April n, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
307 
if we left alone what cannot be helped. The place maybe in a 
precious mess ; and if so, it is our duty to get it out as quickly as 
possible, and not find fault with what has very likely been an 
advantage to ourselves. No doubt as time goes on, when we know 
more of the difiiculties to contend with, we shall have a better 
opinion of our predecessor. 
An employer has a right to a just return for the money he pays 
in wages, and so long as that wage is what the gardener has 
contracted for, be it little or much, he should devote the best of 
his energies and abilities to do what is required of him. Perhaps 
at times we lay too much stress on these words—what is required 
of us. It is only a very poor conception of a duty, if a man only 
does just what he is obliged. Perhaps many men have little 
encouragement to do more. To such I would say, Do not forget 
the advantage to your own mind, in feeling that you have honestly 
done your part ; for though you may see no present benefit, 
rest assured it will come sooner or later. It is an old saying, and 
deserves more attention than it receives—if a thing is worth doing 
at all, it is worth doing well. We may become dissatisfied with 
our present position, and fancy ourselves fit for something better ; 
but while waiting for opportunities, or seeking them, we should 
do our utmost to what we are about, as the surest way to gain 
a better position is to do thoroughly well, be it in ever so humble 
a way. 
Employers are not in the habit of maintaining gardens for 
gardeners, but gardeners for gardens. In neglecting to observe 
this, I fear we very often make a rod for our own backs. 
Gardeners, of course, like other people have hobbies, and will, if 
chance permit, ride them, and if allowed to do so all well and 
good, but those places are few and far between. We again, like 
other rnortals, are not easily weaned from our hobbies ; but depend 
on it, like other riders, if we persist in riding, one day we shall 
be thrown. The best way, then, to avoid it is to subordinate 
our tastes to the employer, who has to pay the piper, and 
should have his Gooseberry trees planted whichever way up he 
likes best. 
To be successful in satisfying the wants of our employer, it is 
well to bear in mind there is no rojal road to success. Close 
attention to small matters go a long way further than, shall I say, 
scientific knowledge. How often do we see the most perfect 
results where the appliances are very poor ? For the knowledge 
that we are deficient in some part of our armour makes us doubly 
anxious ; we are continually on the watch, and often success 
crowns our efforts through the very point we anticipated the most 
danger. I do not mean to imply by this that it is not best to be 
properly equipped in every way, for the man who has the best 
convenience, and gives the same attention, ought to beat his 
neighbour who has not these advantages ; but it is not wise to 
place too much reliance on these things. 
Perhaps it is scarcely necessary in these days to remind 
gardeners of the duty of being economical in the garden, for I 
take it there are very few gardens where the question of economy 
is left in the hands of the gardener. Time was, no doubt, when in 
some of our best places the gardener had almost a free hand. If 
there are any such now I know them not; yet it is the gardener’s 
duty to his employer to use the means which he allows to their 
fullest capacity, and to make their gardens if possible a source both 
of pleasure and profit. 
Just a word to head gardeners. Many a young man’s future 
has been made or marred by the kind of man he has had the 
fortune or misfortune to serve under. I could quote many 
instances of this did time allow, but must content myself by 
remarking that a kind and encouraging word costs nothing, and I 
know from experience how gratifying it is to receive it. My 
experience also teaches me that kindness and encouraging words 
will always go a long way further than the opposite. There is, 
indeed, no comparison in the work done by a man who is in 
sympathy with his employer and the one who is otherwise. 
To under gardeners I would say. Do not forget you are a plank 
of the ship, each one of you, and each one has a special duty to 
perform if the ship is to be kept floating. No doubt you at times 
sigh for the happy time when you will be a captain ; but take my 
word for it, the lot of a head gardener is not in all cases a happy 
one. So do your level best to strengthen the hinds of your chief 
to the best of your ability. He may seem at times irritable, un¬ 
reasonable, and generally bad to do with. You see the effect, but 
very often have no idea of the cause. 
I well recollect serving a good kind man close on three years as 
foreman, one of the happiest periods of my life. We had one little 
hitch during that time—a very simple thing, too, but I did not feel 
justified in giving way. A few sharp words, then for a day or two 
a sort of coolness. I was troubled, but not so much as he. I 
could stand it no longer. I apologised ; and never shall I forget 
the change that passed over his kind and venerable face, as, with 
tears glistening in his eyes, he clapped his hand on my shoulder and 
said, “Well done, my lad ; I am not disappointed in you. I felt 
sure you would be brave enough to acknowledge yourself in fault.” 
He is still living, and I am proud to say still honours me with bis 
friendship ; and I am not the only one by many of the young men 
who during his long career he has had to do with who look back to 
the happy time spent with him as a bright gleam of the past. This 
is how it should be, and how it will, if each study the interest and 
do their best for each other in every way. I must now pass on to 
the other part of my paper.— George Wilson, Swanlcmd Manor., 
Brough.—{Read at the Hessle Gardeners' Mutual Improvement 
Society, March 12th). 
(To be concluded.) 
Eulophiella Elizabeth^e. 
Two plants of this handsome Orchid are now flowering at Kew. 
They were obtained in the autumn of 1893, when they were newly 
imported from Madagascar, and they have been growing ever since 
in teak baskets suspended over a hot-water tank in a tropical honse; 
they are planted in pure sphagnum moss, and they have been 
liberally watered always. The stronger, writes “ W.” in the 
“ Garden and Forest,” has made leaves 3 feet long by 1^ inch 
broad, four to each growth, and one bears three, the other two 
spikes. These are horizontal, a foot to 18 inches in length, 
straight, dull brown-purple, with ovate-concave bracts. There are 
FIG. 53.— ODONTOGLOSSUM TEIUMPHANS LIONEL CEAWSHAT. 
(Seepage 322.) 
sixteen flowers and buds on the strongest spike, and these are like 
the figure in the “ Botanical Magazine,” t. 7387, in size, form, and 
colour, except that they are not tinged with rose on the inside of 
the segments. 
Cattleya Peecivaliana. 
The London correspondent of an American contemporary says 
that this beautiful and useful Orchid deserves to be more largely 
grown than it is. Several plants of it at Kew are in flower now, 
the flowers of medium size, elegant in form, and of the richest 
shades of maroon-purple and mauve. It was introduced in 1882 
from South-west Venezuela, where it is said to “ invariably grow 
on rocks, not on trees, and in full exposure to the sun, generally 
in the vicinity of river courses, which, in the rainy season, afford 
abundant moisture to the plant.” Under cultivation it thrives 
