November  26,  1903.  JOURNAL 
OF  HORTICULTURE  AND 
CO  TT A  GE  G A  RDENER. 
COl 
pleasure-seeknig.  There  is  no  serious  thought  or  study  in 
Older'  to  become  proficient  in  gardening.  They  forget  that  they 
aie  dealing  rvitli  tlie  vegetable  creation,  wliicli  abounds  vit'h 
my.stri(^  yet  to  be  unfolded.  How  ought  gardeners  to  conduct 
tliemselves.  Let  them  keep  out  of  public-liouses  as  much  as 
possible.  I  am  not  an  advocate  of  teetotalisin.  Let  the  motto 
be.  I  se.  but  do  not  abuse.”  Let  all  of  us  also  be  very  careful 
AiitJi  our  language  :  there  is  nothing  more  detestable'  on  a  gentle¬ 
man  s  establishment  than  coarse,  slovenly  speech.  The  next 
thing  to  be  detested  is  smoking  during  working  hours.  If  one 
must  needs  smoke  between  meals,  let  him  get  out  of  sight  in 
Hie  slirub.s  for  a  few  minutes,  and  have  his  “  fifteen  draws.” 
l  ersonally,  I  prefer  a  snap  of  bread  and  cheese  about  eleven 
o  clock,  to  a  smoke,  and  I  enjoy  a  good  smoke  after  dinner. 
Above  all,  be  punctual  every  morning,  and  bear  in  mind  that 
the  longer  you  remain  on  the  place  during  the  day,  the  more 
jmu  leani.  If  you  make  a  practice  of  coming  late  every  morning 
(nve  minutes,  and  half  an  hour  sometimes)  and  you  are  not 
called  to  account  for  it,  and  think  yourself  clever  and  a  favourite 
Avitli  the  ‘‘  boss,”  you  will  find  your  great  mistake  one  day.  The 
“boss”  shakes  gently,  and  he  says  to  liimself, 
He  11  make  a  poor  gardener.”  If  you  stay  any  time  in  that 
pardt?!!,  then  you  will  find  yourself  assigned  the  work  of  a 
labourer,  unless  you  fire  up  a  bit  better. 
iSow  a  word  may  be  said  with  regard  to  study.  All  of  us 
know  we  cannot  well  study  without  the  proper  books,  and 
that  means  money.  Toung  men  and  apprentices  have  not  much 
to  afford  to  buy  the  best  books,  not  even  any,  sometimes. 
\\ithout  doubt  most  head  gardeners  have  a  few  books  on  the 
elementary  principles  of  botany,  and  I  should  advise  young  men 
to  approach  the  head  with  due  respect,  and  inform  him  of  the 
desire  to  learn,  and  ask  him  to  lend  some  books  to  begin 
^  is  anything  in  him  at  all,  he  will  give  you  them 
and  do  all  in  his  power  to  help  you;  that  is,  if  you  deserve  it.’ 
Again,  if  you  happen  to  be  in  town  any  day  or  night,  keeii  your 
eyes  open.  One  day  I  strolled  down ‘Leith  Walk,  Edinbu'ro-h, 
and  espied,  a  .second-hand  book  shop.  I  entered,  and  riiniinao^ed 
for  two  hours  or  so,  and  tumbled  on  “  Keith’s  Botanical  Lexi- 
con,  which  I  obtained  for  7d.  !— a  good  book,  and  certainly  not 
out  of  date.  Anyone  who  is  anxious  about  his  becoming  profi¬ 
cient  m  the  profession  can  easily  find  ways  and  means  to  obtain 
material  for  study.  If  he  cannot  buy,  there  are  free  libraries 
and  weekly  garden  papers. 
The  object  in  my  contribution  is  to  bring  before  young  men 
some  hints  on  the  way  to  conduct  themselves,  and  gain  respect 
for  the  most  ancient  of  callings,  and  also  to  endeavour  to  excel 
m  such  things  as  appertain  to  gardening.  The  struggle  to  gain 
the  top  may  be  hard,  but  those  who  have  the  hardest  stru^o-le 
have  the  most  expenence  practically.  In  closing,  allow  m^'to 
say  that  I  am  now  in  my  fourth  general  foreman’s  place,  and  I 
hope  my  experience  is  a  warrant  for  attempting  what  I  have 
written.  I  hope  in  the  cour.se  of  a  few  weeks  to  write  an  article 
Foremen,  their  Conduct  and  Examples  to  Those  Under 
Ihem.  trusting  I  am  not  trespassing  on  space  in  vour  excel¬ 
lent  paper.— Scot.  [The  letter  will  be  acceptable.— Ed.] 
[Other  letters  are  unavoidably  held  over. _ Ed.] 
Entomology. 
Tortrix  Wseberiana,  or  Waberian  Moth, 
Among  insects  that  are  harmful  to  the  Peach  and  Apricot  trees,  i 
tins  species,  a  Agm-e  of  which  is  here  given.  Its  presence  in  the  Ian- 
state  IS  indicated  by  small  heaps  of  dust  upon  the  bark.  When  this  i 
removed  a  furrow  is  pei 
eeptible,  in  which  the  larv 
feeds  and  occasions  a  flo^ 
of  sap,  the  consequene 
being  that  the  tree  i 
much  weakened  wher 
the  insects  are  numerous 
This  small  but  perniciou 
caterpillar  feeds  thrcugli 
out  the  year.  It  is  dul 
green,  and  red  -  headed 
Hie  moth,  which  is  browr 
with  silvery  and  goldc 
marks,  sits  upon  the  bark  in  May  and  .Tune,  and  while  the  win^s  ar 
folded,  the  human  eye  can  hardly  distinguish  it. 
Tortkix  W'.ni’.EmAXA,  ob  Wahekian  iMotii. 
Pennisetum  macrophyllum  atrosanguineum,  the  new  Grass 
for  which  H.  A.  Dreer  received  honourable  mention  at  the  lat< 
exhibition  in  Boston,  is  of  a  dark  bronzy  red,  a  rare  colour  ii 
Gras.ses. 
Sad  End  of  a  Nuksery  Employee. — A  workman  at  Messrs 
Barr  and  Sons’  nurseries.  Long  Ditton,  on  Tuesday  last,  foUnc 
the  body  of  Clemnes  Sonntag,  a  foreman,  lying  in  a  water-lili 
tank,  with  a  fearful  wound  in  the  throat.  A  table-knife  wa 
found  at  the  bottom  of  the  tank. 
WOKK.Fo^l™WEEK.. 
n  VN 
h 
Hardy  Fruit  Garden. 
PREPARATION  OF  GROUND  FOR  PLANTING  BUSH 
FRU  ITS. — Generous  treatment  in  regard  to  deep  digging  of  the 
ground,  and  a  liberal  application  of  manurc'^,  thoroughly  incor¬ 
porated  with  the  .'Soil,  retsults  in  providing  a  suitable  medium 
for  healthy,  vigorous,  and  fruitful  growth.  Ground,  w-hatever 
its  character,  may  be  trenched,  but  whether  this  .should  be 
ordinary  trenching  or  bastard  trenching  will  depend  chiefly  on 
the  treatment  the  ground  has  hitherto  received.  Trenching  is 
best  carried  out  on  ground  which  has  at  some  previous  period, 
not  just  recently,  been  deeply  dug  or  bastard  trenched.  The 
.subsoil  will,  in  this  case,  have  become  ameliorated  and  in  a  fit 
state  for  bringing  to  the  surface.  Mix  ivitli  it  decayed  manure. 
The  other  form  of  trenching,  namely,  ba.stard  trenching,  should 
be  adopted  when  no  previou.s  deep  moving  of  the  ground  has 
been  attempted.  The  .soil  is  moved  to  the  depth  of  two  spits, 
but  these  must  not  be  reversed  in  position,  or  the  inert 
material,  which  is  usually  found  in  subsoil  that  has  not  been 
cultivated,  will  be  brought  to  the  surface,  and  the  be.st  buried. 
Mix  good,  decomposed  manure  ■with  both  spits,  the  lower  .spit,  if 
consisting  of  very  unkind  material,  being  intermixed  with  any 
other  soil  or  vegetable  matter  of  an  improving  character. 
BUSH  GOOSEBERRIES. — Among  the  best  varieties  of 
Gooseberries  to  plant  for  general  purposes  are  Whinhain’s 
Industry,  Keep.sake,  Crown  Bob,  Whitesmith,  Red  Champagne, 
Yellow  Champagne,  Warrington  and  Ironmonger.  To  grow  as 
bushes  on  good  soil,  plant  at  a  distance  of  6ft  from  each  other. 
This  will  give  them  ample  room  to  develop  to  a  prolific  size  to 
give  good  crops.  Fair  sized,  .symmetrical  young  bushes  should 
be  planted,  possessing  good,  fibrous  roots,  which  spread  out  to 
their  full  extent,  and  cover  carefully  with  some  fine  soil.  Cover 
the  roots  with  a  little  mulching  consi.sting  of  some  light,  half- 
decayed,  strawy  material. 
BUSH  RED  AND  WHITE  CURRANTS.— A  plantation  may 
be  wholly  formed  of  the.se,  or  they  may  alternate  with  Goose¬ 
berries,  the  same  distance  apart  in  planting  being  followed. 
Red  Dutch,  White  Dutch,  Raby  Castle,  and  Fay’s  Prolific  are 
the  be.st  varieties.  The  two  latter  are  red  varieties.  For 
forming  brnshes,  young  plants  must  be  procured  with  several 
.stout  stems,  which  may  be  cut  back  and  others  formed,  that  is, 
two  from  each  may  be  originated  to  constitute  the  foundation 
of  the  bushes.  Seven  main  stems  will  be  sufficient  to  form  a 
good  bush.  Spurs  for  the  fruit  bearing  must  be  built  up  by 
summer  pruning  the  side  .shoots,  and  shortening  the  leaders  in 
winter,  also  spurring  in  the  side  shoots  at  the  latter  time. 
BLACK  CURRANTS. — These  are  ivliolly  grown  in  bu.sh 
form,  the  be.st  varieties  being  Black  Champion  and  Lee’s  Prolific. 
The  open  bush  form  of  growth  is  favoured,  and  is  altogether  the 
most  prolific.  Restricted  and  stunted  training  is  by  no  means 
prolific  for  these  fruits,  hence  the  bushes  should  be  planted  with 
a  view  to  maintaining  a  good  supply  of  -wood,  which  must  not 
be  crowded.  In  a  word,  retain  all  the  best  of  the  current  year’s 
wood,  give  it  plenty  of  room,  and  cut  out  the  old.  The  distance 
apart  for  planting  .should  be  six  feet  every  way.  Black  Currants 
do  well  in  moist  soil  and  positions. 
CORDON  GOOSEBERRIES  AND  CURRANTS.— Grown 
against  walls  and  trellises,  the  trees  do  not  occupy  much  space, 
and  are  very  prolific  if  carefully  managed.  Trees  trained  for 
walls  may  be  obtained  from  the  cliief  hardy  fruit  nurserymen, 
the  branches  being  originated  about  six  inches  apart  from  an 
horizontal  base.  There  is,  however,  no  difficulty  in  obtaining 
them  as  single  stem  plants,  the  cultivator  training  them  him¬ 
self  ;  but  time  is  .saved  by  commencing  with  plants  having  stems 
already  originated,  but  not,  of  course,  fully  developed.  To  form 
.single  or  double  cordons  for  walls  or  fences,  cut  back  a  single 
.stemmed  plant  to  twelve  inches.  For  a  single  cordon  train  one 
.shoot  upright;  for  a  double  cordon  train  two.  these  being 
trained  six  to  nine  inches  apart.  Pinch  the  side  shoots  in 
.summer,  and  shorten  the  leaders  in  winter  to  nine  inches.  This 
must  be  repeated  annually  until  the  branches  have  attained  the 
lieight  required.  Cordon  culture  is  excellent  for  procuring  late 
crops,  utilising  north  and  ea.st  walls  for  this  purpose. 
RASPBERRIES. — Ground  prepared  as  for  Gooseberries  and 
Currants  will  suit  Raspberries.  Good  varieties  consi.st  of  Super¬ 
lative.  Baumforth’s  Seedling,  Carter’s  Prolific,  Prince  of  Wales, 
and  Norwich  Wonder.  Ra.spberries  may  be  planted  in  lines  or. 
clumps.  With  the  former  method,  the  canes  will  require  train¬ 
ing  to  wires,  which  must  be  stretched  between  stout  stakes  or 
posts  fixed  at  each  end.  Three  lengths  of  wire  will  suffice,  the 
upper  length  being  not  more  than  5ft  high.  Plant  the  cancs 
