JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  16.  181'8. 
4  <'4 
crops  to  most  people,  but  of  greater  importance  to  those  who  grow 
them  extensively  and  well  than  the  majority  understand.  Represented 
in  their  scientific  form  we  should  have  Sinapis  alba  and  Lepidium 
sapidum,  but  this  would  never  do;  it  would  be  too  overwhelming 
and  decidedly  better  is  the  popular  rendering,  Mustard  and  Cress. 
And  now  that  the  secret  is  out  it  may  be  wonderingly  asked,  “If 
any  simpler  terms  can  possibly  be  needed  ?  ”  Test  the  matter  for 
yourselves,  ye  who  may  thus  wonder,  by  shouting  “  Mustard  and 
Cress  ”  fifty  times  as  fast  as  you  can,  and  perhaps  your  toneue  and 
thorax  will  be  glad  of  a  rest;  do  the  same  with  “  Hot  and  Cold,”  and 
the  organs  will  be  in  as  good  going  condition  as  ever.  Or  take  another 
test ;  write  the  words  down  an  equal  number  of  times,  and  you  will 
find  you  have  used  jnst  twice  the  amount  of  ink,  time,  and  space  over 
the  repetition  of  one  formula  as  the  other,  so  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
making  of  simple  terms  simpler  still  lias  its  uses. 
Even  now  all  that  is  pertinent  has  not  been  said.  It  can  be 
proved  that  “  Hot  and  Cold  ”  is  a  more  correct  term  to  employ  than 
“  Mustard  and  Cress  ”  in  the  industry  in  question — more  exact,  truer 
and  safer,  while  certainly  not  less  expressive.  But  how  more  exact 
and  especially  “  safer  ?  ”  Well,  if  a  trade  grower  sold  100  gross  of 
Mustard  and  Cress  for  £60,  which  would  be  about  the  wholesale 
value,  and  were  driven  to  resort  to  an  action  at  law  to  compel  pay¬ 
ment,  he  might  happen  to  lose  the  case  on  a  technical  point,  for  the 
defendant  could  put  in  the  plea  that  half  the  “stuff”  sold  was  not  as 
represented  in  the  invoice ;  but  no  such  risk  could  be  incurred  if  the 
goods  were  sold  under  the  recognised  term  of  “  Hot  and  Cold,”  for 
that  is  precisely  what  they  are. 
Another  point  now  arises.  Suppose  all  the  readers  of  these  lines 
had  a  punnet  of  this  commercial  Mustard  and  another  of  Cress  before 
them  as  supplied  to  and  obtained  from  Covent  Garden,  and  votes 
were  taken  as  to  which  was  the  “  Hot  ”  and  which  the  “  Cold  ”  in 
the  opinion  of  the  members  of  that  great  jury.  Would  they  all  be 
alike,  and  all  correct  ?  It  is  questionable.  In  a  small  test  the 
majority  of  those  who  save  their  opinion  quickly  and  without  much 
thought  was  in  this  form  : — “  Why,  Mustard  is  ‘  Hot  ’  of  course.” 
Those  who  reflected  were  not  quite  so  sure,  as  they  could  not  say  that 
tongue-biting;  Cress  is  “Cold.”  It  is  wise  to  “think”  before  voting 
on  anything  if  you  wish  to  be  right,  as  it  is  so  easy  to  be  wrong  in  a 
headlong  rush. 
Those  who  thought  over  the  subject  the  longest  were  right  in  this 
particular  case,  for  the  Cress  is  the  “Hot”  and  the  Mustard  the 
“  Cold  ”  of  the  great  purveyors  for  the  London  market,  whence 
millions  of  neatly  packed  punnets  pass  to  all  the  popular  centres  in 
the  kingdom.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  many  persons  know,  the 
punnets  of  “  Cold,”  and  sold  under  that  term,  are  a  dense  mass  of 
young,  smooth,  silvery  stemmed  Rape  plants ;  and,  as  many  more 
persons  do  not  know,  if  the  punnets  were  packed  with  young  genuine 
Mustard  plants  they  would  not  sell  half  so  freely,  nor  realise  perhaps 
half  the  price. 
It  is  useless  forcing  on  the  market  for  meeting  the  wants  of  the 
million  produce  that  has  nothing  beyond  what  a  connoisseur  may 
regard  as  “  quality  ”  to  recommend  it.  Tempting  appearance  appeals 
far  more  powerfully  to  the  great  bulk  of  purchasers  than  does  anything 
else.  If  they  will  not  have  the  woolly,  dingy-looking  stemmed 
Mustard,  let  them  have  the  pure  glassy-looking  stemmed  Rape  for 
contrasting  with  the  dark,  thick,  succulent  young  seed  leaves.  It  is 
the  same  in  respect  to  other  products.  That  which  “  looks  ”  the  best, 
and  especially  early  in  the  season,  sells  the  best,  even  the  showy 
International  Potato,  which  its  raiser,  Mr.  R.  Fenn,  declared  was  not 
good  enough  for  pigs.  He  declined  to  put  it  into  commerce,  though 
it  found  its  way  there,  for  more  money  to  be  made  by  it,  because  it 
gives  heavy  crops  of  large  tubers  in  good  time,  than  he  ever  made  by 
his  other  varieties  that  possesssed  his  high  ideals  of  quality.  Well, 
all  honour  to  the  man  whose  desire  to  increase  the  flavour  and  food 
value  of  a  staple  product  was  greater  than  his  thirst  for  gold. 
“  Question !”  Yes,  the  digression  is  ended,  with  apologies.  The 
question  is  “  Hot  and  Cold,”  and  the  story  about  to  begin.  “  Begin  ! 
Oh  !  better  say  finish.”  Please  do  not  be  impatient ;  the  infliction 
will  not  last  long. 
Six  or  seven  years  ago  some  lectures  on  gardening  were  given 
under  the  auspices  of  the  County  Council  in  a  certain  corner  of  Surrey. 
About  that  time  an  eminent  scientist,  and  excellent  man,  published 
as  his  opinion  that  gardening  could  not  be  taught  in  lectures.  Well, 
not  being  a  gardener,  he  thought  so,  but  did  not  know.  It  has  been 
taught  in  various  aspects  almost  ever  since  at  the  meetings  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society,  and  the  lessons  published  in  the 
Society’s  journal.  But  let  that  pass.  Attending  the  lectures  in  a 
Surrey  workman’s  club  was  a  cottager  who  loved  his  garden  and 
allotment,  and  took  prizes  at  the  local  show.  Among  the  subjects 
which  most  arrested  Mr.  W.  Newton’s  attention  were  Cucumbers, 
Tomatoes,  and  Mushrooms,  an  1  it  was  mentioned  that  the  remains  of 
the  Mushroom  ridges  formed  the  hest  possible  material  tor  the  growth 
of  Mustard  and  Cress.  It  was  on  the  main  subjects,  however,  on 
which  he  asked  the  most  questions,  and  was  told  not  to  cease  till  he 
felt  he  understood  the  various  details  as  elucidated  by  th«  aid 
of  diagrams.  He  proceeded  till  he  was  able  to  say,  “  I  now  feel  my 
feet,  and  will  have  a  try.” 
To  decide  by  such  an  earnest  man  was  to  act.  Wood  and  glass 
were  obtained  forthwith,  and  he  filled  his  long  back  garden  with  two 
span-roofed  houses,  the  work  of  his  hands.  One  he  devoted  to  Cucum¬ 
bers,  the  other  to  Tomatoes.  He  had  seen  none  .grown,  but  worked 
entirely  from  the  winter  instructions,  and  no  one  seeing  the  houses 
the  following  summer  could  but  have  admitted  that  the  work  in  them 
in  all  cultural  details  equalled  that  of  a  trained  gardener.  The  end 
of  it  was  that  within  a  year  of  his  club-i-oom  lessons,  he  sold  the 
produce  of  his  well  applied  labour  and  skill  for  more  than  £200. 
Good  for  a  cottager  whose  daily  labour  was  among  bricks  and  mortar. 
When  such  a  man  starts  in  such  a  way,  so  long  as  he  has  health, 
he  is  not  likely  to  stop.  IMr.  Newton,  with  his  healthy  frame,  clear 
head,  strong  arm,  and  persevering  labour,  went  on.  How  many 
capacious  span-roof  structures  he  has  now  on  his  own  freehold  cannot 
be  remembered,  but  there  are  many,  forming  an  imposing  block.  In 
these  are  grown  Cucumbers  in  summer,  and  “  Hot  and  Cold  ”  in 
winter,  as  well  and  as  profitably  as  these  crops  could  be  produced,  not 
the  least  satisfactory  being  the  winter  produce.  Tomatoes  are  only 
now  grown  to  a  limited  extent.  The  surrounding  soil  is  low  lying, 
no  doubt  a  reclaimed  swamp,  and  quite  black  with  vegetable  matter. 
It  is  therefore  not  adapted  for  “  Toms,”  so  “  Cues  ”  are  mainly  relied  on 
as  the  summer  crop. 
The  “  Hot  and  Cold  ”  culture  is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  houses 
in  winter  and  earlv  spring.  The  zealous  grower  secured  all  the  land 
he  could  in  an  adjacent  allotment;  ground  for  Mushrootu  ridges,  and 
after  gathering  heavy  crops  from  them,  utilising  the  then  decayed 
manure  in  a  large  area  of  improvised  frames,  a  great  extent  of  these 
covered  with  sashes,  others,  as  warmer  weather  approached,  with  mats 
or  other  material.  As  a  matter  of  routine,  however,  stretches  of 
newly  sown  seed  are  first  covered  with  mats,  usually  a  double,  if  not 
sometimes  a  treble  thickness,  spread  directly  on  it.  As  growth 
proceeds  they  are  gradually  withdrawn,  and  when  the  plants  are  an 
inch  or  so  high  the  last  is  removed,  and  lights,  liberated  by  previous 
cuttings  from  a  similar  area,  placed  over  for  finishing  the  crop.  The 
work  thus  goes  on  with  machine-like  regularity,  and  a  great  and 
wonderful  work  it  is  for  a  man  whose  days  were  spent  in  handling 
bricks  and  mortar  to  have  accomplished  in  so  short  a  time. 
As  a  general  indication  of  the  scope  of  his  operations  in  the  growing 
and  selling  of  “  Hot  and  Cold,”  it  may  be  said  that  the  output  is  120 
gross  of  well-filled  punnets  a  week,  or  more  than  three-quarters  of  a 
million  a  year- — or,  to  be  a  little  more  precise,  898,560,  worth,  at  the 
wholesale  price,  £3744,  though  a  large  local  trade  is  done  by  heavy 
])urchases,  for  the  Croydon  market  particularly,  which  caters  for  not 
less  than  150,000  people,  and  for  such  sales  by  the  five  or  ten  dozen 
punnets  to  many  purchasers, materially  higher  prices  are  easily  obtained. 
The  London  consignments  average  100  boxes  of  five  dozen  punnets 
thrice  a  week  during  the  busy  season,  or  18,000,  weekly  value  £75. 
The  punnets  are  packed  in  two  tiers,  but  with  nothing  whatever 
between  them,  those  constituting  the  upper  tier  standing  directly  on 
the  produce  in  the  lower  without  injuring  it  in  the  least,  or  it  w’ould 
not  be  done.  This  demonstrates  how  closely  and  firmly  the  6000 
“cuttings”  at  a  time  are  packed  in  the  punnets.  The  work  is  done 
well  and  done  quickly — an  art  only  to  be  acquired  by  experience.  It 
may  seem  strange  to  those  who  have  not  seen  the  process  that  a 
man  will  cut  and  pack  faultlessly  thirty  dozen  punnets  in  an  hour,  or 
six  a  minute,  and  maintain  the  pace  fd?"  eight  or  nine  hour.s.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  two  men  told  off  to  the  work  must  do  it  to  have 
ready  the  bi-daily  demand. 
It  is  due  to  them  to  say  that  they  appear  to  do  it  easily,  and 
without  the  least  apparent  bustle  ;  indeed,  one  old  hand,  on  being 
spoken  to  on  the  subject  in  a  complimentary  way,  remarked,  like  the 
spider  of  old,  in  a  “come  into  the  parlour”  sort  of  way,  as  be  thought 
he  saw  a  fly,  “  If  you  would  like  to  venture  a  sovereign  against  forty 
dozen,  I  am  ready  to  oblige.  The  fly  was  not  caught.  He  had  seen 
too  many  'wily  old  spiders.  It  is  a  treat  all  the  same  to  see  smart, 
educated  workmen,  because  it  is  only  by  “  educated  ”  eyes  and  hands 
that  such  feats  of  •'kill,  for  skill  it  is,  can  be  accomplished. 
As  may  be  imagined,  a  considerable  outlay  is  involved  in  the 
conduct  of  the  operations,  in  the  form  of  labour,  seeds,  punnets,  and 
general  routine,  but  there  is  the  happy  pendant  that  the  greater 
the  outlay  the  better  for  all  concerned — master  and  men.  The  capital 
now  employed  simply  represents  the  fruits  of  the  work  of  previous 
years,  and  these  only  a  few.  To  beRn  with,  the  resources  of  the 
“  master  ”  were  not  in  his  pocket,  but  his  character,  his  enterprise, 
prudence,  good  judgment,  and  unflagging  industry.  Step  by  step  on 
wisely  judged,  firm,  sure  ground,  he  has  won  all  that  is  to  be  seen, 
and  a  great  deal  more. 
Fancy  a  man  who  was  at  “  day-work  ”  seven  years  ago  making 
a  present  to  the  public  of  £15  worth  of  punnets  a  week  all  the  year 
round.  During  the  busy  period — March-June — his  Aveekly  punnet 
