55G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  25,  1SC3. 
Bolton  Gardeners’  Benefit  Society. 
Writing  under  date'  of  June  22,  “W.  C.”  observes: — “I  was 
very  niucli  interested  in  reading  the  remarks  of  “  Yorkshire 
Gardener  ”  on  the  Bolton  Gardeners’  Benefit  Society.  I  am  glad 
to  see  that  you  second  his  remarks,  and  I  think  the  young  gar¬ 
deners  of  Bolton  woidd  do  well  to  act  on  his  advice.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  if  the  Bolton  Gardeners’  Benefit  Society 
is  registered  under  the  Friendly  Societies  Act.  Its  objects  are 
very  laudable,  but  I  am  of  the  same  opinion  as  “  Yorkshire  Gar¬ 
dener,”  that  it  offers  more  advantages  than  the  subscriptions  will 
stand  for  any  length  of  time,  but  I  may  be  wrong.” 
Back  to  the  Land. 
land  and  the  culture  of  hardy  fruit  at  his  own  home,  for  few  of 
this  class  care  for  attending  lectures  on  the  subject — at  least, 
that  is  my  experience. — J.  Botley. 
Gardeners’  Commissions. 
With  reference  to  the  last  letter  by  “  T.  F.,”  page  u30,  no 
cue  would  complain  at  an  employer  in  discharging  a  man  who 
had  proved  so  undeserving  of  his  confidenoe.  “  T.  F.”  charges 
me  with  giving  way  to  imagination  at  the  expense  of  common 
sense.  But  if  your  correspondent  had  admitted  that  he  had 
misled  me,  and  others,  by  putting  forward  his  case  under  a 
wrong  light,  he  would  have  admitted  a  greater  truth.  An 
honourable  commission,  offered  and  accepted,  does  not  con¬ 
stitute  an  offence  where  it  is  permitted  and  dealt  with  as  it 
should  be  in  an  honest  manner;  but  monetary'  greed,  and  the 
evil  disposition  of  the  man  labouring  under  the  baneful  influence 
of  drink,  may  cause  an  excess  of  pressure  in  getting  the  all- 
satisfying  prize.  Expense's  are,  as  “  Provincial  ”  says,  curtailed 
to  the  lowest  limit  in  the  majority  of  gardens,  so  that  the 
possibility  of  and  the  desire  to  extort  commission  on  large  bills 
beeomes  well-nigh  impossible,  and  in  ordinary  cases  the  matter 
is  reduced  to  so  trivial  a  one  as  to  be  beneath  the  gardener’s 
notice. ^ — P. 
Co-OPERATORS  AXD  SmALL  HOLDINGS. 
At  the  Co-operative  Congress,  held  at  Doncaster,  the  follow¬ 
ing  resolution  was  canded  unanimously  :  “  That  in  view  of  the 
continued  depopulation  of  the  villages  and  the  consecjuent  flood¬ 
ing  of  the  town  labour  market  with  labour,  this  congress  urges 
co-operative  societies  throughout  the  kingdom  to  earnestly  con¬ 
sider  the'  practical  possibilities  of  acquiring  land  and  letting  it 
to  small  cultivators,  in  this  way  providing  a  solid  basis  for 
co-operative  agriculture,  and  thus  taking  a  valuable  step  towards 
the  realisation  of  the  ideal  which  inspired  Robert.  Owen  ;  and, 
further,  this  congress  urges  local  authorities  to  more  fully  use 
the  small  holding  powers  they  already  possess^  and  is  of  opinion 
that  larger  powers  should  be  given  to  the'm  in  order  that  land 
may  be  provided  at  fair  rents  with  security  of  tenure  to  agri¬ 
cultural  labourers  and  other  workers  in  rural  districts.” 
The  Main  Point  of  the  Question. 
Before  small  holdings  can  be  successfully  brought  into 
practice  suitable  houses,  and  buildings,  must  be  erected  for  the 
holders.  As  things  are  at  present,  landlords  would  hardly  see 
their  way  clear  to  make  these  improvements.  In  my  opinion, 
what  would  bring  men  back  to  the  land  is  the  building  of  good 
cottages,  let  at  a  moderate  rate,  with  a  good  garden  large  enough 
to  grow  a  family  supply  of  vegetables  throughout  the  year,  the 
keep  of  a  pig,  and  if  a  poultry  run  could  be  added,  so  much  the 
better.  Bush  fruit  could  be  grown,  even  if  the  larger  kinds 
could  not.  Here  are  the  things  needed  in  every  family,  all 
grown  at  home,  saving  several  shillings  per  week,  and  far  before 
such  articles  bought  in  shops. 
But  going  back  to  the  question  of  small  holdings,*  there  are 
two  sides  to  it,  as  with  all  other  questions.  In  some  countries  it 
would  be  a  success,  whilst  in  others  a  failure.  If  in  some  of 
the  midland  and  western  counties  these  holdings  were  obtain¬ 
able,  every  holder  would  be  going  in  for  the  same  class  of  stuff, 
with  no  means  of  getting  rid  of  their  superabundant  produce, 
especially  if  six  or  seven  miles  from  a  town  or  station.  “H.  D.” 
has  solved  this  question  by  advising  co-operation  among  the 
farmers,  and  sending  their  produce  direct  to  a  centre.  If 
farmers  would  only  fall  in  with  “  H.  D.’s  ”  suggestion  and  send 
direct,  I  see  no  reason  why  small  farmers  should  not  make  a 
better  living  out  of  the  land.  [This  seems  to  us  the  crux  of  the 
question. — Ed.]  If  dealers  can  afford  to  come  into  these  dis¬ 
tricts  thirty  and  forty  miles  away,  buy  the  produce,  pack  it,  and 
send  it  by  rail  or  road  and  then  make  a  living,  I  say  then  it  is 
the  middleman  who  makes  the  profit.  This  statement  can 
easily  be  proved  on  any  market  day  during  the  summer  months. 
Take  the  fruit  question.  Dealers  come  round  to  these  out-of-the- 
way  places  and  buy  up  all  the  fruit  they  can  in  the  same  manner, 
and  at  their  own  prices.  If  there  is  a  glut  of  fruit  there  is  no 
market  for  it  at  all,  and  only  the  choicest  is  picked,  the  rest 
being  left  to  blow  off,  then  gathered  up  and  placed  in  a  heap  to 
make  cider  with. 
“  H.  D.”  has  at  various  times  in  the  Journal  urged  fruit 
growing  for  farmers.  This  will  never  be  done  on  a  large  scale 
till  someone  wakes  them  up  more  than  at  present.  Moreover, 
it  is  too  uncertain,  from  the  late  frosts,  to  be  depended  on.  But 
I  quite  agree  with  “  H.  D.”  that  there  is  money  in  the  orchard, 
especially  with  good  keeping  Apples,  if  farmers  would  only  take 
a  little  trouble  in  storing  them  till  Christmas.  I  have  in  my 
mind  a  large  quantity  of  Blenheims  being  stored  in  a  loft  and 
sold  just  before  Christmas  that  paid  for  three  or  four  failures. 
Before  planting  more,  farmers  should  be  learnt  how  to  look 
after  the  trees  they  have  now.  If  small  holdings  could  be  brought 
into  practice,  a  practical  man  should  be  appointed  to  go  round 
the  holdings,  teaching  and  showing  the  holder  how  to  work  his  | 
SalurJay  Half-holiday  for  Gardeners. 
After  reading  such  an  excellent  article  Avritten  by  “W.  S.” 
in  the  pages  of  our  Jouimal  on  the  11th  inst.,  one  cannot  but 
think  Avhat  a  pity  it  is  that  a  few  hundred  of  them  could  not  be 
printed  on  leaflet  forms  and  posted  to  the  employers  of  many 
of  our  large  establishments.  Not  long  ago  I  was  talking  to  a 
head  gardener  about  the  half-holiday  for  young  gardeners,  and 
I  was  simply  told  that  he  could  not  see  how  it  could  be  given,  as 
Saturday  ivas  his  busiest  day,  v’ith  the  clearing  up  and  so  on. 
Net  far  away,  in  the  same  district,  I  was  mentioning  the  same 
thing  to  another  head  gardener,  and  his  answer  ivas ;  “  Yes,  I 
believe  in  the  half-holiday,  a,s  no  one  ivorks  harder  than  the 
young  gardeners,  and  thej'  deserve  it;  and  if  only  the  remain¬ 
ing  gardeners  around  the  ncighbourliood  would  mention  it  to 
their  employers,  wC'  should  all  be  able  to  folloAv  the  example 
shown  us  from  our  neighbouring  counties.”  It  seems  to  me  that 
our  excellent  Improvement  Associations,  ivhich  are  doing  so  much 
good,  might  largely  assist.  Let  the  various  committees  of  each 
county  agree  together,  then  before  manj^  months  we  may  see 
the  half-holiday  general  throughout  the  country. — W.  L. 
'  A  Bad  Outlook  for  Market  Gardeners. 
The  elements  have  not  dealt  kindly  with  gardeners  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bath.  Floods  and  frosts,  hailstorms  and  hurri¬ 
canes,  seem  to  have  conspired  to  make  things  uncomfortable. 
The  ground  was  never  in  good  order  for  planting  or  sowing,  it 
being  alternately  saddened  and  baked  hard  as  cement.  Seeds,  of 
course,  came  up  very  badly,  and  the  ground  remained  so-  cold 
that  hardlj'  anything  has  grown  besides  weeds  and  slugs,  neither 
of  which  are  particular  about  the  weather  so  long  as  the  tempera¬ 
ture  remains  above  32deg.  Tlie  Apple,  Pear,  and  Plum  crops  are 
a  complete  failure.  Thousands  of  trees  are  without  a  fruit  on 
them,  and  the  trees  themselves  have  suffered  very  badly.  Had 
there  been  a  crop  of  fruit  it  would  have  been  destroyed  on  the 
16th,  for  we  had  such  a  hailstorm  as  very  feiv  people  in  the  place 
had  witnessed  before,  which  bruised  or  knocked  a  hole  in  every 
fruit  which  was  not  sheltered  by  a  branch.  The  pieces  of  ice 
were  angular  in  shape,  and  v’hat  I  saw  averaged  about  fin  in 
diameter,  but  judging  from  the  damage  done  they  must  have 
been  larger  than  this  on  the  southern  side  of  the  city.  Young 
Chrysanthemums  and  Tomatoes  in  some  places  are  stripped  of 
almost  every  leaf,  and  can  hardly  recover.  Lettuces  are  a  mass 
of  useless  rags ;  even  the  stems  of  Rhubarb  are  broken  about 
very  badly. 
The  Rhubarb  has  been  pulled  harder  than  usual,  and  con-  • 
sequently  the  stems  ivere  exposed.  The  reason  of  this  is  that  ■ 
it  has  fetched  a  better  price  lately  than  during  the  ivinter ;  Is.  a  i 
dozen  bundles,  consisting  of  two  medium  or  three*  small  sticks  ; 
each,  has  been  a  common  wholesale  price.  Severe  frosts  cut  the  i 
young  growths  back  just  as  they  had  started  in  early  spring,  and  ; 
since  that  time  Rhubarb  has  been  very  scarce.  Some  people,  | 
tempted  by  present  prices,  are  ruining  their  roots  for  next  year’s  ' 
forcing.  It  ivill  be  thirty-three  years  next  month  since  I  saiv 
such  a  hailstorm  before,  which  then  broke  over  a  thousand  panes 
of  the  old-fashioned  crown  glass  at  Longleat,  and  similarly 
riddled  the  roofs  of  the  houses  at  Stourton  belonging  to  Sir 
Henry  Hoare.  These  heavy  hailstorms  are  generally  confined  to 
a  very  small  area,  and  this  Avas  the  case  on  the  16th,  AA’hen,  on 
the  Batheaston  side  of  the  city  people  Avere  busy  haymaking  in 
their  .shirtsleeves  all  the  time. — Wh.  Taylor. 
