May  21,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
475 
and  future  welfare,  as  well  as  handicapping  the  more  immediate 
effect  of  the  summer  display.  To  the  uninitiated  or  inexperienced 
observer  the  labour  entailed,  where  no  makeshift  work  is  allowed 
to  enter  into  the  calculation,  is  in  some  places  little  less  than 
appalling  ;  and  to  note  the  transformation  that  can  be  effected 
in  a  limited  time  under  the  controlling  baton  of  an  efficient 
director  may  appear  almost  miraculous.  Yet,  in  this  instance, 
how  simple  is  the  work,  how  smoothly  it  proceeds,  and  how 
satisfactory  to  all  .concerned,  whether  they  be  those  who  work  or 
those  who  watch. 
“  Can  this  transformation  be  thus  easily  performed  on  the 
larger  scale  ?  ”  some  may  ask  ;  and  “  Is  it  the  best  way  taking  into 
account  future  effects  ?  ”  Yes  ;  it  is  the  easiest,  simplest,  and 
safest,  moreover  the  most  satisfactory,  whether  the  drawing-room 
blinds  are  down,  owing  to  the  London  season,  or  whether  your 
work  is  exposed  to  a  critical  and  constant  surveillance  from  start  to 
finish.  In  the  former  case  a  troublesome  job  (if  so  thought)  is 
put  out  of  hand  in  the  speediest  manner  ;  in  the  latter,  the 
transition  stage,  accompanied  by  a  certain  amount  of  disorder,  is 
reduced  to  the  briefest  time,  and  the  interruption  to  normal  work 
is  of  but  the  slightest.  All  in  all  it  is  best  for  everyone  and 
everything,  the  chief  of  the  latter  being  the  plants,  saving  perhaps 
a  few  exceptions,  amounting  merely  to  some  trifling  details  of 
filling-in  later  on. 
How  can  this  be  done — well  done — conscientiously  carrying  out 
every  detail  ?  To  my  mind  the  question  is  of  the  simplest,  depend¬ 
ing  for  its  answer  on  method — systematic  labour,  for  to  such  it  has 
been,  or  should  have  been,  resolved  into  by  forethought.  This 
has  told  us  what  we  have  to  do,  how  we  have  to  do  it,  and  what 
we  have  to  do  it  with.  A  trinity  of  deeds,  doing  away  with  all 
problematic  matter,  leaving  the  “  head  ”  and  his  “  hands”  free  for 
the  work.  We  cannot  disregard  the  weather,  but  probably  many 
will  have,  as  I  have  had,  to  take  whatever  weather  the  approaching 
month  is  ushered  in  with,  when  nothing  short  of  a  downpour  might 
longer  delay  the  operation.  Fair,  dull  weather  is  a  boon  for  the 
work  ;  showery  weather,  messing  ;  and  continuous  bright  sunshine 
the  most  trving  to  both  plants  and  planters.  Where  much  trampling 
is  unavoidable  on  grass,  boards  or  shutters,  to  be  shifted  on  as  the 
work  proceeds,  will  be  of  great  service  in  spells  of  wet. 
To  state  a  case  in  illustration  of  the  text,  we  will  suppose — 
though,  ai  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  drawn  from  experience — that  a 
rather  extensive  flower  garden,  occupied  with  spring  flowers  till 
the  end  of  May,  is  about  to  be  changed  into  its  summer  dress,  the 
shifting  to  commence  on  the  lit  of  June.  Not  too  early,  certainly, 
but  early  enough  in  some  localities,  and  a  good  time  for  all  when 
circumstances  demand  equal  consideration  in  the  enjoyment  of 
both  spring  and  summer  bedding.  The  1st  of  June  coming  this 
year  on  a  Monday  is  especially  opportune,  for  there  is,  I  think,  a 
freshness  and  vigour  in  attacking  heavy  work  early  in  the  week 
with  undivided  attention. 
To  make  a  good  start  some  preliminary  working  arrangements 
will  have  already  been  made,  such  as  mowing  the  grass — an 
important  item  where  the  beds  are  situated  upon  it — and  con¬ 
veying  all  tools  and  requisite  impedimenta  to  some  rendezvous  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  if  necessary.  In  my  particular  instance  a 
veteran  Chestnut  feathered  to  the  ground  was  for  the  nonce  con¬ 
verted  into  tool  house,  dining-room,  and  office  for  self  and  staff. 
Moreover,  under  its  friendly  shade  many  of  the  spring  bedders 
required  for  stock  were  packed  till  breathing  time  allowed  of 
justice  being  done  to  them.  Being  the  best  part  of  a  mile  from  the 
gardens  proper  all  needless  running  to  and  fro  was  regarded  as  an 
expense  of  force.  Circumstances,  of  course,  alter  cases. 
It  is  now  more  congenial  to  me  to  shunt  from  the  biographical 
to  the  hypothetical,  and  follow  our  busy  “  Head  ”  with  his  “  Hands  ” 
to  the  scene  of  their  labours.  The  latter  have  not  been  blind  to 
the  preliminaries,  and  are,  now  the  day  has  arrived,  eager  for  the 
fray.  Al  fresco  meals,  with  perhaps  violation  of  ordinary  time 
rules,  affect  them  not.  According  to  weather  or  according  to  work, 
demands  upon  them,  early  or  late,  are  cheerfully  responded  to.  It 
is  a  busy  time.  They  know  it,  and  they  feel  it.  The  start  is  made  ; 
clearing,  digging,  preparing  the  soil,  and  planting  goes  on  simul¬ 
taneously.  Plants  are  sent  for  as  required,  and  not  allowed  to 
undergo  a  needless  drying  process  ere  they  are  planted  ;  all  empties 
are  at  once  returned,  and  to  each  man  is  allotted  the  task  he  is  best 
fitted  to  perform.  Each  bed  as  it  is  cleared  is  thoroughly  well 
worked,  and  the  necessary  enriching  with  leaf  mould  or  manure 
given  to  it.  The  “Head”  measures  off,  marks  out,  consults  his 
plan.  Steadily  goes  the  work  without  confusion.  Watering 
arrangements  as  required  end  the  busy  day,  and  probably  commence 
the  next.  Ere  Saturday  comes  round  the  work  is  complete  ;  order 
reign*  ;  spring  has  given  place  to  summer  ;  the  transformation  is 
complete  saving  such  details  as  time  and  weather  alone  can  give, 
for  all  has  been  done  in  the  best  possible  manner  in  the  least 
possible  time. — Head. 
GRAPE  CULTURE  IN  ITS  COMMERCIAL 
ASPECT. 
{Concluded  from  page  441.) 
It  is  difficult  to  conscientiously  give  a  rosy  aspect  generally  to 
the  business  of  Grape-growing  under  the  conditions  as  they  are  at 
present,  and  I  cannot  fairly  estimate  that  in  the  future  there  is 
any  likelihood  of  a  rise  in  the  prices  of  Grapes.  There  no  doubt 
will  be  always  good  and  indeed  remunerative  prices  for  the  very 
beat  and  special  samples,  but  we  all  know  that  such  first-grade 
fruit  is  a  small  proportion  of  the  great  bulk  sent  to  market.  One 
thing  is  of  comfort  to  me,  and  that  is  that  the  Yine  is  not  likely 
to  be  superseded  by  any  invention  or  even  discovery  of  man  ; 
from  time  immemorial  it*  produce  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
bounties  that  can  be  won  from  Nature.  The  returns  to  grower* 
may  become  less,  and  the  true  solution  of  the  question  of  profit  is, 
and  must  be,  improved  methods  in  production. 
In  Yine  growing,  as  in  nearly  all  producing  industries,  it  is 
nowadays  a  disadvantage  to  have  been  established  long,  as  then 
the  means  employed  are  nearly  always  obsolete,  and  the  traditions 
FIG.  79. — LITHOSPERMUM  PROSTRATUM.  ( See  page  463.) 
of  the  concern  hamper  new  developments  ;  hence  is  proved  my 
remark,  that  unless  the  very  serious  fact  of  the  annual  deprecia¬ 
tion  of  a  vineyard,  or  other  fruit-growing  establishment,  is  taken 
into  account,  it  becomes  of  little  value  to  sell  or  let  when  it  has  to 
compete  with  modern  and  better  equipped  places.  If  the  grower 
has  passed  through  the  first  steps  and  arrived  at  a  stage  of  his 
venture  when  Grapes  or  any  other  produce  that  he  ha*  grown  is 
ready  for  market,  then  comes  in  one  of  the  most  important  items 
in  a  commercial  Grape-growing  place,  and  that  is  the  taking  or 
consigning  the  fruit  to  market,  and  the  manner  of  packing  with 
regard  to  grading,  weighing,  and  carriage. 
Packing  will  have  to  depend  largely  on  the  method  of  carriage, 
whether  by  train  or  ordinary  horse  vans.  Time  was  when  Grapes 
were  actually  carried  on  the  men's  heads  all  the  way  to  market. 
By  grading  I  mean  the  assortment  of  the  fruit  according  to  its 
quality,  leaning  always  to  the  side  of  giving  over  the  sample  than 
even  exact,  or  under,  also  in  carefully  putting  on  the  package  the 
net  weight  of  fruit,  and  that  not  in  too  exactly  just  a  manner,  but 
leaning  towards  the  purchaser’s  favour.  I  cannot  too  strongly 
impress  on  fruit  growers  to  be  most  careful  about  the  manner  of 
sending  produce  to  market,  not  only  on  account  of  honour,  which 
makes  the  foundation  of  all  success  worth  having,  but  in  order  to 
gain  from  the  very  first  what  is  called  in  all  the  different  markets 
of  all  sorts  “  a  good  mark.”  Then  as  the  grower  and  producer, 
slowly  it  may  be,  builds  up  and  jealously  guards  a  character  for  his 
produce,  so  will  his  agent  have  less  trouble  and  get  better  prices 
for  the  produce  consigned. 
