were in for another dry spell like last year which would mean 
more deaths and disappointments. A newly acquired hand 
pump and a none too generous well certainly did keep plants 
alive by dint of much labor, and my Delphiniums were the joy 
and pride of the garden. Being of a particularly fine strain they 
have flowers of large size and varied colors and those in their 
second year's growth reached as much as nine feet in height. 
The plants from seed sown last summer were not so tall but 
the individual flowers on the spikes were in many cases quite 
two and one-half inches in diameter. The head gardeners from 
adjoining and larger estates came to see them and stood open- 
mouthed evidently surprised that an amateur could beat them 
at their own game. Not that mere size is, in my opinion, any 
better than a smaller if choicer flower but a goodly show 
is always effective and appreciated. Now what has happened? 
The welcome showers so long postponed have come at last, 
indeed have shed their benefits upon the garden during the last 
week or more, spoiling many a local cricket match, garden party 
and fete champetre — though no true gardener regrets these 
when his plants are flagging for want of moisture. But there 
is something else ! As I write I have some large vases in the 
studio filled with Delphinium spikes that are halfway up to the 
ceiling — not cut by me for decoration — I couldn't do such a 
thing— but broken off and dashed to the ground by heavy rain 
and a wind that seemed little short of a hurricane. The Madonna 
Lilies are spoilt and broken, the Lilium Excelsums are lying in 
the wet earth, most of the climbing Roses- are turned into a mash 
and many a tall plant is split at the point where it had been 
tied up to a stake with careful forethought. Now who can say 
our climate is to be coveted? 
If you have horticultural trials and disappointments to en- 
dure in America, rest assured that you have the sympathy of 
your fellow sufferers over here. 
The wail of Omar Khayam comes to my mind — 
"Could thou and I with Fate conspire 
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire 
Would we not shatter it to bits 
And then remould it nearer to the heart's desire." 
But as we cannot do this we must all take up gardening works 
with fresh hopes each season and I trust shall continue to. do so 
for all time, remembering that the greater the failures the 
greater are the joys when we succeed in outwitting nature's 
vagaries. 
Frank Galsworthy. 
Green Lane Farm, Chertsey, Surrey. 
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