93 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  31,  1902. 
force  for  wbicb  the  fruit  trees  were  pining,  running  to  waste. 
Cattle  sheds  and  stables  extended  along  tbe  sides  of  tbe  square 
yard  ;  a  heap  of  dung  was  piled  up  in  tbe  centre,  and  from  this 
and  tbe  buildings  numerous  little  streams  of  coloured  liquid 
trickled  and  emptied  themselves  into  a  kind  of  pool.  This 
receptacle  was  full,  and  from  it  rich -looking  liquid  manure  wa3 
overflowing  and  running  away  to  strengthen  tbe  growth  of  Docks 
and  Nettles  in  an  adjacent  ditch.  Doubtless  this  sort  of  thing 
bad  been  going  on  for  some  time,  and  I  should  not  like  to  say 
bow  many  gallons  of  tbe  liquor  bad  run  away. 
Here  was  a  ‘case  of  wasted  force,  and  tbe  farmer  looked 
surprised  when  I  told  him  that  tbe  very  stuff  which  was  being 
utilised  to  strengthen  the  growth  of  weeds  might  be  tbe  sal¬ 
vation  of  bis  fruit  trees.  He  bad  never  thought  of  it,  be  said, 
and  besides  tbe  pool  was  empty  in  tbe  summer,  when  the  trees 
were  suffering.  He  did  not  see  tbe  use  of  watering  fruit  trees 
when  it  was  raining  every  day.  I  will  not  weary  tbe  reader  by 
repeating  tbe  arguments  I  put  forward  to  prove  tbe  difference 
between  watering  and  feeding  tbe  trees  with  good  liquid  manure, 
and  to  show  tbe  advantage  of  applying  tbe  latter  eveu  in  tbe 
winter  when  growth  is  dormant.  The  remarks  went  home,  so 
far  as  to  the  giving  of  instructions  for  tbe  immediate  emptying 
of  tbe  cesspool  on  to  the  ground  round  tbe  stems  of  tbe  fruit  trees. 
Tbe  wasted  force  of  scores  of  farmyards  might  be  well  utilised 
in  tbe  same  way  judging  by  tbe  appearance  of  tbe  orchard  trees 
in  their  vicinity. 
Another  instance,  carrying  with  it  a  useful  lesson,  came  before 
my  notice  at  a  village  flower  show  last  summer.  Exhibited  in 
tbe  fruit  section  was  a  dish  of  remarkably  flue  Red  Currauts  from 
a  cottage  garden.  They  were  so  much  superior  to  any  of  tbe 
rest  that  everyone  thought  that  thejr  must  be  a  special  variety, 
and  I  took  an  opportunity  of  questioning  tbe  grower  respecting 
them.  At  first  be  seemed  inclined  to  think  that  doubts  were 
being  entertained  as  to  whether  be  bad  really  grown  the  fruit, 
and  was  annoyed  on  this  account,  but  when  re-assured  on  the 
•point  be  freely  told  all  there  was  to  tell  about  tbe  remark¬ 
able  Currants.  He  knew  there  was  nothing  special  about  tbe 
variety  because  be  bad  raised  tbe  bush  himself,  and  yet  the  fruit 
on  the  one  specimen  was  far  superior  to  that  on  the  rest  of 
tbe  bushes.  The  man  had  only  one  explanation  to  offer,  and 
doubtless  it  was  the  right  one.  The  bush  which  grew  tbe  fine 
Currants  happened  to  be  situated  in  close  proximity  to  tbe 
pigstye,  and  tbe  liquid  manure,  draining  from  it,  after  being 
collected  in  a  bole,  got  poured  on  tbe  one  particular  bush  !  Tbe 
force  in  this  instance  was  not  wasted,  but  monopolised  ;  and  tbe 
horny-handed  Currant  grower  gave  me  a  knowing  look  when  I 
suggested  that  it  would  be  well  to  let  a  few  more  of  tbe  bushes 
benefit  by  tbe  pigstye  liquid.  It  was  evident  that  bis  mind  was 
already  made  up  on  that  point,  and  be  bad  taught  himself  a 
useful  lesson  without  being,  at  tbe  time,  aware  of  it. 
Perhaps  tbe  best  way  of  turning  into  a  channel  of  usefulness 
tbe  wasted  forces  of  a  small  tree  is  to  lift  it,  cut  back  tbe 
vigorous  roots,  and  replant  in  auother  position  ;  and,  with  trees 
too  large  for  this  operation,  judicious  root-pruning  is  qualified 
to  bring  about  tbe  same  result.  To  simply  cut  back  tbe 
branches  of  vigorous  trees  serves  no  useful  purpose,  for  tbe 
force  is  neither  checked  nor  diverted,  as  tbe  thickets  of  rank, 
useless  growth  breaking  from  below  tbe  points  of  cutting  soon 
prove,  and  tbe  last  state  of  tbe  tree  is  worse  than  tbe  first. 
Of  late  years  tbe  use  of  artificial  manures  has  come  con¬ 
spicuously  to  the  front  for  tbe  growing  of  fruit.  Stubborn 
prejudices  are  being  worn  down,  and  tbe  value  of  suitable 
mixtures  is  becoming  more  widely  recognised  every  season. 
But  tbe  man  who  uses  chemical  fertilisers  should  not  forget  that 
by  unthoughtful  application  their  forces  may  readily  be  waste  1. 
Mr.  S.  T.  Wright,  tbe  superintendent  of  Chiswick,  is  a  strong 
advocate  for  tbe  use  of  chemical  manure  in  fruit  culture,  and  bis 
opinion  is  founded  on  tbe  fact  that  for  ten  years  be  used  nothing 
else  at  Glewstone  Court,  and  bis  success  wTas  unqualified.  But 
evidently  he  observed  bow  force  could  be  wasted  by  careless 
application,  for  in  bis  essay  on  Commercial  Fruit-growing, 
written  for  tbe  R.H.S.,  be  says,  “  The  best  time  to  apply  these 
manures  (chemicals)  is  immediately  tbe  fruit  is  set.  as  it  will  then 
assist  it  to  swell  and  develop  into  large  size.  If  applied  before  tbe 
crops  are  set  there  is  still  a  risk  of  there  being  no  fruit  that 
season  owing  to  climatic  or  other  causes,  and  then  tbe  manure 
would  force  a  strong  growth,  and  thus  do  more  barm  than  good 
in  many  cases.”  Another  lesson  may  be  taken  from  this,  to 
the  effect  that  horticulture  knows  no  set  rule,  and  tbe  man 
who  works  by  rule  without  studying  tbe  conditions  is  not  long 
before  be  errs.  It  is  obvious  that  all  our  operations  should  be 
governed  by  circumstances  and  conditions  and  by  careful  study, 
so  that  many  forces  wbicb  are'  being  wasted  might  be  saved  or 
diverted  into  profitable  channels. — G.  H.  H. 
Bouquet  Making  :  Harmony  and  Arrangement. 
Persons  who  are  not  particularly  successful  at  bouquet¬ 
making  generally  assert  that  there  is  a  “  knack  ”  about  it  which 
not  everybody  can  hope  to  discover.  I  admit  that  some  persons 
seem  to  have  born  with  them  the  knowledge  of  just  what  kinds 
of  flowers  to  use,  just  how  many  and  just  how  to  put  them 
together.  They  do  not  have  to  learn  these  things.  But  that 
does  not  prove  that  there  is  really  any  “  knack  ”  about  the 
matter.  It  only  goes  to  show  that  some  persons  naturally  have 
good  taste— an  intuitive  taste,  we  may  call  it — while  others  must 
cultivate  taste,  or  acquire  it,  in  order  to  do  successful  work  at 
bouquet-making.  Most  persons  who  have  a  good  eye  for  colour 
and  a  sense  of  harmonious  proportion  may  become  able,  by  a 
little  practice,  to  do  creditable  vyork  along  this  line. 
The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  learn  what  colours  go  well 
together,  ancl  the  only  way  to  learn  this  is  by  experience.  You 
may  read  about  “complementary  colours”  and  all  that,  but  to 
know  all  about  them  you  must  see  them  together.  There  must 
be  an  object  lesson,  in  order  to  get  the  idea  firmly  fixed  in  your 
mind  by  the  effect  harmonious  colours  have  on  the  eye.  There¬ 
fore,  try  all  colours  together  and  find  out  which  you  can  safely 
use  in  combination.  These  experiments  will  soon  convince  you 
that  the  line  cannot  be  drawn  at  positive  colours.  Intermediate 
shades  and  modifications  of  the  primary  colours  must  ,  receive 
quite  as  much  consideration  as  the  primary  colours  themselves. 
Then  the  principle  of  contrast  must  be  taken  into  considera¬ 
tion.  There  are  contrasts  and  contrasts,  and  not  all  contrasts 
are  harmonious  ones,  you  will  find.  Scarlet  and  yellow  afford 
striking  contrast,  but  not  always  a  harmonious  one.  Blue  and 
orange  are  not  discordant,  and  their  contrast  is  very  decided, 
but  it  is  not  a  pleasant  combination  by  any  means,  except  in 
rare  instances  where  strong  high  colours  are  depended  upon  to 
produce  certain  results  which  we  .would  not  care  for  under 
ordinary  conditions.  In  bouquet-making  we  find  (says  a  writer 
in  “Home  and  Flowers”)  that  the  most  satisfactory  contrasts 
are  those  by  which  the  use  of  subordinate  colour  heightens  the 
effect  of  the  predominating  colour.  We  may  often  secure  this 
result  by  using  two  shades  of  the  same  colour. 
One  colour  or  shade  must  be  subordinate  to  the  other  in 
importance.  They  cannot  have  equal  value  in  the  combination 
without  detracting  from  or  entirely  spoiling  the  effect  aimed  at. 
Suppose,  for  illustration  of  the  idea,  we  have  some  maroon  and 
white  Dahlias  to  arrange.  If  we  have  just  as  many  of  one  colour 
as  of  the  other,  our  bouquet  will  not  please  us.  But  if  we  have 
but  two  or  three  white  flowers  among  a  dozen  dark  ones,  the 
effect  is  pleasing,  because  the  contrast  afforded  by  the  small 
amount  of  white  used  emphasises  the  darker  colour  work 
effectively.  We  see  beauties  in  it  that  we  would  not  see  if  there 
was  no  contrast.  Reverse  the  position  and  let  white  pre¬ 
dominate.  The  few  dark  flowers  used  make  the  purity  and  loveli¬ 
ness  of  the  white  ones  stand  out  prominently,  as  it  would  not 
if  there  was  nothing  to  afford  contrast.  By  these  contrasts  we 
secure  a  sort  of  background,  dark  or  light,  as  the  case  may  be, 
against  which  to  display  the  predominating  colour  and  bring  out 
the  full  beauty  of  it.  ’  In  every  arrangement  of  flowers  there 
should  be  some  such  contrast.  Sometimes  the  foliage  of  the 
flowers  used  will  supply  all  that  is  needed,  but  generally  the 
flowers  themselves  should  supply  it. 
As  a  general  thing,  we  use  a  great  many  more  flowers  than 
there  is  any  need  of  in  our  floral  arrangements.  We  forget  or 
overlook,  if  we  have  learned  the  fact,  that  strength  is  not  so 
much  in  quantity  as  in  quality.  An  excess  of  quantity  may 
produce  a  weak  result.  The  artist,  who  paints  a  picture  of 
flowers  which  you  would  be  glad  to  hang  upon  the  wall  of  your 
parlour,  does  not  crowd  his  canvas  with  colour.  He  depends 
upon  the  effective  distribution  of  it  and  the  use  of  contrast  to 
bring  out  the  decorative  idea  fully.  I  have  seen  pictures  which 
seemed  one  great  glow’  of  colour,  and  the  careless  observer  would 
naturally  conclude  that  the  luminous  effect  was  secured  by  the 
mass  of  colour  used.  But  analyse  the  picture  and  you  discovered 
that  the  result  w-as  secured  by  a  really  small  amount  of  colour. 
A  few  Roses  scattered  considerably  against  a  background  of 
green  foliage  will  give  the  effect  of  a  great  wealth  of  tone, 
because  all  the  artistic  possibilities  have  been  realised  by  the 
combination.  Try  combinations  by  which  this  principle  is  illus¬ 
trated,  and  you  w’ill  be  surprised  to  see  what  strong  and  satis¬ 
factory  effects  are  secured  by  the  use  of  a  small  amount  of 
material.  You  will  learn,  from  it  how’  to  “make  a  little  go  a 
long  way.”  And  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  most  flowers  are 
most  effective  when  kept  by  themselves.  There  may  be  harmony 
in  colour  without  harmony  in  habit.  There  are  very  few  flowers 
which  do  not  suffer  by  being  massed  with  others. 
