o42 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  18,  19C3. 
tlie  lad  up  in  liis  oun  occupation:  but  he  cannot,  and  tlie  uncer¬ 
tainty  ot  tlic  rvliole  business  prompts  him  to  place  liis  son  in  a 
callinfi  presenting  a  better  prospect. 
AVho,  and  what,  then,  is  our  garden  boy,  now  under  discus¬ 
sion?  He  is  not  an  apprentice:  there  is  no  premium  paid  with 
him;  he  is  a  lad  of  all  work,  and  his  future  is  somewhat  remote, 
though  it  must  be  said  that  the  possibilities  it  holds  out  are 
ecpially  great.  Very  often  the  little  fellow,  who  has  passed  Jiis 
necessary  standards  at  the  village  school,  and  is  first  initiated  in 
the  art  of  crocking  pots,  has  but  a  vague  idea  whether  he  is  going 
to  be  a  gardener  or  anything  else.  His  father  is  probably  a 
labourer  on  the  estate,  and  though  usually  blessed  with  a  fairly 
large  family,  is  not  over-endowed  with  worldly  goods  beyond  his 
weekly  pay  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  shillings,  and  the  lad  is  placed 
in  the  garden  purely  for  the  sake  of  the'  half-crown  that  he  will 
bring  home  evei'y  Saturday  night  for  a  start.  What  the  lad 
eventually  becomes  depends  entirely  on  himself  and  the 'oppor¬ 
tunities  he  gets:  but  at  the  outset  he  simply  drifts.  I  have 
known  a  good  many  gardeir  boys,  who  became  so  through  no  par¬ 
ticular  inclination  of  their  own;  but  they  have  not  all  made  gar¬ 
deners.  Some  I  have  lost  sight  of  entirely,  a  few  occupy  posi¬ 
tions  as  gardeners,  and  others  “chucked”  it  altogether.  I  was 
a  pot  crocker  myself  once,  and  at  my  bench  there  was  another 
young  expert  of  fifteen  summers;  but  his  heart  was  never  in  his 
task.  He  was  fond  of  horses,  and  to  him  there  was  no  life  like 
that  of  a  waggoner’s  boy.  There  came  a  vacancy  on  the  farm,  for 
Avhich  he  applied  and  got,  and  to-day  he  drives  a  team  for  the 
magnificent  .stipend  of  sixteen  .shillings  per  week.  Another  left 
the  potting  shed  for  the  ranks  of  the  army  ;  a  third  is  a  policeman, 
a  fourth  now  drives  an  engine  on  the  railway,  and  so  on,  and 
so  on. 
But  we  must  follow  the  fortunes  of  our  garden  boy.  As  he 
increases  in  strength  and  stature  he  ri.ses  above  the  pot  crocking 
.stage,  to  the'  dignity  of  kitchen  seiwing,  or  acting  as  assistant  to 
an  accompli.shed  labourer.  When  I  was  promoted  to  the  latter 
position  the  particular  labourer  under  whom  I  served  informed 
me  that  he  would  make  a  man  of  me.  I  didn’t  quite  see  how  he 
was  going  to  do  it,  considering  that  he  had  not  made  much  of 
himself;  but,  unfortunately,  “old  Joe”  was  rather  too  fond  of 
beer,  which  explains  everything.  Whether  Joe  did  what  he  said 
he  would  is  not  the  point  ju.st  now,  but  I  think  he  was  the  best 
man  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  garden,  and  he  taught  me  more 
practical  lessons  than  many  head  gardeners  could  po.ssibly  do, 
and  lessons  which  have  been  of  great  service  since. 
It  not  infrequently  happens,  of  course,  that  the  boy  who  is 
drifted  into  the  garden  is  by  Nature’s  making  a  gardener,  and  this 
is  the  class  of  lad  who  invariably  gets  on.  His  horticultural 
tastes  display  themselves  at  an  early  age.  He  has  a  few  plants 
■which  he  calls  his  own,  and  smuggles  into  the  corner  of  a  frame 
or  greenhouse,  and  looks  after  them  himself,  at  times  when  per¬ 
haps  he  ought  to  be  doing  something  else.  He  takes  a  delight 
in  remembering  names,  striking  cuttings,  and  other  things  apper¬ 
taining  to  the  craft,  but  not  within  the  range  of  his  own  par¬ 
ticular  duties.  Still,  the.se  things  show  his  natural  taste,  and  it  is 
a  proud  moment  in  his  life  when  he  is  put  to  work  in  the  houses 
regularly,  and  another  lad  does  the  errands  and  warms  the 
labourers’  dinners ;  but  it  is  a  prouder  moment  still  when  the 
vacancy  comes  in  the  bothy,  and  the  lad,  now  grown  into  a  youth, 
is  promoted  to  fill  it,  for  he  now  finds  himself  fairly  on  the  road 
to  a  head  gardener’s  position,  and  if  he  is  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  the  latter  he  never  forgets  the  day  when  he  received  his 
first  promotion  from  the  pot  crocking  stage. 
But  they  are  not  all  formed  of  such  stuff  as  the  one  described. 
Some  boys  are  drifted  into  the  bothy,  and  they  drift  out  of  it 
again  without  doing  any  good  to  themselves  or  anyone  else.  They 
are  the  round  pegs  that  are  put  into  the  square  holes,  and  they 
do  not  fit.  We  should  have  less  of  the.se  failures  if  head  gar¬ 
deners  •v'ould  be  a  little  more  careful  how  they  promote  garden 
boys.  While  he  is  crocking  pots  and  cleaning  out  stokeholes,  the 
lad  shows  what  he  is  made  of,  and  if  he  has  got  the  natural  gar¬ 
dener  in  him,  let  him  be  pushed  on  by  all  means,  for  he  Avill 
become  a  credit  to  the  craft  at  some  future  date.  But  what  is 
the  good  of  trying  to  make  a  gardener  of  a  lad  if  he  shows  beyond 
doubt  that  he  is  quite  unfitted  for  it?  The  intention  may  be 
good  in  his  OAvn  interest,  but  it  is  a  useless  effort,  and  it  is  better 
to  let  him  go  some  other  way.  The  process,  therefore,  becomes 
a  risky  one,  and  places  considerable  responsibility  on  head  gar¬ 
deners,  for  half  the  failures  in  the  calling  may  be  traced  to  the 
fact  that  such  men  never  ought  to  have  been  gardeners  at  all. 
In  these  days  of  advancement,  when  a  college  training  in  hor¬ 
ticulture  is  looked  upon  as  being  the  correct  thing,  the  pot  crock¬ 
ing  start  of  the  garden  boy  seems  very  insignificant  indeed. 
Perhaps  it  is.  but  it  is  a  sound  beginning,  nevertheless,  being  at 
the  bottom  of  the  ladder,  than  which  there  can  be  no  .safer  place, 
and  from  this  stage  progress  is  made,  which  may  eventually  lead 
to  the  greatest  heights  of  horticulture.  The  tendency  nowadays 
is  to  instruct  youthful  gardeners  in  every  ’ology  appertaining  to 
the  craft,  which  may  be  all  very  well,  but  i-t  is  of  little  use  if 
the  main  point  is  lost,  that  of  teaching  youths  how  to  do  the 
actual  work.  Whatever  disadvantages  the  garden  boy  may  be 
under,  he  learns  how  to  work,  and  the  man  who  cannot  do  this 
himself  makes  a  poor  hand  at  directing  others.  But,  there,  I 
must  stop  novv',  for  the  young  hopeful  who  occupies  the  po'-iticn 
I  liave  discussed  in  our  garden  is  improving  the  shining  hour  by 
shying  snowballs  at  every  individual  who  passes  the  potting  shed 
door,  a  sign  that  it  is  time  he  had  another  task  allotted  to 
him. — H. 
Tlie  Croft,  near  Rugby. 
The  biting  winds  and  terrible  frosts  had  for  the  nonce 
vanished;  the  air  was  balmy,  the  sun  shining,  and  vegetation 
looked  fresh  and  verdant  on  an  April  morning,  the  day  appointed 
for  several  visits  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rugby.  Under  such 
circumstances  what  need  was  there  to  claim  the  assistance  of  the 
“iron  horse”  when  the  more  modern  “bike”  could  be  sent 
.spinning  along  so  easily  by  the  expenditure  of  just  enough  energy 
to  send  the  blood  coursing  through  the  veins  with  sufficient 
vigour  to  enable  one  to  enjoy  to  the  full  the  pleasures  of  the  hour  ? 
The  opportunity  was  evidently  too  good  to  be  missed,  and  thus 
it  was  that  I  found  my.self  spurring  onward  between  Warwick 
and  Rugby,  musing  by  the  way  that  this  England  of  ours  is  still 
verj'  fair  to  view.  The  scenery  was  typical  of  Warwickshire, 
gently  undulating,  the  most  important  feature  being  the  broad, 
imposing  road,  with  its  grand  avenue  of  trees,  rvliich  was 
“  .struck  ”  a  few  miles  from  Dunchurch.  The  latter  is  a  large  and 
apparently  provsperous  village,  and  its  imposing  hotel,  the  Dun 
Cow,  carries  the  mind  backward  to  the  old  coaching  days;  but, 
unlike  many  other  .such  “  links  with  the  past,”  this  ancient  hostel 
seems  to  retain  its  prosperity,  and  I  fancy  every  passing  visitor 
to  Dunchurch  will  retain  a  clear  recollection  of  its  almost  princely 
hotel.  From  that  point  I  took  a  sharp  turn  tO'  the  left,  and  after 
a  spin  of  another  three  miles,  my  destination,  Hillmorton,  was 
reached.  The  Croft,  the  residence  of  G.  A.  Fenwick,  Esq.,  was 
easily  found,  because  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  village,  and 
in  the  gardens  I  was  not  long  in  finding  Mr.  G.  Francis,  the  head 
gardener. 
The  Croft  gardens  are  not  large,  but  they  possess  many 
features  of  interest,  the  principal  ones  being  extensive  borders 
of  .shrubs,  herbaceous  and  bulbous  plants.  In  arranging  and 
planting  the  gardens  the  great  object  seems  to  have  been  to  make 
it  attractive  in  every  part.  In  the  kitchen  garden  the  various 
quarters  are  in  nearly  all  instances  bordered  with  herbaceous 
plants  and  fruit  trees.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  Narcissi 
have  been  planted  among  the  shrubberies  during  recent  years, 
and  at  the  time  of  my  visit  armfuls  of  their  bright  flowers  could 
have  been  picked  in  a  few  minutes.  Here  a  broad  mass  of  Golden 
Spur  had  evidently  received  some  protection  from  the  shrubs 
around,  for  the  flowers  and  foliage  were  clear  and  undisfigured, 
while  close  by,  though  in  a  little  more  open  site.  Sir  Watkin  and 
large  groups  of  Leedsi  .showed  unmist akeable  signs  of  the  nip  of 
frost.  Peeonies  -were  also  badly  injured,  and  the  tender  shoots 
of  hosts  of  shrubs  were  browned  and  withered  from  the  same 
cause. 
A  wide  expanse  of  grass  on  sloping  ground  was  dotted  with 
several  fine  beds  of  Rhododendrons,  which  seem  to  thrive  remark¬ 
ably  well.  Mr.  Francis  informed  me  they  were  planted  in  a 
mixture  of  peat,  loam,  leaf  soil,  and  sand.  The  peat  was  obtained 
from  a  valley  near.  It  seemed  to  be  black  and  fibrele.ss ;  if  used 
alone  few  plants  would  probably  succeed  in  it,  but  when  mixed 
as  above  described  it  is  evidently  suitable  for  all  kinds  of  hard- 
wooded  plants  in  the  open  air.  There  is  ample  scope  for  forming 
a  delightful  garden  of  Rhododendrons,  Azaleas,  Ericas,  and 
Maples  on  the  grass  plot  already  indicated,  and  doubtless  the 
matter  will  receive  attention  in  due  time. 
In  another  in.stance  the  useful  has  been  combined  with  the 
ornamental  by  planting  bush  and  Apple  trees  (on  the  broad¬ 
leaved  Paradi.se  stock),  as  a  centre  for  small  circular  beds  on 
grass,  near  a  walk,  and  many  the  whole  length  of  it.  These  trees 
looked  particularly  promising,  and  beneath  them  Tulips  and  other 
bulbous  plants  were  flowering  gaily.  In  other  quarters  there  were 
many  very  fine  bush,  pyramidal,  and  espalier  Apple  and  Pear 
trees ;  but,  in  too  many  in.stances,  the  frost  had  done  its  cruel 
work,  only  the  late  varieties  of  Apples  seemed  to  have  escaped. 
Strawberries  were,  fortunately,  not  very  early,  and  appeared  to 
be  uninjured.  In  beds  near  the  man.sion  there  'w  a.s  a  fine  display 
of  Tulij)s,  the  variety  being  principally  Rose  Gris  de  lin,  a  d'jvarf 
and  useful  kind.  Basic  slag  has  been  freely  used  on  the  soil  in 
which  bulbous  and  other  plants  are  growing,  as  well  as  upon  the 
lawns,  and  in  each  ca.se  there  is  a  distinct  imi^rovement  upon 
former  results.  I  noticed  in  a  sheltered  position  several  fin  ^ 
clumps  of  the  white  Ornithogalum  in  full  flower. 
Adjoining  the  Rgspberr^^  quarter  was  a  row  of  the  Logan¬ 
berry,  trained  to  a  trellis  7ft  or  8ft  in  height.  This  part  i:s 
highly  esteemed  at  The  Croft,  both  for  dessert  purposes  and  for 
making  preserves,  and  its  c.dture  will,  in  the  future,  be  extended. 
The  glass  .structures  are  limited,  and  are  principally  devoted  to 
the  growth  of  bedding  plants,  pot  plants,  and  cut  flowers.  I 
noticed,  however,  several  grand  specimens  of  Heliotropium 
Peruvianum  planted  out,  and  covering  the  rafters  of  the  con¬ 
servatory  that  beautiful  old  plant,  the  pink  Oleander,  was  also 
represented  by  excellent  .specimens.  Fine  bloom.s  of  the  follow- 
