392 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  23.  1888. 
iave  been  more  than  once  evidenced  in  London,  and  no  doubt  will  be  so 
again.  The  chief  varieties  are  the  Scarlet  Intermediate,  Exhibition,  an 
own  gelection,  Sutton’s  Gem,  and  Carter’s  Favourite. 
Celeries  are  in  first-class  condition,  including  White  Gem,  Standard 
Bearer,  Sulham  Prize,  and  Major  Clarke’s  Red,  Potatoes  are  in  great 
variety,  and  include  most  of  the  best  known  in  commerce,  the  fine  Read¬ 
ing  selections  being  largely  represented.  Cauliflowers  do  splendidly  on 
this  sand,  especially  Sutton’s  Autumn  Mammoth,  which  is  so  much  liked. 
Asparagus  planted  on  the  flat,  in  rows  2  feet  apart,  has  made  luxuriant 
growth,  and  is  here  not  only  very  early  but  gives  abundant  cuttings. 
The  chief  Brussels  Sprouts  are  the  Exhibition  and  Wroxton.  Late  Peas 
in  trenches,  and  when  I  saw  them  from  12  to  18  inches  in  height,  were 
luxuriantly  green  ;  and  promising  Scarlet  Runners,  Ne  Plus  Ultra  and 
Jubilee  White,  also  Sutton’s  Tender  and  True  Climber,  are  very  heavy 
croppers  ;  indeed,  all  vegetables  were  excellent  in  spite  of  the  drought, 
which  has  been  very  trying  in  the  Ampthill  district.  No  doubt  recent 
showers  have  already  done  much  to  help  the  gardens  here,  which  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  badly  needed  rain. — A.  D. 
[The  above  description  was  written  some  weeks  ago,  and  it  seems 
astonishing  that  Mrs.  Wingfield’s  grand  collection  of  vegetables  and 
fruit,  that  won  the  rare  honour  of  a  gold  medal  at  the  last  meeting  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  could  have  been  grown  in  such  sandy 
soil.  The  gardens  at  Ampthill  House  are  cherished  by  Mrs.  Wingfield, 
and  well  managed  by  her  gardener,  whose  portrait  is  given  herewith,  in 
recognition  of  his  excellent  work.l 
THE  GARDENER’S  PATH. 
As  I  am  bidden  to  continue  my  gossipy  papers,  the  last  of  which 
has  launched  our  traveller  upon  the  deeper  waters,  it  is  with 
pleasure  the  subject  is  resumed,  and  with  the  hope  that  my  pen 
will  be  powerful  enough  to  outline  a  chart  which,  however 
imperfect,  may  serve  to  pilot  by  such  rocks  as  are  known  only  to 
us  old  boys,  who  know  exactly  where  they  lay  and  how  to  avoid 
them.  It  is,  of  course,  taken  for  granted  that  an  intelligent  man, 
young  though  he  be,  will  plainly  see  the  more  conspicuous  breakers 
ahead,  and  accordingly  steer  a  clear  course,  but  small  obstacles 
often  do  great  damage — a  little  hole  may  sink  a  ship.  This  matter, 
and  many  other  matters  too,  might  be  peremptorily  dismissed  with 
the  remark  that  common  sense  will  prompt  us  in  our  needs  ;  bur 
this  kind  of  prompting  is  not  always  accompanied  by  spontaneous 
performance,  and  common  sense,  which  has  been  defin^  by  some 
writer  as  very  uncommon  sense,  may  be  deferred  until  its  virtues 
have  evaporated. 
The  clever  son  of  a  clever  father,  who  was  foreman  with  me 
for  several  years,  left  bothydom  with  all  the  bright  prospects  one 
could  wish  any  young  man  to  have  under  these  circumstances. 
The  first  time  I  heard  from  him  was  to  give  minute  details  of  his 
work,  his  plans  for  improvement,  with  the  facilities  he  had  for 
carrying  them  out — in  fact,  within  reasonable  limits  he  could  do  as 
he  liked  owing  to  the  family  being  practically  non-resident.  Later 
accounts  from  other  sources  were  less  satisfactory,  and,  finally,  this 
freedom  he  enjoyed  wove  around  him  bonds  which  were  never 
loosed  until  he  found  an  early  grave  in  far  Australia. 
Poor  D .,  “  When  you  began  with  so  much  pomp  and  show,  why 
was  the  end  so  little  and  so  low?”  Why?  To  answer  this 
question  brings'me  to  a  delicate  subject ;  one,  indeed,  I  am  diffident 
of  entering  upon.  It  is  one  upon  which  no  advice  here  can  be 
offered,  and  if  it  could  there  are  no  travelleri  at  this  stage  of 
life’s  journey  who  would  take  it,  so  it  must  be  a  thought  picture 
without  words  to  illustrate  my  meaning.  We  can  well  imagine  the 
possibilities  presenting  themselves  to  a  young  man  under  the  above 
circumstances  with  the  novelty  of  the  new  position.  The  old- 
fashioned  gardener’s  cottage  newly  furnished  for  the  fresh 
occupant,  nothing  wanting  save  what  is  suggested  by  that  old 
maxim,  “  It  is  not  good  for  man  to  live  alone.” 
We  may  turn  from  tbe  deep  shade  of  the  above  picture  to  those 
bright  ones  so  often  met  with  and  so  often  depicted  in  these  pages. 
From  deep  shadows  we  obtain  high  lights.  Here  are  two  widely 
divergent  but  equally  bappy  examples  of  the  gardener’s  home,  both 
of  which  I  never  visit  without  the  most  pleasant  impressions — 
ideal  gardeners’  homes.  The  first  is  that  of  another  young  head 
gardener  who  took  up  an  onerous  charge  straight  from  the  bothy, 
and  who,  as  a  bachelor  (at  present)  is  ably  seconded  by  a  sister,  who 
presides  over  his  truly  beautiful  cottage,  adorned  within  and 
without  by  taste,  and  especially  by  those  blessings  attendant  on  a 
good  life.  The  other  even  more  commends  itself  as  an  ideal  study. 
Here  “  the  missus  ”  shares  all  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  my  old 
friend,  and  they  have,  indeed,  had  a  large  share  of  both ; 
hallowed,  it  is,  by  all  the  tender  memories  that  many  years  have 
left  in  their  train.  This  “  head,”  too,  has  a  heavy  charge,  but 
helped  and  cheered  and  left  free  for  his  arduous  duties,,  I  cannot 
alone  call  it  an  ideal  home  but  an  ideal  life.  There  is  more  than  a 
little  compunction  in  touching  upon  this  matter,  but  to  you,  who 
are  now  (or  about  to  be)  a  head  gardener,  it  is  of  an  importance 
which  time  alone  can  show.  The  most  I  can  ask  you  to  do  now  is 
to  give  it  your  earnest  consideration. 
Should  one  be,  as  some  are,  called  direct  from  botbydom  to  fill  a 
high  position  in  the  gardening  world,  it  is  but  natural,  if  unwise,  that 
the  new  gardener  should  be  somewhat  sensitive  in  the  matter  of 
due  deference  being  paid  to  him,  in  fact  he  feels  his  rank  and 
claims  its  dues  prior,  one  may  say,  to  earning  them.  These 
stately  personages,  the  head  servants,  who  shine  so  brilliantly  in 
the  reflections  of  more  exalted  rank,  are  a  little  jealous  of  a  fresh- 
comer  into  their  charmed  circle,  and  have  a  hundred  ingenious 
methods  of  indirectly  showing  it.  Some  of  these  good  people  will, 
without  saying  so,  go  to  a  vast  amount  of  trouble  to  convey  by 
more  subtle  means  that  you  are  not  upon  the  same  level  with  them¬ 
selves.  This,  of  course,  is  not  of  the  slightest  importance  if  you 
feel  from  the  first  that  it  is  not. 
I  recollect  that  upon  one  occasion,  when  extensive  preparations 
were  made  to  entertain  a  large  and  distinguished  company,  and,  of 
course,  all  had  done  their  best,  myself  included,  a  private  view  of 
the  tables  was  afforded  to  the  residents  within  the  demesne.  The 
new  gardener — myself,  and  very  new  in  other  senses  than  one — 
felt  some  little  anxiety  to  obtain  a  share  of  the  encomiums  freely 
bestowed.  Our  house  steward  pompously  explained  to  an  admiring 
group  the  work  of  his  department,  the  perfection  of  his  arrange¬ 
ments,  the  glories  of  the  cook’s  art,  and  tbe  triumphs  of  the  skilled 
housekeeper,  winding  up  his  oration  by  saying  “  even  the  gardener 
has  done  something  towards  it !  ”  That  “  something  ”  consisted  of 
many  dishes  of  fruit  worthy  of  the  board  they  graced,  with  all 
the  addenda  it  was  the  right  of  the  garden  to  contribute.  “  Even 
the  gardener.”  I  need  not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings  ; 
parallel  cases  exist,  consequently  fellow  feeling  is  not  wanting. 
Truly  a  gardener,  especially  a  young  one,  should  have  no 
feelings  ;  most  have,  however,  and  one  finds  he  is  no  sooner  a 
master  than  he  has  to  serve  more  masters  than  were  ever  anticipated. 
Really  these  ladies  and  gentlemen  (?)  below  stairs  are  most  difficult 
to  please,  and  will  come  upon  you  at  all  times,  reasonable  or 
unreasonable,  to  supply  their  real  or  imaginary  wants.  A  sudden 
order  perhaps  “  to  tend  up  that  fruit  immediately,”  or  “  not  to  send 
it  ”  when  you  have  most  of  it  picked  ;  to  know  why  such  has  not 
been  sent,  or  to  know  why  it  was,  all  tending  to  the  ofie  object — 
that  of  giving  annoyance  if — if  you  will  take  it,  and  that  is  the 
surest  way  of  feeding  the  flame.  Heed  it  not,  nor  allow  any  petty 
feeling!  of  recrimination  to  enter  your  mind.  These  are  the  con¬ 
temptible  little  rocks  to  be  steered  past  in  your  course,  in  .tead  of 
bumping  again  each  and  all  of  them.  Be  true  and  just  and 
dignified  in  all  your  dealings  in  the  beginning,  and  the  battle  is  half 
won  ;  continae  it  and  victory  is  yours,  and  forget  not  that  “  adver¬ 
sity  borrows  its  sharpest  stings  from  impatience.” 
It  is  now  a  matter  of  some  concern  to  you  as  to  bow  you  should 
meet  and  converse  with  those  whom  you  are  privileged  to  serve, 
when  occasion  demands  it.  There  is  some  little  danger  of  error  in 
straining  after  effect,  and  it  is  really  very  excusable,  for  tbe  motive 
is  good  though  the  result  is  bad  ;  but  it  is,  undoubtedly,  a  mistake. 
When  raw  from  the  bothy  I  was  brought  into  direct  contact  with 
one  who  was  a  prince  of  good  manners,  and,  whether  intentional  or 
not,  many  little  useful  lessons  were  conveyed.  One  thing  I  par¬ 
ticularly  noticed  was  that  when  conversing  with  the  head  of  any 
department  such  conversation  was  invariably  limited  to  it.  For 
instance,  with  me — the  gardener — all  pertained  to  my  business, 
although  it  was  often  affably  interspersed  with  relevant  anecdotes. 
From  this  it  was  easy  to  perceive  that  for  me  to  broach  any  other 
subject  would  be  bad  taste  on  my  part,  or,  indeed,  to  broach  that 
unless  occasion  required  it.  When  questioned  it  is  one’s  duty  to 
express  themselves  as  clearly  and  intelligently  as  possible,  and,  one 
may  add,  naturally  without  superfluity 'of  language.  Honesty,  too, 
is  the  best  policy,  and  if  not  able  to  give  the  necessary  information 
it  is  better  to  say  so  than  to  equivocate. — An  Old  Bov. 
(To  be  continued.) 
AUTUMN  TREATMENT  OF  AZALEAS. 
From  the  middle  of  July  to  the  middle  of  September  it  is  the 
custom  with  many  gardeners,  but  not  with  all,  to  give  Indian 
Azaleas  outdoor  treatment.  The  custom  is  certainly  beneficial  if 
the  plants  are  accorded  a  position  where  the  hot  sun  does  not  pour 
down  upon  them  unceasingly  throughout  the  day.  Such  situations 
are  too  trying,  because  the  transpiration  from  the  leaves  and  the 
evaporation  from  the  soil,  together  with  the  sunshine  striking 
directly  upon  the  pots,  tend  to  absorb  tbe  moisture  so  rapidly  that 
there  is  the  probability  of  the  fine  hair-like  rwts  being  injured. 
The  likelihood  of  this  event  happening  may  be  somewhat 
diminished  if  the  pots  are  shaded  from  the  sun  or  plunged  to  the 
rim  in  coal  ashes  or  cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse. 
The  best  plan,  however,  of  a,yoidiDg  injury  and  of  proving 
