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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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:0MING EVENTS 
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Sale of Imported O-chids at Stevens’ Rooms. Covent Garden. 
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Sale of Iraportci Orchids at Prothcroe’s Rooms, Cheapside. 
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National Tulip Show, Botanic Gardens, Manchester. 
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Trinity Sunday. 
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OPPOSITION. 
; T has ofcen been said by persons who ought to 
know something about the matter that the 
general excellence of the fundamental laws of 
this country, and the stability of the constitu¬ 
tion, are the result to a very large extent of the 
powerful opposition to which everything has 
been and continues to be subjected in the British 
legislature. No matter if the opposers are not 
particularly strong in numbers ; they can and 
will exert great influence, for as a rule the smaller the 
minority of able men the greater is the energy they display 
in the prosecution of an object that they feel to be right. 
The duty of an opposition is to find all the fault possible 
with whatever may be introduced for discussion, and the 
more searching the examination is with the object of finding 
out the weak points of a case the better as a rule is the com¬ 
pleted work. Whatever may be introduced, especially in 
the way of novelty, is and ought to be subjected to the 
closest, keenest, and most unflinching examination; then, 
after passing the trying ordeal, we may expect it to be good 
because of the removal of everything pertaining to it of a 
doubtful nature. 
And opposition is not by any means limited in its benefits 
to legislative matters. Rightly conducted, and with the sole 
object of enlightenment and improvement, it is good for 
eveiything. It is no doubt flattering to the vain man to 
have everything he says applauded and everything he does 
accepted “with thanks.” It is more agreeable to the 
majority of persons to cheer than to groan, and perhaps on 
that account there is a tendency to please oneself and others 
by occasionally being a little too liberal in our plaudits, and 
justice is swamped by generosity. Yes, opposition is good 
to whatever it is fairly directed, and it is not less needed in 
horticultural affairs than in other matters of a public nature. 
Perhaps it is because of the opposition to which almost every 
process of gardening is subjected in the press that the work 
in gardens is, speaking broadly, so good in this country, and 
those who have travelled far and examined closely say it is 
the best in the world. Would British gardens have been so 
fertile and the culture of plants, fruit, and vegetables so well 
conducted if there had been no gardening press through which 
an interchange of the views of cultivators could be effected ? 
A negative reply may safely be ventured ; but to the next 
question the answer of the majority will probably be in the 
affirmative. This is the question :—Have not those persons 
who have from time to time communicated their views with 
the object of imparting information, or guiding others to 
arrive at a right decision on matters under discussion, in¬ 
creased their own knowledge, and those of them who are 
gardeners benefited themselves by their endeavours to benefit 
others ? and, further, have not the same individuals learned 
more through being opposed than supported in their views 
and arguments ? There is scarcely a doubt that they have, 
and, consequently, the very opposition that they have had to 
No. 257.—Vol. X., Third Skb es. 
encounter, though it may not have been specially palatable 
at the time, has in the end proved of decided advantage. 
Nearly all the greatest men in the world owe their posi¬ 
tion, to a very large extent, to the obstacles they have had 
to combat. Their mental powers have increased with the 
using, just as the blacksmith’s arm increases in strength by 
exercise in his calling. It is the same in gardening. Oppo¬ 
sition of matter or men steels to more strenuous effort, in¬ 
vites to deeper study, impels to greater research, and ends 
in the acquirement of greater knowledge. This is be¬ 
cause it must be so, and most of the best gardeners of the 
day, and persons who occupy good positions in the horticul¬ 
tural world, will recognise their indebtedness to the impedi¬ 
ments they have had to meet and encounter in their early 
days. But for these their whole strength would not have 
been called into action, and their full powers would never 
have been developed. Opposition, then, is good. Let no 
one fear it, but endeavour to profit by if, as every man of 
mettle will assuredly do if he persistently and perseveringly 
exercise those faculties with which he is endowed, and avails 
himself of all the resources within his reach to sustain his 
position; then, whether he succeeds or fails in any particular 
work or controversy, he will necessarily be a wiser man. 
There has been no lack of opposition displayed on various 
subjects that have been under review in this Journal of late. 
The views of individuals on particular and important matters 
have been somewhat closely examined, and their arguments 
freely dissected. This is a healthy wholesome sign, as 
showing the deep interest that is felo in the work in which 
we are engaged, and the strong desire that manifestly exists 
to elucidate what has been felt to be more or less obscure. 
A disposition has been manifested to examine somewhat 
deeply matters of commonplace character, and the everyday 
processes of watering and trenching have received particular 
attention. It is not suggested that any one individual has 
been right in everything he has said, and probably not one 
of those who have taken part in the discussions would like to 
air his egotism by making any such proclamation on his 
own behalf. It is much more likely that everyone has said 
something better than his opponent has, and it is for the 
general reader to benefit by appropriating the best of the 
hints that have been scattered—the best because the most 
adaptable to his own circumstances and most applicable to 
his own case. 
Besides time-honoured practices being assailed new 
notions have been advanced and have met with a mixed 
reception. It is quite right if some concur with what is 
advanced that others should dissent; it is only under those 
circumstances that the truth can be evolved, and if a pro¬ 
position will not endure criticism it must fall, while if not 
worthy of being criticised it is palpably weak. Nothing, 
perhaps, is so chilling to the earnest man as cold silence. 
“ Applaud me if you will,” he says in his inner breast; “ but 
failing that, comb me the wrong way, dissect me, expose all 
my weakness, even abuse me—anything, but do not ignore 
me.” It entirely depends on himself whether he is ignored 
or not. If he talks on commonplace things in a common¬ 
place manner, drawls out long tedious sentences, so inter¬ 
twining and entangling his words that he taxes the mental 
efforts of his readers or hearers to follow him, he repels 
rather than attracts attention, and he is not opposed because 
his productions do not merit opposition. Still it must be 
remarked a great deal is published in this Journal, for 
instance, worthy of criticism that escapes that honour, while 
some may possibly get an undue share of it. More readers 
might with advantage share in examining and even opposing 
the work of others, but in all cases the work and not the 
workers should be the object of attention, for to make the 
matter a pretext for humiliating the man is as ignoble as it 
is fortunately rare—rare because the evil cures itself, for no 
one can long indulge in that peculiar kind of opposition 
without undermining his own character for honesty, integrity, 
No. 1913.— Vol. LXXII., Old Semes. 
