454 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ARB  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
May  21,  1903. 
I  have  grown  Veitch’s  Early  Favourite  during  the  past  three 
years,  both  in  pots  and  for  the  first  outside  sowing.  I  find  it 
well  ahead  of  any  other  as  an  early  variety.  It  is  an  excellent 
cropper,  and  produces  full-sized,  handsome  pods.  It  is  a  very 
fine  sort  for  early  forcing  in  pots,  free  setting,  and  very  pro¬ 
ductive,  and  I  can  commend  it  to  anyone  on  the  look-out  for  a 
really  good  thing  in  dwarf  Beans. — A.  Jefferies,  Gardener,  Moor 
Hall,  Essex. 
Roses  Injured  by  Frost. 
I  am  sending  you  a  piece  of  Maman  Cochet  wood,  which  is, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  sample  of  most  of  my  Tea  wood,  showing 
severe  injury  from  the  frosts.  Badly  as  the  recent  frosts  have 
served  the  Roses,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  this  particular 
damage  was  done  in  the  early  winter.  As  everyone  knows,  the 
Roses  were  full  of  growth,  not  to  say  bloom,  when  the  frost — 
in  my  case  I  think  I  am  right  in  saying  of  some  15deg — fell 
suddenly  upon  them.  You  will  see  that  the  bark  is  split  and 
brown,  while  the  younger  growth  is  untouched.  I  should  like 
to  hear  the  experience  of  others.  I  have  grown  Roses  for  five- 
and-thirty  years,  and  have  never  seen  them  so  cut  before,  and  in 
all  cases  it  is  the  old  wood  which  has  suffered.  My  gardener 
suggests  that  the  “  sap  had  not  time  to  stop  flowing,  and  the 
older  wood,  being  full,  burst.”  This  may  not  be  scientific,  but 
it  sounds  reasonable.  Perhaps  “  Mr.  Ra'illem  ”  will  give  us  his 
opinion  on  the  matter.  I  might  add  my  plants  are  in  a  very 
damp,  low’  position. — J.  T.  Strange. 
[We  have  fonvarded  the  injured  shoot  to  “  Mr.  Raillem.” — 
Ed.] 
Back  to  the  Land. 
o- 
I  have  been  reading  the  remarks  of  “  Provincial  ”  in  your 
number  of  May  7,  and  I  do  not  think  he  is  fair,  or  that  he  has 
any  knowledge  of  wdiat  he  is  writing  about.  He  talks  about  our 
land  law  s  being  a  disgrace.  Why  are  they  a  disgrace  ?  Judging 
by  his  further  remarks  it  appear.s  to  me  that  he  would  desire  that 
all  landlords  should  be  promptly  deprived  of  their  property,  and 
that  the  land  should  be  divided  amongst  the  town  loafers.  He 
tells  us  that  the  result  of  a  tenant  improving  his  holding  is  that 
his  rent  is  increased.  This  statement  is  absolutely  false.  I  am 
a  landowner  in  all  three  Ridings  of  Yorkshire,  and  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  I  have  kept  all  my  tenants  ever  since  I  inherited  the 
property.  I  have  spent  no  end  of  money  on  improvements  at 
their  desii'es,  but  have  mot-  only  not  increa.sed  their  rents  but 
have  gradually  lowered  them.  In  one  instance  I  have  not  put 
one  penny  into  my  own  pocket  for  seven  years.  The  whole  of 
the  incomings  from  that  particular  estate  have  been  swallowed 
up  by  improvements,  estate  and  succession  duties,  property  and 
land  taxes  and  tithe. 
I  do  not  think  that  these  foolish  and  irresponsible  writers 
realise  wdiat  the  possession  of  land  means.  They  seem  to  think 
that  a  landlord  is  a  species  of  robber,  to  be  girded  at  and  bullied, 
a  sort  of  target  to  be  shot  at  by  every  loafer.  They  do  not  realise 
that  an  owner  of  land  is  in  the  nature  of  a  banker.  He  owns  by 
right  a  certain  amount  of  capital.  That  capital  has  been  acquired 
honestly  by  himself  or  his  ancestors,  and  consists  of  land.  He 
lends  out  that  land  at  a  veiy  low’  rate  of  interest  to  a  tenant, 
who  wishes  to  use  it  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  out  of  it. 
The  tenant,  of  his  own  free  will,  agrees  to  pay  a  rent,  usually 
about  3  per  cent,  or  less,  on  the  value  of  the  land.  Then  why 
abuse  the  landlord,  who  is  terribly  penalised  by  the  land  laws, 
and  cannot  claim  more  than  a  year’s  arrears  ?  The  banker  lends 
his  money  in  the  shape  of  hard  cash,  and  charges  5  per  cent.  He 
is  not  limited  to  one  year’s  arrears  of  interest,  but  piles  it  up  at 
compound  interest,  and  comes  down  like  a  thousand  of  bricks 
on  his  poor  client  (or  tenant)  withput  mercy. 
Yet  Ave  don’t  hear  of  any  outcry  against  bankers.  Then  why 
against  landlords?  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  your  landlord  is 
only  too  glad  to  get  good  tenants  and  make  them  allowances  in 
kind  also,  and  you  may  take  it  straight  from  one  Avho  is  not  only 
a  landowner  himself,  but  also  an  agent  for  other  extensic’e  estates, 
that  a  good  tenant  will  not  only  never  be  disturbed,  but  will 
never  have  his  rent  raised.  But  w’e  are  afraid  of  rascals  w’ho 
will  rent  a  farm,  take  everything  out  of  it,  put  nothing  into  it, 
and  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  years,  having  killed  the  pig,  will 
leave  the  place  dirty,  out  of  condition,  and  almost  impossible  to 
let  at  any  price. 
For  goodness’  sake  let  us  have  honesty  in  all  our  transactions, 
and  let  us  deal  fairly  one  by  another.  To  read  such  stuff  as  your 
correspondent  has  Avritten  Avould  lead  a  person  ignorant  of  the 
truth  to  think  that  a  landlord  is  next  door  to  a  criminal.  I 
enclose  my  card. — T.  B.  W.,  May  13. 
Gardeners’  Commissions. 
The  question  of  gardeners’  commissions  seems  to  be  exer¬ 
cising  the  minds  of  many  people,  both  in  and  out  of  “  the 
trade.”  “  T.  F.,”  in  your  issue  of  May  14,  Avrites  from  an 
employer’s  point  of  vieAV.  May  I  be  permitted  to  make  a  feAV 
remarks  from  a  gardener’s  point  of  view,  and  more  especially 
from  my  own  personal  experience,  as  I  feel  sure  mine  is  no 
isolated  ca.se?  During  my  thirty  odd  years  as  head  gardener, 
more  than  half  of  Avhich  I  have  been  in  my  present  situation  j 
and  as  Ave  all  knoAv,  “  there  is  alius  a  summat  ”  in  every  place 
that  we  have  to  take  as  Ave  find.  One  of  the  things  I  found 
I  was  expected  to  do,  and  have  done,  Avas,  to  pay  all  the  men 
Aveekly,  and  all  garden  accounts  monthly,  out  of  my  own  pocket, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  month  send  in  wages  sheet  and  bills,  and 
generally  tw’o  weeks  after  I  get  the  cheque  for  the  whofe 
amount.  This  necessitates  me  keeping  £50  of  my  own  on  hand, 
and  I  can  honestly  say  that  all  the  commission  I  get  will  not 
amount  to  above  half  what  I  Avould  get  for  it  in  the  post  office, 
or,  say,  barely  office  expenses. 
Another  item  which  falls  on  us  gardeners  in  country  places 
is  that,  during  the  .summer  months,  one  has  frequently  visitors 
to  see  the  place  Avhom  we  have  often  to  provide  with  a  meal,  or 
refreshment  of  .some  sort,  for  our  own  or  for  our  emploj’er’s 
credit.  I  have  never  found  any  commission,  .secret  or  otherwise, 
or  blackmail,  as  “  T.  F.”  calls  it,  to  meet  this  drain  on  our 
resources.  Of  course,  if  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  serve 
“  T.  F.,”  he  would  allow  for  all  of  these  out  of  pocket  expenses, 
Avhich  I  Avould  most  Avillingly  exchange  for  anything  I  get  in  the 
way  of — Blackmail. 
Saturday  Half-holiday  for  Gardeners. 
I  should  like  to  say  a  feiv  Avords  in  support  of  the  article 
by  “  Scoticus,”  on  page  187,  on  behalf  of  a  Saturday  half-holiday 
for  gardeners.  What  time  for  reaction,  study,  or  rest  does  a 
young  journeyman  get,  who  has  to  labour  from  six  a.m.  to  six 
p.m.,  fiA’e  days  out  of  six,  and  four  p.m.  the  other  odd  day,  and 
has  also  to  take  (in  a  good  many  cases)  duty  once  in  three  weeks, 
and  very  often  is  not  alloAA’ed  to  go  aAvay  from  the  place  during 
duty  Aveek  ?  And,  again,  how  goes  it  Avith  a  busy  foreman  who 
has  to  be  here,  there,  and  everyw’here,  from  Monday  morning  to 
Sunday  night;  in  fact,  Avhose  Avork  is  never  done?  He  is  the 
first  to  turn  out  in  the  early  morning,  and  the  last  to  turn  in 
at  night,  and  is  liable  to  be  called  out  at  any  time.  Tlie  Avriter 
has  very  often  been  called  out  for  some  trivial  matter  Avhen 
shaving  or  dres.sing  to  go  to  church  on  Sunday  morning.  I  am 
sure  all  your  readers  will  acknowledge  that  a  gardener,  after  all, 
is  only  human,  and  like  other  human  beings,  needs  some  little 
rest  and  recreation  to  recruit  after  a  hard  week’s  work,  and 
prepare  for  the  week  before  him.  And,  yet,  ala.s!  hoAV  often  is 
he  treated  as  though  he  were  but  a  beast  of  burden,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  to  go  on  his  Avay  rejoicing  as  though  he  w’ere  the 
happiest  being  in  creation.  May  I  also  say  a  Avord  on  a  point 
that  has  very  often  been  commented  on  in  the  gardening  Press, 
namely,  better  Avages  for  gardeners,  and  not  only  “  head  ” 
gardeners,  but  journeymen  and  garden  labourers?  "What  would 
your  readers  say  in  regard  to  a  place  where  the  garden 
labourers,  Avorking  the  hours  I  have  stated,  are  paid,  during  full 
time,  the  large  sum  of  14s.  per  week?  For  three  months  of  the 
year  (six  Aveeks  before  and  after  Christmas)  they  Avork  from  seven 
a.m.  to  five  p.m.,  and  the  iLsual  time  on  Saturday;  their  Avages 
are  loAvered  to  13s.  per  Aveek,  and  they  are  only  allqw’ed  half  an 
hour  for  dinner.  Some  of  your  readers  may  question  Avhether 
all  this  is  fiction,  but  I  can  assure  them  these  are  facts  which 
have  come  to  my  knoAvledge,  and  facts  are  stubborn  things ;  more 
so,  Avhen  a  man  has  to  keep  a  wdfe  and  family,  pay  house  rent, 
coal,  and  the  expenses  of  a  household  on  13s.  per  Aveek  for  the 
three  Avorst  months  in  the  year.  Noav,  avIio  is  to  blame  that  such 
conditions  exist,  especially  in  a  country  like  England,  a  fr^. 
country,  where  even  a  labourer  is  supposed  to  be  worthy  of  his 
hire  ?  What  are  our  head  gardeners  doing  that  they  do  not 
speak  out,  and  say  a  word  for  the  man  they  cannot  do  without. — 
the  man  Avho  has  to  wield  spade  and  fork,  and  upon  whom  all 
others  are  dependent  to  a  great  extent  for  the  success  of  their 
labours  ?  I  am  quite  aware  all  garden  men  do  not  have  to  labour 
under  such  conditions  as  I  have  stated,  but  still  there  are  plenty 
of  places  where  they  do,  and  now  that  we  are  talking  of  new 
halls,  better  bothies,  Saturday  half-holidays,  and  the  like,  do  not 
let  us  forget  to  agitate  for  better  Avages  for  gardeners  in  general, 
and  also  the  garden  labourer — Geo.  Hockney,  Todmorden. 
