December 29. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
239 
attractions, would at once be shorn of its charms, were 
there not something to be continually cared lor; and 
ever-occurring obstacles to be met and surmounted. 
| Were it merely a thing of one idea, and that so patent 
! and simple that the mere announcing of it would bo 
| tantamount to its full comprehension and develop- 
I ment, then adieu to emulation and honourable rivalries, 
and farewell to that increasing perseverance that 
only receives a meet reward, when, after surmounting 
I an obstacle, it finds it has gained a more elevated 
| platform, whence alike to behold and aspire to seize 
l objects of interest and beauty unknown before. Un¬ 
successful grumblers are most likely to remain so, 
because they have got into the bad habit of blaming 
everybody and everything but themselves. All are so 
fortunate but they, the luckless wights, forgetting that 
success is not a matter of dreams and cloudy visions ot 
a wondrous phantom called chance, but in most cases, 
when continuous, is the sure consequence ol prudence, 
exertion, attention, and study. Young gardeners who 
read these pages may need to be reminded of this; for 
myself, I confess, that in my younger days 1 derived 
anything but benefit from men having a high opinion 
of themselves, but who, somehow, never got their light 
from under the bushel measure that concealed it, ascrib¬ 
ing the well-merited success and comfort of others to the 
fact that they were lucky fellows. Be assured, there is 
no true continuous luck, if you will use such a term for 
success in life, separate from the upright, the intelligent, 
the persevering, and the attentive. The dawdler, the 
trifler, the man who can only grasp one idea, or who is 
more taken up with the gratification ot his appetites 
than the working of his mind, will, ere long, be loft 
nowhere in gardening. 
Most of the statements of disappointments that reach 
us come from earnest amateurs. Of course, they feel 
annoyed at their failures. 1 should have small hope of 
them if they did not. I would just have a little more, 
if they lectured and said some severe things to us, be¬ 
cause we had not directed them properly; and this, 
despite all that an old poet has said about wrapping 
himself in conscious rectitude, is not the most pleasant 
thing in the world, unless when right would stand in 
the way; it is preferable to feel that our conduct is 
approved of. Now, what has made an occasional peep 
into the correspondence so pleasing, is, that with many 
needless apologies for troubling (tor there is no trouble, 
when letters are short, at once to the purpose, and 
legibly written), almost everyone throws the blame of 
neglect upon his or her own shoulders; and that, too, in 
cases where a want of explicitness or inattention to 
minutiae might have justified placing some of the blame 
not far from the door of the writer. Any extreme treat¬ 
ment recommended for a particular section ol plants, in 
particular eircumstances, has, by an extra amount ot 
generalising, been applied to plants in circumstances 
j different, and in nature not allied; and the consequences 
I have been disappointment and failure. A few ol these, 
I not involving anything new, but tending to show, it 
j possible, more forcibly, the valuo of attention to minutiae 
j shall now engage our attention. 
KEEPING GROWING PLANTS IN TI1E DARK. 
A correspondent, after describing a new pit, sunk two 
! feet below ground, and raised two feet above it (at back, 
1 I presume), in a dry place, the back-wall some sixteen 
inches higher than the front-wall, so as to give a good 
slope, filling part of this up with stones and brick 
rubbish; and for small plants, making a platform ot 
boards resting on bricks ; and by striking cuttings early, 
having such nice plants in October, that even we should 
have admired, if not envied them; came to the con¬ 
clusion, that once secure in this pit, the plants might be 
kept dark and closed up for some time. “ Well, after 
being in this pit nearly a fortnight of severe weather, 
closely covered, I was so disappointed to find nearly all 
the Geraniums with several leaves in a state of dreadful 
mould. I am sure this was caused by the warm situation, 
and a constant drop coming through the glass. There 
is and can be no damp from below. I suppose it was 
my own fault, leaving them too long shut up, but I 
thought that until the frost was entirely gone it was 
the safe plan. How can I prevent this dropping which j 
ruins my plants? Would you advise the smallest 
quantity of putty placed at the edges of the laps of the 
glass?” And then, after some pleasing compliments, 
adds—“ I am so very fond of my flowers, as even to be 
willing to learn from sad experience, so that I hope you 
will kindly advise me.” 
Now, what would the severest stickler for novelty 
make of such a letter as the above? Were he sure it 
was from a gentleman, he could not help being civil. 
Did the writing bear the slightest impress of a lady's 
hand, whatever gruffness he could muster for an occasion, 
would be changed into the most obliging courtesy. If 
he found that many beginners, just feeling their way, 
were apt to be led into the same mistakes and con¬ 
sequent disappointments, ho would come to the con¬ 
clusion that he might do worse than try to rectify the 
matter in a prominent place of The Cottage Gardener. 
Our correspondent has evidently studied all that has 
been said of the practicability of keeping tender plants 
shut up in the dark in continued cold weather, but in 
guarding against the cold, only just avoided being stranded 
on the opposite evil of a close, muggy, malarian atmo¬ 
sphere, without a ray of light, or a breath of fresh air 
to neutralise their noxious properties. We have been 
• honoured with visitors, who expressed their surprise at 
! finding frames and pits destitute of artificial beat, 
snugly covered during the day, and visions of economy 
in labour, and a very minimum of care and forethought 
flitted through their mind, only to be dispelled, when, 
like our correspondent, they suffered from over doing a 
principle that was good in itself. Many enquiries that 
reach us, such as—When should I light a fire in the 
greenhouse ? What temperature should I have in it at 
bed-time, with an outside temperature of 30° ? pre¬ 
suppose that we could make gardening as simple as a 
mere mechanical art of routine, such as a direction a 
watchmaker could give about the winding up of a clock 
or a watch. Now, it would be folly to pretend to any 
such powers. We can, as far as we know ourselves, 
detail the principles on which operations are based; we 
can tell all the minutiae we use in carrying out these 
operations, and even show how these are to be varied, 
according to circumstances ; but we never can present 
any substitute for the anxious attention, the unwearied 
industry, the continuous forethought, and the constant 
habit of observation, as respects weather, temperature, 
sunshine, and shade, which the successful gardener 
must exhibit; and even could we do so, as has already 
been stated, the real pleasure of the pursuit would soon 
disappear; that pleasure, which even to the professional 
man of general intelligence must ever be regarded as 
fully one-half of the reward he receives for his labours. 
Keeping these things in view, referring to other 
articles for the principles of growth and perfection, 
merely remembering that warmth, associated with heat, 
are the great stimuli to extension and elongation in 
plants, but that little or no solid matter is added without 
the presence of light, and that this extension, and that 
addition, can only be healthy when the foliage has 
access to a pure atmosphere, we see, at once, that our 
correspondent was right in thinking the plants had 
been too long shut up; that is to say, if in the northern 
position the weather was not much darker and colder 
than we have found it to be in Hertfordshire. In some 
days, very dark and foggy, and the nights rather sharp, 
