158 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 21,1896. 
plants, and experience gained this way will be much more useful 
than that imparted through the medium of these pages. The 
plants are the best teachers, and it is by observation of their 
peculiarities that proficiency in Orchid growing is to be gained. It 
must not be forgotten either that we are to a great extent the 
slaves of circumstances, and what is right in a properly heated, 
well appointed Orchid house might prove fatal in^a badly arranged, 
ill-adapted structure. This being so, each grower must shape a 
course for himself, carefully noting the experience of others, but 
not accepting this in too literal a sense. 
Have all water used of an equal or higher temperature than 
that of the house in which the plants are growing, and be careful 
that DO water lodges in the growths or sheaths of Cattleyas and 
others advancing into flower.—H. B. R, 
THE PROSPECTS OF GARDENERS. 
Now that the strong hand of frost and snow holds our native 
soil in its flint-like grasp it is well for gardeners as a body to 
look as far as human foresight can, to the requirements and pro¬ 
babilities of the future. Those among them of a thoughtful turn 
of mind who watch the slow revolutionary times through which 
we are now passing, must ponder deeply on the ultimate basis 
on which gardening as a profession will stand. Nay, alas ! there are 
those who at the present moment have almost reached the point of 
despair, as day after day, week after week drags by without bring¬ 
ing for them the longed for situation. Yet while good men and 
true are patiently waiting for chances, which in many cases will 
never come, shoals of lads with the vigour and enthusiasm of youth 
are rushing into the same calling, which to only an extremely small 
percentage of them can ever bring adequate reward. 
To many this may seem far too dismal a picture to paint of the 
prospects of a body of men whose lines, to those who only look 
on the surface, seem to be cast in truly pleasant places. There 
can be no doubt that it is this prospect of a pleasant career that 
induces so many in early life to join the ranks and compete for 
the prizes of the craft. Ihe conditions are, however, very different 
BOW to what they were a quarter of a century ago, that those who 
have a fair share of ambition ought to consider the matter 
thoroughly before they take up gardening as a means of livelihood 
in which ability is likely to meet with a fair reward. 
My own idea of the matter is that gardening must in the 
future be looked on in a totally different light from that in 
which it has been the custom to regard it in the past. To the 
great number who have at various times taken to gardening as an 
employment which offered the readiest means of raising them 
slightly above the drudgery of the lives of rural labourers around 
them, this changed condition of affairs will not appear to* be a 
particularly serious matter, and the prospects for such are even 
now fairly good, because the aggregate wealth of the country 
steadily increases, and with it the number of individuals who can 
afford to keep one, two, or three gardeners. These establishments 
in many instances offer comfortable situations for men who have 
no great amount of ambition, and who are by Nature intended to 
be led rather than to lead. Those who belong to this category 
have no great cause for alarm at the prospects before them, as 
Nature has endowed them with a capacity for leading peaceful, 
happy lives, doing useful work without accomplishing any great 
results. 
I have now a few remarks to make on a totally different 
class of men. I refer to those who take up gardening as a 
sailing, who in their youthful days have regarded with profound 
respect the chief in some large and well-ordered garden. To 
win such a position themselves has seemed to be a crowning reward 
for strenuous endeavours and the realisation of their highest hopes. 
Youths of this calibre have a definite object in view, and with 
a fair share of the fortune of work will win. What I maintain, 
however, is that at the present time the percentage of gardeners 
who have the hopes, aspirations, and abilities enumerated 
above, are very largely in excess of the positions to be filled 
which would satisfy them, and the tendency of the 
present time goes to show that this disproportion will be much 
more pronounced in the future—though in truth it is bad enough 
now—unless a little more shrewdness is shown by parents and 
youths in the choice of a calling. The mere fact that our ancient 
calling at one time offered sufficiently lucrative posts for the sons 
of the comparatively well to do, often induces parents who have 
no definite knowledge of the present state of affairs, to start their 
sons on a race which is exceedingly like the proverbial one of 
pursuing a “ phantom ship.” 
It may be that these lines will meet the eye of some who are 
at the present time seriously considering the knotty problem, 
** What shall we do with our boys ? ” Then, perchance, some 
inward thought begotten of sentimentalism will appear like an 
inspiration. Make gardeners of them ? To this I say yes. All men 
should be such, but to take up gardening as a living what a different 
matter ! To me it seems that that pithy but famous piece of 
advice which “Punch ” once volunteered comes again fresh to the 
rescue, “ Don’t.”—A Lover of Gardenino. 
TIMELY SUGGESTIONS, 
Gardeners generally are in rather a happy frame of mind 
when unpacking their seed hamper, pocketing a new knife and 
donning a new apron. Yet it is a feeling which soon gives way to 
one of responsibility and anxiety. The leader (page 109) setting 
forth the virtues of patience has forestalled some thoughts on this 
subject. Most readers will readily admit that patience is as good 
for gardeners as it is reputed to be for the gout. Anyway, we 
need all we have of it, and doubtless, under some conditions, a little 
more. Not less can we endorse the wisdom of being early birds, 
and it behoves us to go for that worm, whether it takes the form 
of the earliest dish of Peas, new Potatoes, or other things so 
warmly welcomed after the monotony of the winter season. Yes, 
that worm is good value ; and whether or not the early bird crows 
over his neighbours, the catch is soon published in the locality, 
and the go-ahead man is held up as an example to his easier-going 
brother. 
Growers for market recognise the importance of being first in 
the field, with the reward of realising fancy prices for their smart¬ 
ness. In private establishments it is worth some effort, in spite of 
risk, to obtain a few early dishes, especially in a season like this 
we are passing through, with scarcity at present and dearth in 
prospect. Small patches, a few short drills sown at the earliest 
opportunity, to be followed at intervals until the main crops are 
sown, may be more or less speculative, but often result in little 
gains on time, which serve as peace offerings to the kitchen, and 
are duly appreciated. The main crops obviously claim most 
attention, and the chief anxiety is to get them in under the most 
favourable conditions. The exhaustive thrashing out of the Onion 
maggot subject last year, with the unanimous verdict of the 
benefits to be derived from early sowing, appear to be shelved by 
the weather for this season, but doubtless raising in heat is being 
extensively practised. 
In localities favoured by open, generous, free-working soils, the 
importance of seizing on the first opportunity for the sowing of 
some particular crop is not so paramount as in those places where 
the reverse conditions obtain. With the latter an ungenial spring 
may yield but one opportunity as to a dozen in the former. 
Although “ All things come to those who wait,” even good 
weather, a great deal of vexation comes to those who, while 
waiting, know that an opportunity has been missed. The good 
day for a certain job may be a better one to-morrow, but that 
to-morrow may be deferred for weeks, thus taking far too large 
a slice out of what may prove to be but an indifferent season of 
growth. 
Caprice of weather sets at defiance the wisest calenderial 
directions. It is a game of chance, and often those who court 
criticism by apparent undue haste succeed beyond even their own 
expectation. Later sowings may be, often are, caught by a bad 
spell in a critical stage that earlier-sown, stronger plants, are able 
to withstand. Yet the question of early sowing this season is to 
some extent nullified by the prevailing Arctic weather, which, 
whilst not only locking our seeds out of the ground may, by 
accumulating arrears of work, cause further delay when changed 
conditions present the opportunity, unless deliberate thought now 
leads to prompt action then. 
What to sow ? is a question annually raised when noting the 
numerous additions yearly increasing in our seed lists. There is a 
temptation to all in novelties which not a few, by various reasons, 
have to resist. New things come to us with exceedingly good 
characters ; but we, prompted by prudence, can only take them on 
trial. Many are precluded by questions of space, time, or means 
from entering with a free hand into culture which is, to some 
extent, experimental; hence watch those who can afford to do so, 
and await their verdict in the gardening press. So a good thing 
is heard of again, and disappointment by the reverse is avoided by 
those who feel they must— 
“ Be not the first by whom the new are tried. 
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.” 
I have observed that employers sufficiently interested to scan 
the seed catalogues are often attracted by a name. What’s in a 
name ? A good deal to some, for some names are attractive, and 
others there are which may be termed repellant. Amongst the 
former may be noted a novelty for this season, Saintpaulia 
