10 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Jannar5'  1,  1905. 
Packing  Cabbages  for  Covent  Garden  Market. 
purity  attending  the  operation  was  syinbolioal  of  the  Saviour 
Avhich  was  to  redeem  the  world,  and  who  was  also  without  blame 
and  spotless. 
It  is  fiirtlier  supijosed  that  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Briton.s 
was  the  same  as  that  which  we  read  of  in  the  Old  Testament, 
as  practised  by  many  of  the  nations  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Hebrews;  and,  though  very  much  corrupted  in  later  times,  con- 
■srsted  formerly  of  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  At  the  time 
vhen  Caesar  came  to  Britain  the  religion  of  the  people  was  very 
much  corrupted,  from  \\  hat  we  learn  from  his  writings.  The  infer¬ 
ence  from  this  would  lead  us  to  suppose  that,  as  far  as  the  re¬ 
ligious  significance  of  the  Mi.stletoe  was  concerned,  even  to 
the  Druids,  then,  the  real  meaning  was  partially  a  mystery. 
The  name  by  which  the  plant  was  known  among  the  Druids 
was  “  Uiliccach,”  which  means  in  our  language  ‘  All  heal.”  The 
virtues  it  was  supposed  to  possess  were  evidently  interminable, 
and  perhaps  were  not  limited  to  the  needs  of  the  physical  body. 
As  the  ‘‘  curer  of  all  evils,”  its  virtues  probably  extended  to  tlie 
healing  of  the  spiritual  ills.  There  is  nothing  improbable  in 
such  a  supposition,  for  the  great  veneration  in  which  the  plant 
V  as  held  by  the  Druids  must  have  had  more  iiowerful  claims 
than  the  healing  of  the  mere  body.  It  was  supposed  by  .some 
that  the  Mistletoe  had  some  reference  to  the  ‘‘Branch”  of 
Scripture,  and  Homer  and  Virgil  also  make  reference  to  the 
.'S^lden  branch,”  probably  a  tradition  founded  on  the  older 
Hebrew  reference.  Whether  or  not  this  was  the  mvstery  upon 
which  the  druidical  veneration  rested,  it  appears,  from  the  little 
ve  know  of  the  inatter,  that  the  Mistletoe  was  among  the  most 
revered  of  all  their  religious  tenets. 
The  Oak  it.self,  we  know,  was  a  divinely  sacred  tree  with  the 
Druid.s.  It  was  so  also  with  other  heathen  natio’iis.  The  Druids 
are  .said  to  have  believed  that  this  tree,  was  the  chosen  of  the 
Deity  Himself,  and  that,  in  consequence,  whatever  grew  upon  it 
was  also  sacred.  The  Mistletoe  seldom  grew  upon  the  Oak,  and 
perhaps  when  it  did,  the  Druids,  as  is  very  likely,  would  consider 
it  .sacred  on  that  account  alone.  Yet  the  pecuiiar  habit  and 
torin  of  the  Mistletoe,  apart  from  this,  very  possibly  at  the 
origin  of  the  cult,  would  be  suggestive  of  a  deeper  mea'nino-  and 
a  more  specific  significance.  ° 
It  is  from  the  Saxons  that  we  get  the  name  Mistletoe.  With 
them  it  was  Miselta,  the  nmaning  of  which  has  from  time  to  time 
occupied  the  genius  'of  the  etymologist.  To  the  French  it  is 
known  as  ‘‘ Fui,”  pronounced  “Ghi,”  and  means  .something  like 
w  I'l  possibly  has  a  connection  with  the  Celtic 
I  1  I ^  branch  or  limb  of  a  tree.  Indeed,  it  is  not  impro- 
lable  that  the  word  “Mi.selta”  itself  is  a  Celtic  term,  corrupted 
in  its  transition  to  the  Saxon  language.  It  may  have  becTi  that 
the  plant  had,  even  among  the  ancient  Britons,  more  than  one 
name.  Ihere  is  reason  for  supposing  that  more  than  one  species 
uas  behe’i'ed  to  exist  in  former  times.  In  all  probability  this 
idea  would  arise  from  the  predilection  which  the  Druids  appeared 
to  have  for  the  plmits  which  grew  on  the  Oak,  and  the  rarity 
of  It  on  that  tree,  in  comparison  with  other  trees  of  less  imixirt- 
ance  in  their  estimation.  Whatever  ma.v  have  been  the  early 
iistorv  of  the  Mistletoe,  the  heautiful  custom  which  has  followed 
lom  its  use  down  to  our  own  times,  as  at  this  season  of  the  year 
cveiy  bouse  almost  gives  evidenct'.  will  be  admitted  by  all  to  be 
qt  no  ie.ss  interest  and  a  source  of  happiness  in  our  homes  than 
It  was  to  the  Druids  them-elves.  D.  G. 
Women  in  Market  Gardening. 
Agriculture  as  an  occupation  for  women  is  rapidly 
declining.  “The  Englishwoman’s  Year  Book”  (1903) 
states  that  in  the  census  of  1891  the  returns  of  women 
under  the  head  of  agricultural  labourer  or  farm-servant 
reached  twenty-one  per  10,000  of  and  above  ten  years 
of  age,  whereas  in  1881  they  had  reached  forty  per 
10,000;  and  there  was  an  actual  as  w’ell  as  relative 
decrease  in  their  numbers.  This  decrease  is  due  partly 
to  the  introduction  of  machinery,  which  does  much  of 
the  work  which  women  used  to  do,  and  partly  to  public 
opinion,  which  is  in  most  districts  turning  against  the 
idea  of  women  doing  hard  manual  work  in  the  fields. 
At  the  same  time  the  more  skilled  branches  of  the  work, 
such  as  horticulture,  gardening,  A'c.,  are  coming  more 
into  favour  as  an  opening  for  educated  women. 
Actual  farmwork  divides  itself  into  two  classes,  that 
of  the  field-worker,  engaged  more  or  less  all  the  year 
round  on  such  work  as  hoeing  Potatoes,  Turnips,  Ac., 
and  that  of  the  harvester,  who  is  only  called  in  to 
as.sist  in  the  six  or  seven  weeks  of  the  harvest.  In  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom  where  women  are  still  engaged  in 
agriculture  their  wages  are  rising,  owing  largely  to  the 
scarcity  of  supply  of  labour.  In  such  work  as  Potato 
digging  in  the  autumn  women  can  earn  from  2s.  to  3s. 
a  day.  Often  this  work  is  done  by  whole  families — a 
man,  his  wife,  and  children  working  together,  and  being 
paid  by  the  ton  for  the  Potatoes  which  they  get  up. 
In  the  busiest  time  of  harvest  a  woman  will  perhaps  now 
earn  12s.  or  13s.  a  week,  w  here  she  would  only  have  earned  10s. 
or  11s.  two  or  three  years  ago ;  but  at  other  times  a  much  lower 
figure  would  represent  her  earnings. 
The  only  legal  regulation  of  agricultural  labour  is  the  “Agri¬ 
cultural  Gangs  Act”  of  1868,  which  forbids  children  under  eight 
years  of  age  being  employed  in  agricultural  gangs,  or  females 
being  employed  with  males,  or  without  the  supervision  of  a 
licensed  gang  mistress.  An  article  on  “  Agricultural  Gangs  ”  in 
the  “  Gontemporary  Review',”  June,  1902,  written  by  Mrs. 
Bertram-Tanqueray,  shows,  however,  that  in  the  absence  of  any 
regular  .system  of  administering  this  law  it  is  practically  a  dead 
letter.  She  thus  describes  the  conditions  of  work  :  “  In  Fenland, 
gangs  of  female  workers  are  to  be  found  on  every  farm ;  ancl 
every  year — because  of  stated  hours  and  increased  wages — field 
labour  grows  in  favour  with  the  daughters  of  farm  hands . 
The  Fen  child  is  brought  up  te  regard  the  gang  as  her  ultimate 
goal . As  soon  as  the  necessary  examination  is  passed  a 
girl  hires  her.self  to  a  gang-master,  and  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  year  goes  out  day  after  day  for  eight  hours’  labour,  .starting 
at  7  a.m.,  half-an-hour  being  allowed  for  lunch . Speaking 
generally,  the  married  women,  only  go  out  at  the  busie,st  season, 
and  the  greater  number  of  the  gangs  are  composed  entirely  of 
girls  from  about  thirteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age . In 
November,  1901,  a  large  farmer  in  Cambridgeshire  paid  the 
gangers  18s.  an  acre  to  clear  the  ground  of  Carrots,  and  each  girl 
in  the  gang  received  2s.  a  day ;  across  the  border,  near  Holbeuch, 
I  hear  the  girls  received  2s.  6d.  arrd  even  3s.  6d.  a  day.  This  they 
consider  ‘  good  money,’  bub  it  must  be  remembered  that  out  of 
it  they  have  to  pay  their  parents  for  board  and  clothes.  Their 
field  costume  is  eminently  suitable,  consisting  of  a  large  cotton 
bonnet,  thick  apron,  tied  behind  to  prevent  its  flapping  in  the 
wind,  loose  dress,  and  very  thick  boots;  and  there  is  a  certain 
picturesqueness  in  a  group  so  clad,  moving  slowly  and  precisely 
across  the  land,  hoe  fork  and  basket  in  hand . It  might 
be  supposed  that  so  much  fresh  air  w'ould  conduce  to  the  girls’ 
health,  and  in  a  gang  a  few^  rosy-cheeked  bright-eyed  ones  are 
to  be  found,  but,  on  the  whole,  land  labour  tends  to  bring  on 
anaemia.  The  damp  .soil,  the  wet  root-crops  that  saturate  boots 
and  stocking, s,  the  hastily-eaten,  unsatisfactory  meals,  are  enemies 
against  which  the  strongest  constitution  finds  it  hard  to  fight.” 
Market-gardening  (continues  the  “Englishwoman’s  Year 
Book  ”)  employs  a  large  and  increasing  number  of  women.  In 
districts  round  London,  .such  as  Bedfordshire,  w  here  this  is  largely 
carried  on,  the  women  earn  about  10s.  a  week  for  regular  work, 
the  lowest  rate  being  2d.  an  hour  for  a  nine  hours’  day.  At  piece- 
woik,  which  prevails  to  a  large  extent,  they  earn  3d.  to  Gd.  an 
hour.  The  picking  of  all  small  fruit- — Strawberries,  Currants, 
Gooseberries,  &c. — is  almost  entirely  done  by  women.  This  is 
'  paid  by  the  piece,  and  women  can  earn  at  it  from  15s.  to  25s. 
a  week.  Of  this  Mrs.  Tanqueray  writes:  “In. the  district  where 
I  live  it  is  custumary  for  the  gang-girls  and  women  to  supplement 
the  tilling  of  crops  by  work  on  the  fruit  farms,  and  during  the 
Strawberry  and  other  soft  fruit  seasons  nearly  the  wdiole  female 
population  turns  out  with,  and  even  before,  the  lark,  for  the 
ripe  berries  must  bo  gathered  ere  the  early  bird  is  astir  . and  the 
sun  is  up.  During  the  past  summer  a  neighbour  of  mine  lockrtl 
up  her  house  at  half-past  five'and  did ’not  return  until  evening  : 
during  that  time,  when  school  was  over,  her  family  were  liter-  ' 
all3'  homeless.” 
