// ■ ^'^^ 
"^■Zx " VThe gardening year does not really begin in January, so perhaps 
,^ \ ^ \^ou wiU not read far enough into this issue to reach the best New Year 
.,^' ^ wishes which the Editor herewith conveys to you. A pleasant New 
f^s. ^. Year's surprise awaits you, too: a temporary change of editors. The 
A ' \% next two issues of the Bulletin, which will appear in March and 
hJ^ May, will be edited by Mrs. T. H. B. McKnight, who thus nobly 
makes possible an editorial journey to the south of France. This 
arrangement would seem to profit everybody but Mrs. McKnight; 
for you will get rid of me, and I (though it seems ingracious so to state 
it) will get rid of you for several months. Only Mrs. McKnight 
m.ust suffer for my sins and do the work that I leave undone. In part- 
ing I shall tell you some w^ays to help her in the hope that during my 
absence the habit will become fixed. 
Read the business part of the Bulletin and don't write to her 
when you should write to the president or the secretary or the treas- 
urer. Be gentle with her when your initials are wrongly printed, 
particularly if you have originally inscribed these initials in long-hand. 
Don't ask her to retrieve your copy of the Bulletin from your Sum- 
mer post-of&ce and remail it to Egypt or Hawaii, and when you think 
hard thoughts of her remember that, though we take pride in our 
amateur standing, even the eternal amateur cannot pass lightly over 
business details. We smother our vehicle in flowers, but it requires 
machinery to make it go. I do not think, either, that a little judicious 
praise will turn her head, and too much blame might spoil her dispo- 
sition. 
I cannot tell you how hard Mrs. McKnight will work for you 
during these next few months without divulging my personal secrets. 
I congratulate you and take it for granted that your thanks to her 
may be added to mine. 
K. L. B. 
The Conservatory or Winter Garden 
Gertrude Jekyll, V. M. H. 
In a former article some reference was made to the general want of 
interest in the arrangement of conservatories, and it may be helpful 
to make a few suggestions as to their better treatment. The usual 
plan is to bring in any tender plants that may be in bloom and to 
range them, dotted about singly on the stages, while any floor space 
holds a miscellaneous collection of larger plants, placed according to 
height alone, and without any consideration of the effect of color and 
environment. Such a method is wasteful all around, for any beauty 
that might be gained from well assorted coloring is lost; there is a 
confused and distracting mass of bloom, instead of something intel- 
ligible and satisfying to mind and eye, and probably there are three 
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