296 
JOURNAL  OF  HORl'IGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  24,  1896. 
It  was  the  foreman’s  bothy,  for  there  were  two  at  the  rear  of  a 
range  of  houses,  divided  by  other  offices.  1  found  Bob  in  bed 
with  the  door  open,  through  which  a  volume  of  smoke  rolled  over  my 
head  and  a  couple  of  rats  ran  out  by  my  feet.  Bob  grumbled  ; 
wished  he  had  taken  a  return  ticket.  However,  the  promise  of 
better  things  temporarily  pacified  him,  and  we  lOon  converted  the 
bad  bothies  into  first-rate  stove  and  Mushroom  houses,  and  trans¬ 
ferred  the  young  men  to  better  quarters.  That  stamp  of  bothy  is 
now,  I  believe,  practically  improved  out  of  existence. 
You,  of  bothydom,  have  but  recently  been  ably  championed 
by  one  who  took  for  his  text,  “  Young  Gardeners,  Their  Hours 
and  Habitations.”  As  this  was  not  only  recent  but  fairly 
exhaustive,  there  is  no  need  for  further  discussion  of  the  matter, 
however  important  one  phase  of  it — the  hours — may  appear  to 
you.  My  sentiments  were  then  expressed  upon  the  matter,  and 
yours,  if  unexpressed,  are  clearly  understood  by  me.  As  we  may, 
rightly  I  think,  take  onto  ourselves  the  credit  of  our  country 
holding  the  highest  position  in  the  gardening  world,  it  may  from 
this  be  deduced  that  “  hours,  habitations,”  and  pay  are  contempo¬ 
raneously  improved  or  improving.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enter 
into  facts  and  figures  to  clinch  an  argument  to  which,  perhaps, 
this  statement  may  leave  an  opening  ;  but  there  is  one  thing 
impressing  me  as  being  worthy  of  your  attention,  which  I  have 
culled  from  the  “Gardener’s  Chronicle”  of  June  27th.  In  a 
notice  of  horticulture  at  the  Berlin  exhibition  is  the  following  :  — 
“  One  fact,  by  the  way,  may  be  alluded  to— viz.,  that  of  3000 
young  gardeners  in  and  around  Berlin,  1000  of  them  in  the  winter 
season  are  without  employment.”  Now,  this  “  one  fact,  by  the 
way,”  is  a  very  disagreeable  fact — one,  indeed,  that  Young  Britain 
has  not,  happily,  to  face  ;  but  it  is  not  without  its  moral,  for  by 
comparison  we  know  how  we  stand. 
In  the  matter  of  pay  I  know  from  experience  that,  as  a  rule,  it 
requires  some  little  financial  skill  to  have  that  small  but  desirable 
margin  to  the  credit  side,  but  I  should  like  every  lad  to  have  a 
small,  however  small,  account  with  Her  Majesty  through  the  Post 
Office  Savings  Bank.  Were  it  possible  for  an  old  boy’s  spectacles 
to  be  adjusted  to  your  youthful  vision  you  would,  undoubtedly, 
view  another  matter  in  a  very  different  light  with  which  it  is 
generally,  and  unfortunately,  regarded.  This  matter,  the  Gardeners’ 
Royal  Benevolent  Society,  of  which  I  have  so  frequently  advocated 
the  claims,  that  it  may  appear  de  trap  to  mention  it  here ;  and  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  you  are  British  boys  possessed  in  more  or  less 
degree  of  those  noble  characteristics  of  our  race,  I  should  not  again 
endeavour  to  reach  your  limited  purses  through  your  heads  and 
hearts.  The  pluck  of  British  youth  is  proverbial ;  week  after 
week  the  papers  give  us  instances  of  heroic  deeds,  of  spontaneous 
bravery,  where  even  boys  of  tender  years  plunge  in  to  save  a  victim 
from  a  watery  grave.  So  it  has  ever  been  Britain’s  proud  preroga¬ 
tive  to  rescue  the  perishing,  to  defend  the  weak,  to  fight  the 
oppressor  ;  and  it  i«  only  when  cold  calculation  ii  brought  to  bear 
upon  a  subject  that  what  is  felt  to  be  the  duty  of  all  is  regarded  as 
the  duty  of  no  one  in  particular.  I  wish  that  our  boys  would 
make  this  small  self-sacrifice,  make  it  ungrudgingly,  without 
hesitation,  simply  on  the  recommendation  of  an  old  boy  ;  then, 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  when  they  are  able  to  see  through  my 
spectacles,  it  will  be  to  look  with  satisfaction  and  pleasure  upon 
having  done  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time. 
The  question  of  pay  is  of  far  less  importance  than  that  of 
frugal  and  thrifty  habits,  and  the  bothy  is,  par  excellence,  the 
place  to  mould  and  exercise  them  ;  yet  it  is  here  that  a  false 
feeling  of  shame  may  ensue,  sufficient  to  neutralise  this  with  other 
good  intentions.  One  comrade  lived  under  the  repute  of  being 
“  mean  and  stingy.”  Slovenly  he  was  not,  as  the  well-brushed 
clothes  testified  ;  and  no  amount  of  teasing  when  the  country 
tailor  came  round  could  induce  him  to  give  an  order  for  that 
most  gratifying  of  purchases — a  new  suit.  “  I  do  not  want  it,” 
was  the  invariable  answer,  entailing  many  unpleasant,  yet 
unanswered,  remarks.  Want  it  he  did,  but  there  was  a  widowed 
mother  who  wanted  the  few  shillings  periodically  sent,  and  that 
was  the  sequel,  afterwards  revealed  by  accident,  to  h's  being 
“mean  and  stingy.”  Self-sacrifice  sweetens  life,  and  that  young 
man  was  a  Bayard  in  the  bothy,  without  fear  then,  without 
reproach  now,  when  no  longer  comes  “  the  touch  of  a  vanished 
hand,  the  sound  of  a  voice  that’s  still.”  We  thought  he  was  home¬ 
sick,  because  he  never  missed  the  weekly  letter  home,  but  it  was 
that  form  of  the  complaint  it  is  meritorious  to  have. 
When  our  boys  leave  the  old  home  it  is  generally  for  good  and 
all ;  I  wish  they  all  on  leaving  might  start  with  this  admonition  : — 
“  Jfy  boy  thou  wilt  dream  the  world  is  fair,  and  thy  spirit  will  sigh  to  roam, 
And  thou  must  go,  but  never  when  there  forget  the  light  of  home.” 
It  is  the  deep  impression  I  have  of  the  power  of  the  poetry  of 
home  life  to  keep  you  in  the  path  of  duty  and  of  rectitude  when 
its  direct  infiuence  is  broken  that  has  tempted  me  to  express  these 
thoughts.  Do  not  at  this  critical  age  lose  sight  of  “  the  light  of 
home.” 
It  muit,  at  least,  be  interesting  to  us  old  boys  ia  watching  the 
course  of  those  lads  who  have  passed  through  our  hands  as  pro¬ 
bationers.  Some,  of  course,  we  lose  sight  of,  never  to  see  or 
hear  of  again,  and  others,  perhaps,  with  some  grateful  recollec¬ 
tions  of  early  teachings  will  look  back  expressing  some  kindly 
thoughts  to  the  old  masters.  Whether  they  do,  or  do  not,  is  but  of 
small  moment  to  the  right-minded  man  who  has  endeavoured  to  do 
his  duty  by  them  ;  nevertheless,  any  spontaneous  expression  of 
gratitude  from  their  pens  might  afford  more  pleasure  than  they 
are  cognisant  of.  One  of  my  old  pupils,  whoie  career  I  have  long 
watched  with  pleasure,  for  it  is  an  unqualified  luccess,  write*,  “  My 
whole  aim  is  to  have  everything  under  my  charge  done  a*  well,  if 
not  better,  than  anyone  else.  I  assure  you  that  my  recollection! 
of  the  years  spent  under  you  are  very  pleasant.”  How  true  is  that 
old  proverb,  “Nothing  succeeds  like  success.”  Unconsciously, 
perhaps,  my  old  pupil  has  all  but  quoted  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds’  rule 
of  success  in  life,  which  was  a  conscientious  endeavour  “  to  make 
each  painting  the  best.”  At  first  sight  this  is  a  moral  more  relevant 
to  the  riper  years  of  life  than  to  the  bothy  ;  but  it  is  not  so.  It  is 
as  applicable  to  the  wa.shing  of  a  pot,  the  scrubbing  out  of  a  house, 
as  it  is  to  the  mo»t  perfect  example  of  the  experienced  gardeners’ 
art  and  skill. 
There  are,  indeed,  no  short  jumps  up  the  ladder  of  fame,  and  if 
any  of  our  lads  think  they  can  pass  through  bothydom  in  a  free 
and  easy  manner,  doing  what  they  are  bid,  no  more  ;  emerging  from 
it  with  a  character  for  sobriety,  honesty,  and  general  respectability, 
nothing  else  ;  then  whilst  hoping  they  will  do  well,  even  to  an 
average  ;  this,  mark  you  well,  young  friend,  is  not  worthy  of  you 
and  the  grand  profession  of  your  choice.  Mind  you,  with  all  our 
cry  out  about  overcrowding,  this  hustling  and  jostling  of  a  crowd 
halfway  up  the  ladder  on  the  rung  of  mediocrity,  mind  you,  there 
is  plenty  of  room  at  the  top — at  the  top.  I  want  you  to  get  there. 
I  wish  I  could  further  spur  you  onwards  and  upwards  with  more 
memories  and  morals  which,  I  regretfully  feel,  fall  short  of  my 
original  intention  of  more  clearly  conveying  to  you  a  long  and 
varied  experience.  Many  of  the  memories  it  would,  at  present,  be 
premature  to  publish,  as  for  the  morals  you  have  probably  had 
enough  ;  but  ere  concluding  I  would  like  to  go  one  stage  farther,  a 
stage  that  to  more  advanced  subjects  of  bothydom  is  now  of  more 
importance — viz ,  the  gardener’s  house,  which,  by  permission,  will 
conclude  these  rambling  thoughts  of — An  Old  Boy. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
ORANGE  FUNGUS  ON  CINERARIAS. 
CiNEUARiA  leaves  infested  with  an  orange  coloured  fungus  have 
been  sent  from  “  J.  G.  M.”  The  case  is  interesting.  The  fungus 
is  Groundsel  rust  (Coleosporium  senecionis,  B.).  There  are  two 
kinds  of  spores — those  of  a  pulverulent  nature,  semi-globose 
or  irregularly  spheroid,  which  are  usually  (in  Coleosporium  and 
this  case)  produced  alone  at  the  commencement  of  the  season, 
and  others  which  originate  as  an  elongated  cell ;  this  becomes 
septate,  and  ultimately  separates  at  the  joints.  During  the  greater 
part  of  the  year  both  kinds  of  spores  are  to  be  found  in  the  same 
pustule  (of  Coleosporium,  and  in  this  particular  instance  at  present). 
The  pustules  are  confined  to  the  under  side  of  the  leaf,  and  first 
appear  as  minute  spots  of  a  pale  yellow  colour,  which  is  due  to  the 
contained  spores  immediately  beneath  the  epidermis.  The  spots 
soon  become  bright  deep  yellow  or  pale  orange  in  colour,  and  about 
one-eighth  to  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  the  spores  breaking 
through  the  cuticle  and  appear  as  yellow  “dust.”  Owing  to  the 
closeness  of  the  “seats”  or  pustules  they  become  confluent,  great 
batches  of  the  leaf  being  a  mass  of  orange — innumerable  spores. 
The  effect  of  the  infection  is  to  destroy  the  tissues  of  the  leaf, 
pale  yellow  patches  appearing  on  the  upper  surface,  which  ultimately 
turns  brown,  and  the  leaf  perishes  whoPy  or  in  part.  In  the  case 
of  such  highly  cultivated  plants  a*  the  Cineraria  the  fungus  is  very 
luxuriant,  and  speedily  accomplishes  the  destruction  of  the  leaf 
attacked,  and,  from  the  rhultitndinous  manner  of  the  production  of 
the  spores,  the  whole  plant  soon  becomes  involved  and  succumbs 
to  the  parasite. 
Some  of  the  spores  examined  were  in  the  act  of  germinating — 
that  is,  pushing  a  germinal  tube,  and  others  had  thrust  the  tubes 
I  through  the  cuticle,  the  hairy  nature  of  the  leaf  giving  the  spores 
a  grand  hold,  and  the  moisture  providing  the  essential  condition 
for  development.  The  disease  is  always  from  without,  and  is  of 
so  superficial  a  nature  as  to  be  easily  assailed  by  a  destroying  agent. 
Owing  to  the  soft  character  of  the  leaf  and  its  hairiness  the 
Cineraria  is  soon  injured  by  caustic  or  quickly  oxidising  substances, 
such  as  fungicides  containing  a  large  percentage  of  sulphate  of 
