December 29, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
273 
PELARGONIUM, SAM JACOBY. 
Some growers have a great objection to dark crimson- 
flowered varieties of Zonal Pelargonium for bedding-out 
purposes, but by far the larger majority of gardeners are 
evidently of a different opinion, judging from the 
popularity of the now well-known Henry Jacoby, which 
is very extensively used, both in private establishments 
and in the public parks. The floriferous nature of the 
variety, and the persistency of the flowers during rainy 
weather, accounts, no doubt, largely for the popular 
favour which it enjoys. Sam Jacoby is in several 
respects an improvement upon the older variety, and 
will, no doubt, take its place for bedding purposes when 
it becomes known to the gardening fraternity, and gets 
distributed throughout the country. The trusses are 
of great size, and borne well above the foliage, dis¬ 
playing their large circular flowers to the best advantage. 
In colour they are of the deepest crimson, almost black, 
especially when fading, and remain in perfect condition 
upon the plant for a great length of time, where the bulk 
of them wither rather than fall away, at least when 
grown indoors. In this respect it will be a great boon 
to those who plant out Pelargoniums largely in summer, 
as it will be the gayest in wet seasons, when other 
kinds merely exhibit foliage. It is also useful for 
winter flowering. We give an illustration of a truss, 
and are indebted to Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, 
for the opportunity of doing so. 
--»3=<*- 
ANTHRACITE COAL. 
I have used this coal and find it much the best for 
horticultural purposes where there is a good draught to 
the furnace. Unfortunately in many places such is 
not the case—houses, stoke-holes and furnaces being 
thrown together without any regard to convenience or 
the economising of fuel or labour. When I was a 
young gardener I had frequently to sit up night after 
night during frosty weather to keep up the fires, owing 
to the furnaces being badly constructed and also in 
inconvenient places. A furnace can be so built in 
every instance as to secure a good draught if a little 
care is taken in the matter. In cases where there is a 
bad draught Anthracite is perfectly useless, but if a 
good draught can be secured, no matter how the 
boiler is constructed, Anthracite will be found the best 
fuel for heating, besides being clean and lasting ; and 
although it seems to be high priced, yet its lasting 
properties make it cheaper in the end. A good fire if 
made up carefully at eleven o’clock at night in a 
reasonable-sized and well-constructed furnace ought to 
last until the usual working time in the morning, 
which is a great advantage, because if a man is obliged 
to sit up a great part of the night he is not fit for much 
work during the following day. 
The heating power of Anthracite is much greater 
than in ordinary coal and coke, and no doubt this 
will sometimes have the effect upon the fire bars 
described by your correspondent, Mr. J. Peebles, at p. 
248, but I have used it in stove furnaces where constant 
firing has been necessary, and I find the bars generally 
last three or four years. I cannot think that burning 
up a few bars in a shorter time than usual should be 
an argument against using this coal when we consider 
its superior advantages, as fire bars are cheap and a few 
could be kept in stock to replace those which are burnt 
out. Considering the superior advantages to be gained 
by using Anthracite, I must add my quota to the 
verdict in its favour .—Alfred Gaut. 
-- 
HARDY ORCHIDS. 
The Time to Plant. 
As the present is about the best time to plant hardy 
Orchids, I might be allowed to draw the attention of 
lovers of garden plants to the value of some of the tried 
species as decorative subjects. The Madeira Orchis 
(0. foliosa) can hardly be matched as a strong-growing, 
free, and beautifully-flowered plant. It only requires 
rough peat, and a rather damp and shady situation, and 
all will be right. The North American 0. spectabile, 
and the European 0. undulatifolia, not to mention 
many of our native species, are all readily enough 
managed and very floriferous. Then amongst the 
Cypripediums we have suehlovelyspecies as C. spectabile, 
with its big pretty white flowers ; C. pubescens, C. 
acaule, C. candidum, pure white ; as also the curious 
and rare C. macranthum and C. arietinum. Bletia 
hyacinthina I have found to be easily enough managed 
out of doors ; it is a pretty plant, with grass-like 
foliage and bright showy blooms. Goodyera pubescens 
and G. repens succeed well in leaf-soil and sand if 
planted in not too sunny a position. 
Three species of Serapias have likewise done well in 
my garden—viz., S. lingua, with a long blood-red 
tongue, S. neglecta, and S. longipetala. They are all 
the better in a warm and sunny position, and do well 
amongst peat and old lime rubbish. The large-flowered 
Helleborine (Cephalanthera grandiflora), and the Marsh 
Epipactis (E. palustre) are highly ornamental plants, 
the latter succeeding best in damp, almost marshy 
ground, and the former in sandy loam. Many other 
hardy Orchids might be named that would be very 
suitable for the herbaceous border or chinks of the rock- 
work ; but for ease of culture and beauty of bloom, the 
above are of particular value.— A. D. Webster. 
-- 
WHAT CONSTITUTES A 
GARDENER ?* 
The title of my subject I putin the form of a question ; 
first, on account of the difficulty of giving an exact 
definition ; and secondly, with a view to invite dis¬ 
cussion, rather than to hamper you with hard and fast 
rules, or unalterable dogmas, on the requirements of a 
gardener, which never were, nor ever can be, absolutely 
identical. The history of gardening has been one of 
continual change, if not always of improvement, and 
it is this change that demands of the gardeners of all 
civilised nations, and particularly of British gardeners, 
that they shall be abreast of the times if not actually in 
advance of them. Whoever undertakes the profession 
of gardening without reflection, does so without con¬ 
sidering the importance of the duty, to the injury of the 
cause as well as his own. Some are born gardeners, 
that is, with an innate love and faculty for the occupa¬ 
tion ; others are made gardeners from the force of 
circumstances, but a large proportion do but swell the 
ranks that would be stronger without them. I do not 
urge, as some pessimists do, that gardening, as a pro¬ 
fession, has more to answer for than other occupations; 
but its attractions are so great that overcrowding 
becomes inevitable with the increase of population. 
Reasons for Joining the Profession. 
These are multifarious, as are its thousands of followers ; 
but no doubt the most tangible and potent is that the 
would-be gardener may earn a livelihood, just as the 
Englishman, speaking from a national point of view, is 
said to fight in order to better his position, and the 
German to make a living. Although the selection of 
an occupation may be one of absolute choice, yet it dees 
not always follow that the move may prove a happy 
one. Voluntary choice is, however, to be recommended. 
On the other hand, parents are responsible for it, in the 
majority of cases with a laudable object let us hope ; 
but there are instances where they made the choice 
because the vocation was a respectable one, and again 
because they believed gardening was an easy occupation, 
in plain speaking, a lazy one. It cannot be denied that 
the attractions of flowers and fruits in a well-kept 
garden are weighty inducements to the youthful mind ; 
but these taken independently of a consideration of the 
labour necessary to produce them, almost verges on 
sentimentality. A most reprehensible inducement to 
young men is an engagement to let them off after serving 
two years’ apprenticeship, flooding the labour market 
with raw youths who have learnt little, and sometimes 
have not had the opportunity of acquiring even the 
elements of their profession. These men often make 
the most precocious of gardeners (so called), and in 
many cases desire to undertake the duties of a head gar¬ 
dener by the time they have completed their apprentice¬ 
ship, or soon after. 
Requirements of a Good Gardener. 
These practically mean a thorough knowledge of the 
whole art of gardening ; and the more we study the 
subject, the more does it become apparent that all true 
gardening depends in a greater degree upon brain work 
than upon mere muscular strength. It is a great 
mistake to imagine all men gardeners who arm them¬ 
selves with a spade or a pruning knife, or who 
stand by the potting bench, disguised as knights 
of the blue apron. Tools are but implements in the 
hands of the operator, calculated to do a great amount 
of good or an equal amount of mischief, according to 
the skill or knowledge of those who wield them. There 
is nothing in digging, systematic pruning, and mere 
routine gardening, which a handy labourer may not 
acquire ; but to prune with discrimination and fore¬ 
thought, to know the why and the wherefore, means 
something more than rule-of-thumb practice will ever 
impart. 
Above all things, it is necessary that a man should 
have a liking for gardening before he undertakes it, and 
that he should at all times be actuated by a spirit of 
inquiry, in order that he may make himself acquainted 
with all matters pertaining to his profession. The life 
of a real gardener is one of continual thought, reflection, 
and aggressiveness against enemies of all kinds that are 
constantly making inroads on his domains, or of 
battling with the elements in order to insure the safety 
of his crops. He requires a knowledge of botany in 
several of its more important branches, such as 
descriptive botany, in order to make himself intelligible 
to his fellow men when he wishes to communicate with 
* A paper read before the Chiswick Gardeners’ Mutual Im¬ 
provement Association, by Mr. John Fraser, November 11th, 1SSS. 
Pelargonium, Sam Jacoby. 
