598 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  23.  1897. 
simplest  way  I  am  capable  of,  therefore  need  not  proceed  further,  only 
“Cross”  hit  the  nail  on  the  head.  “Soil  may  be  rank,  as  the  top 
(6  inches)  is  old  Cucumber  soil,  the  bottom  virgin  soil.”  The  wliole 
thing  is  there  in  a  nut-shell.  “Rank” — food  for  eelworms. —  G.  Abbey. 
The  National  Rose  Society, 
Only"  the  other  day  a  correspondent  was  asking  why  the  Rose  should 
enjoy  the  appellation  of  the  Queen  of  Flowers,  Until  the  Chrysanthemum 
came  no  one  thought  of  disputing  the  propriety  of  that  title.  So  great 
are  the  claims  of  the  Chrysanthemum,  however,  for  regal  honours  in  the 
floral  world,  that  for  some  time  she  has  l)een  dubbed  the  “  Autumn 
Queen,”  and  as  by  the  time  her  beauty  shines  most  richly  that  of  the 
Rose  is  on  the  wane ;  hence  there  is  hardly  after  all  a  case  of  rival  queens, 
for  both  are  superlatively  lovely  in  their  seasons. 
Reading  over  the  report  of  the  recent  meeting  of  the  National  Rose 
Society  I  could  but  remark  how  different  is  the  class  of  courtiers  which 
thus  annually  meet  to  do  honour  to  the  summer  queen  to  what  are  found 
in  the  court  of  the  autumn  queen.  Not  but  what  all  are  mortal  and 
human,  and  therefore  tainted  with  the  feelings  that  pertain  to  humanity, 
and  especially  to  those  who  are  exhibitors.  Still,  the  Rose  does  have  a 
much  more  refined  body  of  courtiers  than  the  Chrysanthemum  seems  to 
have. 
I  have  wondered  whether  the  N.R.S.  would  care  to  meet  or  to  hold 
its  shows  where  the  N.O.S.  does  ;  but  surely  I  need  not  wonder,  because 
it  seems  impossible  it  could  be  so.  Association  with  the  Rose,  whether 
growing  only,  or  both  growing  and  exhibiting,  evidently  does  refine.  It 
could  hardly  i)e  otherwise. 
A  floral  society,  to  be  worthy  of  the  distinction  of  “National,” 
should  have  a  -most  important  section  of  the  community  adequately 
represented  on  its  Council — namely,  amateurs,  who  occupy  positions 
distinct  from  that  of  working  gardeners,  however  honourable  this  occu¬ 
pation  may  be  and  high-minded  the  conduct  and  character  of  many  of 
those  who  are  engaged  in  it.  It  is  the  affluent  after  all  who  to  the 
largest  extent  provide  the  means  for  the  acquisition  of  new  plants  and 
the  requirements  of  their  cultivation. 
It  is  most  desirable  to  enlist  the  personal  sympathy  of  this  influential 
class  with  floral  and  horticultural  associations,  and  this  cannot  be  done, 
or  done  so  well,  otherwise  than  by  according  them  a  share  in  their 
government.  It  is  not,  however,  by  any  means  for  their  wealth  alone 
that  their  official  connection  with  societies  is  desirable,  for  there  are 
many  gentlemen  who  live  and  move  in  the  same  plane  who  are  not 
wealthy,  though  ardent  lovers  of  flowers,  who  can  and  do  exert  an 
influence  which  cannot,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  be  exercised  in 
the  same  direction  by  gardeners  alone. 
Moreover,  gentlemen  of  high  standing  and  education  who  may  be 
engaged  in  large  and  successful  business  undlertakings,  or  distinguished 
by  their  ability  in  the  learned  professions,  possess  great  administrative 
capacity,  and  take  broader  views  of  things  than  any  body  of  men  can  do 
who  have  had  no  such  training.  In  a  word,  they  give  character  and 
permanency  to  a  society  that  must  add  to  its  strength. 
I  do  not  belong  to  class  of  which  I  write,  and  am  a  little  more 
closely  associated  with  Chrysanthemums  than  Roses  ;  but  I  could  not 
help  observing,  on  reading  the  report,  a  source  of  strength  possessed  by 
the  N.R.S.  that  seems  to  be  unfortunately  lacking  in  the  sister  society 
of  the  autumn  queen. — Mohesto. 
BUD  VARIATION. 
It  is  odd  that  in  the  paragraph  you  inserted  on  page  576  under  this 
heading,  and  quoted  from  an  American  paper,  both  the  fruit  sports 
referred  to  should  be  of  English  origin.  The  well-known  Canon  Hall 
Muscat  Grape  is  there  said  to  be  product  of  a  sport  from  the  ordinary 
Muscat  of  Alexandria.  There  is  no  proof  that  such  was  the  case.  Mr. 
Barron,  in  his  Vine  book,  refers  to  it  as  a  probable  seedling.  No  doubt 
the  American  writer  has  got  a  little  mixed  over  recent  mention  of  the 
sport  at  Chiswick,  which  resembles  Canon  Hall  Muscat  on  the  Muscat 
of  Alexandria.  As  to  the  yellow  Plums  on  a  purple  Plum  tree,  the  only 
case  that  I  ever  read  of  or  saw  of  this  nature  was  in  the  late  Dr.  Stewart’s 
garden  at  Alton,  Hants,  where  a  standard  Plum,  I  think  Angelina 
Burdett,  for  several  years  had  produced  yellow  Plums  on  one  branch. 
—A.  D. 
The  paragraph  on  bud  variation  brought  to  my  mind  a  singular  freak 
which  occurred  during  my  practice  in  Grape  growing  ;  that  is,  in  a 
bunch  of  white  Frontignan  Grapes  there  appeared  a  perfectly  black, 
naturally  coloured,  berry,  rather  larger  than  the  normal  white  ones.  This 
being  on  the  side  of  the  bunch  facing  the  walk  in  the  vinery,  it  excited 
some  little  interest  at  the  time.  I  think  such  an  occurrence  is  unusual. 
I  cannot  say  that  I  ever  heard  of  a  similar  freak. — ,J.  Easter. 
YOUNG  GARDENERS’  EXPERIENC^E  of  CANADA. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  to  give 
a  few  extracts  from  letters  received  during  the  past  five  years  from  three 
young  gardeners  who  left  the  land  of  their  birth  for  Canada  in  March, 
1892.  They  were  led  to  take  this  step  after  visiting  the  Royal  Agri¬ 
cultural  Show  at  Doncaster,  where  specimens  of  corn  and  fruit  grown  in 
that  country  were  on  view.  They  went  out  strangers  in  a  strange  land, 
having  no  friends  there  nor  letters  of  introduction  to  assist  them  in 
obtaining  employment.  I  was  much  interested  in  the  success  of  their 
undertaking,  as  two  of  them  had  been  employed  under  me  for  four  years, 
and  the  other  one  for  upwards  of  two  years,  as  journeymen ;  all  were 
good  workers  and  of  excellent  moral  character. 
Knowing  that  I  was  interested  in  the  commercial  part  of  gardening 
they  at  various  times  mentioned  the  prices  obtained  for  flowers  and  fruit 
in  their  adopted  country,  which  compare  favourably  with  the  low  prices 
prevailing  in  this  country  for  several  years  past  ;  but  in  making  a 
comparison  one  must  take  into  consideration  the  extreme  cold  and  cost 
of  production. 
“A.”  writes:  “I  have  now  been  here  (Ontario)  three  months.  I 
reached  ray  destination  at  three  o’clock  in  the  morning  after  a  cold  and 
unpleasant  journey.  I  would  not  advise  anyone  to  come  out  steerage,  as 
the  majority  of  the  passengers  are  foreigners,  and  the  sleeping  accommo¬ 
dation  is  not  good.  After  leaving  the  steamer  I  was  nearly  three  days  in 
the  train,  which  was  enjoyable  after  seeing  so  much  water  and  the  rough 
life  on  board.  ‘  B.’  and  ‘  C.’  stayed  at  Montreal.  I  was  extremely 
fortunate  in  securing  employment  in  a  private  garden  on  the  first  day  of 
my  arrival,  the  wages  being  equivalent  in  English  money  to  31s.  3d.  per 
week.  There  are  few  private  places  in  this  country,  but  anyone  coming 
here  and  expecting  to  see  nothing  but  log  shanties  will  be  much  surprised, 
as  there  are  some  of  the  finest  buildings  I  have  ever  seen.  Electricity 
plays  a  prominent  part  even  in  the  small  towns.  The  electric  light  and 
electric  cars  are  common,  and  nearly  all  the  houses  are  connected  by 
telephone.  One  can  count  as  many  as  100  wires  in  one  street. 
“  The  gardens  are  not  kept  in  such  good  order  as  in  the  old  country, 
as  everything  is  done  on  a  rough  scale.  It  is  very  hot  in  the  summer, 
the  thermometer  ranging  from  90°  to  96°  in  the  shade,  and  all  the  lawns 
have  to  be  watered,  or  the  grass  would  soon  be  scorched  up  ;  but  as  we 
,  are  near  Lake  Ontario  water  is  plentiful.” 
After  a  year’s  experience  the  writer  says,  “  This  is  called  the  Garden 
of  Canada,  and  right  well  it  deserves  its  name.  This  place  is  thirty* 
miles  from  Toronto,  the  whole  district  being  planted  with  Vines,  Peaehes, 
Apples,  and  Strawberries.  One  may  go  for  several  miles  and  see  nothing 
else.  Strawberries  are  soon  over,  and  are  of  poor  quality,  the  price  being 
Is.  per  punnet.  Bananas  5d.  per  dozen,  and  Pines  6d.  to  Is.  each.  Apples, 
of  which  there  are  great  numbers  grown,  sell  for  7d.  per  peck.  Grapes 
are  extensively  grown  and  very  cheap,  the  price  being  Id.  per  pound ; 
the  bloom  on  them  is  perfect.  Honey  is  abundant  and  good,  the  price 
being  5d.  per  pound. 
“  Chrysanthemums  do  not  succeed  well  in  the  open  air,  owing  to  the 
dry  atmosphere  and  the  liability  to  be  damaged  by  a  bug  which  eats  the 
centre  out  of  the  shoots.  They,  however,  do  well  under  glass  if  rooted  in 
May  or  ,lune  and  flowered  in  5-inch  or  6-inch  pots.  Plants  treated  in 
this  manner  will  grow  about  2  feet  6  inches  in  height,  and  produce 
from  twenty  to  thirty  small  blooms.  Odontoglossums,  Coelogynes,  and 
Poinsettias  are  grown  in  the  open  air  during  the  summer  months.  The 
latter  do  remarkably  well,  the  bracts  being  larger  than  any  I  have  seen 
in  the  old  country.  Orchids  under  glass  are  not  shaded  as  much  as  at 
home,  and  they  appear  to  do  well  and  bloom  as  freely.  Although  it  is 
very  hot  during  the  summer  months  one  rarely  sees  the  Vines  scorched 
when  grown  under  glass. 
“  Owing  to  the  severe  frosts.  Cabbage  if  planted  in  the  autumn  would 
soon  succumb,  so  plants  are  raised  on  hotbeds  in  the  spring  and  planted 
out.  In  the  autumn  they  are  placed  in  large  heaps  and  buried,  the  same 
as  Potatoes  are  done  in  England,  and  they  turn  out  all  right  in  the 
spring. 
“  We  have  a  few  familiar  trees  to  remind  us  of  home;  the  Lilac  and 
Philadelphus  are  to  be  seen  growing  and  flowering  freely,  but  of  the  common 
Hawthorn  I  have  only  seen  one  specimen.  I  am  also  much  struck  by 
the  scarcity  of  wild  flowers  and  song  birds,  which  are  so  plentiful  in  the 
old  country,  but  there  are  few  here.  The  cold  is  not  so  severe  in 
Ontario  as  it  is  in  the  North-West,  where  the  thermometer  often  registers 
40°  below  zero.  The  severest  frost  here  has  been  13°  below  zero,  which 
is  quite  cold  enough,  as  the  ground  was  frozen  to  the  depth  of  3  feet,  and 
ice  on  Lake  Ontario  was  2  feet  6  inches  in  thickness.  It  is  not  often  we 
have  more  than  2  feet  of  snow,  which,  by  the  way,  is  different  from 
what  I  have  before  seen,  being  like  fine  dust.” 
“  B.”  found  employment  in  a  market  nursery  the  second  day  after  his 
arrival  in  the  suburbs  of  Moutreal,  and  after  he  had  spent  a  year  there  he 
wrote:  “I  am  in  a  commercial  establishment,  and  receive  7^  dollars 
per  week.  There  are  many  market  growers  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Montreal,  and  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  find  employment  so  long  as  one  can 
do  the  work  ;  that  is  all  they  want.  Roses,  Carnations,  Violets,  Cycla¬ 
mens,  and  Chrysanthemums  are  what  we  chiefly  grow  for  winter.  The 
flowers  are  gathered  every  morning  and  sent  to  the  stores  in  the  city, 
where  there  js  a  great  demand  for  them.  The  retail  prices  during  the 
last  two  months  of  the  year  have  been — Roses,  10s.  per  dozen;  Carnations, 
3s.  per  dozen  ;  and  Violets,  Is.  per  dozen.  Only  six  varieties  of  Roses 
are  grown— namely.  The  Bride,  Catherine  Mei’met,  Souvenir  de  Wooten, 
Perle  des  Jardins,  Sunset,  and  Madame  Hoste.  With  us  Carnations 
Daybreak,  W.  Scott,  Silver  Spray,  McGowan,  Portia,  and  Garfield  are 
