SPECIMEN PLANTS. 337 



take off the branches too high up. When we have seen the 

 stem as high as we want it, the top may be stopped, to induce 

 the side shoots of the head to grow, and the side branches 

 may be stopped back to the second joint from the stem, to 

 throw out each four more shoots. From these select those 

 you mean to grow, and remove those which are useless. The 

 pendulous habit will be shown to admiration. In short, no 

 matter what the habit of a plant is, the gardener has to grow 

 it to the greatest advantage ; and he may as well hold the 

 branches of a poplar down with cords, or prop the willow up 

 with long sticks, as to constrain many of the plants that are 

 tortui-ed into an unnatural shape to show at exhibitions. 

 The danger is, that while prizes are given for such distortions, 

 the young gardeners, in places where owners will put up 

 with it, will be brought up to the same kind of mismanage- 

 ment ; and we cannot too earnestly beg the conductors of the 

 press to condemn it before the mischief has gone too far ; 

 for believing, as we do, that the press will have pubhc 

 opinion with it, the evil will by this means be checked. 

 Although there are many who speak with great disdain of 

 the idea that the press can influence them, we happen to 

 know, that with our single pen we brought down the Govern- 

 ment itself, whose servants were at first very lavish of their 

 abuse, to a sense of their subservience to public opinion, and 

 at length forced them to adopt effective measures for the re- 

 generation of Kew Gardens, which are now, what they never 

 were until we took up the subject, a credit instead of a 

 disgrace to the country; and we hope, by the same means, 

 to see our exhibitions a credit iastead of disgrace to British 

 gardening. Many will tell us that they are forced to do as 

 others do, or give up exhibiting, because encouragement is 

 given to the production of unnatural growth ; and this is to 

 a great extent true : but we strongly recommend even those 

 gardeners who feel obliged to do wrong, to grow some of 

 their plants right; for it will come to this at last, if the 

 judges and the societies do their duty, and the way to hasten 

 this is for the conductors of the press to do theirs ; for if 

 there be no other objection to the mechanical torture which 

 plants undergo, the horrible sameness displayed at exliibitions 

 will tire the public ; shows will be comparatively deserted 

 unless variety can be given ; variety can only be secured by 

 natural growth, in w^hich each plant will assume its own cha- 



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