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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
December  5,  1901. 
Scottish  Horticultural  Association. 
The  last  meeting  of  the  year  was  held  on  Tuesday  evening, 
the  3rd  inst.,  in  5,  St.  Andrew’s  Square.  Mr.  Comfort,  presi¬ 
dent,  occupied  the  chair,  and  there  was  a  very  large  turn-out 
of  members,  nearly  100  being  present.  Mr.  George  Wood, 
gardener  at  Oswald  House,  Edinburgh,  read  a  paper  on  “  Palm 
Culture.”  Mr.  Wood  gave  in  short  but  vivid  detail  his  method 
of  culture,  and  described  the  sorts  that  he  most  highly  recom¬ 
mended  for  conservatory  and  house  decoration.  Mr.  Wood  is 
a  strong  advocate  for  culture  in  small  pots,  and  his  methods  are 
on  usual  lines  as  to  soil,  feeding,  &c.  The  paper  was  well  re¬ 
ceived,  and  elicited  a  lively  discussion.  A  cordial  vote  of  thanks 
was  awarded  Mr.  Wood,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  A.  Mackenzie.  A 
number  of  interesting  exhibits  were  on  the  table,  including 
several  very  handsome  Palms  in  din  pots  in  illustration  of  his 
paper.  Mr.  Todd,  Musselburgh,  exhibited  a  vase  of  very  pretty 
red  Poses  (General  Jacqueminot),  which  were  much  admired, 
and  for  the  season  were  very  good  blooms,  cut  from  the  open 
garden  after  having  stood  12deg  of  frost.  Mr.  Todd  also  showed 
a  very  handsome  vase  of  white  Chrysanthemums,  Souvenir  d’une 
Petite  Amie,  of  decorative  size.  Mr.  Chaplin  exhibited  hand¬ 
some  Onions  and  Carrots.  A  very  beautiful  double  Violet  was 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Henderson,  gardener  Fullarton  House,  Ayr¬ 
shire.  It  is  a  seedling  raised  at  Fullarton,  and  named  Mrs. 
Matthew  Arthur,  which  was  much  admired,  and  Mr.  Henderson 
was  asked  to  show  plants  showing  its  habit  on  some  future 
occasion.  About  a  score  of  new  members  were  proposed.  A 
vote  of  thanks  to  the  chairman  brought  the  meeting  to  a  close. 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
HINTS  FOR  YOUNG  HEADS. 
( Continued  from  page  365.) 
Truly  some  of  our  young  fellows  use  that  invaluable  instru¬ 
ment,  the  syringe,  in  a  marvellous  manner.  Evolution,  it  may 
be,  of  principles  which  govern  the  small  boy’s  squirting  pro¬ 
pensities,  anyway  the  display  of  energy  shown  in  furious  fire- 
engine  drenchings  of  tender  foliage  is  prodigious,  but  it  is  not 
gardening.  Much  wrater  and  little  good.  The  syringe  in  the 
hands  of  a  capable  performer  is  made  to  reverse  this  order,  the 
ejection  of  a  fine  spray  to  the  under  parts  of  a  plant  being  the 
desideratum;  frequency,  and  time  of  syringing  depending  upon 
season  and  weather.  From  mid-spring  until  late  summer,  twice 
daily,  early  morning  and  at  closing  time — closing  the  ventilators 
is  generally  necessary  according  to  atmospheric  conditions  both 
inside  and  out,  for  the  relation  of  natural  conditions  prevailing 
outside  to  those  obtaining  inside  must  be  conjunctively  con¬ 
sidered.  It  is  ever  the  good  plantsman’s  desire  to  have  pure  soft 
water  for  syringing  purposes,  nothing  being  more  detrimental  to 
the  appearance,  if  not  to  the  health,  of  plants  than  a  limy  deposit 
on  the  foliage.  At  rare  intervals  only,  on  parching  days  with 
free  ventilation,  a  thorough  douche  by  pressure  from  a  hose-pipe 
may  be  advantageously  given,  but  with  the  shortening  days  of 
autumn  the  caring  hand  will  be  a  sparing  hand  in  the  matter  of 
even  legitimate  syringing,  yet  given  favourable  weather,  a  daily 
application  well  before  noon,  with  ventilators  open  till  the  usual 
closing  time,  is  good  practice. 
“  A  bad  workman  finds  fault  with  his  tools,”  is  an  old  saying, 
and  often  true ;  but,  in  context,  it  may  be  added,  the  smart 
workman  takes  a  pride  in  them,  and  is  pardonably  jealous  of  their 
going  into  any  other  hands  but  his.  Old  boys  may  laugh  at 
the  lad  who  hides  his  syringe,  or  is  caught  surreptitiously  polish¬ 
ing  it  up  in  his  dinner  hour,  yet  he  is  not  only  to  be  commended 
for  his  care,  but  “  heads  ”  would  do  well  to  encourage  such  owner¬ 
ship  with  its  attendant  responsibility  by  allotting  to  each  as  far 
as  practicable  his  own  tools;  probably  finding  it  would  abolish 
some  of  those  little  worries  of  life  which  they  of  all  men  seem 
especially  heir  to.  In  fact,  the  same  principle  carried  throughout 
the  garden  is  an  excellent  plan,  for  everybody’s  tools  are  nobody’s 
tools,  and  that  nimble  nobody,  so  hard  to  catch,  is  too  utterly 
irresponsible  for  a  place  on  the  garden  staff.  Few  boys  seem 
capable  of  packing  a  syringe  and  keeping  it  in  smooth  working 
order.  Yet  no  disparagement  of  youthful  resource  is  intended, 
for  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  packing, 
from  raffia  to  a  rotten  bootlace,  have  been  seen  doing  duty.  The 
ingenious  one  who  used  the  latter,  chuckling  with  mirth  as  each 
back  stroke  shot  the  water  up  his  arm,  finally  gravitating  to  the 
laceless  boot.  However,  a  better  way  with  the  ordinary  pattern, 
say  Reed’s,  is  to  wind  common  worsted  evenly  and  tightly 
between  the  flanges  of  the  plunger,  and  lubricate  with  Russian 
tallow  ;  this  acts  admirably  when  properly  done,  although  it  stops 
the  mirthful  enjoyment  of  backchuting. 
“  Cleanliness  is  next  to  Godliness.”  This  ancient  adage  seems 
almost  a  truism  in  gardening,  and  in  no  phase  of  it  is  its  im¬ 
portance  more  conspicuous  than  in  plant  culture,  hence  some 
prominence  may  be  given  to  it  here.  In  many  gardens,  and  good 
gardens  too,  the  endless  operation  of  plant  cleaning  seems  to  be 
always  more  or  less  in  evidence.  Always  cleaning,  never  clean, 
and  the  cleaner  gets  no  “  forrader.”  This,  in  allusion  to  per¬ 
ennial  pests,  such  as  mealy  bug  and  scale,  which,  too  many  can 
say,  are,  like  the  poor,  always  with  us.  It  has  been  insisted 
that  once  a  plant-house  is  infested  with  mealy  bug,  it  is  impossible 
to  be  entirely  rid  of  it.  Would  that  our  young  fellows  would 
strike  out  for  once  and  for  all  such  impossibilities  from  their 
creed  and  inscribe  in  the  articles  of  their  faith,  “  Those  can 
conquer  who  believe  they  can.”  That  the  matter  is  a  difficult  one 
is  not  denied,  but  each  difficulty  is — and  mark  well,  young  friends, 
each  difficulty  is  your  opportunity,  and  the  greater  the  one  the 
grander  the  other.  How  sweet  are  triumphs  of  mind  over 
matter!  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark  that  most  young 
gardeners  know  the  potent  remedies  employed  to  rid  our  plants 
of  all  the  beasties  that  prey  on  them,  but  in  knowing  what  to  do, 
do,  I  beseech  you — and  this,  Mr.  Printer,  you  might  be  able,  in  the 
words  of  Dickens’  dying  boy,  “  Jo,”  to  print  “  uncommon  precious 
large,  p’raps  ” — do  have  the  energy  to  do  it. 
“I  don’t  care  what  you  say,”  said  a  bug-infested,  old-time 
gardener,  whose  acidity  of  temper  curdled  his  common  sense  into 
further  blurting  out,  “  whosomdever  argufys  wi’  me  like  that  is  a 
synagogue  ” ;  a  syn-a-gogue.  (The  repetition  in  accentuated 
syllables.)  What  the  bug-ridden  one  meant  by  that  was,  of 
course,  everything  that  was  bad ;  and  he  meant  to  close  the 
argument,  and  he  did.  “  Desperate  diseases  require  desperate 
remedies.”  The  most  drastic  measures  of  cleaning  and  painting 
all  internal  woodwork  of  an  infested  house  are  in  bad  cases 
vitally  necessary.  It  may  be  inferred,  too,  that  a  great  scrubbing 
and  tubbing  of  pots  and  plants  will  be  given,  then  a  good  begin¬ 
ning  has  been  made,  but  a  beginning  only.  With  my  ancient 
friend  it  was  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  each  operation,  to  be 
ever  and  anon  repeated.  Now  is  the  time  for  our  lad  in  charge  to 
show  his  mettle.  If  he  really  rises  to  the  occasion,  in  twelve 
months,  possibly  six,  he  may  honestly  assert  that  the  house  is 
clean ;  neither  “  pretty  clean  ”  nor  “  fairly  clean,”  but  clean 
without  qualification.  What  a  relief !  To  effect  this  a 
daily  investigation  must  be  made,  but  it  need  occupy  but  a  few 
of  those  spare  minutes  that  even  the  busiest  bodies  can  find.  With 
a  small  bottle  of  methylated  spirit  diluted  with  a  little 
water,  if  too  strong,  for  it  is  apt  to  vary  in  quality,  and  a  large 
camel’s-hair  pencil,  known  as  a  dab,  inserted  through  the 
cork,  the  remedy  is  always  ready.  Keep  it  handy.  Keep  a  bottle 
for  use  in  every  house,  and — and  use  it.  This  is  for  light  skirmish¬ 
ing  with  the  enemy,  and  it  is  astonishing  what  can  be  done  in 
sniping  off  the  slim  ones  with  the  dab  and  spirit. 
As  wet  weather  or  other  opportunity  affords,  an  odd  field  day 
with  the  hand-sprayer  and  some  good  insecticide  diluted  with 
warm  water  will  take  place  which,  with  an  occasional  fumigation, 
or  rather  vaporising  now  in  vogue,  and  infinitely  preferable,  will 
eventually  bring  the  fight  to  a  finish.  Fir-tree  oil,  in  warm  water, 
according  to  instructions,  makes  a  splendid  spraying  solution, 
leaving  the  foliage  bright  and  clean.  Gardeners  are  always  learn¬ 
ing,  and  it  rvas  but  recently  observed  that  where  some  of  the 
Avarm  solution  had  trickled  down  through  the  ball  of  a  plant,  a 
number  of  small  worms,  which  happened  to  be  at  home  in  it, 
Avriggled  to  the  top,  Athere  they  performed  a  last  lively  penance 
for  their  very  small  error.  Further  trials  on  a  common  Maiden¬ 
hair  Fern  gave  the  same  results,  without  injury  to  the  roots. 
Fir-tree  oil,  or. similar  preparations,  is  preferable  to  those  in¬ 
secticides  which  require  an  after  Avashing  off  a\  itli  clean  Avater. 
Scale  on  Palms,  or  on  the  leathery  leaves  of  Orchids,  which 
sticketh  closer  than  a  brother,  can  have  no  more  effectual  treat¬ 
ment  than  with  the  dab  and  bottle,  for  after  a  few  applications 
the  spirit  “  moves  ’em.”— An  Old  Boy. 
(To  be  continued.) 
- <•©•> - 
Guernsey  Crops  and  Prices  in  1901. 
The  season  just  closing  has  not  on  the  whole  been  a  bright 
one  for  Guernsey  gro Avers  generally,  the  very  high  price  of  coal 
last  winter  acting  as  a  great  deterrent  to  early  spring  forcing, 
consequently  there  Aras  a  considerable  shortage  of  early  Tomatoes 
and  Grapes.  This  caused  a  great  extra  bulk  of  stuff  to  be  shipped 
during  the  latter  part  of  July  and  all  through  August  and 
September  (the  time  of  the  general  glut),  resulting  in  very  low 
prices  being  obtained.  Grapes  have,  in  proportion,  done  much 
AAorse  than  Tomatoes,  many  of  these,  probably  owing  to  the 
abnormally  dry  summer,  having  finished  badly,  and  been  poor 
in  colour.  The  spring  flower  season,  too,  was  disappointing, 
inasmuch  as  the  bulk  of  our  Narcissi  crop  clashed  Avith  that  of 
the  Scilly  Islands,  France,  Ac.,  causing  very  poor  returns  to  the 
growers.  Chrysanthemums  lia\Te  done  someAAdiat  better  till  we 
Avere  visited  on  the  loth  ult.  with  a  storm  of  sleet,  followed  by 
a  sharp  frost,  which  practically  destroyed  all  the  Chrysanthe¬ 
mums  blooming  out  of  doors.  I  hope  the  season  1902  will  make 
amends  for  the  shortcomings  of  this. — X. 
