DECEMBER 141 



course there is a limit to this freedom of growth ; 

 some plants must be tied for their own protection 

 against wind, but such tying should be done as early 

 as possible, for it is with plants as with ourselves, 

 that the right way to train them in the way they 

 should go is to commence with the 'child.' But 

 for most plants I prefer cages. They are made, of 

 different heights and diameters, of iron (technically 

 called * three-quarter round'), with three or four up- 

 rights and a few hoops. They are cheaply made, and 

 last for ever ; and I leave them in the ground all the 

 winter, so that when the plants sprout in the spring 

 they at once adapt themselves to the cage that sur- 

 rounds them, and soon hide it with their foliage. It 

 may seem a paradox to talk of a free natural growth 

 and yet to recommend a constant use of the pruning- 

 knife, but in practice the one is necessary to the 

 other; and in nothing is the gardener's skill more 

 shown than in the judicious use of the pruning-knife. 



And when I am asked what qualities I consider most 

 necessary in a gardener wishing to have and keep a 

 good collection of plants, I name without any hesi- 

 tation these three — patience, liberality, and a catalogue. 

 Under patience I include perseverance and a prudent 

 boldness, for the three go together. Without some 

 boldness the gardener will make no experiments, and his 



