Ai>ril  3,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
301 
The  forefjoiiig  practices  were  in  vogue  during  tlie  early  por¬ 
tion  of  tlie  Victorian  era  ;  but  I  liave  an  idea  that  if  not  wasps’ 
nests,  th('  rest  of  tlie"  varmint  ”  subsidy  had  for  some  years 
past  been  more  honoured  in  the  breach  tiian  in  the  observance. 
— W.  G. 
The  Bothy. 
Coronation  Tree  Planting. 
As  there  seems  to  be  a  great  probability  that  a  large  number 
of  U’ees  are  likely  to  be  planted  as  mementoes  of  the  coronation 
i  ftchiard  ^  II.,  I  might  suggest  that,  to  avoid  the  danger 
of  trees  dying  by  being  planted  at  such  an  unsuitable  time  of  the 
year,  that  all  those  who  intend  to  adopt  this  mode  of  com¬ 
memoration  should,  before  it  is  too  late,  secure  trees  that  have 
been  transplanted,  and  have  them  properly  prepared  and  put 
into  suitable  boxes  or  tubs  in  a  compost  that  would 
ensure  a  large  amount  of  fibrous  root  to  be  made 
before  June,  and  by  this  means  and  careful  planting,  the  great 
disappointment  by  the  death  of  the  trees  would  be  avoided. 
VVell  shaped  trees  should  be  selected  at  once.  Standard  trees 
with  stems  10ft  to  12ft,  with  good  heads.  Coniferae  and  ever¬ 
green  .shrub, s,  3ft  to  5ft,  of  not  too  old  a  growth.  Trees  of  these 
dimensions  would  be  easy  to  handle,  and  would  probably  do 
better  than  larger  specimens.  The  most  .suitable  style  of  box 
would  be  one  with  all  the  sides  to  remove.  The,se  could  be 
easily  made  by  running  an  iron  rod  through  eyes  and  a  nut  on 
the  top  to  keep  the  box  together.  When  planting  remove  the 
nut.s  and  lift'  away  the  sides.  The  tree  could  then  be  carefully 
removed  into  its  permanent  position.— H.  Havelock,  Meric  Moor 
Nurseries,  Downfield,  near  Dundee. 
Early  Wasps. 
Dining  the  comparatively  abnormal,  warm,  spring-like 
weather  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  month  of  March  several 
queen  wasps  were  caught  in  a  large  garden  near  here.  Two  of 
them  were  flying  inside  a  disused  old  greenhouse,  and  another  was 
captured  amongst  the  plants  upon  a  grave  in  the  churchyard  near 
the  latter,  contiguous  to  the  garden  in  question,  thus  reducing  a 
corresponding  number  of  the  forthcoming  season’s  nests.  Last 
autumn  there  was  an  unusually  small  number  of  wasps,  doubtless 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  queens,  occa.sioned  by  the  effects  of  the 
prevailing  late  cold  and  wet  spring  weather  which  characterised 
that  sea.son  of  the  year.  It  may  be  opportune  to  remark  that 
in  some  large  garden  e,stablishment,s  it  is  the  cu,stom  to  offer  a 
premium  for  the  destruction  of  wasps  caught  before  the  first 
day  of  May  at  one  penny  per  head,  and  .sixpence  for  every  nest 
destroyed  throughout  the  .summer  and  autumn  within  the  radiiis 
of  a  mile  or  two.  An  inducement  was  also  offered  for  the  finding 
of  the  ne.sts  in  the  shape  of  threepence  each,  and  the  deponent 
himself,  when  a  youth,  considerably  augmented  his  private 
exchequer  in  the  exercise  of  both  accomplishments,  and  has  a 
vivid  recollection  of  the  enjoyable  preparations  for  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  tlie  nests,  commencing  with  the  making  of  “touch 
paper” — i.e.,  brown  paper  saturated  with  a  solution  of  .saltpetre 
and  water,  and  when  dry  used  ^or  encasing  the  “  fizz-balls  ”  of 
moistened  gunpowder  and  briimstone  for  stupefying  or  killing 
outright  tile  wasps  in  their  ne.st.s,  the  modus  operandi  simply 
being  first  of  all  to  kill  the  “  ivatchers  ”  at  the  orifice  leading 
to  the  nest,  ignite  one  end  of  the  cartridge,  insert  it  somewhat 
loo.sely  in  the  hole  so  as  to  allow  of  sufficient  air  for  combu.stion, 
then  quickly  cover  with  a  clod  of  turf  so  as  to  retain  the  smoke 
so  soon  as  the  more  or  le.ss  prolonged  explo.sion  took  place,  when 
the  beleaguered  army  with  their  poisonous  weapons  would 
quickly  be  placed  hors  de  combat  until  the  besiegers  finally  cap¬ 
tured  the  stronghold  by  digging  it  out  of  the  ground  and  smash¬ 
ing  it  up  in  situ  ;  and  if  water  was  at  hand  a  canful  mixed  with 
the  comb  and  earth  rendered  this  the  more  complete. 
There  were,  however,  more  than  one  means  of  de.stroying  the 
nests,  and  one  of  the  least  laborious  and  quickly  clone  was  to 
pour  about  a  pint  of  gas  tar  in  the  entrance  hole,  or  a  little 
cyanide  of  potassium,  and  either  of  which  would  also  kill  any 
vagrant  wasps  that  may  have  returned  home  the  next  day  after 
staying  ciut  the  previous  night ;  another  u.seful  insecticide  was 
the  pouring  of,  .say,  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of  spirit  of  turpentine 
in  the  hole  and  plugging  it  with  the  neck  of  the  bottle,  there  to 
remain  for  a  few  days,  so  as  to  “  mak  siccar  ”  of  the  death  of 
the  whole  brood  by  stifling  it  en  bloc.  Occasionally  a  comb  was 
taken  home  for  the  purpose  of  using  the  larvae  for  fi.shing  baits 
or  for  the  delectation  of  the  domestic  fowls  and  ducks,  who 
quickly  “  gastronomised  ”  the  .succulent  “  tit-bits.” 
Apropos  of  the  “capitation  fees”  paid  for  the  destruction  of 
wasps  and  hornets,  a  similar  inducement  was  also  held  out  for  the 
destruction  of  other  “  varmint,”  such  as  rats,  mice,  house- 
sparrows,  tom-tits  (the  smaller  and  larger  titmouse),  bullfinches, 
or  other  garden  pests  of  the  nature  indicated. 
Havi  ng  once  .stated  my  views  on  the  bothy  in  one  of  the  other 
gardening  pajier.s  1  thought  of  leaving  it  alone  in  the  Journal  for 
some  of  the  other  young  gardeners  to  take  np,  but  few  seem  to 
resiiond  to  it.  I  am  certain  there  are  plenty  of  young  gardeners 
at  the  pre.sent  time  full  of  griei  ances  with  regard  to  the  bothy. 
Now  is  your  chance — with  the  kind  permission  of  the  Editor — 
to  thre.sh  out  these  bothy  troubles.  This  is  why  I  take  up  my 
pen  again.  It  is  true  I  have  .said  Good-bye  to  bothy  life, 
but  for  all  that  there  is  nothing  to  stop  me  iienning  a  few  words, 
having  .spent  some  years  in  bothies — some  good,  some  bad.  In 
.some  gardens  the  word  bothy  can  hardly  be  termed  a  house  built 
in  the  garden  for  under  gardeners  to  live  i;n,  but  a  kind  of  shed 
on  the  north  side  of  a  wall,  more  fit  for  a.  store-room  or  tool  shed 
than  a  bothy.  With  some  cases  it  may  be  the  gardener’s  fault 
in  not  bringing  the  facts  of  the  bothy  to  his  employer’s  notice. 
Then,  again,  it  may  be  that  some  employer  takes  little  or  no 
intere.st  in  his  gardeners  or  gardens  :  cares  more,  perhaps,  for 
his  horses’  and  dogs’  welfare  than  for  the  young  gardeners’  com¬ 
fort.  But  with  the  present  discussion  going  on  in,  the  gardening 
papers  at  the  pre.sent  time  on  the  bothy,  I  fancy  it  is  going  to 
stir  np  some  of  the  owners  and  gardeners  in  charge,  not  before 
it  is  needed.  Of  conr.se,  .some  of  our  old  gardeners  will  soon  tell 
us  they  have  been  through  these  bothies  :  but  there  is  no  reason 
if  they  did  why  others  should ;  and  the  time  is  now  at  hand  for 
one  and  all  to  be.stir  themselves.  Can  we  expect  anything  else 
but  a  scarcity  of  good  journeymen  when  they  know  what  places 
there  are  in  some  gardens  to  live  in.P  There  is  always  plenty  of 
journeymen  in  want  of  situations,  but  the  one  continual  cry  of 
liead  gardeners  is  that  they  can’t  get  good  men  at  the  present 
time.  Why  is  this.^  Because  there  is  plenty  of  other  work  for 
young  and  intelligent  men  with  better  wages  and  less  hours  than 
gardening.  So  can  anyone  blame  young  men  for  not  remaining 
in  the  garden  ? 
But  there  are  two  sides  to  the  bothy  question.  Having 
touched  on  the  bad  ones,  we  mu.st  now  go  to  the  good  ones,  which 
are  to  be  found  fitted  with  every  convenience  a  young  gardener 
may  wish  for.  Generally  speaking,  do  young  men  having  a  com¬ 
fortable  bothy,  with  reading-room,  Ac.,  make  the  best  use  of 
them  ?  In  some  they  may,  and  in  others,  I  am  sorry  to  .say, 
they  don’t.  So  very  often  the  men  are  to  blame  themselves.  If 
they  have  a  good  bothy,  and  every  encouragement  given  them  to 
study,  it  is  their  place  to  show  that  such  kindness  is  appi'eciated, 
and  take  an  interest  in  keeping  everything  in  order.  Having 
received  an  invitation  to  look  round  Park  Place  Gardens,  Henley- 
on-Thames,  last  week,  I  accepted  the  offer,  and  siDent  a  very 
enjoyable  afternoon  in  looking  round  those  noted  gardens  and 
grounds  with  Mr.  G.  Stanton,  the  well-known  gardener  there, 
after  which  Mr.  T.  Powell,  the  energetic  foreman  at  Park  Place, 
took  me  in  liand,  and  showed  me  the  bothy  and  the  new  room 
recently  ei’ected  for  holding  mutual  meetings  in.  Everything 
a  young  man  might  wish  for  is  to  be  found  in  this  room.  At  one 
end  is  a  large  library  of  the  best  works  on  horticulture;  on  a  large 
table  near  are  all  the  leading  weekly  papers ;  then  there  are 
writing  desks  for  them  to  use.  I  may  .say  mutual  meetings  are 
held  during  the  winter  months  on  various  and  useful  subjects. 
I  noted  papers  had  been  given  this  winter  on  “  Stamps  and 
Stamp  Cbllecting ;  ”  “Culture  of  Chrysanthemums;”  “Vine 
Culture  in  Private  Places  ;  ”  “  Primulas  :  ”  “  Bouquets  ;  ”  “  Bees 
and  their  Work;”  “The  Light  and  Heat  on  Plants;”  “Some 
Fragrant  Flowers ;  ”  short  papers  on  various  subjects,  and 
“  Spring  Tints  ”  (.hy  Mr.  Stanton).  A  cricket  and  football  club 
is  formed  on  the  estate.  So  what  else  would  a  young  man  wish 
for?  Many  will  say  we  cannot  do  and  have  .such  things  as  Park 
Place,  but  where  there  are  several  bothies  in  a  di.strict  there 
should  be  nothing  to  prevent  the  young  men  uniting  and  forming 
tliese  clubs,  &c. — J.  Botley. 
Flower  Shows. 
The  average  show  report  (if  published)  would  read  “  though  a 
nice  show  was  got  together,  the  attendance  was  not  large,  and 
the  committee  have  to  face  a  considera.ble  pecuniary  deficit.” 
Are  there  more  than  ten  shows  in  all  Britain,  asks  the  “  Horti¬ 
cultural  Advertiser,”  where  the  committee  is  not  obliged  to  go 
around  with  the  hat  either  before  or  after?  Shrewsbury,  York, 
Wolverhampton  and  one  or  two  more,  by  catering  to  the  public 
taste  for  other  than  horticultural  entertainment,  and  thus  making 
their  shows  the  fete-day  of  the  district,  have  succeeded  in  be¬ 
coming  immensely  popular;  but  the  ordinary  secretary’s  job  is  a 
heart-breaking  one. 
