December  21,  189P, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
EVERGREENS  FOR  CHRISTMAS. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  are  continually  being  reminded  about 
the  changes  of  fashion,  there  are  some  customs,  old  even  in  history, 
which  we  seem  to  cling  to  with  a  mutual  tenacity,  and  one  of  them  is 
The  annual  Christmas  decoration.  The  spirit  is  a  national  one,  extend¬ 
ing  from  peer  to  peasant,  and  in  the  lowliest  cottage  home  at  Christmas 
time  there  is  something  wanting  in  the  absence  of  a  few  sprigs  of 
Mistletoe,  Holly,  or  other  greenery.  The  provision  of  the  country’s 
Yuletide  decorations  is  no  small  matter  when  we  consider  the  demand, 
and  remember  that  there  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  would-be 
decorators  who  have  no  means  of  obtaining  their  material  except  by 
purchase.  The  adornment  of  country  mansions  is  the  part  of  this 
great  business  which  most  closely  concerns  gardeners,  but  it  is  only  a 
small  section  of  it,  and  as  the  material  for  this  put  pose  is  home 
supplied,  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  commercial  aspect  of  the  matter. 
It  is  this  aspect,  however,  that  concerns  a  greater  community,  for 
the  wholesale  and  retail  supply  of  Christmas  decorative  material  is  a 
business  of  great  proportions,  and  one  that  is  sure  to  come  as  the 
festive  season  rolls  round.  Without  going  into  statistics,  take  London 
as  an  instance.  For  a  few  weeks  before  Christmas  Covent  Garden 
Market  assumes  its  annual  Yuletide  garb,  and,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
crates  of  Mistletoe,  mountains  of  English-cut  evergreens  are  piled  up, 
only  to  disappear  almost  as  quickly  and  be  replaced  by  fresh  consign¬ 
ments.  Tra  le  ebbs  and  flows  in  the  meantime,  but  it  never  ceases  till 
the  last  hour  of  Christmas  Eve,  when  from  the  great  centre  the  ever¬ 
greens  have  been  distributed  in  this  direction  and  in  that,  and  then  it 
is  all  over  for  another  year.  London  is,  no  doubt,  the  greatest  centre 
for  the  Christmas  decoration  trade,  but  it  is  not  the  only  one,  for  in 
every  crowded  town  all  over  the  country  the  same  sort  of  thing  goes 
on,  till  one  might  be  disposed  to  say,  Where  does  all  the  stuff  come 
from  j  ear  after  year  ? 
It  would  be  a  long  and  difficult  task  to  answer  that  question,  but  I 
can  supply  a  unit,  because  for  several  years  I  was  engaged  in  the 
cutting  and  despatch  of  thousands  of  bundles  of  evergreens  annually 
for  the  supply  of  the  Christmas  decorations  for  Manchester  and  the 
district.  Shude  Hill  Market  in  Cottonopolis  is  always  a  busy  place, 
particularly  so  at  Christmas  time,  for  it  is  to  the  surrounding  manu- 
lacturing  towns  something  like  what  Covent  Garden  is  to  London. 
Retailers  from  the  Lancashire  towns  flock  into  Manchester  to  buy  at 
the  wholesale  maikets,  and  it  is  to  supply  not  only  the  city  itself  but 
the  surrounding  districts  that  thousands  of  bundles  of  evergreens  are 
despatched  every  year  before  Christmas  to  this  busy  centre.  For  this 
market  alone  an  army  of  men  must  be  engaged,  considering  the  labour 
of  cutting,  tying,  carting,  railway  transfer,  and  wholesale  and  retail 
selling. 
With  us  the  cutting  wa3  more  or  less  a  case][of  necessity,  because 
in  the  many  acres  of  garden  and  woodland  shrubs  and  Conifers  grew 
with  a  marked  profusion,  and  there  was  the  tendency  towards  over¬ 
crowding  and  obscuring  a  hundred  charming  views.  As  the  cuttings 
from  these  trees  and  shrubs  were  of  the  right  material  for  Christmas 
decoration,  the  idea  was  conceived  to  do  the  annual  trimming  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  and  benefit  from  the  commercial  value  of  that  which 
otherwise  would  have  gone  to  the  fire-heap,  or  to  decay  in  some  out  of 
the  w’ay  corner  of  the  woods.  Holly,  Yew,  Laurel,  Box,  and  Ivy  are 
always  in  demand  for  Christmas  adornment,  and  as  these  were 
represented  in  quantity  they  formed  the  chief  material  used  in  the 
bundles. 
About  three  weeks  before  Christmas  the  work  commenced,  the 
cutting  part  of  the  business  being  in  the  hands  of  a  few  experienced 
workmen.  The  advisability  of  this  will  be  observed,  because  it  would 
be  ruinous  to  give  any  labourer  a  free  hand  to  do  what  he  liked  with 
a  Holly  or  Yew  tree,  or  a  breadth  of  Laurels.  In  the  hands  of  good 
workmen,  however,  the  case  was  different,  and  the  periodical  pruning 
had  the  effect  of  keeping  the  trees  and  shrubs  in  good  shape  and 
restricted  form,  as  far  as  was  necessary.  Two  or  three  helpers  were 
told  off  to  follow  the  cutters  and  pick  up  the  prunings,  which  were 
carted  away  to  a  certain  centre  until  sufficient  material  was  collected 
to  commence  tying.  Ivy  was  very  abundant,  growing  on  the  rocks 
and  ruins,  chiefly  of  the  thick  bushy  form  bearing  berries,  and  the 
demand  for  this  was  always  good.  Returns,  of  course,  were  ruled  by 
the  general  supply.  Abundance  of  berries  on  the  Holly  always  affects 
the  market,  but  when  this  material  is  scarce  those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  have  it  have  never  to  look  long  for  buyers.  With  us  the 
common  Rhododendron  ponticum  was  little  more  than  a  weed,  so 
profusely  did  it  grow  in  the  woods,  but  it  was  of  no  use  for  the 
Christmas  trade.  The  foliage  turns  limp  and  droops  soon  after 
cutting,  and  buyers  quickly  found  that  it  would  not  stand  the  gas. 
Christmas  decoration  material  is  just  like  other  produce  in  this  respect. 
It  is  useless  trying  to  force  things  on  the  market,  and  if  one  cannot 
.supply  what  the  buyers  require  it  is  better  to  leave  the  matter  alone. 
Tying  commenced  a  few  days  prior  to  sending  the  first  consign¬ 
ment  to  market,  and  this  work  was  put  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
showed  an  adaptability  for  it.  It  was  neceseary  in  the  first  place  that 
537 
the  bundles  should  be  lightly  yet  firmly  tied,  even  all  through,  and 
with  the  material  showing  itself  to  the  best  advantage.  Buyers  of 
evergreens  soon  find  out  whether  consignments  are  equal  to  sample, 
and  purchase  where  they  have  confidence.  Mixed  bundles  were  the 
general  rule,  containing  sprays  of  Holly,  with  berries  if  obtainable, 
Laurel,  Ivy,  Box  and  Yew,  though  “kids”  of  each  of  these  materials 
were  made  up  separately.  It  very  soon  became  apparent  who  were 
the  right  men  for  the  tying,  from  the  taste  some  displayed  in  the 
work  compared  with  others,  and  qven  with  evergreens  there  is  much 
in  showing  the  material  to  the  best  advantage. 
About  a  fortnight  before  Christmas  the  first  truck  load  usually  left 
for  Manchester  accompanied  by  a  trustworthy  representative  to  act  as 
salesman,  and  from  then  till  the  short  season  was  over  it  was  generally 
a  time  of  rush.  Trade  was  not  always  the  same,  of  course;  some¬ 
times  there  was  a  glut  of  evergreens  for  a  few  days,  and  things  fell 
flat  ;  and  again  in  times  of  fog,  traffic  became  congested,  and  there 
was  difficulty  in  getting  the  material  into  the  market.  These  and 
other  matters  had  bearing  on  the  trade,  and  the  most  business  done 
was  the  week  preceding  Chr  stmas.  Orders  then  were  generally 
heavy  and  frequent,  and  cutting,  tying,  and  despatching  went  on  at 
express  rate  till  about  the  day  before  Christmas  Eve,  when  the  order 
usually  came  to  stop  sending. 
It  was  all  over  then  for  another  year,  but  during  the  fortnight  some 
thousands  of  bundles  of  decorative  material  had  passed  out  of  hand  and 
been  dispersed  by  w'holesalesrnan  and  retailer  over  a  wide  area.  This, 
of  course,  was  only  the  trade  of  one  producer  to  one  market,  and  when 
one  considers  how  many  others  there  are  engaged  in  the  evergreen 
business  during  the  few  weeks  preceding  Christmas  to  provide  for  the 
demands  of  London,  Manchester,  and  other  thickly  populated  centres, 
one  may  well  wonder  where  the  stuff  comes  from. — H.  H. 
EARLY  FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 
I  quite  agree  with  “  Wanderer  ”  (page  474)  that  early  flowering 
shrubs  are  not  nearly  sufficiently  employed  in  gardens.  It  is  far  better 
to  plant  more  flowering  stock  than  so  many  of  the  evergreen  species, 
which,  useful  as  they  are  in  winter,  may  be  so  overplanted  as.  to 
become  quite  funereal.  For  the  use  of  intending  planters  of  flowering 
shrubs  I  have  jotted  down  the  names  of  a  dozen  that  are  well  worthy 
of  special  attention  in  any  garden,  large  or  small.  When  planting 
them  do  not  forget  that  the  wealth  of  blossom  expected  is  not 
obtained  by  “shoving  ’em  in”  as  “Westerner”  says  (page  468),  but 
by  judicious  preparation  of  the  soil,  such  as  deep  digging,  or  what  is 
better,  trenching,  and  adding  manure  freely.  Too  many  persons  think 
that  because  they  are  shrubs,  and  not  fruit  trees,  they  requite  no 
stimulating  food  whatever.  ,  . 
Exochorda  grandiflora,  commonly  known  as  the  1  earl  Bush,  is  too 
seldom  seen  in  large,  let  alone  small  gardens.  Given  a  sunny  position 
with  ample  room  to  develop,  a  full  crop  of  its.  snow  white  circular 
blossoms  are  assured  in  May.  Berberis  Darwini  is  so  showy  in  a  mass 
in  the  shrubbery,  or  singly  on  a  lawn,  or  even  as  a  heuge  it  is  so 
satisfactory  that  I  cannot  omit  it  from  a  select  twelve. 
Deutzia  candidissima  flore-plena,  with  its  pure  white  blossoms 
in  such  masses  as  it  ordinarily^  produces  when  given  fair  treatment, 
I  regard  as  the  best  of  the  genus.  Of.  Magnolias  I  must 
include  one,  and  this  shall  be  purpurea,  which  is  a  form  of  conspicua, 
and  as  near  like  M.  c.  Soulangeana  as  possible.  Purpurea  is  a  little 
later  in  flowering  than  the  type,  therefore  more  otten  missing  late 
sprint  frosts.  On  the  grass  or  in  the  shrubbery  Magnolias  are 
always  appreciated.  Iverria  japonica  fl-pl.  gives  a  profusion  ot  orange 
coloured  blooms  early  in  spring  and  lasts  so  long  in  flower  that  it 
must  not  be  omitted.  , 
The  Mock  Oranges  should  be  represented,  and  as  one  only  can  he 
named,  this  must  be  the  giant  flowering  Gordonianus,  with  its  huge 
blossoms  that  are  so  much  more  useful  for  cutting  than  the  ordinary 
small  flowered  coronarius.  The  Pyrus  family  cannot  be  ignored. 
The  double  flowered  form  of  spectabilis  rosea  is  decidedly  the 
most  showy.  Spiraeas  are  such  a  large  family  that  it  is  an 
invidious  act  to  select  one  only.  The  small  double  flowered  white 
form  of  Reevesiana  I  prefer.  The  growth  of  this  is  less  rampant  than 
many,  and  is  therefore  better  suited  to  small  gardens. 
It  would  not  be  a  complete  list  even  of  twelve  to  omit  Lilacs 
entirely.  The  best  of  all  is  Madame  Lemome.  Not  only  is  the 
growth  free  and  vigorous,  but  the  double  white  blooms  last  a  long 
time  in  perfection.  Charles  X.  I  hxk  upon  as  the  most  use  u  o 
single  Lilacs.  Not  only  is  it  of  vigorous  growth,  but  it  annually 
flowers  in  great  profusion,  and  lasts  longer  in  condition  than  some. 
Prunus  Pissardi  is  most  useful  in  early  spring  in.  providing  the 
shrubbery  with  early  flowers,  and  its  deep  bronzy  tint  of  leaf,  so 
showy  at  the  end  of  summer  and  autumn,  and  it  must  be  included. 
Paul’s  double  scarlet  Thorn  completes  the  list.  I  or  a  fairly  sized 
Harden  fifty  are  none  too  manv,  and  a  selection  of  this  length  would 
be  much  more  to  my  liking. — E.  M. 
