November  4,  189?. 
JOURNAL  OF  trORTlGULTURE  AND  GOTTAOE  GARDENER, 
425 
present-day  gardening — namely,  the  law  of  averages.  Much,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  present-day  procedure,  is  heard  of  what  is  famous, 
as  in  descriptions  of,  and  well-merited  work  in,  specially  noteworthy 
gardens;  also,  in  the  registering  of  names  of  prizewinners  at  many 
shows.  This  is  what  is  justly  due;  but,  after  all,  it  only  represents 
one  side  of  the  subject.  And  again,  what  of  the  fringe  ? 
For  arriving  at  a  true  estimate  of  the  actual  state  of  gardening  or 
anything  else,  the  other  side— the  weak  side — must  not  be  ignored. 
It  simply  cannot  be,  if  the  actual  state  of  the  whole  is  to  be 
determined.  Without  any  suggestion  from  us,  it  seems  that  this  is 
exactly  w^hat  has  occurred  to  one  of  our  correspondents,  who  has 
exceptional  means  for  observing  the  best  and  the  worst  conducted 
gardens  in  the  kingdom.  He  appears  to  have  been  taking  note  of  all 
kinds  and  endeivouring  to  stri'^e  an  average.  With  what  accuracy  or 
otherwise  we  do  not  know.  He  may  have  over-estimated  the  badness 
of  the  bad,  and  under-estimated  the  goodness  of  the  good  ;  but  whether 
this  has  been  so  or  not,  the  averag’e  was  bound  to  be  very  much  lower 
than  if  the  very  best  work  only  were  appraised  and'the  worst  forgotten. 
What  wonder,  then,  that  really  able  men,  whose  work  is  a  credit  to 
them,  should  enter  protests  against  the  conclusions  of  this  self- 
appointed  scrutineer  ? 
Two  things  are  certain.  This  daring  “  Traveller  ”  not  only  knows 
what  is  good  when  he  sees  it,  but  sees  more  gardens  in  a  week 
than  few  gardeners  see  in  a  month,  or  many  in  a  year.  It  is  no 
novelty  to  him  to  see  his  name  in  print.  He  has  had  enough  of  that 
in  his  time  to  satisfy  even  a  vain  man,  though  we  do  not  place  him 
in  that  category.  Some  years  ago  one  of  the  gardens  from  which  he 
retired  with  as  much  credit  as  a  man  could  wish,  had  prominence  in 
this  and  other  gardening  papers,  and  the  produce  from  it  won  the 
highest  honours  at  the  leading  shows.  It  is  due  to  him  to 
acknowledge  this  without  endorsing  all,  if  anything,  that  he  has  said. 
He  has  possibly  to  some  extent  attained  his  object — namely,  of 
awaking  the  lethargic  from  their  slumbers,  and  stimulating  the 
laggards  to  greater  endeavour.  His  letters  were  inserted  because, 
despite  of  many  men  who  have  in  one  way  or  another  come  to  be 
cilled  gardeners,  and  whose  ignorance  is  so  great  that  in  their 
estimation  they  have  nothin®:  to  learn  by  reading  or  attending 
meetings  for  instruction,  we  believed  that  the  position  of  British 
gardening  at  the  present  time  could  be  well  defended,  and  we  have 
not  been  disappointed. 
Let  the  veterans  restand  be  thankful  in  the  pleasant  memoaes  of 
the  past ;  their  successors  maintain  the  best  standard  of  the  present, 
and  probitioners  strive  assiduously  and  perseveringly  to  excel  both, 
and  healthy  growth  (not  decay)  will  be  insured  in  gardening. 
FRUIT  AND  TABLE  DECORATIONS. 
“  S.  B.  0.’’  (page  402)  is  evidently  a  cautious,  if  not  a  sceptical 
man,  for  he  wants  to  know  if  there  is  any  mistake  about  my  former 
statement  that  “  the  young  men  used  to  turn  out  en  masse  to  prune 
and  nail  wall  trees.”  Certainly  not ;  and  although  it  may  sur|)rise 
him,  I  will  add  that  is  one  of  the  best  ways,  if  not  the  best  way,  to 
manufacture  good  tree  trainers  and  fruit  growers.  If  several  young 
men  are  set  to  do  work  of  that  description  together,  under  the  watchful 
eye  of  the  chief  or  foreman,  a  laudable  spirit  of  emulation  will  cause 
each  to  try  and  do  the  work  better  than  the  others.  A  little  competi¬ 
tion  of  that  kind  gives  great  impetus  to  workers  in  every  walk  in  lile. 
Of  course  the  youngsters  do  not  begin  at  the  top,  any  more  than  they 
do  when  pursuing  other  branches  of  gardening.  The  practice  was  for 
the  foreman  to  go  in  front  and  prune,  the  younger  ones  following  to 
remove  old  shreds  and  nails,  while  the  journeymen  arranged  and  nailed 
in  the  main  branches.  After  a  time  the  proinising  youngsters  were, 
allowed  to  nail  in  some  of  the  small  shoots  between  the  main  branches, 
and  if  they  did  not  do  them  sadsfactorily  at  the  first  attempt,  why 
they  simply. had  to  loose  them  and  “  try  again.”  Those  with  a  little 
“true  grit”  in  them  soon  learned  to  accomplish  the  wmrk  creditably, 
and  were  then  rewarded  by  l>eing  allowed  to  nail  in  a  small  tree  from 
start  to  finish.  I  know  of  many  men  holding  good  positions  who  look 
back  with  lively  satisfaction  upon  their  early  attempts  at  tree  training, 
and  regret  that  they  are  not  able  to  follow  the  same  system  now  in 
the  gardens  they  preside  over  ;  still  they  do  not  despair,  but  plod 
quietly  on,  knoaving  well  that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  change  their 
methods  even  as  the  times  are  changing.  They  see  also  a  new  light, 
which  comes  to  them  in  the  shape  of  bountiful  crops,  even  tho  igh  the 
tree  branches  are  somewhat  crooked. 
In  paragraphs  1,  2,  and  3  on  the  page  cited  there  is  little  that 
I  do  not  agree  with,  in  fact  I  have  conveyed  the  same  ideas  in 
other  words  on  many  occasions  to  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture. 
“We  have  a  fair  share  of  decorative  work,”  writes  “  S.  B.  0.”  Very 
well,  then  consider  yourself  fortunate,  and  by  all  means  try  and  keep  your 
decorations  down  to  that  point  as  long  as  you  can.  If  you  get  beyond 
it  your  present  impressions  will  perhaps  vanish  like  the  “myths”  of 
old.  Floral  decorations  are  of  course  not  the  cause  of  all  the  bad 
examples  of  fruit  culture  that  we  see,  but  I  am  quite  sure  of  this, 
that  in  many  places  with  the  best  of  energy,  ingenuity,  and  manage¬ 
ment,  fruit  trees  do  not  get  the  attention  they  would  if  the  decorative 
work  were  proportionate  to  the  resources  of  the  establishment.  I 
know  of  a  gardener  who  for  weeks  together  keeps  300  flower  glasses 
continually  filled,  some  of  them  being  trumpets  5  or  6  feet  in  height. 
He  has  also  from  twelve  to  fifteen  large  Palms,  6  and  9  feet  in  height, 
continually  in  the  mansion,  and  about  the  same  number  of  stands, 
baskets  (3  feet  in  diameter),  and  groups  of  flowering  and  foliaged 
plants  to  be  kept  constantly  in  good  condition.  Then  the  dinner 
tables  have  to  be  smartly  done.  This  occupies  two  men — sometimes 
three — and  a  boy  three  or  four  hours  daily  when  large  parties  take 
place,  and  that  is  pretty  often.  This  is  the  style  of  decoration  that 
must  inevitably  lead  to  deterioration  in  some  departments  of 
gardening,  unless  the  staff  is  largely  increased. 
It  is  a  pity  there  are  not  more  employers  like  the  one  “  S.  B.  0.” 
has  the  honour  to  serve,  for  it  is  far  more  satisfactory  to  gardeners  to 
have  their  fruit  placed  upon  the  dinner  table.  Perhaps  the  fine  display 
made  by  the  dessert  tables  at  such  shows  as  Shrewsbury  (which  I 
examined  closely)  will  in  time  influence  the  prevailing  fashion — 
though  I  am  not  very  sanguine  on  that  point,  as  the  “  highest 
circles”  do  not  take  their  fashions  from  horticultural  shows.  I 
thought  it  was  generally  known  that  the  acknowledged  leaders  of 
fashion  in  what  is  called  “  society  ”  form  themselves  into  a  series  of 
rings  known  as  the  “  highest  circles,”  and  the  fruit,  as  well  as  every- 
bedy  else  connected  with  their  “smart  parties,”  must  be  of  the  very 
best.  Mediocre  samples  will  not  satisfy  them  even  for  handing  round, 
and  the  finest  examples  of  cultural  skill  will  not  secure  a  place  on  the 
dinner  table  except  on  some  comparatively  unimportant  occasion. 
There  is,  however,  a  good  deal  to  be  advanped  in  favour  of  the  present 
state  of  affairs  (though,  perhaps,  not  from  a  gardener’s  point  of  view), 
as  it  marks  another  stage  of  refinement.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
from  an  artistic  point  of  view,  a  dinner  table  can  be  made  more  effec¬ 
tive  when  the  dishes  of  fruit  are  kept  off,  and  nothing  but  flowers  and 
foliage  employed  for  embellishment.  The  whole  can  then  be  made 
light  and  graceful,  like  a  scene  from  fairyland. — H.  D. 
HARMFUL  AND  HARMLESS  GARDEN  MOTHS.— 10. 
Before  introducing  the  Hybernias  to  the  reader’s  notice,  a  group 
of  moths  well  known  in  our  gardens,  also  in  shrubberies  and  woods, 
1  must  refer  to  a  species  that  might,  have  been  associated  with  the 
Currant  moth  of  last  article.  This  is  the  V  moth,  or  Halia  wavaria, 
so  named  because  one  of  the  four  conspicuous  dark  spots  upon  the 
grey  upper  wings  has  a  resemblance  to  that  letter.  It  has  the 
peculiarity  that  the  margins  of  the  wings  have  rows  of  black  lines ; 
from  the  middle  of  each  is  a  tiny  brush  of  white  fringe.  We  find 
the  caterpillar  feeding  upon  Gooseberry  and  Bed  Currant,  about  an 
inch  long  when  adult.  The  ground  colour  varies  much,  but  the  body 
is  always  studded  with  black  warts,  and  has  a  yellow  line  along  each 
side.  Feeding  in  August  or  September,  they  are  seldom  numerous  enough 
to  do  the  bushes  harm.  By  shaking,  these  are  easily  dislodged  ;  they 
double  themselves  up  as  they  drop,  remaining  a  long  while  in  that 
folded  position.  Nearly  related  to  this  moth  is  the  pretty  browm 
silverline  (Panagra  petraria)  which  flies  in  June,  the  general  colour 
of  which  harmonises  with  the  Ferns  amongst  which  it  is  usually 
noticed.  The  caterpillars  occur  upon  the  common  Brake  Fern  or 
kindred  species,  slender-bodied  loopers,  of  a  dull  green  tint,  marked 
with  numerous  dark  lines  running  from  head  to  tail. 
The  Hybernise,  or  winter  moths,  present  a  natural  and  very  interesting 
group.  Most  of  them  come  under  the  observation  of  the  gardener  in  one 
or  other  of  their  stages.  We  call  them  by  that  name,  as  they  appear 
at  a  time  when  few  moths  are  abroad  ;  but  several  species  emerge 
h-'fore  the  end  of  autumn,  or  in  the  early  spring,  not  during  mid¬ 
winter.  One  of  the  remarkable  circumstances  in  their  history  is  that 
the  females  have  merely  the  rudiments  of  wings,  or  they  are  entirely 
wingless.  The  reason  of  this  peculiarity  is  not  far  to  seek.  Coming 
forth  at  a  season  when  the  weather,  if  not  cold,  is  likely  to  he  wet 
and  stormy,  wings  to  the  female  moth,  which  lives  the  longer,  would 
be  a  source  of  peril.  Without  them,  she  can  traverse  easily  the  stems 
and  branches,  and  deposit  eggs  for  the  continuance  of  the  species. 
Possibly,  too,  the  absence  of  wings  renders  these  females  less  likely  to 
be  seized  by  birds.  The  male  moths,  whose  life  is  but  brief,  have 
wings  of  the  usual  proportions  for  their  size ;  their  flight,  however,  is 
not  rapid. 
First,  I  mention  the  mottled  umber  (11.  defulvaria)  as  about  the 
largest  of  our  winter  moths,  one  putting  in  an  early  appearance,  since 
it  emerges  during  October,  or  at  the  beginning  of  November.  Its  older 
English  name  was  the  Lime  looper,  on  account  of  the  caterpillar  often 
infesting  that  tree,  and  the  Latin  refers  to  its  ravenous  propensities, 
the  food  being  very  varied ;  Hawthorn  and  Hazel  are  favourites.  On 
