December 30, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



515 



WHAT ARE YOU DOING THESE WINTER 

 EVENINGS ? 



!,ET everyone of us answer tliat question to 

 himself — it will do us good — it is a question 

 put by a sound practical gardener in a letter 

 with which these notes will conclude ; and 

 we would oflfer a few relative suggestions to 

 all who read these pages. Let readers pe- 

 ruse them teachably ; let contributors enrich 

 them liberally ; let the Editors preside over 

 them kindly. Above all, let everyone of us, 

 after acceding to those suggestions, take a les- 

 son from one of near threescore and ten, who sometimes 

 contributes to " our Journal." He was at his fireside table, 

 had just concluded writing to us, and his hand was then 

 on his Bible. Looking at his visitor he observed, pointing 

 to a volume hy his side, " I have just done with that book, 

 and am going to finish the evening with the best." Such 

 a man knows weU what to do with his winter evenings, 

 and all who foUow his example will pass that most wel- 

 come of seasons — a peace-abounding Christmas. Such a 

 season lieartily do we wish to all friends round our Jour- 

 nal, and to none more heartily than to those addressed 

 as follows : — 



A CHAPTER FOR YOUNG GARDENERS. 

 " The evenings of winter are once more upon us, and 

 very welcome they are to us gardeners, even if they do 

 add somewhat to the care and anxiety inseparable from 

 our calling. Very welcome and very precious to us is 

 the time which these long hours of darkness place at our 

 disposal ; many studies to which but little attention has 

 been given during the busier period of the year are now 

 again taken up in downright earnest, and as progress is 

 made towards that proficiency which is ever the reward 

 of steady persevering application, the time that can be 

 devoted to study even appears too short and precious for 

 its purpose. No one can fully understand or realise this 

 feeling unless he has experienced this longing for improve- 

 ment. The old schoolboy couplet — 



* He that in writing would improve. 

 Mast iirst with writing fall in love,' 



is justly applicable to the would-be student of any branch 

 of science or learning. Let a person of sufficient intelli- 

 gence but devote liimself to the acquisition of knowledge, 

 perseveringly and steadily— aye, even a plodder if you will, 

 who, instead of being daunted by a difficulty or failure, 

 feels it but an incentive to increased exertion, and there 

 need be no fear as to the result. 



" As a practical application of this reasoning I would 

 ask those young men who aspire to the charge of a garden, 

 What are you doing with your winter evenings? and in 

 asking this question I do not forget the difficulties ia the 

 way of such young men in the pursuit of knowledge. An 

 isolated position is, generally speaking, one of the trials 

 of a young gardener ; it is but seldom he is situated near 

 enough to a large town where he might obtain any of the 

 advantages to be gained from good lectures, evening 



No. 457.— Vol. .\VII., Nbw Seeizs. 



classes, and the like. Although, considered in such a 

 sense, isolation is a drawback, yet the very quietness of 

 the life, the being thrown back upon one's own resources, 

 not unfrequently proves an advantage, causing us to 

 cherish a feeling of self-reliance, and a spirit of self-help. 

 Let a gardener but become engrossed with his business, 

 striving constantly to excel, placing his standard of excel- 

 lence very high, never suffering a failure to daunt liim, 

 but bending all his powers of mind and body to over- 

 come every obstacle, and there wUl be such an unpetus 

 given to his exertions as will impart such life and anima- 

 tion to his entire being as to take away all sense of 

 isolation. Isolation! surely no thoughtful man surrounded 

 by the wonders of animated nature can be sensible of such 

 a feeling. 



•' Another— a drawback to the young student — is low pay, 

 yet by practising strict economy, sufficient funds may be 

 accumulated wherewith the requisite materials for liis 

 studies may be purchased. And, then, perhaps the greatest 

 hindrance of aU is bothy life. Most young men in places 

 of any extent pass a few years in tbe bothy, and it is but 

 seldom that three or four persons so thrown together prove 

 to be alike in theu- dispositions or inclinations. Very 

 rarely is it that all are alike earnest in the pursuit of 

 knowledge or in self-culture : one may be studious, while 

 another may be musical, and it is no easy matter to solve 

 a mathematical problem with an accompaniment on a 

 concertina, or to devote oneself to any pursuit requiring 

 much thoucht with a set of noisy companions. 



■' The different studies which a young gardener may 

 profitably pursue are too numerous to mention here ; it 

 will, I hope, be more useful if those branches are named 

 a knowledge of which may be considered to be indis- 

 pensable. Tliese are botany, vegetable physiology, che- 

 mistry, mensuration of solids and superficies, geometry, 

 free-liand drawing, the harmony and contrast of colour ; 

 and to these may be added the study of entomology, soils, 

 manures, heat, and light. Other subjects equally impor- 

 tant will be sure to force themselves upon the mind. A 

 , young gardener should be no mere schoolboy taking to 

 his lessons at stated periods, but should endeavour to 

 put the theory of his evening studies to practical applica- 

 tion and proof, so far as he consistently may, in his daily 

 occupations. 



" As those works which are essentially necessary to the 

 student are most of them expensive they should be chosen 

 with care. Those which partake of the character of aa 

 encyclopaedia are the most useful. For chemistry, botany, 

 geometry, free-hand drawing, Latin, and geology, nothing 

 can be better than Cassell's new ' Popular Educator ;' for 

 scientific gardening generally, Thompson's ' Gardener's 

 Assistant,' and Johnson's ' Science and Practice of Garden- 

 ing ;' ' The Vegetable Ivingdom,' by Dr. Hogg, is also a 

 valuable work. These are all illustrated books, which 

 adds very much to their usefulness as aids to the student. 

 For tbe study of mensuration I know no better work than 

 Nesbit's ' Mensuration.' In addition to books, a micro- 

 scope and case of drawing instruments are very useful. 

 A good-enough microscope can be had for a guinea, and 



No. 1109.— Vol. XLII., Old Sf.ries, 



