ISrarch  3,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
189 
confuied  witliin  the  ill-lighted  dwelling.s  of  the  poor.  This  little, 
diminutive,  and  abortive  plant  was  therefore  carried  by  a 
deputation  before  the  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and 
displayed  a.s  an  example  of  what  the  want  of  light  had  done  to 
the  little  plant  before  him,  and  bj-  inference  what  it  had  done 
and  was  doing  daily  to  many  thousands  of  the  poor  by  means  of 
the  existing  window  tax. 
*•  We  were  not  told  to  what  extent  the  sight  of  this  little 
plant,  languishing  with  leaves,  and  too  feeble  to  bear  fruit, 
affected  the  views  of  the  Government,  excepting  that  everybody 
knows  that  the  window  tax  was  instantly  abolished.  We  do  not 
know  how  many  Linarias  gardener.s  could  furnish  at  the  present 
moment  were  we  distressed  with  a  refractory  Chancellor;  but 
we  may  venture  to  say  that  there  are  in  every  garden  in  Great 
Britain  examples  more  than  enough  testifying  to  the  great 
soundness  and  value  of  the  same  principle — that  is,  indispensa- 
bdity  of  uninterrupted  light  in  all  cases  whatever  relating  to 
horticulture,  where  tlie  production  of  flowers  and  fruit  is  the 
object  of  the  cidtivator.”  Further  apropos  inferences  were  also 
adverted  to  in  the  same  leading  article. — Wilo.\.ji  G.\kdiner, 
Birmingham. 
Gardeners  and  the  Study  of  Eotany. 
Having  read  with  interest  the  views  of  “Digitalis”  on  this 
subject  in  your  i.ssue  of  February  25,  page  IGG^  I  must  say  he 
tries  to  paint  the  gardener  in  very  poor  colours.  Xot  content 
with  as.'^erting  him  to  he  almost  devoid  of  intellect,  he  also 
attempts  to  cla.ssify  him  as  uncivilised.  In  the  first  place, 
certaiidy  let  anyone  take  to  botany  as  a  pa.stime  if  they  choose. 
It  will  do  them  no  harm  ;  but,  to  be  annexed  to  gardening,  it 
is  not  at  all  essential.  There  are  other  subjects,  I  think,  much 
more  essential  to  gardening  than  botany.  Latin,  for  instance, 
as  an  aid  to  correct  pronunciation  of  plant  names ;  also 
geometry,  as  an  aid  to  laying-out,  which  should  be  another 
accompli.shment  ;  and  a  study  of  landscape  work,  another  subject 
which  in  the  course  of  a  gardening  career  one  has  often  to  face. 
All  of  the.se,  I  consider,  are  much  more  necessaiy  to  a  gardener 
than  botany.  He  also  says  that  about  the  time  of  his  donning 
the  blue  apron  he  saw  “  that  gardening  without  botany  was  as 
uninteresting  to  gardeners  as  the  ploughing  of  a  field  to  the 
passive  intellect  of  the  ordinary  ploughman.”  Ploughme}i  as 
a  rule  take  a  very  great  interest  in  their  work,  and  vie  with 
each  other  in  the  quality  and  finish  of  their  ploughing 
tesppcially  those  in  the  northern  part  of  the  kingdom  ;  I  know 
but  little  of  the  southern  ploughman). 
Again  he  states  (presuming  he  was  going  on  a  botanical 
expedition):  “On  the  strength  that  my  unbotanical  friends 
would  discover  that  a  place  of  )-efre,shment  was  on  the  way,  I 
often  persuaded  one  or  two  of  them  to  accompany  me  to  some 
hog  or  fern  den,  five  or  six  miles  distant.”  Now,  if  “  Digitalis  ” 
had  had  to  do  a  hard  dayhs  woi’k  he  would  not  have  felt  in¬ 
clined  to  take  a  five  or  six  miles’  journey,  which  means  twelve 
miles — ten  at  the  least — Avith  three  hours’  good  walking,  and 
leaving  home  at  six  o’clock,  what  time  had  he  to  collect 
specimens?  In  many  gardens  during  the  summer  months  there 
is  so  much  work  on  hand  that  there  has  to  be  an  hour  or  two 
of  overtime  given,  especially  where  there  is  a  quantity  of  Grape 
thinning  to  do.  Many  of  the  men  Avould  rather  thin  in  the 
evening  than  remain  under  a  broiling  sun  during  the  day. 
For  my  oaau  part  I  preferred  evening  oi-  early  morning.  I 
luiA'e  been  at  work  at  4,  sometimes  3.30  a. in.,  ivhen  there  was 
a  pressure  of  work,  and  did  not  want  to  make  a  long  journey 
(had  I  any  leisure)  in  the  evening.  But  perhaps  it  was  the 
“  refreshment  ”  that  was  the  attraction  for  “  Digitalis,”  and 
the  botany  was  but  a  cloak! 
The  Bothy  System. 
Another  point  he  touches  on  is  the  bothy  and  those  who 
live  therein.  He  blames  the  bothy  for  young  gardeners’  ivant 
of  interest  in  botany.  He  goes  on  to  say  “  From  careful  obser- 
A'ution  I  fear  much  of  this  apathy  is  due  to  a  happy-go-lucky 
foi'in  of  indolence  greatly  fosterecl  by  the  extremely  unnatural 
system  of  bothying,  or  housing  men  as  at  present  practised. 
Thi^  system,  as  is  well  known,  is  inimical  to  all  that  is  refined 
in  mail’s  nature.  The  restraints  of  home  life  and  other  society 
are  rent  asunder,  and  the  man  stands  as  near  the  aboriginal 
s[)ecimen  as  an  enlightened  tiventieth  century  civilisation  can 
well  afford  to  permit.”  What  a  .siveeping  assertion  to  make! 
I  fancy  ‘•Digitalis”  himself  must  be  a  vei-y  primitive  specimen 
-a  veritable  “  old  woman  ” — and  daresay  that  if  ever  he  has 
tried  bothy  life  his  companions  found  him  such  an  old  “  mollv- 
coddle.’’  and  gave  him  such  a  sitting-on  as  forced  him  to  once 
more  ieturn  to  his  “  mother’s  apron-strings,”  or  lodgings. 
How  many  gardeners  are  there  in  the  pre.sent  day  who  would 
vote  for  bothy  imstead  of  lodgings?  How  many  iilaces  are 
tliere  of  anv  pretension  where  there  is  no  bothy?  And  where 
did  the  majority  of  the  best  gardeners  of  the  piesent  day  live, 
when  young,  but  in  the  bothv?  Are  they  to  be  termed,  by 
“Digitalis,”  as  uncivilised  and  of  passive  intellect?  He  must 
take  care  he  has  not  stirred  up  a  “  hornet’s  nest,”  and  I  hope 
that  more  able  pens  may  provide  a  more  effectual  overhauling 
than  that  of— Ax  Old  Bothy  Boy  (Sussex). 
- - 
Apple,  Charles  Ross:  A  Query. 
I  shall  be  A'cry  much  obliged  if  any  amateur  w  ill  tell  me  : 
(1)  Is  this  a  first-rate  dessert  Apple?  (2)  Is  it  a  good  bearer? 
and  (3)  a  good  grower?  We  have  heard  ti'emendous  laudations 
of  it,  just  as  we  did  about  Allington  Pippin,  Avhich  .some  said 
was  equal  to  Cox’s  Orange.  Allington  is  of  good  quality  (for  a 
short  time),  a  good  grower,  and  abundant  bearer ;  but  you  might 
as  well  compare  a  Swede  Turnip  with  a  Pineapple. — C.  ('.  Ellison, 
Lincolnshire. 
A  Gardener  and  his  Employer. 
A  young  head  gardenei-  writes  asking  our  advice  in  a  matter 
concerning  him.self  and  his  employer — a  lady.  The  latter  has 
asked  the  gardener  to  teach  her  how  to  prune  Boses — a  veiy 
commendable  and  most  natural  reque.st — but  tlm  gardenei', 
though  agreeing  to  act  as  tutor,  thinks  that  if  the  lady  is  going 
to  do  the  pruning  (there  are  500  plants)  he,  nor  any  experienced 
gardener,  could  not  take  an  interest  in  the  garden,  and  such 
work  on  the  lady’s  part  “  is  taking  aAvay  a  gardener’s  place.” 
This  all  depends.  If  the  lady  still  regards  her  gardener  as 
superintendent  of  the  garden,  and  not  merely  as  a  labourer, 
to  do  work  that  she  cannot  attempt,  there  is  nothing  lost. 
In  fact,  there  is  a  gain,  for  hy  getting  the  employer  interested 
in  the  real  Avork  that  is  done  there  is  far  more  likelihood  of 
the  garden  being  developed  and  having  money  spent  on  it 
than  if  only  a  passing  regard  Avere  paid.  In  the.se  days,  em¬ 
ployers,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen,  frequently  take  an  actiA^e 
part  in  the  conduct  of  their  gardens,  and  so  far  as  aao  have 
seen,  the  gardener  has  been  strengthened  in  his  position,  for 
depend  upon  it,  the  amateur  Avill  not  go  far  or  do  much  Avithout 
a  councillor.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  employers  Avho  do 
not  properly  respect  their  gardeners,  and  in  these  cases  the 
latter  have  trying  times.  It  ought,  hoAvever,  to  be  the  duty  of 
the  employed  person  to  render  all  the  assi.stance  and  encourage¬ 
ment  he  can,  being  courteous,  frank,  mannerly,  not  serr^ile 
certainly  ;  and  by  his  OAvn  superiority  in  the  garden  Ave  think 
there  Avill  he  little  fear  of  his  place  being  “  taken  aAvay.” 
Raspberry  Cultivation  in  Scotland. 
The  folloAving  letter  recently  appeared  in  the  ‘‘  Scot.sinan  ”  :  — 
There  have  been  a  number  of  acres  of  Raspberries  planted  in 
and  around  BlairgOAvrie  during  the  autumn  and  this  Avinter,  and 
the  question  has  often  been  asked,  “  What  is  the  probable  outlay 
to  i)lant  an  acre  of  Raspberries?  ”  I  notice  in  the  papers  that 
Mr.  J.  M.  Hodge,  solicitor,  BlairgoAvrie,  Avas  lecturing  in  GlasgoAA' 
last  Aveek.  He  says  “  an  outlay  of  over  £20.”  This,  I  think,  is 
A-ery  vague  and  misleading  to  anyone  venturing  in  the  scheme  : 
AA'ho,  AAith  small  capital  at  command,  would  find  that  £20  did  not 
go  Amry  far  toAAards  planting  and  maintaining  an  acre  of  Rasp¬ 
berries  before  getting  .any  returns.  During  the  last  eight  years 
Ave  have  planted  forty  acres  on  this  farm,  and  the  following  statis- 
tic.s  may  interest  some  of  your  readers  : 
Rent  for  three  yeai  s  .at  £0  per  acre  (Mr.  Hotlge’s  own  figures)  £1S  0  0 
Ploughing,  preparing,  and  drilling- . 1  Id  n 
:  0  tons  ot  manure  cart; d  into  the  field .  ..  13  10  f> 
Caiting  and  spreading  manure  .  . 1  .A  0 
10,000  canes  at  £1  per  1000  (this  year  they  are  £2)  ..  ..  10  0  o 
Planting  canes .  ..  loo 
I’osts  required  for  a  square  acre  ..  ..  ..  ..  400 
Wire  required  for  a  square  acre  (4  cwts.) . 4  10  0 
Weeding,  pruning,  tying,  &c. ,  for  three  seasons  ..  . .  l.A  0  0 
Forty  iiarrels  at  a-s.  each  . 10  0  0 
£73  15  0 
This  AA'ill  bring  up  the  outlay  to  £78  15s.,  not  including  imple¬ 
ments,  baskets,  string,  Aveighing  machine,  &c.,  Avhich  are  ail 
necessary  before  the  crop  can  be  gathered.  The  second  season 
the  bushes  may  yield  ttvo  or  three  CAvts,  giving  a  small  return. 
After  all  this  outlay  and  ti’ouble  Ave  expect  to  gather  something 
like  three  tons  in  the  autumn  of  the  third  year;  and  should  the 
groAver  be  a  judicious  salesman  and  fortunate  enough  to  have  a 
market  similar  to  the  year  1903,  Avhich  opened  at  £30  and  rose 
to  the  iihenomenal  figure'  of  £43,  he  Avould  ensure  a  profit  of, 
say,  £25.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  commodity  of  trade  aaIucIi  i.s 
subject  to  such  fluctuations  in  price  as  fruit.  Raspberries  AAcre 
.soki  in  the  midseason  of  1902  in  GlasgoAV  market  at  £14  per  ton. 
The  Avriter  i',  as  every  resident  ought  to  be.  anxious  to  do  his 
little  best  to  promote  the  Avell-being  of  the  district  ;  if  his  prac¬ 
tical  experii'iicc,  extending  oA'er  a  long  period  of  years,  is  of 
any  service  to  prosiiective  fruit-groAvers,  he  will  bt'  happy  to  give 
them  any  information  he  possesses  in  fruit  cultivation  generally. 
-  G.  R.  Be-ale.  Manor  Farm,  BlairgoAvrie,  February  2.  1904. 
