116 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



is almost as soon a cabbage — is nothing less than 

 a child. Nevertheless for these we must dis- 

 figure our catalogue with such names as Torch 

 Lilies and the like." 



And certainly he and other growers do so 

 " disfigure " their catalogues, for a grower is a man 

 of business. A rather curious mixture of the 

 commercial and the connoisseur ; a practical man 

 of business and a gardener, but, above all things, 

 one who loves his work. With the Dutch grower, 

 at least those of the older school, and I think the 

 modern too, work stands first. There is no hasten- 

 ing through with it, so as to devote time and 

 energies to sports and hobbies ; sport does not 

 play a large part in the Dutch grower's life, and 

 other hobbies are made tributary to the one great 

 interest. There was one old man who was at 

 heart an artist, in his far-off youth it is possible 

 he cherished dreams ; but when necessity and 

 circumstance made him a grower he put the 

 dreams away, though he kept his paint-box. On 

 a Saturday sometimes, locked safely in his office, 

 he still took out the little box of somewhat dried 

 paints ; he could no longer draw, his hands, steady 

 enough for any delicate operations of his work, 

 had long lost their skill. But still he sometimes 



