February  18,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
145 
.some  CR.ses  it  is  po.ssihle  the  employer  might  he  agreeably  sur¬ 
prised  to  find  hi.s  humble  friend  posse.ssed  of  great  mental  and 
conv'er.sational  power.  That  many  per.sons  look  down  upon  the 
gardener  as  a  mere  .servant  is  a.  well-known  fact.  Whether  or 
not  he  is  worthy  as  high  a  position  socially  as  the  fai  iner  hover¬ 
ing  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  or  the  trader  whose  life  is  one 
long  struggle  against  insolvency,  I  neither  know  nor  care.  I  do 
know  which  position  is  to  be  preferred,  ana  after  all,  social 
status  is  largely  a  matter  of  self-respect.  The  individual  who 
is  willing  to  pull  his  hat-brim  to  all  and  sundry  must  be  pre¬ 
pared  for  patronage,  and  many  seem  to  enjoy  it ;  thus  the 
patron  and  patronised  ought  both  to  be  content.  -CorNTRYiiAN. 
- - 
Trade  v.  Private  Exhibitors. 
I  am  very  glad  to  have  a  few  more  views  fi’om  “  E.  M.”  on 
the  above  question.  He  .says  one  would  think  the  exhibition 
tents  are  monopolised  by  trade  exhibitors  from  the  fear  in 
which  they  are  held.  Personally  I  don’t  speak  from  that 
standpoint  by  any  means.  I  should  welcome  the  opportunity 
of  competition  on  the  same  footing  as  “  E.  M.”  boasts  of. 
He  says  he  can  mention  a  dozen  private  growers  who  can  buy 
more  Chrysanthemum  plants  ;  who  have  more  house  room  ;  in 
short,  more  of  everything  to  compete  with  than  the  Trade. 
The  very  audacity!  A  mere  dozen?  I,  or  anyone  else,  can 
mention  hundreds  who  cannot,  for  various  reasons,  which  I 
cited  in  one  of  your  previous  issues  of  the  Journal,  and  simply 
because  a  dozen  can  compete  with  any  amount  of  STiccess,  he 
thinks  it  not  worth  while  to  advocate  legislation  for  the 
benefit  of  the  smaller  man !  He  asks  me  the  question  whether 
I  think  we  should  see  the  same  amount  of  quality  in  the 
Japane.se  blooms  if  trade  exhibitors  did  not  compete.  Hy 
answer  is  Yes.  At  South  Shields,  I  believe,  every  open  cla.ss  of 
any  note  is  pounced  upon  by  the  Trade.  I  certainly  cannot 
see  the  justice  of  such  a  .state  of  things.  The  framers  of  the 
schedule  ought  to  clo.se  the  doors  to  the  Trade  except  in  cases 
of  non-competitive  exhibits ;  or  otherwise  put  the  competi¬ 
tions  on  more  equitable  terms.  Not  only  do  I  complain  of  the 
Chrysanthemum  question,  but  in  many  other  cases  the  Trade 
are  pitted  against  the  private  growers.  It  need  not  become  an 
epidemic  before  being  dealt  with. — Fairness. 
Will  you  allow  me  a  line  or  two  in  order  that  I  might 
support  “E.  M.”?  Your  correspondent  “Fairness”  does  not 
seem  to  gra.sp  this  fact,  namely,  that  if  a  class  is  open,  anybody 
can  compete  in  it,  and  if  a  trade  grower  chooses  to  run  the  risk 
of  being  defeated  by  a  private  grower,  no  one  has  the  least 
semblance  of  a  cause  to  complain  against  him.  Is  it  not  a  fact 
that  he  runs  a  risk  in  thus  competing,  and  do  trade  growers 
enjoy  being  beaten,  even  by  private  men  better  equipped  than 
themselves?  And  has  “Fairness”  (his  nom  de  iilnme  Ls  a 
misnomer)  never  thought  that  a  trade  grower  (if  he  is  a  young 
man  especially)  takes  a  delight  in  exhibiting  for  the  pleasure 
and  honour  of  it,  quite  apart  from  any  trade  con.sideration  ?  In 
short,  has  it  never  struck  “Fairne.ss”  that  for  the  time  being 
the  trade  gi’ower  has  become  purely  a  devotee  of  the  flower 
and  nothing  more?  But  the  conclusion  I  draw  from  the  letters 
of  “Fairness”  is  that  he  wants  prizes,  and  not  honour  or 
pleasure.  If  he  finds  he  cannot  compete  in  an  open  class,  why 
enter  it?  Are  shows  run  for  the  sake  of  individuals,  for  the 
sake  of  the  “small  man”?  Surely  not.  There  are  cla.sses 
tor  all. — S.MALL  Man. 
I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  remarks  of  “  Fairness  ” 
on  this  subject  in  a  recent  issue,  but  I  should  like  to  ask  him 
what  an  ojjen  class  is  if  it  is  not  meant  for  the  Trade?  There 
w  ould  be  no  need  of  societies  making  open  clas.ses  if  it  was  not 
for  the  Trade  exhibiting,  as  the  amateur  classes  are  open  to 
all  private  gardeners.  Surely,  then,  the  Trade  are  well  within 
their  rights  in  competing  in  all  open  classes.  I  would  like 
to  ask  your  correspondent,  who  among  us  has  done  more  to 
improve  the  Chrysanthemum  as  the  Wiltshire  grower  tacitly 
referred  to?  And  does  “Fairne.ss”  think  that  those  men  who 
have  done  .so  much  towards  the  cultivation  of  the  flower  .should 
be  debarred  from  showing? 
I  .should  further  like  to  ask  “Fairne.ss”  what  the  shows 
woidd  be  like  were  it  not  for  tbe  trade  growers  .showing  in  the 
open  clas.ses?  Take  our  Dahlia  shows,  for  imstance ;  what 
would  they  be  if  the  Trade  were  to  withhold  their  exhibits? 
Or  again,  take  our  Ro.se  .shows,  and  also  the  summer  .shows— 
what  would  they  be  without  the  Trade  and  such  men  as  IMr. 
Cypher  with  the  beautiful  groups  and  .specimen  plants?  I  am 
sure  we  are  indebted  to  the  Trade  for  many  improvements  at 
our  shows.  I  really  think  it  is  not  so  much  a  que.stion  of  the 
Trade  competing  with  the  private  grower  as  the  private  grower 
entering  into  the  Ti'ade  classes  :  and  if  an  exhibitor  enters  into 
those  clas.ses  be  must  be  prepared  to  face  the  competition  of  the 
commei'cial  element. — G.  W.  Drake,  Cardiff. 
Protecting  Plums  against  Frost. 
I  have  read  Mr.  Willis’s  article  page  110,  on  Plum  culture, 
with  much  intere.st  ;  hut  I  should  like  to  ask  him  and  your 
readers.  Are  not  culture,  soil,  varieties,  manures,  and  chemical 
composition  of  the  fruit  of  secondary  importance  as  compared 
with  iirotecting  the  embryo  fruit  buds  at  the  blossoming  period? 
La,st  year  I  remember  going  out  one  morning  into  mj'  garden, 
while  the  greater  number  of  \mrieties  were  in  blossom,  and 
finding  not  merely  the  corolla  and  stamens  of  tbe  blossoms,  but 
the  embryo  fruits  burned  black,  and,  when  cut  through,  virtually 
calcined.  I  determined  then  and  there  to  tiy  some,  form  of  pro¬ 
tection,  and  have  recently  procured  from  one  of  your  advertisers 
closely  meshed  netting  that  will  let  air  and  light  pa.ss  through, 
but  will  protect  against  frost.  I  cannot  speak  very  definitely, 
as  ’tis  my  first  trial  of  these  hoods,  but  may  be  able  to  have 
photographs  taken  of  them  for  the  Journal  of  ILorficulturc.  The 
materials  are  damp  iiroof,  and  after  last  night’s  .storm  I  have 
had  a  fair  trial  of  what  they  can  stand  that  way.  Of  course,  they 
are  firmly  and  securely  tied  on  all  around  the  trees.  I  ani  trying 
them  on  Pears,  Plums,  Figs,  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Nectarines — 
the  latter  on  walls.  It  is  manifestly  useless  and  vexatious  to 
grow  these  fruits  in  the  open  garden  if  one  night’s  frost  spoils 
the  labour,  expense,  and  care  of  twelve  months. — J.  Murphy, 
Clonmel,  Co.  Tipperary. 
- - 
Combating  Chrysanthemum  Rust. 
With  reference  to  Chrysanthemum  “rust”  (page  114),  the 
way  to  get  rid  of  it  is  (to  use  a  borrowed  expres.sion)  “  as  plain 
as  the  road  to  market  ” — once  you  know  how.  In  the  first  place, 
Mr.  Massie  has  explained  how  the  fungus  in  its  fruiting  stage 
(which  causes  the  rusty  appearance)  is  propagated  by  the  spread¬ 
ing  of  myriads  of  minute  spores.  Also,  that  there  are  resting 
spores,  which  lie  dormant  for  a  time  before  producing  the  active 
fruiting  spores.  And  the  latter  fact  has  led  many  to  think  that 
they  have  got  rid  of  the  “  rust,”  when  it  has  really  existed  in 
their  .stock  in  an  invisible  form  all  the  time.  So  one  hears  of  it 
“  being  in  the  air,”  or  “  blown  in  from  the  surrounding  woods.” 
When  the  cuttings  have  been  in  the  frame  about  three  days  I 
take  a  tiny  drop  of  methylated  spirit  and  a  small  camel-hair 
brush,  and,  having  taken  tlie  glass  off  the  cutting  frame,  I  take 
up  the  pots  one  by  one,  examine  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves  of 
the  cuttings,  and  whenever  I  see  a  ‘‘  rust  ”  spot  I  dab  it  with  the 
spirit,  taking  care  to  wet  the  pustule  right  through.  This  hint 
was  given  by  Mr.  Molyneux  years  ago.  Before  placing  the 
cuttings  back  in  the  frame  I  dust  them  through  with  Anti-blight 
powder  from  a  Malbec  bellows,  also  dusting  the  inside  of  the 
frame.  This  effectually  disposes  of  all  the  spores  then  present. 
But  I  have  purchased  cuttings  that  in  less  than  a  week  have 
been  so  smothered  with  rust  as  to  be  fit  for  nothing  but  the  fire. 
Fortunately,  there  is  plenty  of  clean  stock  to  be  got  nowadays. 
The  whole  of  the  soil,  from  the  cutting-pot  to  the  final,  is  dre.ssed 
with  Yeltha  powder.  This,  I  believe,  disposes  of  the  resting 
spores.  But  as  there  is  always  a  danger  that  some  portions  of 
soil  may  have  escaped  this  Yeltha  dressing,  I  occasionally  dust 
the  plants  through  with  the  Anti-blight  powder  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  summer,  and  both  before  and  after  housing.  I  may  say 
that  since  using  Yeltha  in  the  soil  I  have  never  seen  the  •“  rust  ” 
spots  re-appear  in  the  summer,  but  think  it  best  to  be  on  the  safe 
S 1  cl  6 . 
A  friend  of  mine  who  was  growing  a  large  batch  of  Chrysan¬ 
themums  thought  my  system  of  dabbing  the  cuttings  and  young 
plants  with  snirit  too  tedious:  so,  finding  that  he  had  a  imld 
attack  of  “  rust,”  he  dipped  the  young  plants  in  a  solution  of 
Yeltha  emulsion  ;  this,  and  the  use  of  Yeltha  powder  in  the  soil, 
kept  his  stock  quite  clean  for  the  rest  of  the  season.  For  my  own 
use  I  have  stuck  to  the  powder  and  bellows  ever  since  they  were 
recommended  in  these  pages  by  Mr.  Robt.  Fenn. — R.  B.venes, 
Malvern. 
- - - - 
Collarette  Dahlias. — “  Le  Jardin”  for  lebruary  5,  1904, 
figures  in  colour  print  six  varieties  of  these  novelties,  which  are 
being  sent  out  by  MM.  Rivoire  and  Sons. 
Botanists  AIake  Bad  Gardeners. — So  I  have  read,  and  this, 
too,  from  the  Hub  of  the  rniver.'-e,  where  the  toddlers  on  the 
streets  wear  spcctacle.s  and  talk  in  Emerson  and  Latin.  Yea, 
even  at  the  very  door  of  Jackson  Dawson,  Robert  Cameron,  Ben 
Watson  and  Professor  Sargent!  Is  it  in  mockery  that  some 
of  the  garden  botanist  “  duffers  ”  have  been  and  gone  and  gotten 
up  a  society  of  their  own,  called  the  ‘‘  Society  for  Horticiiltuial 
Science,”  and  established  it  on  a  national,  not  a  local,  basis. 
Indeed  it  isn’t.  Boys,  take  an  old  man’s  advice:  Let  us  try  to 
creep  in  under  the  roof  of  the  scientists  and  h'arn  something 
and  be  somebody,  rather  than  sulk  and  become  hayseeds  in  tho 
ijjnd.— SViLLiAM ‘ikvLCONER  (ill  “  Lloii.st’s  Exchange”). 
