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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  23,  1900. 
The  enthusiasm  of  the  Grape  grower  is  something  to  admire,  and 
the  specialist  has  raised  the  culture  of  the  Vine  to  a  fine  art.  It  is 
his  own  particular  line,  and  he  loves  it.  His  interest  is  centred  in 
size  of  bunch,  form,  bloom,  colour,  and  finish.  His  best  friends  are 
generally  Grape  growers,  and  his  favourite  topic  is  Vine  culture.  I 
don’t  know  how  to  explain  it,  but  possibly  Nature,  who  has  adjusted 
all  growing  things  so  beautifully,  has  also  imbued  gardeners  with 
varied  tastes,  so  that  the  best  of  everything  may  be  brought  to  the 
surface.  The  specialist  of  the  kitchen  garden  has  fancies  quite  his 
own.  The  florist  may  rave  about  his  flowers,  or  the  Grape  grower 
his  fruit,  but  in  his  eyes  they  pale  into  insignificance  before  a 
first-class  bed  of  Onions  or  a  dish  of  perfect  Potatoes.  In  this  way 
no  branch  of  horticulture  is  rieglected,  but  it  is  like  a  great  army 
split  up  into  many  divisions,  each  one  with  its  own  followers. 
Only  recently  we  have  had  ajwonderful  illustration  of  what  I  call 
educated  fancy  in  the  great  show  of  Sweet  Peas  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 
For  200  years  this  charming  flower  has  adorned  our  gardens,  but 
it  was  only  a  flower,  like  scores  of  others.  And  then  a  few  specialists 
arose  to  whom  the  Sweet  Pea  had  p(  culiar  charms,  and  they  set  to 
work  on  it,  improved  it,  widened  its  scope,  and  called  for  volunteers  to 
join  them.  They  did  not  call  in  vain,  for  the  way  was  open,  and 
hundreds  who  had  seen  little  in  the  Sweet  Pea  till  then  realised  its 
possibilities,  perceived  its  charms,  and  a  new  life  lay  before  the  flower. 
Not  a  life  of  generalism,  but  one  of  specialism,  for  the  Sweet  Pea 
enthusiast  is  now  a  power  amongst  us.  The  culture  of  this  old  garden 
flower  is  a  fancy,  and  since  it  sprang  into  being,  developments  have 
been  as  remarkable  as  they  have  been  rapid. 
The  plant  or  flower  with  great  possibilities  is  the  one  which 
popular  fancy  leans  to  nowadays.  Many  have  marvelled  at  the 
advancement  of  the  Chrysanthemum,  and  really  it  has  been  remark¬ 
able  ;  but  I  think  the  secret  of  it  all  lies  in  the  possibilities  of  the 
flower.  We  know  how  far  we  have  got,  but  no  one  can  tell  what 
there  is  in  front  of  us.  Moreover,  the  Chrysanthemum  lends  itself 
readily  to  the  art  of  the  cultivator,  and  results  are  largely  dependent 
on  the  treatment  given.  Roses,  perfect  in  form  and  finish,  may  at 
times  be  seen  in  cottage  gardens  where  no  special  treatment  has  been 
given,  and  in  this  happy  and  chance  characteristic  lies  one  of  the 
charms  of  the  flower.  But  it  is  not  so  with  the  Chrysanthemum,  for 
the  flower  is  what  the  grower  makes  it.  Without  the  unremitting 
care  of  the  cultivator  the  Chrysanthemum  is  not  much,  and  it  is  the 
wide  scope  offered  which  leads  men  to  make  it  a  speciality  and  direct 
their  energie.s  mainly  towards  its  improvement.  This  fancy  may  not 
be  a  permanent  one ;  indeed,  there  are  some  who  say  they  can  discern 
signs  of  falling  off,  but  that  is  a  matter  which  the  future  alone  can 
decide. 
Horticultural  fancies  are  not  confined  to  what  we  call  professional 
gardeners,  but  are  found  in  all  grades  of  scciety,  for  of  late  years  the 
amateur  element  has  made  tremendous  strides.  So  broad  has  the  term 
become,  that  gardeners  may  be  found  amongst  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men — and  not  only  gardeners,  but  specialists,  who  make  a  hobby  of 
some  particular  plant  or  flower,  and  in  many  instances  equal,  and  even 
surpass,  the  results  obtained  by  their  professional  brethren.  Perhaps, 
as  a  whole,  the  amateur  is  the  best  fancier,  because,  being  untrammelled 
by  other  considerations,  he  can  direct  his  whole  attention  where 
inclination  leads  him,  and  a  concentration  of  energies  invariably 
produces  better  results  than  where  a  division  is  necessary. 
It  is  gratifying  to  observe  what  a  hold  gardening  fancies  have  on 
the  class  known  as  unskilled  labourers,  and  it  is  a  healthy  sign  we 
hear  a  good  deal  nowadays  of  the  way  in  which  village  populations 
are  getting  thinner,  and  towns,  already  full,  are  growing  more  over¬ 
crowded.  But  the  men  who  uphold  village  horticulture  are,  as  a  rule, 
contented,  and  town  life  has  no  great  charms  for  them.  Moreover, 
the  man  who  takes  a  pride  in  gardening  is  a  good  workman,  and  puts 
the  same  zeal  into  his  occupation  as  he  does  into  his  hobby.  I  am 
intimately  acquainted  with  many  gardeners  of  this  class,  and  am 
proud  to  know  them,  for  though  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  they  may 
be  voted  ignorant  they  are  formed  of  that  sterling  material  which, 
after  all,  is  the  backbone  of  the  empire.  Being,  as  a  rule,  a  family 
man,  the  fancy  of  the  cottage  gardener  is  vegetables,  with  decided 
leanings  in  various  directions.  One  makes  a  speciality  of  Onions,  and 
proudly  boards  his  massive  bulbs  on  flower  show  day;  another  enjoys 
a  local  reputation  as  a  Potato  expert,  which  is  well  deserved  ;  a  third 
grows  the  best  Carrots  in  the  district,  and  so  you  may  go  on.  Nor  is 
floriculture  neglected  amongst  our  village  gardeners;  and  only  the  other 
day  I  enjoyed  a  little  chat  with  a  farm  labourer  who  makes  a  hobby 
of  Chrysanthemums.  He  showed  me  a  well-thumbed  treatise  on  the 
subject  that  had  been  his  guide,  and  was  well  versed  in  the  stopping,, 
timing,  and  disbudding  of  his  score  varieties.  In  regard  to  the  latter, 
his  collection  was  well  up  to  date,  and  I  suspect  that  some  few 
luxuries  of  li'^e  had  to  be  dispensed  with  in  order  to  obtain  them. 
Another  man  makes  a  speciality  of  Roses,  and  all  round  his  cottage 
garden  there  is  an  array  of  standards  of  many  leading  varieties.  I 
don’t  suppose  he  ever  read  a  line  of  gardening  literature  in  his  life,  but 
he  carried  home  the  briers  from  the  hedgerows  on  the  farm,  budded 
them  with  his  own  fingers,  and  is  justly  proud  of  his  work. 
Fortunately  he  has  a  kindred  spirit  in  the  vicar  of  the  parish,  who  is 
also  a  rosarian,  and  many  of  his  best  sorts  have  supplied  buds  for  tho 
cottager’s  stocks. 
Fruit  growing  is  the  pet  fancy  of  another  village  gardener,  and 
the  surroundings  of  his  cottage  represent  a  miniature  nursery. 
Budding  and  grafting  are  his  hobbies,  and  he  has  an  artistic  eye  for 
the  training  of  his  trees.  His  boast  is  that  every  tree  is  of  his  own 
raising,  and  the  row  of  espaliers  which  run  alongside  the  garden  path 
are  worthy  examples  of  training  skill.  He  is  not  without  a  reputation 
either,  and  every  spring  his  spare  time  is  fully  occupied  in  grafting 
trees  for  farmers  and  others  in  the  district.  He  makes  a  little  by  it 
of  course,  but  takes  such  a  pride  and  pleasure  in  the  work  that  I' 
believe  he  would  cheerfully  do  it  for  nothing. 
These  instances  of  gardening  fancies  crop  up  everywhere.  They 
exist  amongst  the  professional  element  and  amateurs  of  the  better 
class.  You  may  find  them  amongst  those  whose  gardening  facilities- 
are  confined  to  a  few  square  yards  at  the  back  cf  a  suburban 
residence,  and  they  stand  forth  conspicuously  in  the  horny-handed 
fraternity  who  toil  from  morn  till  night  in  manual  labour.  Call  them 
fancies,  hobbies,  or  whatever  else  you  like,  but  while  they  exist  there 
need  be  no  fear  of  declining  interest  in  the  time-honoured  craft  of 
gardening. — G.  H.  Hollinqworth. 
- - 
Stopping  Fruit  Trees. 
A  THOROUGH  ripening  of  the  wood  is  the  foundation  of  successful' 
fruit  culture.  Even  such  hardy  things  as  Gooseberries  and  Currants 
are  amenable  to  this  principle,  which,  m  giving  extra  soliditv  to  the 
parts,  gives  at  the  same  time  fructifying  powers.  It  is  needless  hero 
to  urge  that  sunlight  is  the  chief  agent  in  this  process  ;  all  seem  to 
admit  the  fact,  yet  few  carry  it  thoroughly  out  in  practice.  Now,  if 
sunlight,  by  shining  uninterruptedly  on  the  foliage,  is  productive  of 
fruitful  habits,  it  is  plain  that  all  unnecessary  obstructions  should  be 
removed  in  due  time,  whilst  the  tree  is  in  full  possession  of  its 
elaborative  powers. 
It  is  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  the  learner,  to  make  a  distinction 
as  to  the  character  of  the  foliage,  which  in  most  fruits,  and  as  applied 
to  the  case  in  hmd,  is  divisible  into  two  classes — viz.,  that  in  imme¬ 
diate  connection  with  the  embryo  fruit  spurs,  and  that  which  is 
simply  the  result  of  an  effurt  to  enlarge  the  system  of  the  tree.  The 
one,  it  may  be  presumed,  has  a  direct  and  immediate  office  to  perform, 
the  other  an  indirect,  and,  in  many  cases,  a  remote  one.  These  things 
ought  not  to  be  confounded  ;  it  is  only  by  a  proper  classification  of  the 
functions  of  a  tree  in  the  mind’s  eye,  that  distinct  and  accurate  views 
of  the  somewhat  latent  processes  of  Nature  can  be  obtained.  This 
much  as  preliminary  to  a  few  remarks  on  the  practice  termed 
“  stopping.” 
Stopping  is,  or  should  be,  practised  for  the  .following  purposes: — 
1,  to  check  gross  shoots ;  2,  to  admit  light;  3,  to  check  root  action; 
4,  to  concentrate  the  energies  of  the  tree ;  5,  to  ripen  the  wood.  No.  13 
procedure  is  principally  exercised  soon  after  the  trees  begin  to  shoot  in 
the  spring;  the  effect  of  this  is  forthwith  to  equalise  the  distribution. 
