492 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  28,  1901. 
Why  is  it,  I  wonder,  that  this  beautifully  fruited  and  always 
interesting  shrub  is  so  rarely  seen  in  the  prominent  positions  in 
shrubberies  it  is  rightly  entitled  to  ?  I  trow  it  is  like  a  good 
many  more  of  our  pretty  native  plants,  simply  because  they  are 
always  with  us,  and  never  entailed  the  cost  of  importation  and 
its  various  drawbacks,  that  we  hardly  consider  it  worth  while 
to  appreciate  them.  But  again,  seeing  that  E.  europseus  is  the 
only  native  (British)  species  of  the  natural  order  Celastracese,  it 
would  seem  that  this  fact  would  help  materially  in  keeping  it 
in  the  foreground  of  our  native  ornamental  shrubs.  I  am  sure 
that  it  is  quite  as  pretty  as  the  common  Berberis  vulgaris  at 
this  season  of  the  year,  but  I  have  yet  to  see  it  given  the  same 
prominence.  The  present  is  perhaps  the  season  of  its  greatest 
beauty,  when  the  pretty  seed  coverings  have  burst,  and  the  scarlet 
seeds  may  easily  be  detected  peeping  out  of  their  equally  brilliant 
coat  of  orange  scarlet.  I  have  found  the  plant  growing  in  many 
different  places  and  aspects,  and  the  difference  is  not  great,  for 
I  think  the  very  best  specimen  growing  wild  I  have  noted  was 
growing  in  a  large  wood,  and  much  shaded.  I  notice  that  where 
shaded,  or  partially  so,  it  makes  a  taller  shrub.  One  might  also 
write  a  line  in  praise  of  Euonymus  latifolius,  which  decks  itself 
consistently  with  the  rich  red  pendant  fruit  clusters. — W.  H.  R., 
Kent. 
- <♦#♦> - 
Blinds  for  Giass  Houses. 
The  adoption  of  blinds  for  the  shading  of  glass  houses  obtains 
a  mixed  reception  from  gardeners  and  owners  of  gardens.  The 
latter  object  the  most  frequently  on  the  score  of  cost;  gardeners 
would  much  more  frequently  use  them  were  they  within  reach. 
There  is  no  denying  their  value  for  houses  that  require  shade  in 
summer,  or  for  reserving  internal  warm^i  in  winter;  but  I  am 
somewhat  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  simplest  form  of  roller 
canvas  blind  is  preferable  to  those  of  Parisian  wood  pattern, 
except  on  small  size  houses  where  there  is  less  leverage  and 
friction.  On  short,  span-roofed  houses  with  a  ridge  protector, 
any  of  the  modern  roller  type  may  be  adopted  with  success  and 
economy.  Spring  rollers  1  have  found  very  objectionable,  be¬ 
cause,  when  wet,  or  even  damp,  they  are  not  equal  to  the  weight, 
and  they  have  to  be  left  sometimes  an  inconveniently  long  time 
before  they  are  dry  enough  for  the  springs  to  act.  Quite  the 
simplest  and  best  form  of  blind  I  have  met  with  is  that  which  I 
6aw  in  Messrs.  Sutton’s  nurseries  some  years  since  at  Reading. 
Here  the  material  was  fixed  to  the  ridge,  and  cut  to  fit  the  roof, 
the  roller  being  fixed  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  material.  The 
roller  projected  over  the  end  of  the  roof  some  2ft  or  more,  and 
round  this  the  rope  gathered  as  it  travelled  up  the  roof,  and, 
passing  through  a  pulley  at  the  ridge,  gave  the  means  for  their 
use.  Nothing  seemed  more  simple,  and  certainly  no  other  form 
of  blind  I  have  met  with  possessed  the  advantage  this  did,  viewed 
either  in  the  light  of  economy  or  the  facility  with  which  it  could 
be  manipulated.  It  struck  me  as  being  somewhat  remarkable 
that  such  evenness  of  draught  should  come  from  the  winding  of 
gathering  rope  around  this  projecting  portion  of  the  wood  roller, 
but  so  it  was ;  there  was  not  the  slightest  hitch,  friction,  or 
trouble  in  their  working,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  travelled, 
and  the  unusual  length  of  moving  blind,  was  remarkable.  This 
has  reference  to  an  inspection  made  several  years  since. 
Whether  the  same  principle  is  in  use  now  I  do  not  know  ;  but  the 
same  I  have  met  with  in  one  or  two  private  gardens,  and  which,  I 
need  scarcely  say,  were  duly  praised  by  those  who  bad  the  work¬ 
ing  of  them. 
It  is  claimed  for  the  Parisian  type  that  they  allow  of  a  certain 
amount  of  light,  by  their  adjustment  to  certain  angles,  passing 
between  the  bars.  This  is  no  doubt  true  to  a  certain  extent. 
Where  there  are  lofty  glass  sides  to  corridors  or  conservatories 
they  are  no  doubt  a  boon  in  summer,  because  so  easily  adjusted, 
and  in  an  upright  position  they  do  not  so  soon  get  out  of  order 
as  on  sloping  roofs.  Many  a  greenhouse  might  be  rendered 
more  comfortable  inside,  and  better  in  appearance  outside,  if, 
instead  of  lime  and  other  washes  there  were  roller  blinds, 
whether  they  be  canvas  or  wood ;  but  so  it  is,  blinds  are  a 
luxury  that  a  great  many  gardens  can  ill  afford,  and  the  best  of 
other  substitutes  have  to  be  used,  often  at  the  sacrifice  of  time 
that  can  badly  be  spared  in  spring  time  in  their  application.  The 
above  lines  were  penned  after  perusing  your  answer  to 
“Ignoramus”  on  page  432,  November  7,  and  the  letter  in  last 
week’s  issuei  written  by  your  correspondent  who  signed  himself 
“  Light  and  Shade.” — Western. 
Outdoor  Chrysanthemums. 
Does  “  K.,  Dublin,”  not  grow  any  of  the  new  outdoor  Chrysan¬ 
themums?  On  page  464  of  the  Journal  he  complains  that  the 
Mums  are  late  (meaning  the  indoor  varieties),  and  flowers  scarce ; 
but  if  he  had  a  bed  of  these  profuse  flowering  early  Chrysanthe¬ 
mums,  which  have  been  so  wonderfully  improved  by  recent  in¬ 
troductions,  he  would  not  have  to  depend  on  a  few  belated  Roses 
for  cut  bloom,  even  at  the  date  he  writes  in  November.  At  the 
recent  show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland  (to 
which  he  refers  in  another  paragraph)  the  abundant  display  there 
of  these  outdoor  sorts  was  proof,  if  proof  were  needed,  of  their 
great  value  for  cut  flower  purposes.  And  there  was  no  lack  of 
colour  for  there  were  glowing  crimsons,  golden  yellows  and 
bronzes,,  with  spotless  whites,  and  rich  mauves,  and  all  the 
intermediate  shades  formerly  found  only  in  the  indoor  kinds. 
To  come  unexpectedly  on  a  well-assorted  garden  border  of  these 
on  an  autumn  day,  when  all  around  the  leaves  are  falling,  or 
fallen,  is  a  surprise  even  to  those  already  somewhat  acquainted 
with  their  brilliant  colourings  ;  and  the  best  of  it  is  that  anyone- 
can  e:row  them,  a  little  water  in  dry  weather,  and  a  stake  and  tie 
when  necessary,  being  all  that  is  required  of  the  cultivator. — - 
W.  M.  J. 
- - 
Gardeners  and  Estate  Agents. 
I  suppose  it  is  natural  that  gardeners  should  focus  estate- 
agents  from  their  own  point  of  view,  which,  it  need  hardly  be 
said,  is  at  an  angle  widely  apart  from  that  of  the  master  of  both,, 
and  from  that  of  the  agent  himself.  It  is  only  fair  to  the  latter 
to  remember  that  his  position  is  one  of  much  difficulty,  and  the- 
temptation  to  save  money  on  the  estate,  or,  at  least,  to  spend  it 
alone  on  that  which  makes  the  greatest  show,  is  a  temptation 
that  is  never  absent.  In  the  same  way  tenants  of  all  kinds  find 
the  genus  a  hard  one  to  deal  with,  for  while  a  few  pounds  off 
a  rent  may  not  appear  a  great  thing  to  a  proprietor,  his  agent 
cannot  lightly  escape  from  the  annual  balance  about  which  little- 
of  sentiment  gathers;  so,  on  the  one  hand,  he  is  naturally 
impelled  to  be  grasping,  and,  on  the  other,  to  be  unduly  saving, 
too  often  niggardly.  That,  I  think,  in  brief,  is  his  position.  It. 
of  course,  involves  the  commission  of  deeds  that  a  proprietor,  if 
acting  himself,  would  not  perpetrate,  and  also  the  omission  of' 
others  that  would  in  a  like  case  not  be  passed  over.  Everyone- 
who  has  had  experience  of  life  on  an  estate  must  be  aware  that 
this  is  a  fact,  and  instances  may  be  called  to  mind  where  the 
wishes  of  the  proprietor  have  been  brushed  aside  and  his  best 
interests  often  sacrificed.  But  it  is  right  we  should  deal  equally 
fairly  with  all ;  and  how  frequently  has  it  occurred  that  gar¬ 
deners,  as  well  as  other  heads  of  departments,  have  failed  in 
those  very  duties  which  the  agent  has  been  called  in  to  assume  ? 
If  a  garden  is  to  be  run  successfully,  or,  in  other  words,  if  its. 
owner  wishes  it  to  be  run  successfully,  there  ought  to  be  no 
intermediate  person  to  interfere;  but  it  requires  the  gardener 
on  his  part  to  be,  like  Csesar’s  wife,  above  suspicion  in  all  tilings, 
and,  above  all,  not  to  indulge  in  expensive  fads,  as  so  many 
who  have  been  allowed  a  free  hand  have  done.  Those  who  suc¬ 
ceed  gardeners  of  this  class  know  too  well  the  unsatisfactory 
feelings  left  behind,  and  which  they  have  to  live  down. 
Now,  though  I  could  give  numbers  of  instances  of  dealings-, 
on  the  parts  of  agents  that  would  place  them  in  a  light  not 
altogether  the  best,  I  don’t  think  that  any  good  would  follow 
from  doing  so.  The  practical  question  with  us  is  that  there  they 
are,  and  how  shall  we  make  the  best  of  them  ?  We  have  nothing, 
let  us  not  forget,  to  do  with  the  shortcomings  of  others,  especially 
when  we  have  a  few  of  our  own  to  make  up.  The  greatest  point, 
I  think,  is  to  preserve  one’s  own  self-respect,  which  includes 
doing  one’s  duty  not  so  much  to  please  others  as  oneself ;  and  ' 
that  is  not  so  easy  of  accomplishment  if  the  standard  is  of  the 
right  kind.  A  great  matter,  too,  is  to  try  to  meet  the  wishes 
of  agents  where  they  are  reasonable,  and  thus  where 
they  are  not  reasonable  one  possesses  the  greater  effect' 
in  pointing  out  weaknesses.  The  suppression  also  of  a 
spirit  of  discontent  is  of  much  value.  Some  gardeners  are  wholly  - 
taken  up  with  detailing  the  faults  of  their  superiors,  a  habit - 
which  is  bad  for  them  in  two  ways,  as  it  makes  them  un¬ 
charitable  ;  and  there  are  always  people  who  delight  in  retailing 
the  sayings  and  doings  of  their  neighbour  to  those  whom  it  were  ■ 
better  not  to  have  heard  of  these. — A  Scottish  Reader. 
