98 
JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  30,  1903. 
The  Carrot  Crop. 
Your  correspondent  “  W.  S.”  may  enjoy  what  satisfaction  can 
be  extracted  from  my  experience  of  the  Carrot  crop  this  year 
generally  in  learning  that  things  with  him  and  in  his  locality  are 
no  worse  than  they  are  elsewhere.  We  seem  this  year  to  have 
almost  universally  suffered  from  a  Carrot  epidemic,  for  never 
in  the  history  of  Carrot  culture,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  these 
roots  looked  worse,  or  has  it  been  more  difficult  to  obtain  a 
decent  plant.  Here  is  a  subject  of  real  importance  which  may 
well  merit  the  attention  of  that  not  too  practical  body,  the 
R.H.S.  Scientific  Committee,  for  it  has  not  been  possible  for 
growers  to  determine  the  causes  which  have  led  to  this  com¬ 
parative  Carrot  failure.  Just  recently  I  heard  one  of  our  lead¬ 
ing  Middlesex  gardeners  say  that  he  could  not  get  a  Carrot 
plant  anyhow.  Just  recently,  too,  I  have  been  examining 
hundreds  of  gardens  and  allotments  in  all  parts  of  the  favoured 
county  of  Surrey,  the  Carrot  county  par  excellence,  and  the 
proportion  of  decent  CaiTot  beds  found  is  about  10  per  cent. 
Generally  the  beds  are  of  the  most  miserable  nature ;  indeed, 
the  plants  have  almost  disappeared.  One  or  two  quite  good 
beds  may  be  seen  in  the  same  locality,  and  on  precisely  similar 
soil,  where  there  are  also  tw'enty  wretched  ones.  The  time 
growing  and  general  culture  has  been  the  same,  but  the  results 
have  been  so  dissimilar. 
On  all  bad  beds  the  leafage  is  infested  with  the  Cairot  aphis 
or  lice,  which  is  sucking  the  juices  from  the  plants.  In  one  little 
garden  at  Carshalton  where  there  wei'e  a  few  very  respectable 
rows,  a  very  old  man  said  that  he  saved  his  by  making  paraffin 
emulsion— two  wineglasses  of  paraffin  to  a  gallon  of  water — 
well  working  it  through  the  syringe,  then  gently  spraying  the 
plants.  Still,  there  was  the  odd  fact  that  some  good  if  small 
beds  were  so  without  having  been  sprayed  at  all.  I  have  observed 
that  where  any  of  these  cottagers  sowed  seed  early  in  July  to 
secure  a  winter  pulling  crop  that  they  had  an  excellent  clean 
plant.  I  should  think,  aided  by  these  recent  rains,  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  getting  good  clean  beds  from  July  sown  Carrots 
for  winter  use  where  they  were  wisely  .sown.  I  have  wondered 
Avhether  the  general  failure  of  the  Carrot  sowings  was  in  any  way 
due  to  old  seed.  La.st  year  was  not  a  good  seed  year  for  many 
things,  and  if  the  Carrot  crop  was  a  bad  one,  then  a  good  deal  of 
old  .seed  or  imperfectly  ma.tured  seed  may  have  been  sent  out,  and 
allied  to  the  cold  spring  the  result  would  naturally  be  imperfect 
or  weak  germination,  and  equally  weak  growth,  upon  which  the 
Carrot  aphis  would  .speedily  prey.  Old  seed  may  germinate  well 
in  warm  soil  in  July,  yet  badly  in  March  or  April  when  the  soil 
is  very  cold.  However,  the  sugge.stion  is  purely  hypothetical. 
The  fact  remains  that  the  Carrot  failure  is  a  very  general  one. _ 
A.  Dean, 
Hints  on  Budding  Roses. 
No  amateur  has,  I  believe,  read  with  more  pleasure  than  I 
have  the  “  Garden  Notes  ”  which  have  appeared  at  intervals  in 
the  columns  of  the  “  Standard  ”  on  general  subjects  connected 
with  the  popular  study  and  practice  of  horticulture.  The  advice 
given  has  been  so  admirably  .simple,  within  the  compa.ss  of  the 
veriest  tyro,  and  thoroughly  up-to-date;  while  the  style  in  which 
the  advice  is  given  is  so  broad  and  exhaustive,  .so  scholarlike 
and  technical  (jnst  academic  enongh  without  being  unduly 
pedantic),  that  “Garden  Notes”  whenever  they  have  apijeared 
have  been  hailed  with  universal  acceptance,  not  only  by 
devotees  to  gardening,  but  glanced  at  by  most  readers,"  who 
find  enjoyment  in  obtaining  information  on  a  subject  like  horti¬ 
culture  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  directly  or  indirectly,  full  of 
interest  when  treated  with  that  ability  which  can  only  come 
from  the  hands  of  a  writer  of  great  experience  and  thorough 
master  of  the  varied  subjects  he  treats  about.  The  readers  of 
our  Rose  Journal,  I  believe,  will  join  in  my  surprise  when  I 
read  in  “  Garden  Notes  ”  in  the  “  Standard  ”  of  July  22,  in  a 
detailed  acconnt  of  the  practice  of,  budding  Roses,  that  “a 
4in  long  cut  should  be  made,  that  is,  about  the  .same  length 
as  the  sheath  of  the  bud  intended  for  insertion.”  Now  this  is 
•■^o  manifestly  wrong,  and  I  hold  so  unusual,  that  I  should  be 
inclined  to  attribute  it  to  an  error  of  the  printer  were  it  not 
repeated  twice,  as  being  of  extreme  importance.  All  other 
directions  on  the  subject  are  good ;  this  undoubtedly  is  wrong 
and  dangerous,  as  2in  is  well  within  the  normal  length  of  any 
bud  to  be  imserted — indeed,  I  can  fancy  the  smile  on  reading 
the  pas.sage  that  would  creep  over  the  faces  of  the  vast  number 
of  lads  who  do  the  budding  at  the  large  Rose  establi-shments, 
while  the  foreman  sees  to  the  supply  of  well-seasoned  huds  and 
that  the  nomenclature  be  correct. 
Having  a  long  practical  experience  of  budding  Roses,  I  should 
like  to  take  this  opportunity  of  adding  a  few  hints  as  to  Avhat 
I  have  always  found  cardinal  rules  for  successful  budding.  First 
and  chiefly  (as  to  Briars),  ripe,  well  seasoned  buds,  from  .shoots 
that  have  flowered,  are  preferable,  these  should  be,  for  choice, 
as  nearly  as  possible  of  the  same  stage  of  maturity  as  the  wood 
in  which  they  ai'e  to  be  inserted.  Secondly,  seeing  that  it  is 
of  the  ntmo.st  importance  that  a  minimum  of  friction  (or  bruis¬ 
ing)  should  take  place  during  the  delicate  operation,  the  “  slit  ” 
should  be  absolutely  straight,  when  the  bud  will  slip  into  its 
place  almost  invariably  of  its  own  accord.  Thirdly,  on  the 
general  principle  that  “Nature  abhors  a  vacuum,”  it  is  equally 
important  that,  by  pressure  of  the  finger  and  thumb,  the  bud 
inserted  should  be  firmly  and  evenly  located  in  its  new  home. 
Scores  and  scores  of  buds  fail  to  unite  and  become  homogeneous 
with  the  stock  through  neglect  of  these  simple  precautions.  Like 
every  act  of  ordinary  manipulation,  practice  makes  perfect ; 
in  point  of  fact,  every  budder  soon  finds  out  this  for  himself, 
by  increased  de.spatch  over  his  work  and  facility  of  action. 
As  regard  budding  on  Manetti  stocks,  this  work,  barring 
the  stooping,  is  much  easier,  and,  given  plump,  well  .seasoned 
buds,  much  more  certain  in  its  .successful  results.  The  buds  are 
inserted  just  below  the  gi’ound,  and  always  tied  up  with  raffia 
or  bast  matting,  which  soon  perishes  but  lasts  sufficiently  long 
for  the  bud  and  wood  to  unite.  I  prefer  for  Briars  cotton  (four 
to  six  thread  hanks)  in  preference  to  wool,  as  not  cutting  into 
the  wood  and  a  far  better  prevmitive  against  heat  and  cold. 
Certainly  bast  is  not  to  be  recommended,  as  by  the  writer  in 
“  Garden  Notes,”  for  Briars,  though,  as  aforesaid,  necessary 
for  Manetti  budding. 
In  tying  up,  I  have  only  to  add  that  the  general  practice  is 
to  bring  the  cross-ties  very  flush  over  the  cap  of  the  bud,  and 
not  too  close  in  front  of  the  bud,  and  this  chiefly  for  the  rea.son 
that  the  bud  should  repose  on  an  even  surface  everywhere  cn 
the  wood. — Herefordshire  Incumbent. 
Wanted— Slaves. 
I  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  the  enclosed,  which  is  one 
of  the  answers  I  received  from  an  application  for  a  situation. 
In  common  with  many  gardeners  I  appreciate  the  many  efforts 
you  make  through  your  Journal  to  improve  our  prospects.  I  do 
not  want  the  letter  again,  so  that  if  it  pleases  you  to  print  it 
you  are  welcome  to  do  so.  I  think  you  will  agree  that  the  person 
writing  asks  rather  a  lot. — J.  R.  E.,  July  16. 
The  letter  referred  to  is  the  following: — “In  reply  to  your 
letter,  what  1  want  is  a  married  couple,  without  family,  in¬ 
dustrious,  sober,  honest,  and  trustworthy.  The  house  is  quite  a 
small  one,  and  I  do  not  entertain,  except  occasionally  to  tea,  but 
I  sometimes  have  visitors.  There  are  no  lawns,  only  grass  plots 
in  front  with  flower  beds  and  bordei-s.  There  is  a  rather  large 
kitchen  garden  where  Potatoes  and  the  usual  vegetables  are 
grown.  There  is  a  small  conservatory  and  a  range  of  glass 
houses — two  100ft  by  12ft,  and  one  80ft  by  17ft — where  pot  plants. 
Tomatoes  and  Cucumbers  are  grown  for  sale.  One  of  these  houses 
is  heated  by  hot-water  pipes. 
“  I  usually  have  a  boy  to  help,  and  there  is  one  now  ;  but  I  may 
not  always  be  able  to  get  one.  I  require  the  gardener  to  be  well 
up  in  his  work,  and  not  to  need  constant  supervision.  I  do  not 
require  him  to  be  an  abstainer,  but  he  must  be  sober,  and  as  there 
is  a  pnblichouse  opposite  my  side  gate  I  strongly  object  to  his 
frequenting  it  in  the  daytime.  I  expect  the  place  to  be  kept  neat 
and  clean — like  a  gentleman’s  residence.  There  is  also  a  meadow 
and  I  have  had,  and  may  again  have  a  pony  for  riding. 
“  The  wife  must  be  a  good  plain  cook,  do  all  the  housework  and 
mending,  and  help  the  woman  who  comes  to  do  the  washing.  As 
I  am  often  away  from  home  I  must  have  trustworthy  people  wdio 
can  be  left  in  charge.  The  wages  are  £1  a  week,  with  the  kitchen 
and  bedroom,  coals  and  light,  vegetables  fi’om  the  garden,  but 
not  other  food.  The  situation  will  be  vacant  in  about  three 
weeks’  time.” 
- - 
Holidays  In  Belgium  and  the  Ardennes. 
We  have  received  a  copy  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  Com¬ 
pany’s  new  illustrated  booklet,  entitled  “Holidays  in  Belgium 
and  the  Ardeunes,”  by  Percy  Bindley,  describing  new  inexpen¬ 
sive  holidays,  via  Harwich  and  Antwerp,  in  Flanders  and  the 
Ardennes.  A  special  feature  has  been  made  of  the  tinted  illus¬ 
trations.  Apply  at  30,  Fleet  Street,  London,  E.C. 
