December  26,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
585 
Araucaria  imbricata. 
It  will  interest  “  H.  M.,”  page  524,  to  know  that  plants  were 
raised  at  Floors  Castle,  Kelso,  N.B.,  from  seeds  from  a  cone 
brought  from  the  gardens  at  Duns  Castle,  Berwickshire,  N.B., 
which  I  expect  by  now  will  be  good-sized  plants. — W.  C. 
Keeping  Muscats. 
Having  seen  the  poor  condition  of  many  Muscats  at  several 
of  our  November  shows,  it  has  led  me  to  write  of  my  method  of 
treating  this  Grape  when  ripe.  I  have  seen  whole  houses  in  the 
same  state  as  the  shrivelled  berries  we  often  see  on  the  show- 
board  at  this  season.  This  is  a  state  often  brought  on  by  wrong 
treatment  to  the  ripe  fruit.  Perhaps  the  greatest  secret  in 
keeping  Muscats  is  to  have  the  fruit  perfectly  and  properly 
ripened,  for  it  is  useless  trying  to  keep  any  Grape  unless  we 
have  finished  bunches  at  the  outset. 
When  one  has  fruit  nicely  ripened  it  is  sheer  nonsense  to  keep 
up  a  high  temperature  with  fire-heat,  which  is,  only  too  often, 
done.  All  the  fire  heat  that  is  required  is  a  circulation  of 
warmth  in  the  pipes  during  the  daytime,  wrhen  an  abundance 
of  air  can  be  admitted,  allowing  the  pipes  to  cool  down  at  night, 
so  that  there  is  sufficient  heat  to  keep  the  temperature  falling 
below  40deg.  In  damp  weather  it  is  necessary  to  use  more 
firing,  but  then  only  enough  to  expel  the  damp  is  wanted.  The 
borders  need  carefully  examining  frequently  to  keep  them  in  a 
nice  medium  condition.  If  -we  attend  to  these  few  details  we 
'  need  have  no  fear  of  Muscats  not  keeping.- — T.  W.  B. 
Gardners  and  Estate  Agents. 
I  have  been  much  interested  in  the  letters  on  “  Gardeners 
and  Estate  Agents,”  appearing  in  the  Journal.  I  am  now  a 
gardener,  but  for  many  years  worked  under  my  father,  a  large 
farmer  and  land  agent,  so  may  claim  to  know  something  on  both 
sides,  and  I  have  often  had  to  keep  the  peace  between  gardeners 
and  bailiffs,  a  much  more  difficult  job  than  between  them  and 
agents.  I  am  convinced  it  is  the  old  tale,  “  six  of  one,  half  a 
dozen  of  the  other,”  and  very  often  it  is  the  gardener  who  starts 
the  trouble.  By  all  means  let  him  refuse  to  allow  any  inter¬ 
ference  with,  his  men,  or  his  methods  of  work  ;  he  is  responsible 
for  the  result  and  must  follow  his  own  plan,  and  if  the  agent  is  a 
gentleman  there  will  be  no  friction  on  this  score.  Let  him 
thoroughly  understand  how  'the  money  matters  are  to  be 
arranged  and  loyally  do  his  best  to  carry  them  through,  and  if 
he  fails  he  can  explain  it  honestly  before  his  master  and  try  to 
get  things  improved. 
But  it  is  in  the  smaller  matters  most  trouble  lies.  Turf  and 
manure,  to  take  two  subjects  already  mentioned,  are  fertile 
causes  of  friction.  We  must  have  both;  but  is  it  necessary  to 
pick  a  special  bit  of  turf,  the  removal  of  which  the  agent  may 
consider  an  eyesore,  or  which  a  tenant  may  object  to  having  cut? 
Again,  manure;  is  it  not  possible  to  tell  the  agent  we  shall  want 
a  certain  number  of  loads  before  a  certain  date,  giving  him  plenty 
of  notice,  and  telling  him  to  load  it  on  frosty,  mornings  or  in  bad 
weather,  when  otherwise  the  teams  would  stand  idle?  My 
experience  is  that  nine  times  out  of  ten  we  gardeners  want  it  in 
a  hurry,  and  ask  for  it  in  the  thick  of  harvest,  or  seed  time,  or 
some  other  equally  inconvenient  season.  Small  things,  like  this, 
that,  the  exercise  of  a  little  tact  and  consideration  on  the 
gardener’s  part  Avould  prevent,  start  the  sore,  and,  human  nature 
being  what  it  is,  the  bailiff  does  not  forget  it ;  the  squabble  comes 
before  the  agent,  and  gives  him  an  excuse  to  interfere. 
What  I  think  a  much  juster  complaint  with  gardeners  is  the 
amount  of  odd  work  they  are  expected  to  do  outside  the  garden. 
The  Lincolnshire  saying  is  that  a  gardener  must  know  everything 
about  “  cows,  pigs,  poultry,  boots,  babies,  and  chimneys.”  And 
so  much  the  better  for  him  if  he  does.  He  and  his  men  are  always 
at  hand,  and  consequently  are  relied  on  in  an  emergency;  but 
it  is  not  reasonable  that  he  should  be  expected  to  find  men  to 
shovel  coals,  clean  windows,  &c.,  &c.  If  he  has  labourers  or  men 
engaged  for  these  odd  jobs  and  to  “  put  in  their  time  ”  in  the 
garden,  well  and  good  ;  but  garden  apprentices  and  journeymen 
are  engaged  to  be  gardeners,  not  to  do  unskilled  labour,  and 
naturally  resent  it  and  give  the  chief  a  lot  of  trouble.  Generally 
in  these  cases  it  is  pure  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  agent  or 
employer,  and  a  deliberate  wish  to  be  annoying  on  the  part  of 
the  bailiff  or  steward.  Any  work  he  does  not  like,  or  that  is  a 
trouble,  goes  by  with  the  remark,  “  Oh,  I  have  no  men  for  that ; 
go  to  the  gardener,”  and  the  gardener,  rather  than  his  employer 
should  be  inconvenienced,  has  it  done.  If  the  annoyance  is  con¬ 
stant  I  advise  him  to  go  to  the  agent  or  his  master  and  point 
out  the  false  economy  of  putting  men  at  18s.  to  25s.  a  week  to 
work  which  can  be  done  by  an  ordinary  labourer. — North 
Lincoln. 
Christmas  on  Duty. 
The  above  heading  set  me  thinking  of  a  few  Christmas  Days 
spent  in  the  bothy  in  south,  east,  and  north  of  England.  The 
good  people  of  the  mansion  do  not  as  a  rule  know  or  care  much 
about  the  inmates  of  the  bothy.  Such  has  been  my  experience, 
except  in  one  place,  where,  some  ten  years  ago,  I  was  general 
foreman.  There  the  lady  believed  in  making  all  her  employes  as 
happy  as  she  could  on  that  day.  It  would  have  done  “  An  Old 
Boy’s  ”  eyesight  good,  I  venture  to  think,  Mr.  Editor,  to  have 
seen  a  journeyman  at  each  end  of  the  garden  handbarrow,  with 
the  foreman  bringing  up  the  rear.  They  had  to  be  at  the  kitchen 
door  at  1  p.m.  sharp  to  receive  the  good  wishes  of  the  lady  and 
the  following:  161b  or  181b  of  beef  (boiled)  and  vegetables 
galore,  not  forgetting  a  good  plum  pudding — with  white  sauce 
to  pour  over  it !  and  all  smoking  hot ;  also  two  mince  pies  each, 
the  same  number  of  Oranges  and  Apples  for  each  bothyite.  That 
was  the  bothy  Christmas  box.  I  think,  Mr.  Editor,  you  will 
agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  was  a  rightdown  good  one,  too. 
There  was  not  much  time  lost  before  that  beef  and  pudding  began 
to  diminish.  They  were  not  all  saints  in  that  bothy,  but  I  for 
one  enjoyed  myself  without  that  “  drap  o’  something  short.” 
A  little  kindness  like  the  above  serves  to  make  bothy  life  a  bit 
brighter  and  happier  on  the  day  of  all  days  in  the  year. — E.  T. 
Wanted,— [or  Ireland. 
The  interesting,  instructive,  and  racy  article  under  the  title 
of  “  Wanted— for  Ireland,”  which  appeared  in  your  issue  of 
December  12,  afforded  me  much  food  for  thought.  The  writer 
has  an  appreciative  knowledge  of  the  splendid  work  carried  on 
by  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organisation  Society,  under  the 
guidance  of  Mr.  Horace  Plunkett.  The  Sister  Isle  has  certainly 
stolen  a  march  on  us  while  we  slept.  Now  we  are  beginning  to 
awake,  but  have  only  reached  the  stage  of  rubbing  our  eyes. 
When  shall  we  open  them  wide  enough  to  see  the  seriousness  of 
our  position?  The  British  farmer  still  loves  to  wrap  himself  in 
his  splendid  isolation.  In  Ireland  the  farmers,  through  the  co¬ 
operative  movement,  have  been  taught  that  sympathy,  mutual 
trust,  and  helpfulness  spring  from  such  association.  “  Self-help 
is  all  help.”  It  is  only  thus  that  the  solution  of  many  of  the 
problems  surrounding  agriculture  can  be  successfully  solved. 
The  farmers  must  recognise  that  in  co-operation  the  hope  of 
the  future  rests.  There  is  no  other  true  course.  First  make  an 
effort  to  arrest  the  decay.  Show  the  State  that  we  are  -worthy 
of  State  aid.  In  every  other  country  the  manner  of  beginning 
has  always  been  the  same,  self-help  preceding  State  help.  People 
call  out  for  Acts  of  Parliament  to  bolster  up  a  decaying  industry  ; 
but  the  State  wisely  and  properly  says,  “  Show  us  first  of  all  that 
you  can  help  yourselves,  and  then,  but  not  till  then,  we  shall  be 
satisfied  that  in  helping  you  wre  are  not  throwing  away  good 
money.” 
One  of  my  principal  reasons  for  writing  this  letter  is  to  try 
and  dissipate  the  ignorance  that  obtains  of  the  existence  in 
England  of  a  sister  organisation  to  the  Irish  organisation  founded 
by  lVIr.  Plunkett.  The  society  with  which  I  am  connected  is  doing 
most  successful  work,  and  on  similar  lines.  It  will  interest  your 
readers  to  hear  that  one  of  our  affiliated  societies  is  situated  in 
the  fruit  district  of  Worcestershire — the  Far-Forest.  It  has  for 
its  lion,  secretary  the  Rev.  G.  F.  Eyre,  who  takes  a  great  interest 
in  all  matters  co-operative.  The  objects  of  the  society  are  many 
and  varied,  ranging  from  the  purchase  of  farm  requirements  to 
the  grading  and  packing  of  fruit,  eggs,  &c.  The  society  was  only 
registered  in  October  last,  but  already  it  has  made  considerable 
headway.  If  any  of  your  readers  would  like  further  information 
as  to  the  Far  Forest  Society,  or  leaflets  dealing  with  the.  work  of 
the  co-operative  movement  as  conducted  by  the  Agricultural 
Organisation  Society,  I  shall  be  only  too  pleased  to  comply  with 
the  request. — J.  Nugent  Harris,  Secretary,  Dacre  House,  Dacre 
Street,  Westminster,  S.W. 
