28 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
July  9,  1903. 
Gardeners’  Commissions. 
I  am  not  going  into  this  matter  very  fully,  mainly  because 
I  have  little  to  add  to  what  has  been  recently  well  said  by  your 
several  correspondents.  One  thing  I  am  certain  of,  viz.,  that 
emploj’ers  of  gardeners  very  much  magnify  the  amount  of  com¬ 
mission  they  think  their  gardeners  receive.  Another  is  that  if 
gardeners  as  a  body  would  but  brace  themselves  up  more  and  act 
prudently  they  would  be  better  off  in  the  near  future  if  the 
Avhole  affair  was  abolished  for  ever — I  mean  both  in  pocket  and 
self-respect.  There  are  many  phases  of  this  commission  business. 
It  is  not  confined  to  gardeners  and  other  servants.  As  all  men 
who  have  any  insight  into  the  affairs  of  life  know  very  well,  it 
affects  the  class  in  some  of  its  forms  who  employ  gardeners;  aye! 
and  in  much  bigger  lumps  than  gardeners  are  supposed  to  receive. 
Let  us  clear  the  bits  of  dirt  from  our  own  doorsteps,  I  say,  and 
then  work  as  citizens  to  compel  the  larger  heaps  tq  be  swept  off. 
What  caused  me  to  pen  these  notes  was  the  receipt  of  a 
bulb  catalogue  from  a  well  known  firm  in  Holland.  I  enclose  you 
a  leaflet  inserted  therein.  This  leaflet  is  not  in  the  catalogue 
sent  by  sonie  firms  to  employers.  Assuming  that  the  Bill  now 
before  Parliament  for  abolishing  secret  commissions  is  passed  and 
becomes  law,  how  will  it  reach  foreign  bulb  merchants  and 
nurserymen?  This  is  an  important  matter  nowadays,  when 
garden  owners  are  each  year  sending  more  of  their  bulb  and  other 
garden  orders  abroad.  My  own  employer  told  me  some  time  ago 
that  the  bulb  requirements  must  come  from  Holland  this  year. 
I  have  no  doubt  if  I  wished  I  could  cause  them  to  come  from 
the  firm  alluded  to  ;  and  yet  no  English  nurseryman  of  any  repute 
would  dream  of  making  me  such  an  offer.  At  any  rate,  after 
nearly  forty  years’  experience  as  a  head  gardener  I  have  never 
received  such  a  one.  The  main  remedy  for  the  disease  is  for 
garden  owners  and  employers  of  gardeners  to  pay  them  a  just 
salary  according  to  their  character,  responsibility,  and  average 
success  in  results.  Then  extract  from  them  a  promise  to  take 
no  fee  from  any  business  man  or  firm  ;  penalty,  dismissal,  and  the 
cause  of  it  to  be  put  on  any  certificate  of  character^  given.  I 
could  name  places  where  the  butler  and  gamekeeper’s  pi-esents 
from  their  employer’s  guests  averaged  £20  per  annum,  and  yet 
the  gardener,  who  does  a  good  deal  to  contribute  to  these  said 
guests’  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  did  not  average  £3  per  annum 
in  presents  or  cqmmission.  As  I  said  before,  there  are  many 
phases  of  this  business.  It  is  no  secret  that  there  are  employers 
of  gamekeepers  who  pay  them  a  very  small  wage  on  the  tacit 
understanding  that  they  will  receive  a  liberal  amount  in  presents 
from  the  employer’s  friends,  and  yet  no  one  condemns  this  sort 
of  thing. — Yoekshire  Gardener,  July  1. 
InteresliDg  Wild  Phots. 
It  has  always  been  a  matter  of  the  deepest  interest  to  me 
to  learn  something  about  our  wild  plants.  To  many  these  humble 
subjects  of  our  woods,  waj’sides,  and  groves  form  a  charm  not 
to  be  even  superseded  by  the  more  prepossessing  exotics.  Our 
young  fi'iends  of  botanical  proclivities  will  be  now  keenl.y  on  the 
search  for  subjects,  and  a  more  plea.sant  pastime  is  difficult  for 
me  to  determine.  There  is  some  reason  for  thinking  this 
auxiliary  to  their  profession  is  not  sO'  earne.stly  embraced  by 
gardeners  as  it  might  be.  Many  of  our  young  lads  fail  to  see  where 
the  study  of  British  flora  has  a  bearing  on  other  floras.  How¬ 
ever,  a  knowledge  of  their  properties,  habitats,  and  general 
characteristics,  not  to  speak  of  higher  technicalities,  involving 
physiological  or  morphological  science,  is  useful,  and;much  is 
added  to  one’s  little  word  of  happiness  within  himself. 
The  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  plants  must  have  given 
men  an  early  subject  for  reflection ;  it  does  yet  and  probably  will 
remain  to  do  so  for  ages  yet  to  come.  The  chemical  combinations 
are  so  complex  and  in  many  cases  so  difficult  to  determine,  that 
this  form  of  chemical  science  may  well  be  described  as  in  its 
infancy.  But  apart  from  these  considerations,  it  is  extremely 
interesting  to  know  as  much  as  one  can  possibly  acquire  of  the 
nature  of  a  plant  or  plants.  The  poisonous  and  medicinal  pro¬ 
perties  are  ever  fertile  with  interest.  Almost  every  one  of  those 
have  a  history,  some  of  them  a  tragic  one  indeed,  and  we  never 
meet  with  the  notorious  Hemlock  without  the  tragic  story  of 
Socrates  arising.  The  meeting  is  both  sacred  and  awe-inspiring, 
and  the  impressions  which  are  necessarily  precipitated  tend  to 
make  us  regard  the  Konian  of  thq  Greeks  a  subject  of  very  doubt¬ 
ful  friendship.  Many  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Conium 
maculatum  is  not  the  Hemlock  of  the  Greeks;  but  the  Conium, 
is  not  the  less  powerfully  poisonous.  In  some  parts  of  the  king¬ 
dom  every  typical  plant  of  the  same  order  is  denominated  Hem¬ 
lock.  The  Water  Hemlock  (Cicuta  virosa)  is,  perhaps,  equally  as 
powerful  a  poison  as  the  Spotted  Hemlock  of  notoriety,  and  so 
is  also  the  Water  Dropwort  (QHnanthe  crocata),  whose  outstand¬ 
ing  poisonous  effects  are  tetanic  in  character.  The  common 
garden  annual,  and  specially  characteri.stic  umbel-bearing  plants 
the  Fool’s  Parsley,  possess  poisonous  properties  of  no  mean 
order  as  well.  Its  specific  name,  sethu.sa,  from  aitho,  to  burn, 
would  in  some  measure  indicate  such  properties.  Though  a 
knowledge  of  British  plants  is  not  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
formation  of  the  curriculum  of  the  gardener,  it  is  neverthele.ss 
a  most  desirable  addition,  and  may  in  some  causes  be  a  mo.sfe 
serviceable  one. — D.  L. 
j  - ^ 
Back  to  the  Land. 
Where  Small  Holdings  Pay. 
Expression  of  opinion  is  open  to  all,  therefore  I,  as  a  dis¬ 
interested  yet  interested  person,  may  be  allowed  to  make  some 
remarks.  I  am  not  in  any  way  connected  with  farming,  although 
residing  in  a  village  that  is  supported  by  the  land,  anch  more¬ 
over,  live  with  a  farm  hand  who  is  a  living  example  of  tlie  type 
that  “  Briton”  speaks  about.  Fully  forty  years  on  the  farm,  yet 
still  earns  a  stipend  of  15s.  weekly.  Intelligent  enough,  ami 
cognisant  with  the  various  branches ;  but  lacking  that  all-power¬ 
ful  item  usually  termed  “go.”  And  because  of  this  missing 
c|uantity  he  will  necessarily  be  compelled  to  work  until  he  can 
do  so  no  longer  !  Then  what  ? 
Personallj'  I,  like  “  Briton,”  am  convinced  that  the  small' 
holdings  are  of  more  service,  because  a  man  who  has  managed 
to  save  a  little  monev  can  take  a  few  acres,  be  his  own  master# 
and  be  truly  interested  in  his  work,  because  it  is  to  his  benefit. 
There  are  several  men  about  here  who  rent  small  holdings,  not 
for  tilling  purposes,  but  cattle  and  sheep  breeding,  and  their  ever 
increasing  stock  is  clcarJji  an  indication  that  a  small  place  can  be, 
made  to  pay.  But  there  are  other  ways  of  dealing  with  small 
holdings.  To  cultivate  cereals  on  such  is  futile.  The  value  of 
crops  of  such  as  Mangolds,  &c.,  is  insufficient.  Therefore,  grow¬ 
ing  for  market  is  the  opening  that  offers  itself  to  men  with  a 
little  capital  and  plenty  of  go.  Fruit,  certainly,  is  a  ivorthy 
subject  to  take  up,  but  the  expense  of  planting  two  or  three 
acres  of  land  with  trees  is  a  considerable  item.  The  fear  of  frost 
as  referred  to  by  “  H.  D.”  is  also  an  item  that  cannot  be  over¬ 
looked,  and  two  such  seasons  as  the  present  and  that  of  1902 
would  certainly  cripple  any  small  man.  But  there  are  other 
details  that  are  imported  into  this  country  which  might  ivell  be 
grown  at  home.  Something  like  500,000  bushels  of  Onions  were 
imported  during  the  first  five  months  of  this  year. 
Is  England  unsuited  to  Onion  culture?  The  private  gardener 
can  produce  bulbs  that  for  size  would  exterminate  the  imported 
Spanish.  His  ordinary  specimens  are  fully  ecjual  to  any  that  are 
brought  over  annually  by  those  blue  smocked,  wooden  clogged 
Bretons,  who  visit  our  towns  and  villages  in  all  parts  of  the 
land.  Therefore,  why  do  not  Englishmen,  take  up  Onion  culture 
on  an  up-to-date  scale  ?  It  should  be  up-to-date,  however,  not  a 
mere  surface-scratching-seed-sowing-without-cultivation  affair.  An 
expert  on  Onions  in  Mew  York  State  deliberately  states  that  500 
to  800  and  even  1,000  bushels  of  bulbs  may  be  secured  from  one 
acre  of  suitable  soil.  He  himself  has  grown  800  bushels,  each  of 
which  sold  at  one  dollar,  bringing  in  £166  English  money.  The 
total  working  expenses  were  $295  (£59),  to  which  were  added  cost 
of  freightage  and  agents’  fees — about-  20  per  cent.-^this  leaving  a 
substantial  profit  on  his  working.  Climatic  and  soil  conditions 
are  possibly  more  favourable  than  here,  but  I  daresay  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  above  quantity  could  be  grown  on  suitable  soil ! 
Celery  also  ought  to  be  a  paying  crop.  Referring  to  the  States 
again,  an  expert  says  there  is  only  one  better  paying  crop  than 
Onions,  and  that  is  Celery  I  It  may  interest  readers  to  learn  that 
much  of  the  finest  Celery  in  the  States  is  grown  by  one  firm, 
whose  grounds  are  situated  in  California  and  Florida.  This 
firm’s  products  are  despatched  in  refrigerator  cars  to  all  parts  of 
the  Union.  When  first  started,  the  pioneer  of  this  movement 
was  quite  a  small  man  ;  now  he-is  a  millionaire.  I  am'  acquainted 
with  one  man  ivho  makes  a  specialitv  of  about  half  an  acre  of 
Celery,  and  not  the  slightest  trouble  is  experienced  in  disposing 
of  it.  His  work  is  done  entirely  bv  hand,  he  and  his  sons  doing 
it  unaided,  without  ploughs  anci  other  quick  agents. — A.  W.  ‘ 
Sorrows  of  Gardeners. 
W^e  all  have  heard  or  read  of  “The  Sorrows  of  Satan,”  but 
if  the  sorrows  of  his  satanic  majesty  are  greater  than  those  of 
the  humble  gardener  then  he  has  my  sincere  sympathy.  I  chal¬ 
lenge  anyone  to  enumerate  a  trade  which  possesses  so  many 
drawbacks  as  dees  gardening.  It  appears  as  if  everything  in 
creation  and  out  of  it  were  in  league  to  spoil  the  efforts  of  the 
individual  who  practises  horticulture.  No  sooner  does  he  bring 
forth  the  spade  and  the  fork  than  he  lays  the  foundation  of  a 
