130 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER .  February  u,  1901 
and  Fendleri,  by  gaining  perfect  spheres  and  kidney  shapes;  but  of 
course  these  will  require  some  more  years  of  my  existence  to  make 
them  fit  for  the  survival  of  commerce. 
How  will  you  allow  me  to  end  these  notes  ?  I  know  you  do  not 
like  my  p  etry — invariably  cut  it  out.  Well,  I  have  just  alighted 
upon  some  lines  by  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning — place  aux  dames — 
which  seem  so  to  fit  what  I  should  like  to  say  in  prose,  and  to  accord 
with  the  beginning  and  end,  that  I  am  tempted  to  send  them  as  a  tail 
'o  my  birthday  paper.  I  copy  the  lines  from  “  Home  Notes,” 
July  21st,  1900,  page  60. 
What  are  we  set  on  earth  to  work  for  ?  say,  to  toil ; 
Nor  seek  to  leave  the  tending  of  thy  Vines 
For  all  the  heat  of  the  day,  till  it  declines, 
And  Death’s  mild  curfew  shall  from  work  assoil. 
God  did  anoint  thee  with  His  odorous  oil 
To  wrestle,  not  to  reign  ;  and  He  assigns 
All  thy  tears  over,  like  pure  crystallines, 
For  younger  fellow-workers  of  the  soil 
To  wear  for  amulets.  So  others  shall 
Take  patience,  labour,  to  their  heart  and  hand, 
From  thy  hand  and  thy  heart  and  thy  brave  cheer. 
And  God’s  grace  fructify  through  thee  to  all. 
The  least  flower,  with  a  brimming  cup  may  stand, 
And  share  its  dewdrop  with  another  near. 
— Robt.  Fenn,  Sulhamstead. 
Notes  and  Comments. 
In  the  Journal  for  January  31st,  page  88,  “  G.  H.  H.”  relates  some 
very  plain  truths  bearing  on  the  work  and  management  of  a  garden, 
drawing  comparisons  between  the  ancient  and  modern  as  affecting 
gardens  and  gardeners.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  in  taking  his  first 
responsible  place  a  young  gardener  finds  many  difficulties,  and  the 
wonder  is,  when  I  remember  the  little  thought  and  study  paid  to 
outdoor  work  by  some  young  men,  how  they  can  take  on  such 
responsibilities  with  confidence  and  credit.  Evidently  “  G.  H.  H.”  has 
met  with  similar  examples,  or  he  would  not  be  so  well  provided  with 
words  so  truly  expressive  of  the  trials  of  the  ambitious  and  aspiring 
youDg  gardener.  It  is  quite  true  that  employers  and  gardeners  often 
look  at  matters  from  a  different  standpoint,  and  it  is  not  a  wise 
proceeding  to  try  and  press  home  a  conviction  on  the  gardener’s  part 
when  his  employer  is  not  open  to  accept  it.  There  are,  however,  few 
gardens  of  which  a  new  gardener  may  be  placed  in  charge  where  he 
cannot  find  plenty  of  scope  for  change  and  improvements  that  in  a 
measure  do  not  concern  employers.  Gardeners  cannot  go  in  at  once 
and  fell  existing  fruit  trees,  pull  down  old  and  erect  modern  green¬ 
houses,  and  kindred  subjects  without  the  consent  and  co-operation  of 
his  employer,  but  he  can  vary  the  methods  of  dealing  with  the  growth 
of  fiuits,  vegetables,  and  flowers,  where,  as  is  often  the  case,  there  is 
abundant  margin  in  the  legacy  of  the  past.  No  two  gardeners  conduct 
their  work  exactly  on  the  same  linep,  and  it  invariably  happens  that  the 
new  man  will  find  some  fault  with  the  old.  It  is  muoh  easier  to  effect 
improvements  in  a  dilapidated  garden  than  it  is  to  hold  one’s  own  in 
that  which  is  up-to-date  in  material  and  quality. 
On  the  same  page  “  H.  D.”  discourses  fluently  (as  he  always  does 
in  matters  pertaining  to  fruit  cultivation),  and  many  will  and  must 
agree  that  a  better  supply  of  gocd  late  English  Apples  is  needed.  When 
reading  the  excellent  article  in  question,  I  could  not  refrain  from  a 
reflection  of  similar  import  bearing  on  the  growth  of  late  Grapes,  that 
a  few  years  ago  was  advocated,  and  has  since  been  acted  on  by  market 
growers.  The  result  has  had  the  effect  of  giving  so  plentiful  a  supply 
that  prices  are  ruinous  to  the  producer.  Foreign  Grapes  are  brought 
into  competition,  which  cut  down  the  value  of  all ;  and  when  prices  rule 
so  low  the  cost  of  producing  them  has  to  be  modified,  and  in  the  end 
poor  quality  rules  the  markets.  The  planting  of  Apples  proceeds  yearly, 
and  so  does  the  importation  of  these  fruits  from  other  countries;  and 
when  the  markets  are  filled  with  good  English  Apples,  even  of  large 
size,  and  are  brought  into  competition  with  the  foreign  fruit,  then  the 
profit  will  be  the  governing  factor  in  its  dealing  with  the  question. 
We  all  know  what  is  the  effect  of  the  harvesting  of  the  English  Apple 
orchards  in  years  of  plenty  ;  they  do  not  pay  their  railway  charges,  and 
a  free  extension  of  the  planting  of  late  sorts  will  carry  in  its  train 
similar  results.  Yes,  the  question  of  storing  and  keeping  is,  as  “  H.  D.” 
remarks,  one  of  vital  importance,  and  unless  provision  is  made  in  that 
direction,  the  varieties  enumerated,  excellent  though  the  selection  may 
be,  would  not  extend  the  limit  of  the  Apple  season  so  appreciably  as  one 
might  hope  and  expect.  _ 
“  Melons,"  by  Mr.  Pettigrew,  affords  some  excellent  reading,  and 
one  so  famous  in  fruit  culture  carries  his  readers  with  him  in  thought 
over  vast  fields  of  research.  Melon  culture  varies  in  some  degree  with 
almost  every  cultivator.  This  being  so,  though  readers  may  not 
agree  with  the  methods  advocated  by  such  an  able  exponent  as  Mr. 
Pettigrew,  they  will,  nevertheless,  stand  by  their  own,  and  modify 
them  only  as  far  as  the  circumstances  of  their  individual  cases  demand. 
As  a  Journal  reader  for  many  years  the  description  of  Mr.  Pettigrew’s’ 
grand  Melon  crops  haunts  me  in  fresh  memories,  and  his  papers 
continued  at  intervals  of  late  have  been  read  with  an  increased  interest, 
though,  as  I  have  previously  remarked,  circumstances  do  not  permit  of 
direot  imitation,  because  the  many  means  are  not  present  that  make 
one  successful  whole. 
“  Pancratiums,”  by  “  J.  B.,  Brocks reminds  me  of  Mr.  Iggulden’s 
famous  plants  at  Marston.  They,  like  Eucharises,  have  their  “fads,” 
and  it  comes  not  to  every  gardener’s  lot  to  emulate  the  example  so 
eloquently  given  in  the  Journal  photo  on  page  111.  “  The  treatment 
we  give,”  says  “J.  B.,”  “differs  from  that  of  many  growers,  as  the 
plants  are  never  allowed  to  become  dry  at  the  roots,  but  are  kept  well 
supplied  with  water  winter  and  summer.”  In  this  particular  item  it 
does  not  differ  so  much  from  the  treatment  of  others,  but  results  are 
not  always  as  pleasant  as  that  so  well  pourtrayed  in  “  J.  B.’s  ”  notes 
and  photograph.  _ 
“Winter  pruning  is  not  a  mere  detail  of  garden  practice;  it  is  a 
science,”  says  “  L.  E. ;  ”  and  who  will  be  bold  enough  to  say  it  is  not  so 
when  properly  carried  out  ?  Science,  however,  does  not  always  enter 
into  the  practice  except  in  very  crude  and  indigestible  forms.  There 
are  varying  reasons  for  this  ;  some  may  be  understood,  others  not. 
Cases  can  be  cited  where  t  he  pruning  goes  on  from  year  to  year  without  a 
thought  given  to  the  form  of  tree,  the  nature  of  the  soil  and  its  influence 
on  fruit  production,  and  the  extent  or  absence  of  crops.  Such  pruners 
have  a  “knack” — if  such  vulgar  phrase  is  permitted  of  living  in 
hope  ;  if  they  do  not  realise  their  expectations  this  year  they  may  in 
the  next,  and  so  on.  In  other  words,  there  is  an  absence  of  science,  or 
even  a  practical  study  of  the  question  at  issue.  I  remember  some 
Apple  trees  that  came  under  the  supervision  of  a  well-known  gardener 
that  were  subject  to  the  annual  course  of  pruning  by  the  workman  to 
whom  this  work  was  entrusted.  The  trees  were  such  a  thicket  of 
lateral  spray  that  a  sun  ray  must  have  been  quite  foreign  to  the  centre 
of  the  tree,  and  fruit  bearing,  1  need  scarcely  say,  was  beyond  hope. 
What  few  were  found  were  so  completely  out  of  character  that  it  would 
defy  the  expert  to  recognise  the  sample,  and  yet  never  a  thought  was 
given  to  the  modification  of  the  practice  so  long  carried  out.  In  this 
case  hope  must  have  been  long  deferred  and  never  realised.  By  a 
rational  course  of  pruning,  and  the  severance  of  some  of  the  thong-like 
roots  which  burrowed  into  the  subsoil,  these  same  trees  now  produce 
high-class  fruit  that  does  not  need  the  expert’s  eye  to  distinguish 
them.  Your  correspondent  does  well  to  insist  on  a  vigorous  development 
of  branch,  instead  of  the  proclamation  of  the  boastful  amateur  that  his 
trees  gave  him  a  full  crop  the  first  year.  One  might  well  repeat,  that 
in  the  common  interest  it  is  better  to  avoid  such  a  course  of  folly.  It 
is  work  that  should  be  entrusted  only  to  intelligent  men — those  who 
have  an  interest  both  in  the  present  and  future  tree  and  the  crops 
expected  from  it. — W.  S.,  Wilts. 
There  is  hardly  any  class  of  plants  more  popular  than  that  of  the 
Lily,  and  none  to  which  greater  additions  have  been  made  during 
the  past  half  century.  I  am  afraid  it  must  be  said  of  many  of 
these,  however,  that  they  are  not  permanent  additions  to  our  gardens. 
We  must  be  careful  to  remember  that  many  which  have  usurped  this 
name  have  no  right  to  it,  as,  for  example,  that  most  chaste  and  sweet, 
scented  flower  the  Lily  of  the  Valley.  The  true  Lily  comprises  about 
forty-five  species,  most  of  them  to  be  found  in  the  temperate  regions 
of  the  northern  hemisphere.  Of  these  many  have  been  introduced 
during  late  years.  Japan  and  northern  China  have  contributed  largely 
to  swell  the  additions  to  our  gardens. 
That  Liliums  are  not  easy  bulbs  to  cultivate  in  ordinary  gardens, 
few,  I  think,  will  deny,  or  else  how  is  it  that  we  have  so  many 
complaints  of  failure  ?  It  is  not  that  they  cannot  withstand  frost, 
for  many  of  them  have  been  subjected  to  severe  tests  in  this  direction, 
and  some  of  the  older  ones  have  been  cultivated  for  generations  in  our 
gardens.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  are  not  some  gardens 
peculiarly  adapted  for  them  where  they  will  thrive,  such  a  garden,  for 
instance,  as  that  of  Mr.  G.  F.  Wilson  at  Wisley,  where  they  seem  to 
grow  like  weeds,  and  continue  from  year  to  year. 
I  am,  however,  speaking  of  ordinary  garden  soils;  while  in  the  case 
of  some  species  there  is  a  difficulty  which  I  do  not  think  any  gardener 
can  comprehend.  Look  for  a  moment  at  the  white  Lily,  Lilium 
candidum,  of  which  we  continually  read  mournful  complain: s  that  it 
is  impossible  to  grow  it  successfully  ;  yet  how  often  do  we  see  it  in 
cottagers’  gardens,  where  it  has  been  established  for  years,  flourishing 
in  luxuriant  style.  Some  persons  will  say  the  position  is  too  dry,  others 
again  it  is  too  moist ;  again  we  are  told  the  soil  is  too  light  or  too  heavy. 
A  contemporary  has  lately  taken  the  opinion  of  some  thirty  or  more  of 
