January  31,  1901 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
95 
A  Variegated  Lataijia  rotundifolia. 
Glancing  over  your  Gleanings  column  in  the  Journal,  dated 
3rd  January,  I  notice  that  a  variegated  sport  from  Livistona  rotundifolia 
had  been  discovered  in  India.  Now  I  could  not  agree  that  it  was  the 
first  discovery  of  such  a  plant,  as  there  is  to  be  found  in  the  gardens  of 
Col.  R.  G.  Sharman  Crawford,  Crawfordsburn,  co.  Down,  a  specimen 
plant  of  a  variegated  Latania  (Livistona)  rotundifolia  bearing  at  present 
twelve  leaves,  measuring  at  least  3^  to  4  feet  across  the  centre. 
Each  leaf  is  distinctly  marked  with  creamy  white  stripes,  equal  to 
those  usually  found  in  Pandanus  javanicus.  The  plant  I  should  assume 
to  be  about  ten  years  old,  and  it  has  been  in  Crawfordsburn  for 
the  past  four  years.  It  was  procured  from  Messrs.  A.  Dickson  &  Sons, 
Newtownards,  where,  I  believe,  it  was  raised  from  seed.  If  this  comes 
before  the  notice  of  Messrs.  Dickson  &  Sons,  perhaps  they  will  be  able 
to  throw  some  light  on  what  I  should  call,  until  disputed,  the  first 
variegated  form  of  the  Latania  family. — J.  Pryde. 
Apple  Lane’s  Priijce  Albert, 
The  article  by  “W.,”  page  59,  will  erroneously  convey  a  wrong 
impression  to  intending  planters  of  this  variety,  as  no  one  likes 
to  plant  trees  that  are  bad  growers,  whatever  other  good  qualities 
they  possess,  especially  so  if  profit  is  the  object.  We  have  some  three 
dozen  trees  of  it,  which  are  all  that  can  be  desired,  both  with  regard 
to  growing  and  fruiting,  and  if  they  do  not  have  a  heavy  crop  this 
year  they  will  have  to  be  lifted  to  keep  them  within  bounds.  It  is 
one  of  the  few  varieties  in  which  the  shoots  can  be  left  any  length  and 
be  sure  of  blossom  buds  forming  all  the  length,  whereas  in  many 
varieties  when  left  only  a  few  buds  at  the  apex  are  changed  into 
blossom  buds.  The  trees  here  are  budded  on  the  Crab  stock,  and  both 
the  roots  and  the  heads  were  well  pruned  at  planting  time.  “  W.’s  ” 
trees  must  be  on  the  Paradise,  I  think,  to  have  made  such  a  poor  growth, 
for  this  stock  is  essentially  a  fruit  bud  producer,  for  when  the  new 
growth  on  the  tree  is  arrested  in  any  manner,  that  shoot  will  be  bristling 
with  fruit  buds  in  the  autumn.  If  “  W.”  is  at  all  serious  about  picking 
off  the  fruit  next  spring,  I  should  let  that  seriousness  have  its  turn  now, 
instead  of  waiting  till  spring,  by  cutting  off  all  the  fruit  spurs  and  buds 
that  can  be  done  without  permanent  injury  to  the  tree,  and  the  energy 
that  would  have  gone  towards  the  sustenance  of  the  bloom  will  go  to 
make  wood  instead. — P.  K.  D.,  Cheshire. 
- - 
Women  as  Gardeners. 
Whether  a  college  or  hostel  for  women  gardeners  is  an  institution 
destined  to  have  a  long  and  useful  existence,  of  course  remain  to  be 
proved  by  time  and  experience.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  a 
preponderance  of  opinion  is  against  the  new  move.  “  E.  D.  S.”  reviews 
the  institution  with  greater  favour  than  many  previous  contributors 
who  have  given  their  vote.  He  says,  “  Capable  women  would  soon  learn, 
if  they  had  not  already  learnt,  how  to  pot  young  Chrysanthemum 
plants,  Tomatoes,  and  seedlings  of  various  descriptions,”  also  sowing 
seeds,  thinning  Grapes,  disbudding  Peaches,  thinning  the  fruit,  and 
pricking  out  seedlings.  All  this  may  be  more  or  less  true  in  theory, 
but  in  practice  it  may  work  out  differently.  At  any  rate,  as  a  gardener 
I  should  certainly  oppose  most  strongly  the  introduction  of  young 
women  into  any  garden  where  young  journeymen  gardeners  were  also 
employed,  for  I  am  quite  sure  such  mixed  labour  would  not  work  out 
satisfactorily.  There  are  many  gardens  in  which  the  staff  is  a  limited 
one,  and  altogether  out  of  proportion  to  the  amount  of  work  to 
be  done,  and  in  such  cases  I  would  ask,  Where  is  the  economy  of  lady 
helps  ?  The  employment  of  lady  gardeners  is  a  luxury  admissible  only 
to  the  estate  that  can  afford  extras,  and  where  the  staff  is  an  extensive 
one. 
I  have  always  felt  sorry  when  I  have  seen  women  of  the  labouring 
class  working  in  the  open  garden  in  cold  wet  weather,  but  of  late  years 
female  labour  has  been  largely  dispensed  with.  I  do  not  think  we  are 
likely  in  this,  the  twentieth  century,  to  see  women  doing  heavy  digging, 
wheeling,  and  mowing  ;  but  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  the  garden 
woman  is  a  most  useful  member  of  a  garden  staff  in  her  proper  place. 
The  bothy  is  devoid  of  comfort  and  pleasure  when  there  is  no  woman  in 
charge.  The  flower  work  of  the  house,  table  decorating  and 
such-like,  may  be  handed  over  to  lady  gardeners  perhaps  with  some 
advantage ;  but  even  this  is  usually  associated  with  some  other 
important  work  dischargeable  by  intelligent  men.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  education  of  lady  gardeners  is  not  calculated  to  disturb  to  any 
appreciable  extent  the  labour  market,  and  to  expect  that  two  years’ 
tuition  is  a  sufficient  store  of  knowledge  to  embark  on  gardening  as  a 
profession  is  to  my  mind  incomprehensible.  As  to  Grape  thinuing, 
Peach  tying,  and  kindred  work,  where  is  the  gain  of  mixed  labour?  and 
how  unsuited  is  the  conditions  for  women  ?  There  seems  a  tendency 
among  ambitious  women  of  the  present  day  to  ascend  into  the  higher 
scale,  and  take  up  work  which,  from  ages  past,  has  been  carried  on  by 
male  practitioners,  notably  in  medicine,  law,  and  gardening.  Female 
help  is,  as  “  E.  D.  S.”  truly  says,  when  of  the  right  kind  invaluable  ; 
but  I  cannot  agree  with  him  in  defining  it  as  being  the  pruning  of  wall 
and  bush  trees,  planting,  and  such  like  work.  I  have  yet  to  learn  that 
market  growers  adopt  women  labour  for  this  class  of  employment. 
“  What  they  can  do  ”  is  florists’  work,  and  this  much  better  than 
garden  drudgery. — R.  A. 
- - - - 
Tl|e  Chairmanship  of  the  Fruit  Committee. 
For  weeks  past  almost  every  gardening  paper  has  had  paragraphs, 
which  conclude  with  the  signature  “A.  D.,”  anent  the  nurseryman,  and 
his  unfitness  to  sit  as  a  member  of  any  committee  of  the  R  H.S.  First 
it  was  the  Fruit  Committee,  and  how  every  nurseryman  should  be 
banished  from  this  body,  because,  being  in  trade,  they  could  not 
possibly  have  a  mind  open  to  fair  judgment !  We  will  not  say 
anything  about  those  members  of  this  despised  body  who  have  sat  on 
the  Fruit  Committee  for  twenty  years,  often  attending  in  the  busy 
season  at  great  inconvenience  and  loss,  paying  their  own  expenses 
and  without  reward  (saving  a  luncheon  once  a  year),  and  some  of  whom 
are  not  even  exhibitors.  No,  we  will  let  their  services  speak  for  them¬ 
selves.  Again,  we  will  not  say  anything  about  the  propriety,  or  other¬ 
wise,  of  these  insinuations  emanating  from  a  member  of  this  very 
committee,  who,  had  he  the  slightest  ground  for  his  remarks,  has  the 
most  ample  opportunity  of  bringing:  his  grievance  before  his  own 
committee  instead  of  trying  to  make  belief  that  he  is  washing  dirty  linen 
in  public.  Nor,  lastly,  will  we  say  anything  of  the  89nse  of  fitness 
which  permits  the  editors  of  these  papers  to  insert  the  paragraphs 
referred  to  unless  they  think  that  there  is  cause  of  complaint  against 
the  trade  in  these  matters.  All  this  everyone  can  form  his  own 
judgment  upon. 
But  we  would  ask — in  heaven’s  name  where  would  the  committee 
get  to  without  these  nurserymen  ?  Amateurs  and  gardeners  may  and 
do  know  much,  and  may  even,  each  in  his  way,  surpass  the  nurseryman 
in  some  branch  of  horticultural  knowledge,  but  for  a  general  all-round 
grasp  of  the  subject,,  commend  us  to  the  man  who  gains  his  living  by 
cultivating  fruit  trees,  and  who  is  daily  in  touch  with  these  matters 
and  consulted  in  all  difficulties,  so  that  he  is  armed  with  the 
experience  of  others  as  well  as  his  own.  But  what,  we  ask,  happens 
when  committees  meet  without  nurserymen  ?  Well,  they  give 
certificates  to  “  Early  Favourite  ”  Plum,  which,  any  nurseryman  could 
have  told  them,  had  been  out  for  forty  years,  and  which  fruits  on 
the  average  twice  during  that  time.  There,  we  will  say  no  more  upon 
this  point. 
Next,  our  friend,  whose  initials  should  surely  have  “  C.  R.  I.”  between 
them,  runs  amok  upon  the  Floral  Committee,  and  explains  why  those 
rascally  nurserymen  are  unfitted  to  judge  or  vote  upon  the  merits  of  a 
Dahlia,  and  now  he  turns  his  attention  to  the  members  of  the  council 
and  shows  that,  with  one  exception  how  kind  of  him  to  grant  even 
this — -there  is  no  one  on  the  council  who  is  fit  to  be  the  chairman  of  the 
Fruit  Committe,  and  he  suggests  that  the  Fellows  should  select  some 
members  who  are  fit  for  the  post  and  put  them  in  at  the  general 
meeting  next  month.  We  do  not  know  if  “  A.  D.”  is  aspiring  to  be 
elected,  but  we  should  scarcely  think  so,  as,  if  he  is  not  actually  a 
member  of  the  trade  himself,  his  family  connections  in  the  business 
would  almost  render  him  unfit,  from  his  own  point  of  view.  Anyway, 
we  think  those  members  of  the  maligned  body  of  men  known  as  nursery¬ 
men,  who  are  Fellows  of  the  R.H.S.,  should  endeavour  to  be  present  at 
the  annual  general  meeting  and  see  what  is  going  on. — Nurseryman. 
- !•■■> - - - - 
Onions  as  a  Rival  to  the  Aneroid. — In  some  country  households 
there  are  to  be  seen  at  the  present  time  twelve  large  Onions  placed  in 
a  row,  with  a  pinch  of  salt  on  the  top  of  each.  What  mission  have 
these  odoriferous  roots  to  perform  ?  They  are  there,  the  “  Agricultural 
World”  explains,  as  weather  prophets.  The  Onions  were  set  in 
position  on  Christmas  Day.  They  will  be  kept  on  guard  until  Twelfth 
Night.  Then  the  believer  in  their  prophetic  office  will  examine  them 
with  scrupulous  care.  On  some  Onions  the  salt  will  have  melted;  on 
others  it  will  have  remained  dry.  Each  Onion  represents  a  month. 
A  rainy  month  is  indicated  where  the  salt  has  melted,  and  a  dry  month 
where  it  has  kept  intact. 
