1^8 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February,  13,  1902.. 
well  known  that  the  germ  of  many  men’s  troubles  lies  in  the 
abundant  counsel  and  diversity  of  opinion  gratuitously 
bestowed  upon  employers  by  their  friends  ;  but  it  is  seldom 
discussed  save  with  bated  breath  amongst  the  craft,  hence, 
in  a  measure,  the  diffidence  of  broaching  the  matter  now. 
Would  that  all  “  masters  ”  were  like  the  lady  in  question, 
who  delicately,  but  decisively,  nips  all  budding  arguments 
and  suggestions  with  the  excisive  remark,  “  Oh,  I  leave  all 
that  to  my  ggrdener ;  ”  and  it  is  her  invariable  custom  to 
give  him  timely  notice  (not  “  a  month’s  notice  ”)  when  par¬ 
ticular  visitors  are  expected,  that  he  may  take  his  proper 
position  by  standing  on  his  own  ground  to  receive  them. 
Unfortunately  this  lady  is  an  exception.  So  many  are 
sufficiently  interested  to  take  advice  from  numerous  friends 
always  ready  with  “  something  to  hint,  determine,  or  pro¬ 
pose,”  and  a  perennial  inisunder-standing  arises  from  this 
mongrel  mixture  of  advice.  The  gardener,  in  some  cases,  is 
not  only  ‘‘ worritted  to  death,”  but  browbeaten  by  a  con¬ 
fusion  of  doctrines  such  as  tormented  poor  Jo  in  “  Tom-all- 
alones,”  where  every  fresh  preacher  prayed  different,  and 
gftid;  ''  t’otheu’g  were  all  wrong.”  Sgve  us  from  our  friends— 
our  emplo>':^_'’’‘*  fn©nd§— and  spare  vis  frqin  the  fecundity  of 
their  counsel,  is  surely  unwritten  petjtion  of  the 
gardener’s  litany.  How  is  it  that  the  gai,^^*^®^  Ilien  is 
a  target  for  darts  discharged  by  visitors  to  wound  his  amour 
propre,  when  they  would  think  it  very  “  bad  form  ”  to  openly 
criticise  the  cuisine  or  the  service,  the  organisation  of  the 
domestic  staff  or  its  management,  of  which  they  are 
probably  niUph  better  judges  than  they  prove  to  be  of 
horticulture  ? 
High  gardens  there  are,  of  course,  where  all  goes 
on  not  only  decently  and  in  order,  but  in  a  truly  dignified 
manner.  Alas !  that  the  pressure  of  circumstances  generally 
causes  this  high  tone  section  to  get  smaller  by  degrees  and 
beautifully  less,  whilst  the  “  worritted  ”  class  increases  by 
leaps  and  bounds.  If  it  's  admitted  that  this  middle  grade 
section  comprises  the  bulk,  as  well  as  being  the  backbone  of 
Br  tish  gardening,  its  importance  cannot  be  d&nied.  The 
middle  grade  gardener  may  not  be  the  most  advanced  in 
theory,  but  his  practical  ability  is  without  question,  his 
one  weak  point  being,  possibly,  either  diffidence  or  want 
of  confidence  in  his  logical  powers  to  parry  the  darts  of 
criticism.  One  of  the  best  gardeners — and  certainly  one 
of  the  most  tormented  men — ended  his  tale  of  woe  to  a 
sympathising  friend  by  saying,  apropos  of  the  great  army 
of  unsought  counsellors,  “  I  never  bandy  words  with  them  ; 
it’s  useless.  ’  Ten  thousand  thousand  are  their  tongues  but 
all  t.teir  j'>vs  are  one’ — thac  is  to  worry  me.”  He  sutFered 
in  silence,  as  many  do,  from  some  vague,  if  mistaken,  idea 
that  it  was  better  to  bear  the  evils  he  had  than  fly  to  others 
he  knew  not  of. 
It  should  not,  however,  take  much  logical  reasoning  to 
convince  the  Court  of  Appeal  that  a  man  who  has  made 
gardening  a  life  studjq  whose  sound  practice  is  based  upon 
proved  experience,  knows  more  about  it  than  the  eminent 
banker,  the  distinguished  physician,  or  the  celebrated  states¬ 
man  whose  energy  and  talents  have  been  absorbed  by  works 
as  divergent  from  it  as  the  poles  are  wide  asunder,  yet 
whose  eloquently  polished  shafts  of  rhetoric  seem  able  to 
shatter  any  crudely  expressed  convictions  advanced  to  meet 
tneni.  Xur  does  it,  in  fact;  and  when  the  inatter  is 
judiciously  placed  before  the  powers  that  be,  as  it  has  been 
in  some  cases  with  the  happiest  results,  then  the  wisdom 
of  doing  so  is  obvious.  We  gardeners  cannot  hold  ourselves 
blameless  in  this  matter,  nor  are  we  faultless  in  others,  for 
some  do,  undoubtedly,  push  their  own  hobbies  to  the  front 
and  leave  their  employers’  wishes  to  lag  behind,  forgetting 
that  “those  who  pay  the  piper  should  call  the  tune,”  thus 
providing  an  opening  for  a  chorus  of  counsel  from  outside 
which  is  neither  grateful  nor  comforting. 
How  sad  it  is  to  see  masters  and  men  (good  masters  and 
good  men)  continually  playing  at  cross-purposes  when  a 
better  understanding  would  straighten  the  crooked  way  to 
their  mutual  advantage  generally  and  the  good  of  the  garden 
in  particular.  That  there  are  various  sources  of  friction 
is  but  too  apparent,  and  cases  in  which  but  little  amelioration 
can  scarcely  be  expected,  so  much  so,  sometimes,  that  the 
gardener  will,  “like  a  wise  dog,  whnn  he  sees  preparations- 
made  for  throwing  him  out  of  the  window,  walk  out' by  the 
door.”  From  an  old  number  of  a  society  paper,  the  following 
extract,  showing  a  society  lady’s  methods,  needs  but  little 
comment :  “  When  the  gardeners  have  set  out  the  flowers 
she  is  so  fond  of  she  likes  to  take  her  garden  implements 
and  to  work  over  the  beds  for  hours,  changing  the  flowers 
about  to  suit  her  fancy.”  That  there  are  men— and  good 
men  too — able  to  survive  under  the  iioutralisation  of  their 
individual  experience  and  opinion  without  being  devitalised 
goes  without  saying  ;  but  they  are  perched  high  on  a  pinnacle 
of  philosophy  that  but  few  gardeners  dare  hope  to  attain. 
If  there  is  anything  more  pitiful  in  a  gardener’s  career 
than  the  constant  worrying  some  men  are  subjected  to  it  ia 
their  tliffidence  or  inability  to  exterminate  this  beastie  which 
preys  “  innards  ”  by  a  prompt  vet  respectful,  clear  but 
courteous,  explanation  of  their  comnetence  to  carry  out  that 
which  they  engaged  to  do,  and,  in  fact,  without  which  under¬ 
standing  they  would  not  have  been  appointed.  Sooner  or 
later  it  has  to  be  done — the  sooner  the  better — and  the  man: 
who  suspends  it  indefinitely  by  the  peg  of  that  old  proverb 
“  sufficient  for  the  day  .  .  .”  only  puts  the  future  in 
pawn  to  supply  the  present.  Undoubtedly  some  young 
“heads,”  with  all  the  temerity  of  youth,  “rush  in  .  .  .’” 
to  find  themselves  very  quickly  “out.”  They  may  find 
wisdom  in  tUe  old  distich ; 
If  your  life  you’d  keej)  from  slips,  live  things  oljsorve  with  care — 
Of  whom  you  speak,  to  whom  you  speak,  and  how,  and  when,  andi 
wlicre. 
After  all,  those  who  love  their  garden  are  not  so  un- 
.  '•'chable  as  many  sufferers  surmise,  and  the  misunder- 
appio.  I'ich  goes  on,  perhaps  for  years,  is  not  only  a 
s''^misforL"’^®’  often  his  fault. — A.  N.  Oldhead.. 
standing 
gardener’ 
New  Vine  Borders. 
The  soil  for  these  should  now  be  prepared,  and  the  best  for  the 
purpose  is  the  top  2^in  or  3in  of  a  pasture,  naturally  rich,  friable, 
and  neither  light  nor  heavy.  As  that  is  not  always  obtainable, 
light  loam  may  have  an  addition  of  claj'  marl,  dried  and  pounded, 
and  heavy  loam  an  addition  of  calcareous  gravel,  or  old  mortar 
rubbish,  broken  bricks,  or  burnt  clay,  from  a  fourth  to  a  fifth  or 
sixth  in  each  case.  To  good  friable  loam  add  a  tenth  of  wood 
ashfts,  one-fifth  of  old  mortar  rubbish,  freed  from  laths  and  other- 
pieces  of  wood,  a  twentieth  of  “nuts”  charcoal,  and  a  fortieth 
part  each  of  crushed  bones  and  calcined  oyster  shells.  These- 
proportions  may  be  added  to  any  soil  after  its  texture  bas  been 
made  heavier  or  lighter,  as  before  stated.  If  the  soil  be  poor,  a 
fifth  of  short,  fresh,  but  sweetened,  stable  manure  or  horse  drop¬ 
pings  mav  be  added,  otherwise  manure  or  vegetable  refu,?e  should 
not  be  used,  manure  in  most  cases  being  best  applied  as  a  mulch,. 
Their  Preparation. 
In  preparing  the  border,  which  may  be  proceeded  with  as  the- 
weather  permits,  bear  in  mind  that  no  fruit  tree  re(|uires  more- 
copious  supplies  of  water  when  in  growth  than  the  Vine,  and  at 
the  same  time  is  more  impatient  of  stagnant  water ;  hence 
drainage  must  first  receive  attention,  and  instead  of  excavating, 
concreting,  or  cementing,  keep  the  border  well  elevated,  as  far 
as  circumstances  admit.  Employ  3in  drains,  with  projjer  fall  and , 
outlet.  Provide  a  foot  of  drainage,  the  roughest  at  the  bottom,, 
and  the  smallest  at  the  top,  which  last,  preferably,  may  be  of  old' 
mortar  rubbish.  If  the  border  is  intended  for  earl.v  or  late  Vines,, 
allow  a  rather  sharp  slope  to  the  south,  for  the  purpose  of  throw¬ 
ing  off  wet  by  lights  or  other  means.  Two  feet  depth  of  soil  is 
ample,  but  it  ought  to  be  2^ft  at  first,  to  allow  for  settling,  and 
the  compo.st  should  be  well  compacted. 
Planting  Period. 
The  best  time  for  planting' Vines  is  from  April  to  June  in¬ 
clusive,  and  those  intended  to  be  planted  at  that  season  should 
now  be  cut  back  to  the  length  required,  and  the  row  placed  in  a 
cool  Peach  house  or  pit  to  start  into  growth  naturally.  When 
the  shoots  are  a  couple  of  inches  long,  shake  the  plants  out,  and 
plant  them  in  the  permanent  bordei-s,  spreading  the  roots  out 
carefully,  and  working  the  soil  well  amongst  them.  A  6ft  width 
of  border  will  be  sufficient  in  tlie  first  instanoe.  When  the  roots 
are  to  have  the  run  of  both  inside  and  outside  borders,  they 
should  be  confined  inside,  not  making  the  outside  border  until  tho- 
Vines  are  tborougbly  established. — G.  A. 
