344 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  7,  1897. 
Mr.  Williams’  Pears,  above  alluded  to,  were  not  “  run  up  ”  in  the 
rampant  style  with  strong  central  hranche.«i  reaching  the  top  of  the 
wall  in  “no  time,”  and  the  lower  ones  dwindling  away,  leaving  blanks 
to  be  filled  up  by  Tomatoes,  and  calling  it  “  making  the  most  of  the 
space.”  This  may  delude  the  frisky  colts,  and  perhaps  their  young 
masters,  but  not  the  old  “hunters  ”  in  gardening. 
Having  now  stated  facts  which  cannot  be  overturned  by  reformers 
and  discoverers,  however  young  they  may  be,  and  refined  their  taste, 
however  great  their  self-sufficiency,  or  glib  their  pens,  I  retire  and 
leave  this  particular  one  “  H.  D.”  to  combat,  as  he  longs  to  do, 
foemen  more  worthy  of  his  steel,  in  “Traveller,”  “Invicta,”  or 
whoever  may  dare  to  meet  him.  It  would,  if  they  are  also  young,  be 
a  greater  honour  to  vanquish  them  than  the  tottering  rheumaticky 
old  gardener  who  commenced  work  in  the  forties,  and  is  shambling 
along  yet,  as  well  as  he  may,  after  his  little  “  run.” — Melton. 
Tkaining  Fkitit  Teees. 
On  page  310  “  S.  B.  0.”  has  contributed  some  very  seasonable  and 
sensible  remarks  on  the  above  subject.  He  does  not  record  his  vote  in 
favour  of  my  previous  arguments ;  but  that  is  a  small  matter.  We 
want  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  even  though  the  pet  theories  of  some  are 
roughly  treated  during  the  process.  “  S.  B.  0.”  is,  however,  labouring 
under  two  wrong  impressions,  which  I  think  I  can  prove  to  be  such. 
In  the  first  place,  he  does  not  think  that  increased  floral  decora¬ 
tions  can  have  led  to  decadence  in  the  training  of  fruit  trees  because 
the  men  entrusted  with  decorative  work  do  not  attend  to  the  training 
of  trees.  That  is  just  the  point.  At  one  time,  in  both  large  and 
small  establishments,  the  young  men  in  the  houses  used  to  turn  out 
en  masse  during  the  Avinter  time  to  prune  and  nail  in  fruit  trees ;  noAV, 
in  consequence  of  the  time  they  are  obliged  to  spend  in  floral  arrange¬ 
ments  at  the  mansion,  they  have  a  hard  struggle  to  scramble  through 
the  work  of  the  glass  department.  There  is  no  time  while  daylight 
lasts  for  them  to  attend  to  outdoor  trees. 
In  his  concluding  paragraph  your  correspondent  asserts  that  good 
fruit  is  as  much  admired  as  any  floral  arrangement  on  the  dinner 
table.  “^S.  B.  0.”  is  evidently  not  up  to  date  in  this  matter,  for 
although — from  a  gardener’s  point  of  view — I  much  regret  it,  yet  it 
is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  in  the  “highest  circles”  fruit  is  seldom — 
in  many  cases,  never — placed  upon  the  table.  The  only  opportunity 
guests  have  of  admiring  it  is  when  it  is  handed  round. — H.  D. 
PRIZES  FOR  WILD  FLOWERS. 
I  THINK  it  is  an  important  question,  and  one  which  demands  the 
serious  attention  of  all  societies,  as  to  whether  prizes  for  wild  flowers 
should  be  continued  at  shows.  I  have  heard  several  botanists  say  these 
prizes  do  a  great  deal  more  harm  than  good.  If  prizes  were  given  for 
botanical  specimens  properly  named  I  could  see  some  object  in  the  prizes 
being  offered.  It  is  certain  that  wild  flowers  are  getting  more  rare  every 
year. — A  Secretary. 
[It  is  not  from  any  fear  of  children  who  compete  for  the  prizes  offered 
for  bouquets  and  collections  of  wild  flowers  at  summer  shows  exterminat¬ 
ing  the  wildings  by  cutting  them  that  we  object  to  the  competitions 
which  generally  prevail.  They  do  not  take  the  roots.  We  object  to  the 
system  in  vogue  because  it  teaches  nothing,  not  even  good  taste  in 
arranging  flowers.  The  huge,  closely  packed  bundles  for  which  prizes 
are  awarded  are  nothing  less  than  floral  monstrosities  ;  and  the  thought¬ 
less  manner  in  which  prizes  are  given  for  so  many  bundles,  leads  children 
to  think  the  more  flowers  they  can  gather  and  pack  together  the  better. 
We  have  seen  pleasing  exhibitions  of  wild  flowers  of  twelve  distinct 
kinds,  with  names  attached,  one  kind  only  in  a  bunch,  and  the  bunches 
not  too  large  for  wineglasses  if  these  were  deep  enough  for  holding  them. 
We  have  also  seen  classes  for  the  most  tastefully  made  bouquets  of  wild 
flowers  and  Grasses,  to  be  loosely  disposed,  not  closely  packed,  and  the 
bunches  not  more  than  6  inches  across,  result  in  creditable  competi¬ 
tion.  The  gathering  of  wild  flowers  for  showing  on  those  lines  becomes  an 
educational  exercise,  and  would  be  unlikely  to  result  in  their  extermination. 
Danger  in  that  direction  lies  not  in  the  plucking  of  stems  of  attrac¬ 
tive  spikes  by  children,  but  in  the  digging  up  of  roots  by  searchers  for 
and  collectors  of  rare  kinds.  These  “collectors,”  as  was  said  not 
long  ago  in  one  of  the  daily  papers,  are  apt  to  become  deadly  foes 
of  the  true  lover  of  Nature,  and  an  incident  was  cited  as  an  example. 
One  of  these  searchers,  as  likely  as  not  wearing  spectacles,  was  taken  to 
see  a  solitary  specimen  of  an  uncommon  plant  growing  in  a  meadow.  He 
regarded  it  for  a  moment  to  make  sure  of  its  identity,  then  said,  “I 
congratulate  you,  sir,  on  having  such  an  interesting  species  in  your 
district,”  and  forthwith  went  down  on  his  knees  and — dug  it  up.  Those 
kind  of  individuals  are  the  real  Vandals. 
The  present  system  of  exhibiting  wild  flowers,  and  granting  prize 
1  indefensible,  but  to  afford  the  young  ii 
rural  districts  no  inducements  for  studying  the  flowers  of  the  field  an( 
the  wayside,  or  for  arranging  them  in  a  pleasing  manner,  would  seem  t( 
e  going  to  the  other  extreme.  If  judges  or  others  interested  in  thi 
su  jec  lave  any  proposals  for  amending  the  stereotyped  bundling  systen 
ey  will,  no  doubt,  be  welcome  to  other  secretaries  of  shows  besides  ou 
correspondent.! 
Bose  Maman  Cochet. 
Have  any  of  your  readers  noticed  a  curious  disease  on  the  leaves  of 
this  Rose?  A  friend  found  it  on  his  plants  and  asked  me  to  examine 
mine,  when  I  discovered  it  on  all  my  plants.  It  seems  peculiar  (at  least, 
in  my  friend’s  garden  and  m3’  own)  to  Maman  Cochet,  and  under  the 
microscope  looks  like  a  sort  of  crystallised  salt.  Specimen  enclosed. — 
.1.  T.  Strange,  Aldermaston. 
[On  close  examination  the  white  matter  on  the  upper  surface  of  the 
leaflets  was  found  to  be  mainly  oxalate  of  lime  and  potassium,  conflned  to 
that  side.  This,  for  some  reason,  has  passed  from  the  organic  into  the 
mineral  form,  probably  from  an  excess  of  acid  in  presence  of  lime  with 
a  deficiency  of  potash  for  its  utilisation.  The  appearance  is  common  on 
the  leaves  of  the  Dog  Bose  in  some  seasons,  especially  on  calcareous 
soils.  The  lower  side  of  the  leaflets  is  quite  green,  the  upper  side  dis¬ 
coloured  and  covered  with  salt-like  minute  dots  and  splashes.  Some  call 
it  “  silver  leaf,”  but  this  is  a  spring  and  early  summer,  not  a  late  summer 
affection.  A  supply  ot  potash  and  iron  gives  good  results,  of  course, 
along  with  phosphate.  We  used  three  parts  dissolved  bones,  two  parts 
muriate  of  potash,  one  part  sulphate  of  magnesia,  and  half  a  part 
sulphate  of  iron  for  a  similar  affection,  applying  4  ozs.  of  the  mixture 
per  square  yard  in  the  autumn,  jiointing  it  in  lightly.] 
IS  GARDENING  DECAYING? 
“Traveller”  has  re-appeared  ujion  the  scene  in  the  “  nick  ”  of  time, 
for  while  one  writer  was  wondering  what  had  become  of  him  he  seems  to 
have  been  penning  his  jubilant  note.  He  writes  in  a  style  which  many 
might  consider  carried  conviction  with  it,  but  I  am,  not  sure  that  he  has 
really  convinced  himself  of  the  soundness  of  his  despondent  theories  ; 
they  seem  to  me  to  be  advanced  as  so  much  good-humoured  “  chaff.”  If 
“  the  men  who  are  heard  at  the  shows  loudly  glorifying  their  productions” 
are  not  taking  up  the  matter  in  the  way  “  Traveller  ”  would  like,  it  is  not 
because  their  side  of  the  case  is  the  weaker  one,  but  because  they  think 
they  are  doing  something  more  to  their  advantage. 
Is  gardening  decaying  ?  Certainly  not  ;  it  is  only  changing  in  form, 
as  it  has  ever  been  changing.  It  is  also  greatly  expanding  in  various 
directions.  Grand  plants  in  small  pots  are  now  grown  by  the  thousands 
where  formerly  they  were  only  produced  by  units.  For  a  very  moderate 
outlay,  the  dwellers  in  our  large  towns  can  now  purchase  such  splendidly 
grown  plants  as  only  came  within  the  reach  of  the  affluent  many  years 
ago.  A  keen  love  of  gardening  is  abroad  among  the  masses  ;  it  is  in 
innumerable  instances  making  them  contented  and  happy,  it  is  bringing 
brightness  into  countless  homes,  where  nothing  but  drudgery  and  want 
prevailed  in  the  “  good  old  times.” 
Can  a  “  Traveller”  point  to  any  period  in  his  long  and,  I  think,  useful 
career,  during  which  Apples,  Peai’s,  and  Peaches  were  better  grown  than 
they  are  to-day  ?  Can  he  point  to  a  time  when  perfectly  coloured  hand¬ 
some  bunches  of  Grapes  were  more  numerous  than  they  have  been  during 
the  last  ten  years  ?  Old  exhibitors  know  well  enough  that  the  quality  of 
the  Grapes  which  used  to  win  them  first  prizes  would  have  to  be  con¬ 
siderably  improved  to  win  a  third  prize  now  at  many  provincial  shows. 
Do  not  be  too  jubilant,  “  Traveller  ;  ”  your  “  shell  ”  has  alarmed  no  one, 
and  the  only  damage  it  seems  to  have  done  is  to  have  stirred  up  the 
dust  —which  you  show  will  not  “  help  us  to  see  daylight.” 
I  see  that  special  objection  is  taken  to  the  remai’ks  of  one  writer,  who 
advances  the  increase  of  decorative  work  as  the  reason  why  in  some 
places  the  fruit  trees  do  not  get  the  attention  they  used  to.  I  can  fully 
endorse  that  writer’s  remarks,  for  it  oUce  fell  to  my  lot  to  manage  a 
garden  in  which  decorations  on  a  gigantic  scale  were  continually  being 
carried  out,  and  this  had  to  be  accomplished  with  only  a  slight  temporary 
addition  to  the  staff  employed  in  the  “  old  earl’s  time,”  when  very  little 
decoration  was  wanted.  Can  any  reasonable  man  call  this  a  “  lame 
excuse  ”  for  the  neglect  of  some  other  department  of  gardening  ?  It 
matters  not  how  much  “delicate  furnishing”  thei'e  is  to  be  done  so  long 
as  the  staff  employed  is  proportionate  to  the  work  required.  The  order 
of  the  day  in  many  establishments  has  been  to  reduce  the  labour  and 
increase  the  ornamental  and  unproductive  part  of  gardens.  This  has 
been  the  cause  of  the  serious  deterioration  of  real  gardening  in  many 
places. 
The  truth  is  that  gardeners  do  not  now  grow  plants  and  crops  for 
their  own  hobbies  ;  they  are  obliged  to  cultivate  such  things  as  their 
employers  require.  Gigantic  Heaths  and  stove  plants  used  to  be 
popular,  few  owners  of  gardens  care  for  them  now,  as  they  cannot  turn 
them  to  account  for  house  decorations  ;  they  have,  therefore,  in  obedience 
to  that  great  natural  law,  “the  survival  of  the  fittest,”  to  a  great  extent 
dropped  out  of  cultivation.  Orchids,  on  account  of  their  rich  beauty,  are 
in  many  places  the  rage.  Their  culture  is  so  thoroughly  understood,  that 
it  is  now  as  common  to  see  splendidly  grown  plants  as  formerly  to  meet 
with  miserable  starvelings.  Talk  about  the  decadence  of  gardening,  let 
any  employer  express  the  w  sh  to  have  certain  plants  and  crops  grown  in 
a  superior  manner,  and  he  will  find  plenty  of  gardeners  ready  and  able  to 
carry  out  his  wishes  if  the  requisite  means  are  forthcoming. 
