454 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



our control. The amateur gardener should observe and study 

 all unhealthy symptoms, and at once try such treatment as is 

 suggested by the advice of experts. The effect of the remedy 

 will often be the means of discovering the cause of the ail- 

 ment. 



What shall be said of labels ? At the best they are a nuisance 

 and an eyesore in private gardens, and our study should be to 

 do without them as far as possible ; they add nothing to the 

 pleasure of gardening. But when it is necessary to mark plants 

 or bulbs which quite disappear, the compound label, made of a 

 small wooden tablet fastened on to a stout upright wire is most 

 convenient and durable ; but every gardener likes best the label 

 he uses. The names themselves are as bad as the labels. To 

 be asked the name of a neat little white flower, and to have to 

 bring out " Banning hausenia albiflora of Eeichenbach," is a 

 strong temptation to reply "I don't know" to the question. 

 The earliest Greek poet has told us that men bring upon them- 

 selves by their own folly many more troubles than they were 

 destined by fate to suffer, and surely long botanical names belong 

 to the class of self-imposed and avoidable evils. Enough pro- 

 nounceable combinations of letters might be made without 

 exceeding six in any word to supply all the plants in the world 

 with two names apiece. Still I question the advantage of coin- 

 ing and trying to force upon the public arbitrary English names 

 for garden plants. Till a flower has become popular enough to 

 make an English name for itself, it seems better to call it by the 

 scientific name which is common to all languages. Some of 

 these names are hard to pronounce, and it may be doubted how 

 far etymological correctness should be waived in deference to 

 popular usage. We may agree to shorten in pronunciation the 

 last syllable but one in Veronica, (Enothera, Hypericum, though 

 we know it is wrong, but remonstrate against doing the same 

 with Erica, Echinops, Agave. 



As to watering, my own garden is so well supplied with 

 water that I cannot understand a never- watered garden. There 

 are no doubt many, but scarcity of water in summer certainly 

 limits the number of plants which may be grown well. Such 

 things as herbaceous Phloxes will hardly flower at all in a dry 

 summer without watering, and it is almost a necessity for what 

 is newly planted. But watering when not wanted is bad for 



