THE NEW GARDENER 255 



genial companion. A common love of plants will draw 

 master and man together. 



The time for this is not yet. It will be retarded by 

 several things, and not least by those thoughtless women 

 of means who love flowers better than they understand 

 gardeners, and drive estimable but tactless men to 

 distracted rudeness by whims, caprices and uninformed 

 criticism. But amid much that is merely perfunctory 

 and trivial in connection with flowers a genuine 

 love of plants and gardens is growing apace in all 

 classes of society, and it is bound to bring with it a 

 brighter future for the gardener, even if he himself 

 should be slow to see its significance, and move with 

 lagging steps in the direction of that self-improvement 

 which alone can fit him for sharing fully in its benefits. 



