October  7,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
343 
In  the  reception  room  proper,  whei’e  the  hostess  received  her  guests, 
little  extra  to  the  usual  drawing-room  decoration  was  employed,  cut 
flowers  in  vases  and  a  few  choice  plants  being  the  chief  objects,  with 
the  exception  of  one  table,  upon  which  crimson  and  white  Chinese 
Primulas  were  arranged  cn  masse.  From  this  the  ball-room  led,  and 
here  no  grouping  was  permissible,  although  the  ingenuity  of  our 
decorator  had  been  requisitioned  to  hide  a  huge  fireplace  which  had 
been  called  “  particularly  ugly.”  To  fill  it  with  plants  would  have 
been  leaving  it  a  fireplace  still,  not  to  speak  of  some  encroachment 
upon  space.  The  difficulty  was  overcome  by  improvising  a  screen  to 
fill  the  whole  space.  This  consisted  of  a  skeleton  frame,  upon  which 
wire  netting  was  tightly  stretched,  the  whole  being  closely  interwoven 
with  small  sprays  of  common  Yew,  the  same  monogram  previously 
noticed  being  worked  out  with  similar  sprays  of  the  golden  variety,  and 
standing  out  in  good  relief  on  the  dark  background. 
The  margin  is  so  narroAv  between  success  and  failure  in  forming 
letters,  monograms,  or  anything  of  this  kind,  that  it  must  he  here 
noted  our  artist  was  in  this  work  facile  princeps,  and  should  any 
decorator  doubt  his  power  to  execute  similar  designs,  it  is  better  not 
to  attempt  it.  The  head  gardener  in  this  case  of  decorating  was,  how¬ 
ever,  no  mean  draughtsman,  and  what  is  equally  to  the'purpose,  had 
acquired  a  trained  eye  w'hich  could  not  mislead  him.  Work  of  this 
kind  is  subjected  to  the  highest  criticism,  and  with  those  who  would 
excel,  mediocrity  in  the  form  of  “  amateurish  ”  results  is  intolerable. 
Perhaps  there  was  no  more  severe  critic  of  his  own  work  than  him¬ 
self,  and  he  had,  too,  that  rare  gift  of  asking  an  opinion  without  seeking 
for  praise.  An  improvised  orchestra  in  the  ball-room  need  not  detain, 
it  was  suitably  enclosed  by  a  screen,  such  as  that  described  in  the 
decorations  of  a  public  hall.  We  have  now  two  apartments  to  glance 
into,  one  the  refreshment  room,  the  other  the  supper  room,  and  the 
former,  in  which  the  tables  were  laid  as  buffets,  needs  but  brief 
mention.  Pretty  plants  of  Geonoma  gracilis  in  vases,  and  finished  off 
with  Panicum  variegatum,  Avere  disposed  at  intervals  upon  the  tables, 
and  home  grown  fruit  was  tastefully  dished  up  with  the  foliage  of  an 
old  Barbarossa  Vine,  glorious  in  its  dying  tints.  These  were  the  chief 
features,  although  an  elegant  centrepiece  on  a  principal  table,  com¬ 
posed  of  Grapes  with  the  wood  and  foliage  attached,  cut  from  the  same 
old  Vine,  was  Avmrthy  of  notice. 
In  the  supper  room  a  contrast  was  provided  to  anything  hitherto 
noticed  by  the  use  of  one  colour  only.  Candles,  candle-shades,  cut 
flowers,  were  all  in  harmony,  yellow  being  the  colour.  This,  of  course, 
had  been  one  of  the  arrangements  made  in  the  pourparlers  ’twixt 
mistress  and  man,  and  the  time  and  season  allowed  for  a  quantity  of 
the  common  Daffodils  being  forced  for  the  occasion.  As  centrepieces 
on  the  chief  tables,  and  generously  distributed  in  small  vases  with  an 
ample  supply  of  their  own  foliage,  a  bright,  fresh,  and  pretty  effect 
resulted,  whilst  the  mirrors  of  a  large  overmantel  were  lightly  and 
gracefully  adorned  with  long  pendent  strings  of  Smilax.  In  the 
peaceful  retreat  of  a  conservatory  near  at  hand,  which  had  for  the 
nonce  been  dejulved  of  most  of  its  larger  plants,  our  decorating 
hand  had  been  chiefly  employed  ,as  an  illuminating  one  ;  the  remain¬ 
ing  plants  had  been  temporarily  grouped  to  afford  as  much  clear  space 
as  possible.  Taken  as  a  whole,  nothing  could  have  been  better  done, 
and  the  infinite  variety  and  good  taste  in  evidence  left  nothing  to  be 
desired.-DECORA.  continued.) 
WALL  TREES  AGAIN. 
A  Search  fob  Good  Samples. 
The  self-complacent,  semi-caustic,  tone  which  “  H.  D.”  seems  fit 
to  adopt,  and  his  fruitless,  fishy  superfluities  on  page  334,  may  exhibit 
a  certain  amount  of  controversial  cleverness,  and  thus,  perhaps,  serve 
their  purpose,  but  yet  he  seems  to  shudder  at,  and  would  teach  a 
lesson  on,  the  avoidance  of  “  bad  form  !  ”  A  youthful  gardener  who 
jposes  as  an  Alexander  of  old  and  conqueror  of  all,  crying  for  more 
victims — for  “  Traveller  ”  and  “  Invicta,”  or  whoever  may  have  the 
temerity  to  come  forth  to  be  slain — will  find,  as  he  gets  older,  that 
this  is  not  the  “form”  on  which  he  will  congratulate  himself  then, 
any  more  than  others  with  matured  minds  will  congratulate  him  now. 
It  is  evident  he  has  not,  as  he  vainly  imagined,  frightened  a 
“  Traveller  ”  away,  and  even  “  Invicta  ”  may  possibly  be  heard  of 
again.  I,  as  one  who  commenced  the  training  of  fruit  trees  fifty 
years  ago,  and  am  training  them  still,  cannot  be  supposed  to  know  so 
much  about  the  subject  as  one  whose  chief  boast,  so  far,  rests  on  his 
training  (and  what  a  confession  it  is)  “  Morello  Cherries  !  ” — planted 
and  formed  by  somebody  else.  A  great  feat  surely,  is  this,  and  even 
such  as  a  garden  boy  of  the  olden  time,  if  he  were  a  little  extra  “pert,  ’ 
might  glory  in. 
But  justice  must  be  done  eA^en  to  one  Avho  has  learned  so  much 
more  in  a  short  career  than  others  have  in  a  long  one ;  for  this  short 
service  man  tells  us  that  the  training  of  some  other  trees,  not  named, 
stand  as  “  monuments  ”  of  bis  skill.  We  hear  something  fronr  time 
to  time  of  the  self-assertiveness,  not  to  say  vanity,  of  the  “  neAv 
woman,”  but  the  question  is  now  opened  whether  new  mannism  is 
not  the  greater  phenomenon  of  these  modern  days. 
“  Traveller,”  I  had  thought,  was  a  little  too  severe  in  his  pointed 
reference  to  “mutual  admiration  associations.”  That  they  exist  is 
well  known,  but  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  that  there  were  many  of 
them  in  the  community  of  gardeners.  But  “  H.  D.”  has  forced  to  the 
front  the  suspicion  that  there  may  possibly  be  even  self-admiration 
societies,  each  composed  of  one  member. 
Not  content  Avith  indulging  in  up-to-date  cynicisms  in  one  article, 
and  feeling  safety,  probably,  in  the  senility  of  an  “  old  ”  gardener,  the 
member  of  one  of  these  societies  gets  on  his  bike,  and  on  another  page 
tells  us  he  went  in  search  of  evidence  in  support  of  his  contention  of 
the  present  superiority  of  wall  trees  over  those  of  the  past.  A  society 
on  a  bike  fishing  for  creditable  wall  trees  is  not  a  common  occurrence. 
But  why  the  necessity  for  this  search  ?  Were  there  no  well-trained 
fruitful  trees  at  home  ?  If  there  were,  why  the  “  risky  undertaking  ?” 
One  thing  seems  clear — namely,  that  Mr.  Kean  has  better  trained  and 
more  productive  trees  than  have  been  raised  by  a  Avhole  society.  It  is 
a  great  compliment  to  him.  They  are  good  trees,  and  possibly  the 
daring  biker  has  proved  a  little  too  much.  He  did  not  pause  to  think, 
in  the  exuberance  of  his  spirits,  that,  notwithstanding  his  discovery, 
somebody  else  had  been  there  before  him,  and  is  able  to  say  empha¬ 
tically  that  those  trees  do  not  represent  the  miserable  mongvels  that 
are  now  so  common  in  gardens.  They  are  among  the  exceptions 
which  prove  the  rule  of  the  prevalence  of  the  jumble  of  crooked  and 
crowded  branches  on  what  are  called  “  trained  trees  ”  in  hundreds  of 
British  gardens.  Their  discoverer  (second  hand)  is  compelled  to  admit 
he  would  have  to  go  “  a  long  way  before  finding  their  equals.”  Just 
so,  that  is  precisely  my  point.  Eeally  good  Avail  trees  are,  indeed,  too 
feAv  and  far  between ;  yet  those  cited  are  not  above  the  average  of 
examples  which  Avere  grown  in  nearly  all  gardens  during  the  period 
when  as  much  thought,  care,  and  skill  Avere  devoted  to  wall  trees, 
root  and  branch,  as  are  now  applied  to  Chrysanthemums,  table  decora¬ 
tions,  or  other  work  that  absorbs  so  much  attention. 
Nor  is  such  fancy  work  as  this,  hoAA’ever  Avell  and  creditably  done, 
a  valid  excuse  for  the  unsatisfactory  state  of  so  many  garden  Avails 
at  the  present  day.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  experts  in  one 
kind  of  work  are  either  incompetent  or  negligent  in  other  kinds. 
First-class  Chrysanthemums  and  wall  trees  are  to  be  found  in  gardens 
where  decorations  are  also  conducted  on  an  extensive  scale ;  indeed, 
there  are  far  more  examples  of  spoiled  trees  in  gardens  Avhere  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  are  groAA-n  in  third-rate  style,  and  “  decorations  ”  are  of 
the  most  moderate  character,  than  Avhere  the  exact  reverse  is  the  case 
in  respect  to  the  two  last  named  features. 
The  fact  is,  if  a  man  has  the  knowledge  and  the  will  to  grow  and 
train  wall  trees  Avell,  so  that  they  Avill  be  the  pride  of  the  garden,  he 
Avill  not  rest  contented  to  neglect  them,  and  beyond  all  question  the 
better  they  are  trained  the  less  time  is  required  to  keep  them  in  order. 
Every  man  Avho  has  had  actual  experience  with  both  kinds — the  straight 
equi-distant  and  properly  distanced  branches,  and  the  crude  jumble  of 
shoots  laid  in  on  the  anyhow  plan — of  trees  which  he  has  had  to  bring 
into  the  most  presentable  and  best  bearing  condition  knows  that  the 
facts  are  as  stated,  and  whoever  disputes  them  does  so  either  through 
perversity  of  mind  at  the  moment  or  through  the  misfortune  of  not 
having  been  properly  trained  himself  in  the  work  in  question. 
It  is  in  all  respects  as  easy  to  have  the  branches  of  fruit  trees 
straight,  as  it  is  to  have  the  rods  of  Vines  free  from  awkward  twists 
and  turns  this  AV'ay  and  that,  with  the  terminals  pointing  anywhere  ; 
and  if  there  are  ten  of  these  well  guided  Vine  rods  at  the  proper 
distances,  instead  of  tAventy  bent  and  huddled  in  anyhow — obviously 
the  ten  not  only  require  about  half  the  time  spending  on  them  that 
the  twenty  do,  but  the  lesser  number  bear  the  better  crops.  It  is 
precisely  the  same  with  Avell-managed  wall  trees,  simply  because 
there  cannot  be  any  other  result ;  and  if  the  trees  do  not  develop  the 
best  of  blossom  buds  on  the  best  of  Avood,  that  of  itself  is  evidence  of 
faulty  management  of  branches  or  loots,  or  both.  It  is  generally 
both  ;  but  this  is  not  the  fault  of  the  managers,  say  the  excusers  of 
those  who  fail,  but  of  the  “  decorations,”  or  whatev'er  may  come  in 
handy  for  the  purpose. 
The  parrot  cry  of  AA'ell-trained  trees  being  the  most  costly  to 
manage  has  gone  on  long  enough.  The  idea  is  fallacious.  It  A\’ere 
as  reasonable  to  say  that  more  time  is  required  to  draw  a  straight 
drill  than  a  crooked  one.  It  may  be  to  a  novice  or  a  bungler, 
but  every  good  Avorkman  would  laugh  to  scorn  the  very  absurd 
proposition. 
The  object  of  not  a  fcAv  modern  growers  of  fruit  seems  to  be  to 
rush  up  the  branches  to  the  top  of  walls  and  trellises  in  the  shortest 
possible  time,  and  they  may  gain  in  the  fruit  supply  during  the  first 
year  or  two.  It  may  even  pay  them  to  do  this  Avith  Peaches,  Pears, 
or  Vines,  and  to  uproot  and  replant  every  few  years ;  but  that  is  not 
the  way  to  furnish  garden  walls  as  they  used  to  be,  and  ought  to  be, 
furnished,  for  affording,  not  pleasure  only  to  the  trainer,  tu  t  satisfactory 
yields  of  fruit  over  a  long  series  of  years. 
