December  25,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
583 
great  occasion,  and,  besides  the  rush  of  decorations,  there 
are  a  score  of  other  duties  that  crowd  themselves  into  a  very 
short  space  of  time  at  the  Yuletide  season.  Thus  the 
gardener  is  a  busy  man  at  Christmas  time,  but  generally 
a  happy  one,  as  he  enters  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing  with 
true  national  zeal,  and  rarely  fails  to  get  a  little  pleasure 
out  of  the  season  in  spite  of  its  multitude  of  extra  duties. 
I  could  go  on  further,  but  I  have  said  enough  to  show 
what  Christmas  means  to  gardens  and  gardeners  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  my  closing  words  shall  be  to  wish  the 
old  Journal,  its  Editor,  and  everyone  of  its  readers  the 
compliments  of  the  season. — G.  H.  H. 
- - 
Strong  Men  Come,  when  England  Calls. 
As  the  waves  of  the  ocean  press  onward  with  their  cease¬ 
less  roll,  so  in  the  lives  of  us  all  there  should  be  some 
motive  force  which  urges  us  to  constant  and  strenuous 
endeavour.  Rocks  there  always  will  be  on  the  “  sea  of 
life,”  upon  which  some  human  vessels,  both  great  and 
small,  will  for  a  time  become  “stranded,”  until  by  a 
mighty  effort  they  reach  smooth  waters  again,  and  learn 
by  experience  to  keep  a  more  vigilant  watch  in  the  future. 
The  discoverers  of  old  ran  many  risks  in  venturing  on  un¬ 
known  seas,  and  to-day  the  man  who  will  “  launch  ”  boldly 
into  untried  enterprises  takes  the  risk  which  must  ever 
attend  a  new  venture;  but  the  old  adage,  “Nothing  ven¬ 
tured,  nothing  won,”  contains  a  truism  which  needs  uphold¬ 
ing  as  much  to-day  as  of  yore,  because  individuals  with  grit 
and  enterprise  are  as  the  “  salt  of  the  earth,”  and  a  nation 
without  “  strong  men  ”  who  have  the  spirit  to  take  some 
risks  in  order  to  carry  on  a  great  and  necessary  work,  must 
be  drifting  towards  senile  decay. 
I  must  pause,  however,  or  my  pen  will  be  recording 
thoughts  which  will  bring  a  “  hornets’  nest  ”  about  my  ears. 
Already  I  see  in  imagination  a  threatening  gleam  steal  over 
the  faces  of  some  “Journal”  readers,  who,  in  the  en¬ 
deavour  to  fathom  what  I  am  driving  at,  almost'  see  in  the 
above  remarks  a  dark  hint  at  the  “  decadence  of  gardeners.” 
Let  me  at  once  assure  them  that  nothing  is  further  from 
my  thoughts,  for,  to  my  mind,  gardeners,  as  a  body,  stand 
out  as  a  bright  example  to  the  rank  and  file  of  workers  in 
other  callings,  as  they  are  ever  willing  to  adopt  new 
methods  in  which  they  can  discern  distinct  advantages,  and 
although  hedged  around  by  many  restrictions. 
It  is  surprising  hoAV  much  may  be  accomplished  under 
adverse  circumstances.  No,  I  have  no  shaft  to  send  against 
gardeners,  who  too  often  have  to  make  “  bricks  without 
straw  ”  ;  but  I  sometimes  tremble  for  my  country  when  in 
my  travels  I  see  the  broad  acres  of  lonely  derelict  farms, 
and  when  I  hear  of  the  fine  crops  they  produced  twenty 
years  ago.  The  thought  often  rises  to  my  mind  what  a 
different  picture  these  dreary  wastes  would  present  in  a 
few  years  if  some  of  the  best  of  England’s  struggling 
gardeners  could  be  placed  in  possession  under  favourable 
conditions. 
The  old  order  of  things  in  connection  Avith  the  land  has 
changed  with  a  vengeance  ;  but  that  is  no  reason  why  in  the 
future  a  new  order,  as  prosperous  as  the  old,  should  not 
arise,  if  the  problems  are  wisely  dealt  with  as  they  crop 
up.  The  old  style  of  farming  has  had  its  day,  and  however 
desirable  it  may  be,  it  seems  unlikely  that  the  growth  of 
many  farm  crops  will  ever  again  become  really  profitable. 
Dairy  farming  has  been  the  saviour  of  many  districts,  and 
as  the  population  increases  it  will  doubtless  be  generally 
extended,  to  the  advantage  of  all  concerned. 
Other  great  industries  are,  however,  needed  to  snatch 
from  the  grasp  of  ruin  thousands  of  acres  of  naturally  fertile 
land,  and  to  provide  the  England  of  the  future  with  sturdy 
sons  and  daughters,  who  will  gain  their  vigour  from  the 
healthiness  of  country  life.  If  anything  will  bring  about 
this  improved  state  of  affairs,  I,  for  one,  am  strongly  con¬ 
vinced  that  fruit  culture  will.  “  The  Journal  of  Horticul¬ 
ture,”  for  the  last  twenty  years  at  least,  has  consistently 
urged  the  crying  need  for  a  great  extension  of  the  industry  ; 
and  yet  to-day  there  is  more  than  ever  before  urgent  neces¬ 
sity  to  plant  certain  kinds  of  fruit  on  an  unprecedented 
scale. 
The  pessimists  of  old  told  us  the  thing  Avas  being  greatly 
overdone,  and  yet  our  imports  shoAV  each  year  an  increase  ; 
and,  Avhat  is  more,  the  average  price  of  good  Apples  and 
Pears  has  been  higher  during  the  last  feAv  years  than  ever 
before.  During  the  same  period  nearly  all  manufactured 
goods  have  decreased  in  price,  and  land  has  fallen  greatly 
in  value.  The  public  generally  seem  to  have  no  idea  of  the 
enormous  quantities  of  Apples  imported  into  Britain 
annually  ;  but  they  are  Avell  aware  that  Avhen  they  get  the 
well  groAATn  British  article  they  have  the  best  the  world 
produces.  We  have  the  pessimists  and  the  faint-hearted 
still  Avith  us.  The  former  assert  the  thing  is  being  over¬ 
done  ;  the  latter  that  only  failure  will  come  if  fruit  groiving 
is  practised  except  in  A\That  are  noAV  knoAvn  as  fruit-growing 
districts. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  travel  and  observe  closely  to  see 
1ioav*  fallacious  either  of  these  assertions  are.  In  all 
counties  there  are  soils  and  sites  splendidly  adapted  for 
growing  fruit  trees.  In  the  Avestern  and  midland  counties 
the  climatic  conditions  are  such  that  crops  are  produced 
quite  as  regularly  as  in  any  of  the  southern  counties,  and 
during  some  seasons  the  fruit  is  as  fine  as  that  grown  in 
any  county.  The  fact  is  that  great  fruit-growing  centres 
will  spring  up  in  various  places  in  the  future  as  they  have 
done  in  the  past,  and  counties  udiich  were  once  considered 
supreme  Avill  have  to  yield  the  palm  to  younger  aspirants 
to  such  honours. 
No  one  has  urged  more  constantly  the  importance  of 
selecting  suitable  sites  Avhere  the  soil  is  good  before,  plant¬ 
ing  fruit  trees,  blit  there  is  plenty  of  land  possessing  all 
these  advantages  in  many  counties.  I  could  point  to  many 
districts  Avhere  there  are  a  few  isolated  orchards  Avhich  have 
quite  a  local  reputation  for  their  fruit,  and  as  there  is 
plenty  of  similar  soil  around,  planting  on  a  large  scale 
would  convert  such  districts  into  prominent  fruit-growing 
centres.  No,  there  is  plenty  of  suitable  soil  in  England 
capable  of  growing  all  the  Apples  we  require  betiveen 
August  and  March.  If  it  is  selected  with  judgment,  and 
not  pitched  upon  in  a  haphazard  Avay,  then,  with  thorough 
preparation  of  the  soil  and  good  planting,  combined  A\rith 
a  careful  selection  of  varieties,  failure  could  only  be  a 
remote  possibility.  The  rental  value  of  such  land  in  suit¬ 
able  positions  might  be  increased  tenfold  in  ten  years  by 
planting  it  with  Apples  and  Pears,  and  there  is  need  at  the 
present  time  for  “  strong  men  ”  Avith  poAver  behind  them 
to  forge  the  links  which  shall  connect  present  scarcity  A\*ith 
future  plenty.— Onward. 
FIGS  UNDER  GLASS. 
Early  Forced  Trees  in  Pots. — To  have  ripe  Figs  in  April 
the  trees  must  be  started  not  later  than  the  new  year,  and  they 
must  consist  of  the  early  varieties,  and  such  as  hold  the  first-crop 
fruits,  than  which  there  are  few  to  equal  the  small  fruited  but 
excellent  Early  Violet  and  St.  Jphn’s,  the  latter  a  greenish- 
ivliite  Fig  of  fair  quality  and  medium  size.  These  free-bearing 
properties,  however,  depend  on  the  trees  not  carrying  heavy 
second  crops  the  previous  year,  and  on  the  autumn  set  being 
on  sturdy,  well  ripened  wood.  Angelique  is  also  a  good  forcer, 
and  so  is  White  Ischia.  For  general  purposes  Brown  Turkey 
surpasses  all  others,  being  good  in  both  first  and  second  crops, 
but  it  must  not  bear  the  latter  on  the  points  of  the  shoots,  nor 
too  many  of  them  at  the  base,  or  the  first  crop  following  will 
not  be  satisfactory. 
A  slight  warmth  at  the  roots  is  highly  beneficial,  but  even  this 
has  its  disadvantages,  as  when  the  heat  at  the  roots  is  lOdeg 
or  more  during  the  early  stages  of  growth  that  is  forced  too 
rapidly;  therefore  see  that  the  temperature  at  the  base  of  the 
pots*  is  not  more  than  that  until  the  leaves  are  unfolding,  when 
the  heat  may  be  70deg  at  the  base  of  the  pots. 
The  temperature  of  the  house  should  be  55deg  at  night, 
gradually  increasing  to  60deg  and  65deg  in  the  daytime,  odeg 
more  in  mild  weather,  and  70deg  to  75deg  with  sun  heat  and 
moderate  ventilation.  It  is  better,  however,  to  bring  the  trees 
on  slowly  rather  than  quickly,  especially  in  dull  Aveather,  as 
foliage  produce^  under  such  conditions  is  not  of  stout  texture, 
but  thin  and  liable  to  scorch  under  bright  sun  and  to  fall  an 
easy  prey  to  red  spider.  Water  in  a  tepid  state  must  be  sup¬ 
plied  to  the  roots,  as  required,  and  the  trees  and  house  syringed 
morning  and  afternoon,  damping  the  house  later  on,  but  not  the 
trees,  as  it  is  desirable  to  have  the  foliage  fairly  dry  before 
nightfall. — Groaver. 
