May  28,  190?. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAIE  GARDENER. 
469 
Gardeners’  Commissions. 
Quiz  ’  strongly  urges  all  gardeners'  to  come  to  an  under¬ 
standing  with  their  employers,  and  in  “  T.  F.’s”  letter  we  have  an 
instance  of  the  employer  coming  to  an  understanding  with  the 
man.  I  fully  agree  with  “Quiz”  in  his  remarks  on  this  point, 
and  any  man  who  controls  the  ordering  of  various  articles  as  in 
Qie  instance  of  gardeners,  oertkinly  ought  to  make  sure  of  his  foot¬ 
ing.  Respecting  the  gardener  who  ordered  vast  quantities  of 
stores,  in  order  to  obtain  commission,  probably  the  ca.se  was 
unique,  for  onei  would  have  to  go  a  long  way  before  meeting  with 
an  employer  who  unreservedly  placed  money  at  his  man’s  disposal. 
It  must  not  be  supposed  for  an  in.stant  that  the  bill  in  question 
strikes  directly  at  gardeners  as  “  Quiz  ”  openly  states.  Never¬ 
theless,  there  is  not  such  a  di.stinction  between  commissions  and 
Christinas  boxes  as  he  supposes.  Were  the  latter  restricted  to 
presents  only,  it  would  not  matter  much,  but  it  is  the  money 
sums  that  are  apt  to  cause  mischief  when  the  recipient  controls 
Qie  ordering.  I  have  had  dealings  in  trades  other  than  garden¬ 
ing,  and  can  speak  form  personal  experience.  We  are  all  liable 
to  temptation,  and  it  is  not  everyone  that  can  resist  it.  I  have 
acted  as  a  delivery  man,  and  as  such  have  received  hundreds  of 
small  money  sums  ;  but  having  no  control  of  the  buying  from  the 
wholesaler,  no  loss  of  character  accrued  in  accepting  them. 
“  W.  S.”  hints  at  the  employer  with  regard  to  payment  of  his 
bills,  and  I  doubt  not  that  he  has  had  experience  in  that  direc¬ 
tion.  I  presume,  however,  that  the  employer  has  not  asked  for 
the  discount  before  paying  his  bill. — C. 
- - 
Back  to  the  Lan(’, 
I  have  no  doubt  “  T.  B.  W.”  is  right  in  the  main  about  land¬ 
lords,  and  good  hardworking  tenants  are  encouraged,  and  more 
than  that,  sought  after.  But  there  are  cases,  especially  on  the 
smaller  estates,  Avhere  a  man  succeeds  in  bringing  the  land  to  a 
state  of  good  cultivation  and  who  gets  on  a  bit  in  the  world,  that 
the  owner  looks  on  Avith  a  greedy  eye  and  pops  up  the  rent. 
C'an  the  land  be  made  to  pay.^  That  is  the  question  tve  hear  on 
all  sides.  Yes,  undoubtedly.  Living,  as  I  clo,  in  the  centre  of 
an  agricultural  district,  and  coming  in  contact  daily  tvith  men  Avho 
till  the  ground,  I  obsertm  that  there  are’  tAvo  classes  of  farmer, 
one  whoi  has  been  brought  up  to  pay  for  his  labour,  and  one  (and 
one,  I  am,  glad  to  say,  increasing  in  numbers)  Avho  lias  been 
brought  up  to  Avork  for  himself.  The  first  knoAvs  how  the  Avork 
should  be  done,  and  pays  others  to  do  it,  the  other  does  the  Avork 
him.self  and  pays  himself.  The  difference  betAveen  the  modes  of 
farming  is  most  marked.  One  farms  for  a  big  cheque  and  groAvs 
a  big  crop  of  .something  or  other,  which,  if  it  is  a  failure,  spells 
di.saster.  The  other  goes  in  for  small  things,  a  little  fruit,  butter, 
eggs,  poultry,  &c.  ;  if  one  does  not  pay  the  other  does.  I  can  see 
several  men  daily,  avIio  started  as  farm  labourers  and  are  noAv 
doing  fairly  well,  farming  for  themselves.  Indeed,  the  man  Avho 
has  .supplied  me  AA’ith  excellent  butter  for  the  last  ten  years  at 
Is.  per  pound,  is  this  Michaelmas  taking  over  a  farm  from  one  of 
the  first  class  of  farmers  mentioned,  and  was  asked  by  the  agent 
as  a  favour  to  do  .so,  and  he  Avas  a  farm  labourer. 
How  can  avo  get  the  people  back  to  the  land?  Why,  give  us 
the  same  chance  as  they  are  giving  the  Irishmen  (avIio,  by-the-by, 
can  send  chickens  here  to  be  fatted  cheaper  than  Ave  can  raise 
them).  Create  a  direct  interest  for  our  sons  and  daughters  in 
the  land,  viz.,  OAvner-ship.  In  my  opinion  OAmry  pari.sh  (agri¬ 
cultural  I  mean)  should  have  an  experimental  farm  attached  to 
the  school,  and  in.stead  of  cramming  a  lot  of  lessons  doAvn  the  boys’ 
throats,  which  only  suit  them  for  patent  leather  boots  and  the 
boulevards  of  a  toAvn,  let  them  have  a  feAv  hours  a  Aveek  Avhen 
young,  so  that  they  Avould  learn  to  love  the  land  and  the  Avorking 
■of  it  before  leaving  school,  I  think  if  our  boys  had  an  idea 
that  the  land  Avould  some  day  be  their  OAvn,  and  their  children’s 
after  them,  every  moment  and  every  penny  Avould  be  spent  for 
their  interest  and  to  the  interest  of  their  loved  ones.  If  it  did 
not  bring  them  back,  it  Avould  .stop  the  future  generation  from 
deserting  Avhat  I  firmly  believe  (in  our  small  island)  to  be  the  most 
nece«.sary  calling  of  the  future. — W.  B.,  Sussex. 
In  his  letter  Avith  Avhich  he  has  chosen  to  adorn  page  454, 
“  T.  B.  W.”  accuses  me  of  falsehood  and  of  Avishrng  to  “  divide  the 
land  amongst  the  town  loafers.”  If  this  is  intendecl  as  a  display 
of  intellectual  superiority  it  is  singularly  unconvincing.  I  never 
intentionally  giA'e  offence  to  anyone,  and  if  I  haA'e  hurt  the  feel¬ 
ings  of  your  correspondent,  I  freely  apolog'se.  But  I  deeline  to 
ansAA'er  the  question.s  of,  or  enter  into  a  controveisy  AA'ith  one  Avho 
evidently  imagines  a.  public  exhibition  of  ill  temper  to  be  an 
efficient  .substitute  for  .sound  argument.  Vituperation  is  a  cheap 
commodity,  but  it  is  out  of  place  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal  nf 
IloiiicuUu  re. — Provincial. 
Elfect  of  EBctricity  on  Plant  Life. 
In  your  interesting  note  of  April  16,  page  334,  on  this  subject, 
it  may  stimulate  experiment  by  horticulturists  if  I  state  that  I 
have,  by  making  a  battery  of  plants  groAving  in  my  steel  flower 
pots,  had  good  result,s.  By  the  use  of  .steel  pots  the  gentle 
electrical  action  induced  is  carried  all  round  and  through  the 
roots,  saA'ing  the  necessity  of  placing  Avires  through  the  pots,  as 
when  clay  pots  are  used,  which  interfere  Avith,  and  are  liable  to 
bruise  the  roots.  It  may  not  be  generally  knoAvn  that  these 
original  experiments  (but  not  Avith  steel  pots)  were  made  more 
than  fifty  years  ago  by  Mr.  Cross,  a  Somersetshire  scientist,  and 
he  read  a  paper  before  the  British  Association  meeting  at  Bristol 
on  the  subject  someAvhere  about  the  year  1850. — Alfred 
Chandler. 
Large  Stra\!t)erries. 
I  take  leave  to  send  you  fruits  of  our  forced  Royal  Sovereign 
StraAvberry  plants.  I  haA'e  placed  representative  fruits  of  the 
largest  and  the  medium-sized  .samples  in  separate  boxes,  but 
the  big  fruits  are  not  the  finest  Ave  have  had,  some  having 
Aveighed  nearly  2oz  apiece.  You  will  find  the  quality  good.  The 
foliage  of  the  plants  is  robust  and  leathery,  even  taking  on  a, 
tint  of  red  in  the  older  leaves.  Such  fruits  cannot  be  groAvn  in 
vineries,  nor  in  saucers  of  stagnant  Avater. — Alexander  Tr.aill, 
Che.shire.  [The  fruits  Avere  very  agreeable  to  the  palate,  and 
must  have  been  better  Avhen  fre.shly  pulled.  The  largest  Aveighed 
Ifoz,  Avhich  is  a  fraction  under  l^oz.  This  is  very  good  for  forced 
Strawberries.  Another  very  successful  groAver  is  Mr.  Chapman, 
at  Westonbirt,  Gloucester,  whose  fine  collection  of  fruiting 
plants,  laden  Avith  their  scarlet-crimson  odorous  crop,  are  quite 
a  feast  to  the  eyes  at  the  present  time,  and  the  flesh  of  the  fruits 
is  rich,  sugary,  and  juicy. — Ed.] 
Pharmacy  Act  Amendment  BilL 
A  letter  of  Avliich  the  folloAving  is  a  copy  appears  in  the 
“Chemist  and  Druggist  Journal”  for  the  16th  inst: — “An  ex¬ 
perience  of  forty-four  years  in  the  drug  trade  has  never  given  me 
the  nece.ssity  to  think  chemists  are  not  able  to  cope  Avith  the 
poisonous  co'inpounds  used  in  horticulture.  Wheat-dressing,  Ac, 
Neither  have  1  ever  known  a  toAvn  or  village  in  Avhich,  as  a  rule, 
there  are  not  four  chemists  to  one  seedsman.  I  therefore  Avonder 
on  Avhat  point  Mr.  Dobbs  bases  his  plea  to  be  allowed,  Avith  others 
outside  the  drug  trade,  to  get  the  sale  of  poisons  placed  in  other 
traders’  hands.  Farmers  go  to  the  chemist  for  horse-physic, 
rubbing  oils,  and  medicines  for  domestic  use,  and  naturally  order 
their  Wheat -dressing  or  sheep-dip.  Why,  then,  all  this  fuss? 
Surely  our  legislators  cannot  have  been  properly  informed  upon 
the  subject,  otherAA'ise,  I  am  sure,  no  one  sitting  on  the  Com¬ 
mission  Avould  have  entertained  a  desire  to  alter  the  Phannacy 
Acts.- — Faithfully  yours,  John  S.  Sykes,  Plumstead,  S.E.,  May  7.” 
And  the  folloAving  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  I  have  received  from  a 
“  Farmer  in  Wales  ”  : — 
“Mr.  Dobbs, — In  last  Aveek’s  “  C.  and  D.”,  Mr.  Sykes’  Icttc  r  is 
misleading.  I  live  in  a  countrv  district,  the  nearest  chemist  shop 
to  me  Avhere  I  can  obtain  poisonous  sheep-dip  is  tAvelve  miles 
any  direction,  Avhich  I  consider  very  inconvenient,  and  I  have  to 
use  non-poisonous  dip,  AA'hen  I  Avquld  prefer  poisonous.  Again,  I 
can  prove  to  you  Avhere  a  chemist  charged  me  6.20  grains  nux 
vom.  powders'7s.  6d.,  Avhen  it  cost  about  lOd.  to  Is.  3d.  per  lb. 
I  am  only  pointing  you  these  facts  to  contradict  Mr.  Sykes’  experi¬ 
ence  in  agricultural  trade.  Sheep  dip  is  used  A'ery  largely  in  our 
district,  and  yet  in  the  hands  of  chemists,  Avhen  really  a  grocer 
or  ironmonger  near  home  could  supply  me  equally  as  Avell.  I  hope 
AA’e  shall  have  more  freedom  in  business  matters. — Farmer  in 
"Wales.” 
In  the  interest  of  the  agriculturist  and  horticulturist  it  is 
advi.sable  they  should  take  greater  interest  in  the  movement  uoav 
on  foot  to  get  the  Pharmacy  Acts  amended,  making  it  lawful  for 
traders  to  have  the  right  to  sell  poisonous  compounds  in  sealed 
packages  under  proper  re.strictions,  according  to  regulations  to 
be  laid  doAvn  by  the  Prii-y  Council,  as  Avell  a.s  chemists,  and  I  shall 
be  obliged  if  any  of  your  readers  Aiill  kindly  inform  me  of  any 
experiences  they  may  hai^e  had  .similar  to  that  of  the  “  Farmer  in 
AVales,”  .so  that  I  may  u.se  it  to  their  interest.  You  Avill  note 
that  not  only  has  the  “Farmer  in  Wales”  experienced  difficulty 
in  obtaining  poi.sonous  sheep  dips,  but  he  makes  an  allegation 
against  the  chemist  of  charging  him  very  extravagant  prices. 
Thanking  you  in  anticipation  for  the  insertion  of  this  letter  in 
your  next  issue. — Tiios.  G.  Dobbs,  24,  Sansome  Street,  Worcester. 
