  added  to  it  on  the  top.  This  we  like  done  at  least 
one  year  before  we  expect  the  roots  to  enter  it.  This  gives  it  time  to 
get  firm  by  natural  agencies. 
As  this  subject  of  the  right  rooting  medium  is  in  my  opinion  at  the 
foundation  of  all  success,  it  is  my  excuse  for  dwelling  so  long  upon  it. 
If  the  foundation  is  wrong,  the  whole  superstructure  will  be  faulty 
and  bad.  The  details  of  pruning  and  training  are  of  little  importance 
compared  to  this ;  for  if  the  roots  are  risht  the  wood  will  be  right, 
and  little  or  no  pruning  will  be  required ;  pruning  and  restricting  a 
gross  growing  tree  only  aggravates  the  evil.  If  it  were  allowed  to 
extend  it  might  right  itself  through  time.  I  have  seen — and  in  this 
country— a  man  do  all  the  pruning  that  was  necessary  to  several 
breaks  and  borders  of  Gooseberries  in  a  little  over  two  hours  time, 
and  I  have  seen  these  same  bushes  annually  supported  by  long  runners 
of  wood  to  prevent  the  branches  breaking  off  with  weight  of  fruit, 
and  this  year  after  year.  We  have  a  row  of  Winham’s  Industry 
Gooseberry  which  has  carried  enormous  crops  for  the  last  four 
seasons,  which  have  had  to  be  supported  in  the  same  way,  and  which 
have  never  had  a  knife  on  them  since  they  were  planted  young  bushes 
till  this  winter.  Gooseberries  as  a  rule  are  pruned  far  too  much. 
I  think,  on  this  subject,  there  is  more  rule  of  thumb  practice 
shown  than  I  thought  the  present  generation  of  gardeners  capable  of. 
D.  Buchanan.  continued.) 
GLOBE  ARTICHOKES. 
There  are  two  varieties  of  this  much-prized  vegetable  in  cultivation, 
both  of  which  are  indigenous  to  the  countries  bounding  the  Mediterranean. 
This  being  a  more  genial  climate  than  our  own,  the  plants  are  benefited 
by  some  kind  of  protection  during  the  winter  months,  and  although  they 
will  not  suffer  to  any  extent  if  left  unprotected  in  the  majority  of  our 
seasons,  it  will  be  found  advantageous  to  be  prepared  in  this  respect,  for 
in  winters  of  extraordinary  severity  the  Globe  Artichoke  has  been  quite 
destroyed. 
The  soil  best  suited  to  this  plant  is  one  abounding  in  moisture,  such  as  a 
good  deep  loam  impregnated  with  a  large  portion  of  saline  matter.  In  dry 
sandy  soils  the  produce  will  be  inferior — indeed,  scarcely  worth  the  time 
bestow’ed  in  cultivation.  The  position  allotted  to  the  plants  should  be  an 
open  one,  and  well  away  from  the  influence  of  large  trees.  As  regards 
manure,  seaweed  has  the  precedence  ;  but  as  this  is  not  always  procurable, 
a  good  dressing  of  well-decayed  stable  manure  should  be  applied  early  in 
the  spring.  This  may  be  dug  in  together  with  the  rough  litter  and  leaves 
used  for  winter  protection.  A  sprinkling  of  common  salt  will  benefit  the 
plants  considerably,  and  should  be  applied  in  the  same  proportion  and  at 
the  same  time  as  is  usually  given  to  Asparagus  beds.  In  the  event  of 
seaweed  being  procurable,  this  latter,  of  course,  will  not  be  needed. 
In  preparing  the  ground  for  new  plantations,  it  should  be  trenched  to 
the  depth  of  2  feet,  and  he  well  enriched  with  manure  and  wood  ashes.  It 
is  also  an  excellent  plan  to  mulch  the  beds  well  after  planting  to  retain  the 
moisture,  and  this  can  remain  on  the  whole  summer  with  advantage.  The 
usual  way  is  to  plant  suckers  from  the  old  stools,  and  this  is  most  expedi¬ 
tious,  and,  is  best  performed  early  in  April,  selecting  such  as  have 
abundance*  of  fibrous  roots.  The  rows  should  be  5  feet  apart,  and  4  feet 
ought  to  be  allowed  from  plant  to  plant.  Water  may  be  applied  when 
this  operation  is  completed,  and  then  a  mulching  can  be  put  on.  The  only 
attention  required  during  the  summer  is  the  frequent  use  of  the  Dutch 
hoe,  and  with  occasional  waterings  in  very  dry  weather.  The  plants  will 
produce  a  succession  of  heads  from  ,Tuly  to  the  end  of  August  the  first 
year  after  planting,  and  they  will  continue  to  increase  in  productiveness 
for  a  period  of  four  or  five  years,  when  a  new  plantation  should  be  made. 
By  planting  afresh  at  the  intervals  named,  it  will  be  noted  that  the  edible 
part  will  be  much  superior  both  in  size  and  quality  to  heads  obtained  from 
old  plants.— 11.  T.  M.,  Stoneleigh. 
