March 19, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
453 
WEBBS 
FLOWER SEEDS. 
WEBBS’ BRILLIANT PETUNIA, 
the most beautiful strain in cultivation, Is. 6d. 
and 2s 6d. per packet. 
WEBBS’ POPULAR 
BOXES of FLORAL GEMS, 
containing Seeds of beautiful and easily culti¬ 
vated Flowers, arranged for the 
GARDENS OF LADIES AND AMATEURS. 
2/6, 5/-, 7/6, 10/6, 15/-, 21/-, 31/6, 42/-, and 
63/- each. 
DELIVERED FREE. 
The Queen’s Seedsmen, 
WORDSLEY, STOURBRIDGE. 
NEW DOUBLE VIOLET, 
MRS. J, J. ASTOR. 
This beautiful Violet, of a deep rosy-heliotrope is 
meeting with a most cordial reception, and as the 
stock is getting very limited, and we have already 
many orders booked for April and May, we beg all 
intending purchasers will please apply at once to 
prevent disappointment. 
The Managers, Hood Gardens, Totnes, 
HARDY CUMBERS. 
FINE COLLECTION. 
FOR PILLARS, ARCHES, WALLS, 
PERGOLAS, TREES, &c. 
GEO. BUNYARD & CO. 
Beg to say their List of the above may now 
be had free, from 
THE ROYAL NURSERIES, MAIDSTONE. 
(Over 150 Pages. Nearly 150 Illustrations.) 
of Florists’ Flowers and Hardy Border Plants 
is got up regardless of trouble or expense, with the result that 
it is by unanimous consent pronounced the most comprehen¬ 
sive, most accurate, most reliable, most complete and beet 
extant. 
It gives full and accurate descriptions of everything in the 
way of Florists' Flowers, also colour, height, time of 
flowering, and price of all the best Hardy Border Plants, 
together with then English or Common Names, and a mass of 
other Valuable Information that cannot be had else¬ 
where. 
It is In fact a veritable reference-book, invaluable to all 
growers of these plants, and should be in the hands of all 
intending purchasers. Free on application. 
JOHN FORBES, 
ESTABLISHED 1870. 
Nurseryman, Hawick, Scotland. 
The Most Beautiful Flowers 
Can be Ensured by Sowing 
SUTTON’S 
COLLECTIONS 
OF 
FLOWER SEEDS. 
Sutton’s 10/6 Collection 
Consists of Aster, Mignonette, Nasturtium, 
Sweet Pea, Ten-week Stock, and other beautiful 
varieties. 
Suttons 15 /- Collection 
Consists of Aster, Balsam, Phlox, Portulaca, 
Zinnia, and other beautiful varieties. 
Suttoh’s 21 /- Collection 
CoDsistsof Aster, Calceolaria, Cineraria, Petunia, 
Phlox, Portulaca, Primula, and other beautiful 
varieties. 
OTHER COLLECTIONS from 2s. 6d. 
All Flower Seeds sent Post Free. 
Sutton’s seeds! 
GENUINE ONLY FROM SUTTON £ SONS.READINC. j 
the accumulated knowledge of others 
whether offered to them in the form of 
books or from lectures delivered. The 
lessons should be carefully thought out and 
acted upon in conjunction with the best 
rules and guidance of modern practice. He 
must get conversant with the leading facts 
of the case that bear on any particular case 
so that he can apply that phase of the 
scientific teaching which relates to the par¬ 
ticular soil of the district or garden under 
his charge. It is not sufficient to blindly 
follow the teaching of the profession which 
has been handed down from master to ap¬ 
prentice for centuries past. There is much 
to unlearn of old methods, prejudices to he 
got rid of, and indifference to be cast aside, 
by the young men who elect to make the 
profession of gardening the means of a 
livelihood. 
' Gardening Is the purest of human pleasures, and tbe greates 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , MARCH 19 th, 1898. 
NEXT WEEK’S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Monday. March 21st.—Adjourned Annual Meeting of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society at Anderton’r Hotel, 
Fleet Street, E.C., time 6 p.m Sale of hardy herbaceous 
plants, Carnations, etc. by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
TuBsirAY, March22nd.—Royal Horticultural Society, meeting 
of committees at 12 noon. Sale of tbe_Battenhall Mount 
Collection of Orchids by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris. 
Wednesday, March 23rd.— Torquay District Gardeners’ 
Association Spring Show. Sale of Liliums, Ferns, 
Tuberoses, Palms, etc., by Messrs. Protheroe and Moriis. 
Friday, March 18th.—Sale of Imported and Established 
Orchids, by Messrs. Protheroe and Moriis. 
f ARDENERS AWAKENING TO THE NEEDS 
of the Times.— From various sources 
all over the country we have evidence that 
young gardeners are becoming more and 
more alive to the necessity of acquiring by 
some means or other a knowledge of the 
higher and more scientific branches of their 
profession. There is some satisfaction in 
this and a hope that the teaching being 
given in various parts of the country will 
not be lost upon the rising generation. 
What has long been urgently needed was 
an awakening of thought and study as a 
means of helping gardeners to habits of 
careful and correct observation in youth ; 
and to acquire the faculty of turning these 
thingsto practical account when opportunity 
serves them. We do not imply that a 
gardener by merely cramming his mind 
with facts and information acquired from 
In the dissemination of knowledge both 
teacher and scholar must play their part 
well. That information should be imparted 
in an attractive way goes without saying, 
althpugh it is equally certain that many 
teachers have not this particular faculty in 
a large measure. On the other hand, little 
good will result to students who attend 
classes or lectures merely to be amused or 
entertained. Some may be given to criticis¬ 
ing, more particularly if they happen 
to be better versed in some branches of the 
subject than the teacher himself. Others 
will rail at every attempt on the part of 
teachers to impart instruction, simply on 
the ground that ihe system is an innova¬ 
tion, and contrary to all the traditions of 
the profession which served their fathers 
and grandfathers well. This spirit is in 
direct antagonism to • the best interests of 
the cause. Little prejudices and conceits 
should be laid aside, and would-be students 
should come forward in an enquiring frame 
of mind, and both teacher and scholar 
should act on the principle of mutual co¬ 
operation for the good of the cause and the 
community in general. Those who ignore 
this aspect of the subject, will have to blame 
themselves if in after years they should find 
they have been left dragging behind the 
times. Knowledge, when thoroughly ac¬ 
quired, becomes, as it were, part and parcel 
of the man, and though he may scarcely be 
aware that he possesses it, he can turn it 
to account when opportunity offers. It is 
easily carried about when once acquired, 
no matter when or where, and costs nothing 
either for carriage or house room. A very 
good maxim is put forward by Mr. L. H. 
Bailey, of the Cornell University, who says 
that “ It is more needful to learn first to 
think correctly than to perform correctly ; 
for all accurate labour is the child of accurate 
thought.” In other words the head must 
direct the hand, and better results must 
surely follow than when labour is merely 
mechanical. 
There are several burning questions in 
connection with the dissemination of horti¬ 
cultural teaching amongst the community. 
The question has been put forward whether 
all men receiving horticultural instruction 
at the hands of county councils or others 
are to be made gardeners. There is no 
need for such a supposition. Whether 
they take to horticultural pursuits on their 
own account or as the servants of others, 
surely there is room for them so long as 
foreign produce floods our markets and which 
can be produced of equally good quality in 
this country, as far as soil and climate are 
concerned. The presence of the lady 
gardener is another source of vexation in 
some quarters ; but she is hardly likely to 
offer any serious competition in the labour 
market generally, being unfitted by nature 
for undertaking duties that can often with 
difficulty be carried out by the strong hand 
of the sterner sex. There are, doubtless, 
