9, 189& 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE 



231 



THE FUCHSIAS OF hORT uinm i uo. 



I T ^^^^i^°^j^stoty— a ^^iet'worker pursuing his useful way in a 

 It the old a 4 ntof the turm ^ of th e world, until the word 



^^i^^^'^ th6n a transformation int ° th6 eagCr ' 



FORTUNATUS 



who clamour to advise. Now, when you have been where the big plants 

 are, you can claim to have learned one great initial lesson, namely, that 

 it is not the clamorous ones who win the prizes, although, by dint of the 

 noise they make, they get put on committees and wear ribbons and 

 rosettes at the principal shows. As great nations are governed by secret 

 cabinets, so the work of nations is done by the quiet thinkers. Therefore 



LABORATORY, GHENT SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE. 



combative being whose heart is no longer in the garden, but in the money- 

 bags of committees. 



I had done an evil thing unwittingly in recommending Fortunatus to 

 try his strength at the shows. He was so striking an example of practical 

 genius unexploited, and appeared, in [his staid, reflective way, so com- 

 pletely under self-control, that a prospect of harm arising from a sugges- 



when this eager young gardener, ambitious and aspiring, went to the 

 oracles I smiled, and only when he came back empty did I tell him what 

 the Old Chief taught me— the chief who won countless prizes by his steady 



but wordless pertinacity. 



It was with fuchsias that Fortunatus most yearned to shine, tie did 

 them well, but not so well as to satisfy him after he had seen the photo- 



A CORNER IN ALPINE GARDEN, GHENT SCHOOL OF HORTICULTURE. 



But a few 



mlS°th e d e^ ke f or repntation s «med remote 

 - W<,n f.°° Pot stuff. 



practical " ones 



graphs I showed him of the Old Chiefs plants. The prints were yellowing 

 with aee (which/beingjphotographically interpreted, means with the nr.- 

 p^ fee? oxidation of the' silver salts), but they showed [plants of noble and 

 tl >; nnc hv iude-ment seven to eieht feet high, absolutely 



bur 7™l- " mi "P n5 - wlin -Y e £etables, but I, who had perfect oxidation ot the suver b<m*,, u Ul ^ y M^niZ 



1 and CnS grCW ' P erceive d that his real strength majestic proportions, by judgment seven to eight feet high ^ absolutely 



U{ ,k - ^ s tuff vv T T a su ^ est,on tha < he should concentrate symmetrical, and bloomed from base to summit \ ery likely some 



* h raateriaUnd read n f ng L y - asse , ntm S> he gathered round him his modern gardeners would have sneered at them, for the simple but suffi- 



a read up for hints from ,the noisy, <• oractical » ones rient realon that thev could not produce the like. To sneer at a plant is 



symmetrical, and bloomed irom oase 10 sutmmu very ^ 

 modern eardeners would have sneered at them, for the simple but suffi- 



reason ***** * h ' v ™ uld not produce the like. To sneer at a plant is 



