February 22, ISg^. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
139 
A t the various stages of our fleeting lives it becomes us as 
units in the vast brotherhood of a world-wide empire to cast 
our thoughts onward from the present times to the uncertainties 
and possibilities of the future. This habit of reflection when once 
acquired will enable us to take a far greater interest in passing 
events, and will not unfrequently, by showing us the true 
connection between cause and effect, lead us to anticipate the 
course of future occurrences, which to the unthinking may come 
as a startling surprise. So, too, in the pursuit of our calling it 
behoves us to take a wide survey of the present requirements and 
probable future needs of the charge committed to our care. 
Thinking only of present circumstances and providing for 
nothing behind the immediate future, have in innumerable in¬ 
stances been fatal to the best interests of many a gardener ; while 
on the other hand a firm grasp of coming possibilities and a 
sustained effort to provide for contingencies have often led to 
advancement, fairly won against no common odds. Those who 
regard the pursuit of horticulture as a calling in the light of a 
pleasurable existence, demanding no great physical effort or intel¬ 
lectual power, are not likely to make much progress in these 
competitive days, when perhaps the sweeping doctrine of the 
“ survival of the fittest ” is proving more than ever its truth and 
strength. The sooner we make up our minds that we are engaged 
in a complicated avocation which requires our best efforts in both 
thought and action the better and greater will be our success in 
the future. 
As I look around me during my limited travels in various parts 
of the country I am greatly astonished by the rapid levelling 
upward which is taking place in the ranks of ga”deners. The old 
easy-going representatives of our ancient craft are fast disappearing 
under the exigencies of present times. There is so much good 
work being done in all directions that those who are not animated 
by a spirit of progress and constant endeavour find the weak points 
in their armour by comparison with the good work around. 
To my mind this state of affairs has been brought about 
principally by three causes ; perhaps the principal one is the great 
facilities for acquiring knowledge which have for some years 
existed. Garden literature is now so cheap as to be within the 
reach of all, and the majority of sound cultivators, instead of 
following the old practice assiduously guarding their cultural 
secrets, now feel it an honour to record them for the benefit of 
their fellow men. The prevalence of the broad and generous 
views upon the subject has had the effect of causing a widely 
extended interest to be taken in horticulture ; this in turn has 
brought into the ranks of professional gardeners a large proportion 
of men who have adopted the calling out of downright love for the 
work, which enables them to make light of difficulties which 
others, not fortified with a special liking for it, are apt to consider 
too troublesome to be overcome. 
The only other cause of progress to which I will now refer is 
the largely increased number of exhibitions which are held in every 
part of the country. These create a keen spirit of emulation 
which, aided by the means for obtaining knowledge supplied in the 
horticultural press, and quickened by the high ideals which those 
who are in earnest endeavour to reach, form a combination of 
circumstances which must result in progress. 
No. 713. — VoL. XXVIII,, Third Series. 
Thus far these notes may be rightly considered to have treated 
of the past rather than the future, but the remarks I am about to 
make will, I think, do something to justify the heading chosen. 
If we attempt to foreshadow the course of future events in the 
horticultural world, not altogether in the light of a hap-hazard 
prophecy, but rather by the indications of present times, which I 
have attempted to show are the effects of various causes, what 
feature is likely to be the most distinctive one in helping forward 
the progress of the times to come ? My own opinion is the estab¬ 
lishment of experimental schools of horticulture wherein the 
purely scientific discoveries bearing on the subject may be 
thoroughly tested in a variety of ways, to see how far it is 
necessary and profitable to take advantage of them, and also to 
discover the best practical means of application. Lectures should 
be given, and printed statements published periodically to show 
the result of these experiments, so that practical men might have 
every confidence in relying upon the information thus gained 
without having to test it again for themselves. One point 
necessary for the success of the scheme would be to see that these 
schools were not governed by mere theorists but managed by 
gardeners who had spent ten or twenty years in some of our best 
public or private establishments, and whose ability and capacity 
for experiment and investigation stamped them in no uncertain 
way as capable men for so important a post. 
In the life of the gardeners of to-day there is but little time to 
dabble in experimental work. Their thoughts and actions are so 
much concentrated upon the sternly practical labour of providing 
for the requirements of their employers. Under such circum¬ 
stances the progress to be expected from experiments which belong 
to nobody’s business to carry out, must of necessity be both hap¬ 
hazard and slow. Perhaps other readers of the Journal of Horticul¬ 
ture may have something to say in the matter, which must be one of 
common interest ; at least, so thinks—A Blait Bowkail. 
THE ROYAL GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FOND. 
There are a few matters arising out of the recent annual 
meeting of the subscribers of this Fund that may be worthy of 
comment. First there is the difficulty created in the ballot by the 
announcement made at the last moment that candidates C and D 
had been withdrawn. Of course all votes recorded for these were 
wasted ; no doubt much to the annoyance of subscribers. In 
the case of such a difficulty occurring again subscribers should be 
permitted to have a second or reserve candidate to which their 
votes might be transferred. 
Then, arising out of the grave complaint made by Mr. Brown, 
that the gardeners of the kiugdom as a body give so little support 
to the Fund, it is worthy of notice that not one of the deceased 
fathers of the seventeen candidates is returned as a subscriber. Is 
it not true that regulations somewhat analogous to those now 
found in connection with the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Fund 
were established, by which so many votes should be credited at an 
election to orphan children of subscribers ? I would favour the 
allowing of twenty votes for every year’s subscription, providing 
the case was one that the Committee could honourably accept. 
Thus subscribers would receive very special encouragement to 
contribute, and it would further put some check upon the present 
method of election, by which not at all do the most meritorious 
ones get elected, but rather those who can secure the greatest 
amount of personal influence in their favour. 
I think some cases ought not to be accepted in the way they 
are. “Mother keeps a public house” does not present an object 
for charity ; neither does such a case as of seven children “ six 
of the varying ages of from thirteen years to twenty-four years.” 
Surely these ought to be ashamed to ask a pension for the remain¬ 
ing one.- In yet another case. “ Mother is in receipt of £20 a year, 
and takes in lodgers.” Subscribers have a right to ask that the 
No. 23C9,—VoL. XC,, Old Series, 
