490 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  26,  1903. 
Apple,  Annie  Elizabeth. 
I  quite  agree  with  “  E.  D. ’’  (page  442),  that  the  nierits  of 
tliis  fine  late  Apple  are  not  .sufficiently  recognised.  I  liave  con¬ 
stant  Iv  recoimnended  it  during  the  la.st  few  years,  because  it  is 
very  handsome,  crops  splendidly,  and  keeps  till  April  ;  and 
during  Alarch  and  April  it  is  good  either  foi'  dessert  or  cooking. 
Tf  I  were  asked  to  name  the  three  best  late  Apples  I  should  say: 
Lane  s  Prince  Albert,  Newtoti  Wonder,  and  Annie  I'hizabeth. 
— H.  D. 
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Large  Cabbages. 
The  present  year,  with  all  its  shortcomings  (and  truly  they 
were  not  few),  had  some  outstanding  features  in  its  favour.  It 
has  given,  as  records  show  in  many  places,  crops  of  Potatoes 
in  .size  above  the  usual,  and  occasionally  approaching  the  stage 
of  monstrosity.  Big  Ca,bbages  also  seem  to  be  pretty  general 
all  or  er  the  country.  Up  tlie  Clyde  Valley  a  monster  specimen 
was  lately  on  view.  In  size  it  measured  something  like  9ft  in 
diameter  (sic),  and  weighed  about  781b.  This  ought  to  give 
satisfactiefn  to  enthusiasts  in  “  big  Cabbage  ”  culture. — R.  U, 
Indictment  Against  Horticultural  Travellers. 
W  ho  among  your  numerous  readers,  occupying  a  head 
gardener  s  place,  has  not  at  v'arious  times  been  the  recipient  of 
a  visit  from  some  traveller  in  the  seed  line?  “Mr.  Nuisance” 
not  unusually  turns  up  at  a  most  inopportune  time,  when  per¬ 
haps  the  gardener  is  engaged  with  some  of  the  gentry,  or  busy 
with  some  very  important  work.  It  matters  not  to  "persist eiit 
“  Air.  Nuisance,”  who  makes  his  inquiries  (with  an  air  of  im¬ 
portance)  from  the  first  under  gardener  he  encounters.  On 
being  told  that  the  “  Boss  ”  is  engaged  with  perhaps  his  employer, 
N.  promptly  .say.s  he’ll  wait;  and  proceeds  to  swagger 
about  the  garden,  often  in  full  sight  of  gardener  and  his 
employer,  and  the  latter  generally  inquires  who  the  swaggerer  is. 
Perchance  “the  Boss”  is  engaged  in  some  remote  part  of  the 
gaiclen.  It  is  all  tli6  sana?  to  “Mr.  whose  business  is  so 
pressing  that  one  of  the  under  gardeners  wastes  valuable  time 
in  seeking  for  hi.s  chief,  who,  on  being  found,  is  informed  that 
“  a  gentleman  wishes  to  see  him.”  One  traveller  actually  had 
the  temerity  to  come  right  into  the  mansion  for  me. 
Veil  do  I  recall  the  various  dodges  reported  to  by  one  parti¬ 
cular  chief  (\vhile  I  was  living  under  him  as  foreman),  who  wuuld 
generally  prime  me  with  all  sorts  of  messages  and  excuses  to 
deliver  to  “Mr.  Nuisance.”  On  two  different  occa.sions  do  I 
remember  the  unwelcome  callers  at  tliat  particular  garden 
hanging  about  the  greater  part  of  the  day  trying  to  catch  “  the 
Boss,”  but  \yithout  avail,  though  the  latter  had  various  peeps 
at  his  uninvited  visitors.  I  think  I  enjoyed  the  fun  more  than 
anybody.  However,  since  I  became  a  head  gardener,  I  have  had 
cause  to  understand  my  old  chief’s  aversion  to  travellers. 
“  Air.  Nuisance’s”  greeting  with  gardener  is,  of  course,  most 
cordial,  anxious  inquiries  after  health  (not  only  of  latter,  but  of 
Airs.  Gardener  and  family).  Next,  as  to  the  state  of  affairs 
relating  to  gardens,  followed  often  by  impertinent  inquiries  as 
to  existing  relations  between  gardener  and  employer.  They 
will  then  proceed  to  relate  an  account  of  their  past  visits  to 
other  gardening  establishments,  laying  bare  tbe  amount  of  busi¬ 
ness  transacted.  I  am  invariably  told  by  “Air.  N.”  that 
So-and-So  has  just  given  him  an  order  for  so  many  pounds’  worth 
of  “  stuff ;  ”  consequently  one  becomes  acquainted  with  a  con¬ 
siderable  portion  of  our  fellow  craftsmen’s  brnsiness  transactions; 
matters  which,  I  venture  to  think,  should  be  no  concern  of  ours. 
Then  again,  I  find  travellers  generally  give  a  place  a  good  or 
bad  name  according  to  the  value  of  orders  they  have  been  able 
to  secure.  For  instance,  one  of  those  gentlemen  alluded  to  a 
well-known  gardening  e.stablishment  as  being  no  good.  I  was 
surprised,  and  gently  intimated  that  as  a  great  friend  of  mine 
was  chief  there  I  knew  that  the  garden  was  well  kept  up,  and 
the  work  well  carried  out..  . “Ah,  yes!”  said  “Air.  Nuisance,” 
“  but  they  always  object  to  paying  more  than  they  are  obliged, 
and  the;  orders  we  get' there  do  our  firm  no  good.”  I  drew  my 
own  conclusions,  as  I  know  that  in  that  particular  garden  money 
is  not  stinted.  ■ 
So  much  has  recently  been  written  concerning  gardeners  and 
illegal  commissimis,  that  I  will  not  enlarge  upon  this  part  of 
the  many  inducements  wdiich  some  travellers  hold  out  to 
gardeners  to  dc  a  little  busine.ss  with  them.  One  case  only  will 
I  mention,  which  came  to  my  knowledge  a  short  time  ago.  A 
traveller  offered  a  friend  of  mine  5s.  cash  down,  there  and’ then, 
as  an  inducement  to  give  him  an  order  for  goods  to  the  value  of 
about  £1.  Needle.ss  to  sajq  the  order  was  not  given,  and  I 
venture  to  think  that  that  traveller  will  not  show  his  face  in 
that  garden  again  in  a  hurry.  The  above  is,  perhaps,  an  ex¬ 
ceptional  case,  and  before  concluding  I  should  like  to  say  that 
among  the  many  travellers  w'ho  have  from  time  to  time  worried 
me,  some  have  proved  themselves  to  be  excellent  fellows. 
— A.  N.  Noyed. 
[It  is  to  be  understood  that  the  Editor  takes  no  sides  on  any 
subject  of  debates,  and  each  correspondent  is  alone  responsible 
for  what  he  states. — Eo.] 
- - 
lake  Up!  England. 
Attention  may  be  drawn  to  what  our  representative  says 
of  the  Edinburgh  Chrysanthemum  Show,  which  is  reported  on 
page  498.  We  may  add  that  the  Journal’s  representative  on 
this  occasion  was  one  of  the  best  judges  from  the  South  of 
England.  A  Scottish  correspondent  also  refers  to  the  show 
thus :  “  The  exhibition  w'as  a  marvellous  success,  a  wonderful 
contrast  to  your  National  [wdiich  he  had  the  privilege  to  visit. 
— Ed.].  I  think  the  Edinburgh  show  must  soon  become  the 
National.”  Very  handsome  prizes  are  offered. 
Rose,  Rosette  de  la  Legion  d’Honneur. 
In  answer  to  “  H.  H.  B.”,  Air.  Alawley’s  Rose  analysis  con¬ 
sists  solely  of  those  varieties  which  have  been  show'n  at  the 
Metropolitan  Exhibitions  of  the  N.R.S.  during  the  last  four 
years.  The  fact  of  the  Rose  above  mentioned  not  appearing  in 
the  list  of  decorative  Roses  (p.  393)  merely  shows  that  it  was 
not  exhibited  on  those  occasions.  The  variety,  issued  in  1896. 
was  not  held  to  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  N.R.S.  catalogue  of 
1902,  and  I  confe.ss  that  I  do  not  know'  it,  being  quite  unable  to 
keep  in  touch  with  all  the  new  decorative  Roses.  But  good 
Ro.ses  do  get  omitted  sometimes  from  the  best  catalogues,  and 
“  H.  H.  B.”  is  a  rosarian  wdiose  word  should  carry  quite  as  much 
weight  as  mine. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
A  Gardeners’  Association. 
On  reading  in  last  week’s  Journal  about  the  proposed  head 
gardeners’  association,  I  concur  in  the  formation  of  such,  yet  may 
I  ask.  What  would  be  the  qualifications  required  to  become  a 
member  ?  AVould  it  be  exclusively  for  those  at  the  very  top  of 
the  ladder,  or  for  all  those,  like  myself,  who  are  head  of  four? 
I  entered  the  profession  wdth  the  aim  of  one  day  rising  to  the 
top  ;  but  may  I  ask,  How  can  I  win  upward  ?  My  own  answer 
would  be,  that  help  could  be  derived  by  forming  such  an  associa¬ 
tion,  which  might  hold  tests  to  show  that  a  member  is  well  up 
in  the  practice  and  theory  of  the  craft,  and  the  best  men  to  be 
recommended  for  high  places.  The  article  under  the  heading  of 
“  Single-handed  ”  in  a  recent  Journal  (page  395),  seems  to  me  to 
be  exactly  the  .state  of  gardening  as  it  is.  If  only  we,  as  a 
body,  could  raise  the  position  of  gardeners  to  the  level  we  ought 
to  have,  by  means  of  an  association,  I,  for  one,  would  go  in  heart 
and  soul  with  it. — Hampshire. 
Sub-irrigation. 
It  would  seem  that  sub-irrigation  is  hardly  practised  in  this 
country,  and  I  would  like  to  hear  of  its  successful  application 
on  either  a  large  or  small  .scale.  From  w  hat  I  can  gather,  it 
was  first  heard  of  in  1890,  wdien  the  Ohio  Experimental  Station 
published  the  results  of  its  investigations  in  this  direction. 
The  .system  consi.sts  in  introducing  ivater  from  under  the 
soil.  It  mu.st  be  remembered  that  “bench”  cultivation  is  very 
largely  practi.sed  in  the  ITiited  States ;  that  is,  a  .system  of 
planting-out  in  benches  filled  with  soil,  in  place  of  pot  culture. 
I'he  water,  then,  is  introduced  underneath,  either  by  the  use  of 
porous  tiles  laid  at  intervals  throughout  the  base  of  the  bench, 
or  by  constructing  the  bench  so  as  to  form  a  .shallow,  water¬ 
tight  tank,  in  the  bottom  of  wdiich  are  placed  porous  tiles. 
These  are  of  various  forms,  the  principle  in  every  case  being 
that  they  form  a  number  of  canals. 
The  first  co.st  is  considerable,  and  unless  the  watering  is 
undertaken  by  a  careful  and  experienced  man  great  harm  can 
be  done.  But  provided  the  outlay  can  be  made,  and  that  proper 
thought  is  given  to  the  mechanical  operations,  the  final  re.sults 
appear  to  be  all  in  favour  of  sub-irrigation.  The  soil  does  not 
become  so  hard  or  beaten  down  in  con.sistency  as  is  the  case 
where  the  watering  is  down  from  above  (generally  from  a  hose). 
A  more  friable  tilth  is  .surely  a  gain. 
A  further  good  is  obtained  from  the  consistent,  even  warmth 
emitted  from  the  cement  and  tiles  at  the  bottom.  These  ab.sorb 
the  heat  (which  is  .sometimes  too  violent)  and  pass  it  gradually 
