December  27,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
581 
Late  Grapes. 
Haying  read  the  leader  on  page  481  of  the  Joarnal  on  “Late 
Grapes,”  I  wonld  like  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  that  variable  Grape, 
Mrs.  Pince.  I  have  had  to  do  with  this  variety  for  many  years  past,  and 
in  several  places,  and  in  no  two  has  it  behaved  the  same,  although 
grown  under  similar  conditions.  When  at  Stnbton  Hall  we  bad  one 
Vine  in  the  Muscat  house  which  did  exceedingly  well  in  every  way  ;  fair 
sized  bunches,  colour  all  that  could  be  desired,  but  I  believe  we  never 
tried  its  keeping  qualities  beyond  the  new  year.  When  I  went  to 
Ireland  I  introduced  it  into  a  vinery  there,  and,  after  trying  it  for 
several  years,  I  bscame  disgusted  with  its  behaviour  and  did  away 
with  it.  Here  I  found  it  again,  and  a  great  fault  with  it  is  its 
shrivelling  propensity.  It  shows  a  heavy  crop  of  large  bunches,  sets 
freely,  and  colours  fairly  well.  Not  far  from  here  this  Grape  is 
.depended  upon  for  a  winter  supply — I  have  seen  it  kept  in  bottles  until 
May.  At  this  place  the  bunches  are  small,  colour  good,  and  it  does  not 
shrivel  as  soon  as  ripe.  When  the  cultivation  of  Mrs.  Pince  is 
thoroughly  mastered  and  understood,  as  assuredly  some  day  it  will 
be,  I  believe  it  will  be  the  principal  black  Grape  grown  for  flavour 
for  winter  use.  Many  of  us  will  remember  the  failures  which  occurred 
when  we  first  attempted  to  grow  Madresfield  Court  Grape;  now, 
happily,  the  difificulties  have  been  overcome.  Let  us  persevere  and 
hope  this  will  soon  be  the  case  with  such  a  high-flavoured  Grape  as  Mrs. 
Pince.  Perhaps  some  growei  s  of  this  Grape  will  give  the  readers  of 
the  Journal  their  experience  of  it,  as  “H.  D.”  has  suggested;  I  hope 
also  those  gardeners  who  have  failed  in  growing  it  satisfactorily  will 
contribute  their  quota,  as  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  there  are 
many  most  excellent  lessons  to  be  learned  from  failures  which  occur 
otherwise  than  through  neglect  or  carelessness. 
There  are  two  old  black  Grapes  of  which  we  now  hardly  ever  hear — 
viz..  Black  Prince  and  West’s  St.  Peter’s.  In  my  younger  days  the  two 
varieties  were  largely  grown.  I  wish  some  of  our  noted  Grape  growers 
would  take  these  two  varieties  in  hand.  I  should  then  expect  to  hear 
of  bunches  of  Black  Prince  between  2  and  3  feet  long  with  a  dense 
blue-black  bloom.  And  what  has  West’s  St.  Peter’s  done  to  be  thus 
neglected  by  most  growers  ?  This  is  a  free-bearing  Grape,  sets  readily, 
has  berries  the  size  of  Hamburghs,  with  excellent  colour,  a  nice  bloom, 
and  keeps  well  into  the  new  year,  when  the  flavour  will  be  found 
equal  to  a  Hamburgh. — J.  Easter,  Nostell  Priory  Gardens. 
Gardeners’  Duties. 
The  interesting  article  on  a  gardener’s  duty  (page  514)  by  J.  White 
is  rather  a  difficult  one  to  open  for  discussion,  as  we  seldom  find  two 
employers  of  the  same  nature,  or  very  rarely  so.  But  it  is  quite  true 
what  is  said  in  many  instances — that  the  master  comes  round  on 
Sundays  to  seek  the  gardener  to  talk  over  business  matters  concerning 
the  gardens,  more  especially  business  gentlemen  who  are  away  all  the 
week.  In  this  case  the  gardener  often  has  to  walk  round  the  grounds 
talking  over  plans  and  alterations  for  the  future,  work  that  is  really  for 
week  days,  or  should  be.  With  the  vegetable  man  (whose  duty  it  is  to 
get  vegetables  a-  d  take  to  the  hall)  this  should  never  be,  and  can  easily 
be  done  away  with  if  the  cook  or  kitchenmaid  give  their  orders  on  a 
Saturday,  which  has  been  the  case  in  places  I  have  lived  at,  and  if  the 
order  was  not  given  on  Saturdays,  then  there  was  only  one  course  for 
them  to  do — go  without.  This  rule  should  be  in  all  gardens,  for  if  the 
men  on  duty  had  to  get  everything  that  is  often  wanted  for  the  kitchen 
something  else  would  most  likely  have  to  go  ;  but  with  salads  this  is 
easily  taken  up  to  the  house  with  the  dessert. 
Then,  with  the  journeyman  on  Sunday  duty.  I  think  it  depends 
greatly  on  the  head  gardener  whether  they  have  to  do  unnecessary 
work  or  not.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  many  garde nei  s  expect  men  to 
take  it  as  an  ordinary  working  day,  especially  when  paid  for  Sunday 
duty  ;  and  if  caught  in  the  bothy,  excepting  meal  times,  are  soon  told 
about  it.  I  say  nothing  about  this  during  the  summer  months,  wheu 
there  is  always  plenty  to  do,  for,  as  a  rule,  one  man  has  perhaps  three 
or  four  men’s  houses  to  look  after.  But  in  winter  there  is  not  so  muuh 
to  do,  excepting  damping  down  and  firing;  so  I  think  it  should  be  a 
case  of  give  and  take  a  little.  I  am  sure  much  watering  could  be  saved 
on  Sundays,  before  the  bedding  plants  are  put  our,  if  the  men  were 
allowed  to  water  them  on  Saturday  afternoons.  Of  course,  1  know  it  is  a 
different  thing  altogether  with  plants  in  the  houses  during  the  summer 
months,  for  it  is  useless  to  look  after  them  all  the  week  if  we  neRleot 
them  on  the  day  of  rest.  But,  for  all  this,  I  think  much  unnecessary 
work  might  be  left  over  for  a  working  day  (they  are  many  for  a 
gardener),  which  is  often  expected  to  be  done  on  Sundays,  without  loss 
of  any  kind  to  the  employer. — J.  B,,  Bucks. 
Staging  Cut  Chrysantljemom  Blooms. 
As  the  time  is  approaching  when  committees  of  shows  commence- 
to  formulate  their  schedules,  it  may  be  desirable  to  draw  attention  to 
the  exhibiting  of  cut  blooms  on  long  stalks,  and  which  appeared  to  have 
been  en  evidence  at  the  majority  of  shows  this  season  ;  thus  exhibited,, 
the  blooms  were  more  attractive  to  the  visitors  than  the  stereotyped 
show. board  system.  With  regard,  however,  to  the  length  of  stem  best 
suited  for  an  effective  display  of  the  flowers  there  appears  to  be  a 
considerable  diversity  of  opinion.  Some  societies  require  not  less  than 
18  or  24  inches,  others  12  or  9  inches  length  of  stem.  The  two  former 
lengths  are,  in  my  opinion,  much  too  long  when  displayed  in  tall  vases 
on  staging  of  the  usual  height  from  the  ground,  whereby  too  much  of 
the  under  portion  of  the  bloom  is  displayed  and  not  sufficient  of  the 
upper  surface,  besides  giving  them  a  stilted  appearance.  One  of  the 
best  effects  I  saw  amongst  the  various  shows  this  season  was  produced 
by  having  the  stems  about  12  inches  in  length  above  the  top  of  the  vase 
in  the  five-bloom  class  for  the  four  blooms,  with  about  4  or  5  inches  in 
addition  for  the  centre  specimen  or  the  one  at  the  back,  thus  affording 
an  effective  display.  This  latter  arrangement,  I  assume,  would  best 
meet  a  dinner-table  decoration,  or  for  the  drawing-room,  for  which  the- 
long-stemmed  arrangement  is  ostensibly  intended. — G. 
- - 
Womeii  as  Gardeners— A  Protest. 
My  attention  has  only  lately  been  called  to  the  remarks  by  “  A.  D.” 
on  “  Women  as  Gardeners,”  which  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture 
for  October  25th.  As  one  who  took  a  preparatory  course  in  horticulture 
at  the  Lady  Warwick  Hostel,  Reading,  I  desire  to  protest  most  strongly 
against  “  A.  D.’s  ”  sweeping  conclusions. 
I  admit  that  in  some  respects  the  method  of  teaching  practical 
horticulture  at  the  hostel  might  be  improved  ;  that  is,  however,  a 
question  of  management,  and  not  of  the  qualifications  of  the  students. 
It  is  unreasonable  to  condemu  women  as  gardeners  upon  impressions 
obta'ned  from  a  visit  to  this  one  establishment.  I  would  like  to  know 
what  your  correspondent  means  by  the  term  “irresponsible  women.” 
I  have  worked  both  in  private  and  in  nursery  gardens,  and  am  at 
present  employed  in  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  and  so  far  as  my 
observation  goes,  a  finished  style  comes  only  af:er  long  practical 
experience.  “  A.  D.”  does  not  appear  to  be  acquainted  with  the  work 
that  is  being  done  in  various  parts  of  t  he  country  by  women  gardeners. 
Surely  to  be  a  head  gardener  in  a  private  establishment,  or  a  sub-foreman 
at  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  is  evidence  that  all  women  gardeners  are 
not  the  failures  “A.  D.”  would  have  your  readers  believe. 
We  ask  for  fair  play  and  no  favour  in  any  comparison  made 
between  us  and  the  young  men  who,  like  ourselves,  are  in  training  for 
gardeners. — E.  M.  G. 
Aids  to  Profitable  Culture. 
I  READ  “  F.’s  ”  remarks  on  the  importance  of  water,  and  more 
especially  the  utility  of  sewage  (pat;e  486)  as  amongst  the  most 
important  aids  to  successful  culture  with  much  interest,  as  no  doubt 
did  others  in  the  southern  counties,  where  during  the  past  summer 
water  has  been  anything  but  plentiful  in  many  gardens.  The  facts 
adduced  as  to  the  quality  of  vegetables  and  grass  produced  by  the 
application  of  sewage  water  may  help  to  remove  the  false  impression 
piesent  in  the  minds  of  some,  that  there  is  something  unwholesome  in 
vegetables  to  which  sewage  has  been  applied ;  and  to  those  about  to- 
build  or  to  re-sewer  their  houses  it  may  well  lead  them  to  consider 
wheiher  this  vexed  question  of  sewage  disposal  cannot  be  turned  to 
some  profitable  account. 
The  only  question  with  too  many  seems  to  be,  “  How  can  we  get 
rid  of  it  ?  ”  Few  seem  to  think  of  asking  their  gardener  what  he  would 
suggest.  More  often  the  builder  or  the  clerk  of  the  works  advises  it  to 
be  run  into  a  wood  if  there  is  one  handy,  or  to  a  field,  and  after  passing 
through  settling  tanks  let  it  take  care  of  itself.  The  former  plan  was 
adopted  in  the  case  of  my  present  charge.  The  outfall  was  so  close  to 
the  mansion  that  it  became  a  nuisance  by  the  time  it  had  been  occupied 
six  m.mtbs,  and  it  had  to  be  carried  200  yards  further  away.  On 
asking  the  cleik  of  the  works  why  they  did  not  drain  it  towards  the 
kitchen  garden  (which  was  in  the  opposite  direction),  his  answer  was, 
that  “  the  wood  was  there  to  hide  it  ”  (it  failed  to  hide  the  smell)  ;  and 
the  builder’s  foreman  said  that  “  the  prevailing  wind  was  from  the 
south-west,  and  the  smell  would  come  with  the  wind  if  taken  in  that 
direction.”  Those  are  the  only  reasons  that  could  be  given  for 
conveying  it  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  garden,  which  is  totally 
unprovided  with  a  water  supply.  Our  rainfall  only  amounted  to 
7  inches  from  May  to  September  inclusive,  and  I  may  safely  say  that 
very  lit  le  of  that  water  would  have  run  to  waste  had  it  been  brought 
to  the  vegetable  quarters  and  fruit  trees.  This  is  what  a  gardener  has 
had  to  8uff-*r  through  the  wind  blowing  from  the  “south-west;”  and 
they  are  s  ill  doing  the  same  thing. 
Recently  a  neighbouring  estate  was  sold  on  the  death  of  its  previous 
owner.  It  has  since  been  thoroughly  “  done  up,”  an  elaborate  system 
of  sewers  have  been  put  down  at  great  cost.  The  main  is  run  straight 
south,  a  tank  is  made  in  an  outlying  shrubbery,  and  the  outfall  runs 
into  a  series  of  drains  spread  out  like  the  four  fingers  and  thumb  of  a 
