May  14,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
435 
of  corrosive  substances,  such  as  sulphides  and  sulphates,  also 
water  containing  large  percentages  of  iron  or  lime,  and  on  these 
matters  the  illustrations  will  be  suggestive,  and  I  trust  induce 
other  experienced  growlers  to  favour  with  critical  views  as  to 
causes  of  cracking. — G.  A. 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
An  Insight  to  Bothydom. 
As  for  doing  away  with  the  bothies,  I  should  like  to  have 
“  Gradus  ”  here,  where  the  village  is  a  mile  and  a  half  away.  He 
would  have  to  tramp  to  his  lodge  after  work,  and  when  on  duty 
he  would  enjoy  the  walk  when  it  was  snowdng,  freezing,  and  blow¬ 
ing.  And  he  would  not  be  able  to  go  backwards  and  forwards 
every  two  hours  to  look  at  his  fires.  He  would  then  find  the 
potting  shed  or  one  of  the  houses  would  not  be  a  comfortable 
place  to  spend  half  the  night  in.  I  think  that  a  bothy  is  a  little 
palace  compared  to  the  average  lodgings  in  some  localities. 
Bothies  have  improved  very  much  of  late,  arid  they  are  generally 
very  comfortable ;  young  gardeners,  as  a  rule,  being  very  happy 
and  contented  in  them. — A  Contented  Bothyite. 
I  have  lived  in  bothies  for  a  few  years,  and  have  never  met 
with  the  treatment  mentioned  by  “  B.  U.”  He  advises  us  to  soar 
above  card  playing,  and  play  the  more  manly  games  of  cricket 
or  football;  but  where,  I  should  like  to  know,  are  cards  ever  seen 
in  a  bothy  in  daylight  ?  It  is  almost  exclusively  during  the  long 
winter  nights  that  cards  are  played,  and  I  should  think  an  hour 
spent  with  them  does  no  one  harm,  though  I  myself  have  rarely 
played,  and  much  prefer  my  Journal  or  other  books.  I  think 
bothies  are  a  blessing  to  young  journeymen  gardeners,  and  will 
.stay  a  long  time. — J.  A.  L.  _ 
I  think  “  Cupid  ”  is  getting  out  of  his  depth,  as  he  admits  he 
has  never  been  in  a  bothy,  much  less  lived  in  one.  His  remarks 
may,  therefore,  be  taken  for  what  they  are  worth.  He  goes  on 
to  say  that  the  young  men  wuth  whom  he  has  worked  are  narrow¬ 
minded  and  bigoted.  The  bothy  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
gardens  of  any  importance,  and  I  maintain  it  is  the  best  place  to 
get  a  thorough  training  in,  and  to  prepare  young  men  for  the 
better  position  w’hich  some  day  they  hope  to  fill.  Again,  “  B.  U.”, 
in  his  short  experience,  seems  to  have  been  very  unfortunate  in 
having  for  his  bothy  companions  some  of  the  very  w’orst  that  are 
in  the  ranks.  My  own  experience  is  that  bothy  companions  are 
always  ready  tO'  impart  the  knowledge  they  possess  to  each  other, 
and,  taking  the  rough  with  the  smooth,  the  bothy  is  not  such  a 
bad  place  as  some  would  have  us  believe.  Such  is  the  opinion  of 
Another  Foreman. 
Having  read  with  much  interest  the  arguments  on  bothies,  I 
fail  to  understand  what  sort  of  gardens  “  Cupid  ”  has  been  in, 
never  to  have  entered  a  bothy.  Bothies  are  a  necessity  in  most 
gardens.  I  know  of  a  bothy  where  card-playing  and  beer-drink- 
mg  is  carried  on  a  great  deal  too  much,  and  only  last  Christmas 
Day  all  were  invited  out  to  dinner,  but  five  out  of  seven  w'ere 
drunk,  and  could  not  go.  I  agree  with  plajdng  cricket  and  foot¬ 
ball  (though  I  have  no  time  for  matches  myself)  in  preference  to 
cards,  and  those  who  do  so,  I  have  found,  are  generally  better 
companions  for  my  own  good  than  those  Avho  play  cards.  Though 
a  foreman  has  a  good  deal  of  influence  over  the  others,  the  men 
do  not  always  follow  his  example,  as  stated  by  “  B.  U.”  I  should 
have  been  sorry  to  try  to  follow  the  example  set  by  the  foreman 
in  my  last  place.  He  obtained  his  situation  by  stating  his  age 
to  be  three  yeays  more  than  it  was,  a  practice  which  is  very 
common  wdth  young  gardeners  nowadays,  but  I  sincerely  hope  is 
not  done  by  any  readers  of  this  paper,  for  by  doing  so  honest  ones 
are  very  often  placed  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  obtaining  situa¬ 
tions. — Thistle,  Kent. 
Greenhouse  Daphnes. 
I  do  not  consider  these  are  so  generally  grown  as  they  should 
be.  What  a  lovely  perfume  the  Daphne  emits  when  in  flower! 
And  for  a  scented  buttonhole,  what  can  equal  it?  There  is  here 
a  span-roofed  house  of  Daphne  indica  rubra,  planted  in  naiwow 
borders,  and  trained  up  the  sides  and  roof,  a  quantity  being  also 
grown  in  pots.  The  compost  they  succeed  so  well  in  consists  of 
good  porous  loam,  a  little  peat,  and  plenty  of  grit  and  brick 
rubble.  Daphnes  require  very  careful  watering,  therefore  good 
drainage  is  essential.  During  the  growing  season  a  slight  syring¬ 
ing  twice  daily  is  very  beneficial,  and  helps  to  keep  away  green 
fly,  which  the  Daphne  is  very  subject  to,  and  which  disfigures 
the  young  leaves  if  not  eradicated  in  time.  We  examine  our 
plants  weekly,  and  upon  the  least  sign  of  green  fly  dust  the 
affected  parts  with  Fowler’s  tobacco  powder,  or  fumigate  with 
McDougall  turners,  the  latter  will  not  injure  the  most  tender 
foliage.  To  grow  Daphnes  properly,  allow  the  plants  plenty 
of  air  day  and  night,  keeping  them  quite  cool,  only  employing 
fire  heat  to  keep  out  frost,  and  shade  slightly  during  the  grow¬ 
ing  season.  Propagation  is  easily  effected  by  means  of  cuttings 
taken  in  spring,  and  put  irii  a  close  intermediate  temperature. — 
H.  S.,  Temple  House  Gardens. 
ffr\  r?y 
f  WOKK.F0fi.THE  week.. 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden . 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES  :  THINNING  AND  TREAT¬ 
MENT  OF  SHOOTS. — Tlie  principal  operations  in  the  work  of 
disbudding  wdll  have  been  brought  almost  to  a  conclusion,  and 
little  should,  therefore,  now  remain  but  the  occasional  removal 
of  any  unsuitable  growths  which  cannot  be  utilised  for  filling  up  a 
vacancy,  or  is  .so  placed  as  to  cause  confusion.  The  removal  of 
shoots  now  must  be  done  by  cutting  them  out,  as  in  most  cases 
they  are  too  strong  to  detach  by  the  ordinary  disbudding  method. 
ITie  vigorous  parts  of  wall  trees  where  the  shoots  are  strong  and 
numerous  should  be  first  attended  to,  leaving  the  weaker  until 
later,  as  by  this  means  it  is  more  possible  to  equalise  growth  over 
the  whole  area  of  the  trees.  Very^  strong  shoots  may  with 
advantage  be  stopped,  and  the  formation  of  two  shoots  of  less 
vigour  be  encouraged.  Bearing  shoots  may  have  some  growth 
allowed  above  the  fruit,  but  stop  at  the  .sixth  or  seventh  leaf 
when  these  have  developed  to  full  size.  Tlie  systematic  disposal 
of  the  retained  shoots  must  be  judicicmsly  effected,  properly 
laying  them  in  and  securing  in  po.sition.  The  health  and  con¬ 
dition  of  the  trees  demands  that  these  details  be  carried  out 
before  the  shoots  grow  and  crowd  together. 
MULCHING  AND  FEEDING  FRUIT  TREES.— Maintaining 
the  soil  regularly  moist  about  the  roots  of  fruit  trees,  especially 
those  in  bearing  and  carrying  good  crops,  is  essentially  beneficial 
in  every  way.  This  can  best  be  acoomplished,  not  by  continually 
applying  w’ater  should  the  weather  prove  exceptionally  dry,  but 
by  placing  a  liberal  mulching  of  farmyard  manure  over  the  roots 
as  far  as  they  extend.  A  few  thoroughly  copious  applications  of 
water  may  be  given  a  few'  times  during  the  summer  if  dry,  also 
liquid  manure,  the  latter  being  most  helpful  in  affording  food» 
which  can  be  appropriated  when  the  crops  are  swelling.  Goose¬ 
berries,  Currants,  and  Raspberries  are  decidedly  benefited  by- 
mulchings  of  rich  manure,  inasmuch  as  these  fruits  produce  fibrou.s 
roots  in  quantity  near  the  surface,  and  the  mulching  not  only 
protects,  feeds,  and  retains  them,  but  multiplies  them  also  in  the 
area  in  which  they  spread.  Additional  help  may  be  given  by 
applications  of  liquid  manure  when  this  appears  to  be  most 
needed.  Straw-berries  not  yet  mulched  must  havei  material  laid 
down  betw-een  the  rows  of  plants  without  delay.  A  mulching 
if  not  required  for  food  is  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  fruit 
clean  when  ripe.  If  used  expres.sly  for  the  latter  purpose,  long 
strawy  litter  will  answer  better  than  large  proportions  of  solid 
manure. 
MORELLO  CHERRIES.— After  the  free  amount  of  disbud¬ 
ding  which  is  accorded  to  the  trees  on  walls,  there  should  only 
remain  the  thinning  out  of  the  longer  shoots  that  have  escaped 
removal  by  disbudding,  but  which  it  is  necessary  to  dispense  with. 
Before  laying  in  shoots  to  permanently  retain  for  future  bearing, 
it  w-ill  be  advisable  to  examine  the  tree.s,  noting  the  growths 
which  can  be  easily  dispensed  witli.  such  as  the  weakly,  ill-placed, 
and  crowded.  This  will  materially  thin  out  the  growths,  and 
render  the  best  placed  shoots  stronger  and  firmer  by  reason  of 
having  more  room  and  access  to  light  and  air.  The  shoots  should 
be  laid  in  at  least  in  the  direction  they  are  ultimately  to  take, 
being  now  pliable.  One  good  method  of  temporarily  securing 
them  is  using  small  twig.s  across  the  ends,  being  secured  under  the 
other  branches.  Freely  syringe  in  the  late  afternoons  of  warm 
days,  dry  and  hot  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  causing  heav-y 
transniration  of  watery  vapour  from  the  foliage,  and  favouring 
the  spread  of  red  spider.  Tlie  attacks  of  these  insects  wdll  become 
more  pronounced  if  the  rooting  medium  long  remains  dry. 
Morel lo  Cherries  are  usually  free  bearing  trees,  therefore  it  is 
sound  policy  to  properly  nourish  and  sustain  the  root.'^  by  always 
maintaining  moisture,  supplementing  this  by  affording  some 
soluble,  fertiliser  when  the  demands  are  heaviest  upon  the  trees. 
WATERING  YOUNG  TREES.- — The  maintenance  of  moisture 
about  the  roots  of  young  recently  planted  trees  is.  e.'^^sential  to 
their  well  being,  and  if  a  dry  period  follows  before  they  have 
become  established,  a  copious  watering  mnst  be  given,  as  well  a.s 
a  mulching  of  manure. — East  Kent. 
Fruit  Forcing. 
CHERRY  HOUSE. — Cherries  are  ripening  rapidly  in  the 
house  brought  forward  gently  from  the  early  part  of  the  year, 
and  the  fruit  must  be  kept  dry,  but  air  moisture  is  necessary  for 
the  health  of  the  trees,  and  may  be  secured  by  damping  the  border 
occasionally  with  the  syringe,  air  being  admitted  constantly,  or 
condensation  w-ill  seriously  affect  the  fruit,  causing  it  to  cr^k, 
and  spoiling  it  for  use.  Sprinkling  the  border  is  apt  to  mislead 
