OCTOBER. 223 



that I might produce eight blooms in June, which was considered 

 enough for my strength. After this I was placed in a larger pot, 

 of the size called 48, in the same soil as last used, and plunged 

 on the top of a dung-bed, without any frame. The warmth thus 

 generated about my roots stimulated them to feed and grow, and the 

 increase in the size of my branches was proportionately great. Eight 

 flowers was the number actually produced ; and I need not say 

 that I received a liberal supply of weak liquid manure from the com- 

 mencement of growth till their development. 



When the flowers were over, the supply of water was again 

 diminished, which was quite in accordance with my feelings ; for after 

 so much exertion I required temporary rest. I remained inactive 

 for about three weeks, when I was again potted into a larger pot, this 

 time No. 24 ; again freely supplied with water and stimulated by 

 bottom-heat to a new growth ; and I produced in September no less 

 than twenty flowers, which, if of smaller dimensions than those of 

 the summer growth, were pronounced superior in shape and colour. 

 I now saw that my master began to grow proud of me ; he brought 

 all his friends to see me, and when he found them interested in my 

 appearance, he gave them my history in brief or detail according to 

 the humour of the moment. Some I saw smile at the earnestness 

 with which he spoke of various matters ; and one young gentleman, 

 a philosopher I think they called him, said gravely, shaking his head, 

 that it was monstrous for a reasonable man to occupy himself so ear- 

 nestly with such trifles, that " the proper study for mankind was man." 

 My master, who was a man of most amiable and even temper, smiled, 

 and calmly replied, that it had never been the business of his life, but 

 only his recreation, and as such it had yielded him an amount of 

 health and calm enjoyment which he would not have exchanged for 

 the purple of an emperor or the riches of the Sacramento. As my 

 master's garden was celebrated for many rare and fine things, it was 

 often the resort of certain savans of horticulture. The gardener 

 John was not himself of that class. He was a plain, practical man, 

 honest and skilful, not dogged and averse to new things or new 

 schemes because new, but averse to replace old by new before testing 

 the latter by experiment. I often heard some well-fought battles 

 between John and the savans ; and while the savans seemed to know 

 most of logic, it seemed to me that John knew most of gardening. 

 Of this I felt sure, after hearing John argue one night with one of 

 these celebres, a miller, to whom my master appeared to pay great 

 deference on the subject of Rose-growing. A new stock from Italy 

 was the subject of discussion, I think they called it Manetti. John 

 was told this stock was to surpass all other stocks. When budded 

 on it, Roses were to grow twice as fast as on any other, and never to 

 spawn or sucker ; the most shy and delicate were to become free and 

 robust even on the poorest soils; and, in fact, the sooner every other 

 stock and stool was rooted out of the garden and replaced by this 

 the better. As the miller spoke of his own experience, and was 

 wholly disinterested in the matter, my master became a convert. I 

 trembled, when John quietly said, " Let us try this stock first, and 



