508 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
June  11,  19C3 
merits-  of  such  a  gardener  are  often  overlooked,  and  the  master, 
through  ignorance  or  indifference,  or  a  niggardly  penuriousness 
of  approbation,  receives  tliat  as  an  effort  of  mechanical  routine, 
■which  is  due  to  a  rare  union  of  science,  skill,  and  indefatigable 
attention. 
The  climate  and  country  of  England,  Sir  W.  Temple  con¬ 
siders  as  highly  favourable  for  gardening.  “Perhaps  few  coun¬ 
tries,”  he  says,  “  are  before  us  in  the  number  of  our  plants,  and 
I  believe  none  equals  us  in  a  variety  of  fruits,  which  may  be 
justly  called  good,  and  from  the  earliest  Cherry  and  Strawberry 
to  the  last  Apples  and  Pears,  may  furnish  every  day  of  the  circ¬ 
ling  year.  For  the  taste  and  perfection  of  what  we  esteem  the 
be.st,  I  may  truly  say  that  the  French,  who  have  eaten  my 
Peaches  and  Crapes  at  Shene,  in  no  very  ill  year,  liave  generally 
concluded  that  the  last  are  as  good  as  any  they  have  eaten  in 
France  on  this  side  Fontainbleau  ;  and  the  first  as  good  as  any 
they  have  ate  in  Gascony  ;  I  mean  those  which  come  from  the 
stone,  and  are  properly  called  Peaches,  not  those  which  are  hard, 
and  are  termed  Pavies ;  for  these  cannot  grow  in  too  warm  a 
climate,  nor  ever  be  good  in  a  cold,  and  are  better  at  Madrid 
than  in  Gascony  itself.  Italians  have  agreed  my  white  Figs 
to  be  as  good  as  any  of  that  sort  in  Italy,  which  is  the  earlier 
kind  of  white  Fig  there;  for  in  the  latter  kind  and  the  blue 
we  cannot  come  near  the  warm  climates,  no  more  than  in  the 
Frontignan  or  Muscat  Grape.  My  Oi'ange  trees  are  as  large  as 
any  I  saw  when  I  was  young  in  France,  except  those  of  Fontain¬ 
bleau,  or  what  I  have  since  seen  in  the  Low  Countries,  except 
some  very’  old  ones  of  the  Prince  of  Orange’s;  as  laden  with 
flowers  as  can  well  be,  as  full  of  fruit  as  I  suffer  or  desire  them, 
and  as  well  tasted  as  are  commonly  brought  over,  except  the 
best  sorts  of  Seville  and  Portirgal.  And  thus  much  I  could  not 
but  say  in  defence  of  our  climate,  which  is  so  much  and  so 
generally  decried  abroad.  The  truth  is,  our  climate  wants  no 
heat  to  produce  excellent  fruits;  and  the  default  of  it  is  only 
the  short  season  of  our  heats  and  summers,  by  which  many  of 
the  latter  are  left  behind,  and  imperfect  with  us.  But  all  such 
as  are  ripe  before  the  end  of  August  are,  for  aught  I  know,  as 
good  with  us  as  anywhere  else.  This  makes  me  esteem  the  true 
regions  of  gardens  in’ England  to  be  the  compass  of  ten  miles 
about  London ;  where  the  incidental  warmth  of  air,  from  the 
fires  and  steams  of  so  vast  a  town,  makes  fruits,  as  well  as  corn, 
a  great  deal  forwarder  than  in  Hampshire  or  Wilt.shire,  though 
more  southward  by  a  full  degree.” — From  “Loudon’s  Encyclo¬ 
paedia.” 
Free  Trade  v.  Protection. 
It  is  recognised — “1.  That  the  most  advantageous  way  of 
treating  the  land  is  by  spade  cultivation ;  next  to  this,  by  plough 
cultivation;  then  comes  permanent  pasture;  then  waste  land. 
Therefore,  the  larger  the  number  of  labourers  on  the  land,  the 
greater  the  output,  and  better  the  state  of  the  employed. 
“  2.  That,  inasmuch  as  arable  land  produces  an  average  out¬ 
put  of  £9  per  acre  per  annum,  against  £3  for  permanent  pasture  ; 
and  as  it  is  calculated  that  since  1847  seven  millions  of  acres  have 
been  turned  from  arable  into  permanent  pasture — that  is,  from 
1847  to  1873,  4.252,800  acres,  .since  which  time,  all  landlords  and 
farmers  have  endeavoured  to  throw  into  pasture  as  much  land  as 
possible,  making  the  computed  total  over  seven  millions  of  acres, 
the  loss  to  the  country  in  output  from  the  land  is  £42,000,000 
per  annum,  not  taking  into  consideration  the  millions  of  acres, 
Avhich  might  be  arable,  but  Avhich  are  now’  practically  lying  idle. 
“3.  That,  inasmuch  as  one  laboui’er  is  required  for  every  25 
acres  of  arable  land,  and  but  one  for  every  125  acres  of  permanent 
pasture,  it  follows  that  these  seven  millions  of  acres,  if  at  this 
moment  under  arable  cultivation,  would  be  employing  nearly 
224,000  farm  labourers  more  than  at  present.  As  each  man 
represents  an  average  family  of  four,  that  at  once  becomes 
896,000,  added  to  Avhich,  there  would  be  all  the  mechanics  em¬ 
ployed  in  making  machines,  ploughs,  and  other  implements,  and 
also  the  butchers,  bakers,  and  other  tradesmen  supplying  the 
wants  of  this  body.  These  Avould,  together,  be  earning  the 
£42,000,000  above  referred  to,  the  great  part  of  which  is  noAV  paid 
to  the  American  farm  labourer  in  payment  for  his  corn. 
“4.  This  argument  w’ould  fall  to  the  ground  if,  in  the  towns, 
there  was  employment  for  all  those  farm  labourers,  bricklayers, 
carpenters,  Ac.,  avIio  have  hitherto  been  employed  on  the  farms 
and  farm  buildings.  There  is  not,  hoAvever,  employment  for  all 
these  at  the  present  time  in  the  towns.” 
These  comments  we  extract  from  the  little  “  Memorandum  on 
the  State  of  Trade,”  Avhich  is  published  by  Messrs.  WaterloAv  and 
Sons,  Ltd.,  Wall  Street,  London,  at  one  halfpenny. 
Opposed  to  these  advantages  is  the  disadvantage  only  of  bread 
costing  id.  per  family  per  day  more  than  it  does  at  present, 
which  on  10,000,000  of  families  would  mean  an  extra  outlay  of 
£7,500,000. 
Gardeners’  Commissions. 
As  a  gardener  who  has  never  benefited  very  mucH  from 
commission,  and  has  neA’er  asked  for,  nor  Avas  eA*er  in  any  way 
influenced  in  expectation  of  receiving  such,  I  should  like  to  join 
my  protest  to  those  Avho  haA’e  already  done  so,  and  to  ask  Avho 
IS  most  responsible  for  the  giving  of  commission?  I  say  it  is  the 
Iiade  alone,  and  pressure  .should  be  brought  to  bear  on  them  as 
much  as  on  the  poor  gardener.  I  enclose  a  sample  of  the  tempta¬ 
tion  offered,  and  it  is  not  the  first  that  has  come  through  the 
post  to  me,  Avho  think  the  “blackmail”  is  on  the  other  end  of 
the  stick. — Sussex. 
The  letter  communicated  by  “  T.  F.,”  May  14,  from  an 
employer’s  point  of  A’ieAV,  certainly  is  not  read  Avith  any  degree 
of  satisfaction  by  the  young  or  the  matured  gardener.  There 
seems  lurking  betAveen  the  lines  a  suspicion  of  pi*ide  on  his  part 
that,  because  his  gardener  Avas  dismissed  from  his  service,  he  has 
failed  to  secure  other  AA'ork  as  remunerative  in  actual  money 
A’alue.  My  candid  opinion  of  such  service  is  that  a  mair  is  much 
better  paid  at  £1  per  Aveek,  Avhere  he  is  treated  as  an  honest 
servant,  than  he  Avould  be  Avith  “  T.  F.”  paid  at  his  higher  rate. 
No  conscientious  gardener  could  treat  such  an  employer  Avith 
the  respect  that  should  be  jointly  given  and  expected.  Con¬ 
fidence  has  a  Avonderful  poAver  over  the  mind  of  a  servant ; 
Avithout  confidence  there  is  no  enthusiasm,  and  Avithout  this 
element  there  is  no  average  merit  in  man  or  his  Avork.  Does 
it  not  occur  to  “  T.  F.”  that  even  in  humble  circumstances  there 
is  an  entire  absence  of  dignity  in  the  acceptance  of  a  present, 
call  it  commission  if  you  like,  if,  prior  to  its  disbursement,  the 
fact  is  proclaimed  from  the  housetop?  The  true  philanthropi,st 
shuns  the  publicity  “  T.  F.”  is  inclined  to  take  a  pride  in.  Your 
correspondent  displays  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  the  biblical 
Pharisee  and  publican  to  make  his  service  a  desirable  one,  at 
any  rate  to  a  man  of  honest  teniperainent  and  conviction,  such 
as,  fortunately,  many  aa’Iio  AA’eekly  read  the  Journal  pages. — P. 
Back  to  the  Land, 
One  can  scarcely  do  less  than  admire  the  progressive  and 
persevering  spirit  so  Avell  shown  by  “  H.  D.”  in  his  common 
sense  articles  in  adA’ocacy  of  fruit  groAA’ing  and  land  tillage. 
hen  the  reader  folloAvs  so  fluent  a  pen  through  the  series  of 
chapters,  one  is  inclined  to  become  almost  conA’inced,  even 
against  conviction.  I  am  afraid,  however,  that  tlie  frightful 
losses  fruit  groAvers  have  sufferecl  this  year  through  frost  Avill 
tend  to  make  some  hesitate  before  embarking  on  these  favourite 
themes.  With  such  vast,  varied,  and  far-reaching  importations 
to  reckon  Avith,  both  of  fruit,  vegetable,  and  floAver,  a  means 
need  be  deA'isecl  for  exportation  to  make  crops  remuneratiA’e  in 
times  of  plenty.  “  T.  B.  W".”  appears  much  hurt  at  the  remarks 
of  “  Provincial  ”  dealing  Avith  the  attitude  of  the  landlord.  Were 
all  possessed  of  such  honest  convictions  as  “  T.  B.  W.,”  there 
Avould  be  no  cause  for  such  differing  opinions ;  but  liA’ing  as  I  do 
on  an  estate  that  has  neither  A’aluable  minei’al  nor  luxAirious 
clAvellings  to  maintain  it,  I  cian  Avell  understand  the^ feeling  of 
your  correspondent  Avhen  he  challenges  the  statement  of  “  Pro¬ 
vincial.”  The  oAvner  of  this  estate,  like  “  T.  B.  W.,”  has  de¬ 
prived  himself  of  much  former  luxury'  in  order  to  better  the 
condition  of  his  tenants  and  their  coiiA’enience.  The  tendency 
has  long  been  towards  lowering  rather  than  raising  of  the  rents, 
and  a  tenant  is  not  removed  so  long  as  he  is  able  to  pay  his 
modest  rent  and  maintain  a  fair  producth’e  .state  of  the  soil. 
There  are  .some  Avho  do  not  even  do  this,  and  are  alloAved  to  plod 
on,  to  the  oAvner’s  loss  and  discredit  to  the  tiller. — W.  S. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  w'riters  of  the  interesting  letters  on 
“Back  to  the  Land”  do  not  touch  some  of  the  central  facts. 
It  is  fairly  obvious  that  there  are  many  liberal  landlords  and 
many  grasping  ones ;  many  tenants  w’ho  improve  land,  and  many 
w’ho  rob  it.  So  long  as  anybody  but  the  owner  works  the  land 
improvements  must  lead  to  raised  rentals,  if  not  in  the  lifetime 
of  the  liberal  landoAvner,  then  after  Tiis  death.  It  doesn’t  matter 
Avhese  improvements  they  are,  whether  landlord’s  or  tenant’s, 
the  increase  in  A’alue  must  go  to  the  landowner,  and  improved 
