April 15, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
52 1 
(Pilea microphylla, or P. muscosa) may be propa¬ 
gated by cuttings taken now and placed in heat. 
Use a compost of peat and sand. Young plants may 
also be raised from seed, but you will find the cut¬ 
tings more convenient. 
Acacia riceana is the name of the plant you send, 
A. L. It is a capital pillar subject, and it is only in 
such a position that it displays its beauty advan¬ 
tageously. 
-- 4 --- 
PHYLLOSTACHYS VIRIDI- 
GLAUCESCENS. 
The perfect hardiness of this Bamboo at Kew 
indicates that it may be grown with perfect success 
in sheltered gardens in many parts of Britain, inland 
as well as on the sea coast. The shelter necessary may 
be secured by trees or tall shrubs, not to keep off 
frost but to prevent the stems and foliage from being 
dashed about by boisterous and rough winds both 
during the period the plant is making its growth, 
when rude west winds often prevail; and again 
during winter and spring when north and cold east 
winds are prevalent. The shelter of trees tends to 
the more perfect preservation of the foliage and 
thereby conserves the beauty of the plant all the 
year round, for the foliage is evergreen. 
The specific name would refer to the colour of the 
leaves which are of a pleasing light green above and 
glaucous beneath. They vary from 3 in. to 7 in. in 
length according to the vigour of the stems or 
branches bearing them. The species is a native of 
North China. The specimen represented by the 
accompanying illustration is growing in the Bamboo 
garden at Kew, and the stems are 10 ft. to 14 ft. high 
with a spread of 20 ft. to 28 ft. It will be noticed 
that the stems and branches in the foreground have 
a gracefully drooping habit, and this is the natural 
tendency of the plant after it has become established 
and acquired something of its natural vigour. The 
specimen here shown was originally a slip or sucker 
taken off an old plant which has been established on 
the grass for many years by the old ruined arch in 
the pleasure grounds and not far from the North 
Gallery. The trees shown in the background to the 
right and left of the photograph consist chiefly of 
Oaks and Elms, that afford the requisite shelter. 
They stand at some considerable distance from tne 
Bamboo, although the picture would give the impres¬ 
sion that they are close in the rear, if not touching 
the plant they are meant to shelter. 
Intending planters are yet in good time, for the 
best season for transplanting these woody grasses is 
during May and June, when the fresh growth is just 
commencing. This is the experience of Mr. W. 
Bean, the foreman in the arboretum at Kew, under 
whose charge the Bamboo garden is placed, and who 
takes special interest in this class of plants. Suckers 
or pieces may be taken off the old plants, with a bit 
of the rhizome or under ground stem, having some 
roots attached. Such pieces must be supplied with 
water till they take fresh hold, and the increasing 
warmth of summer will do the rest. Having the 
season before them, they will be fully established 
before winter. Plants in pots and tubs will offer 
even less difficulty, but even they should have the 
summer before them to make fresh growth in the 
open and get established. 
«I» - 
POOR GARDENER. 
I have been an interested reader of the articles which 
have appeared in The Gardening World this week 
or two back, headed " Poor Gardener.” 
Although a correspondent (p. 486) is inclined to 
question the appropriateness of the heading,I think it 
is very appropriate. Gardeners as a body -are poor ; 
poor in purse, poor in spirit or independence, and 
poor in brotherly kindness ; but as a set off against 
this they have a "guid conceit o’ themsel's” now,as 
in Sir WalterScott's day, when he made his character, 
Andrew Fairservice, to say, ”uz gardeners and other 
learned men.” In noticing the accusations I have 
brought against them I will begin with the first 
mentioned, poor in purse. 
They are poor in purse because they are poorly 
paid ; when they are paid by the hour (they can best 
be compared with other workmen in this way) they 
are not paid more than 6d per hour. Now it should 
not take much Greek, or Latin, or mathematics to 
earn that sum, seeing that masons' labourers are 
charged for at the rate of 7$d. per hour,and may not 
be able to spell their own name. My next accusation, 
poor in spirit or independence, is almost a con¬ 
sequence of the first accusation; for poverty and 
independence are a pair as ill matched as "age and 
want.” The independence oozes out of the heels of 
the poor gardener’s boots when his purse is empty ; 
and like Uriah Heep, he is very humble indeed. My 
third accusation, poor in brotherly kindness, is the 
worst of the three. Whenever a gardener gets 
charge of a garden, in many cases he thinks he has 
got charge for life, and he does not care how many 
journeymen he throws on the labour market to bring 
down the wages of both journeymen and masters, 
providing he gets the garden wrought cheaply, and 
gets credit from his employer for so doing. He 
advertises for apprentices " from 18 to 19 years of 
age,” to do men’s work for boys’ pay, but ostensibly 
to learn them to be gardeners, well knowing there 
will not be situations for more than one fourth of 
them, even as single-handed gardeners, after they are 
learned ; but he wants to get the credit of working 
the place cheaply, forgetting that he might be in 
the market again for a situation, and find the 
gardeners of his own making competing with him, 
keeping down the pay, and lowering the age limit. 
There is no doubt gardeners of to-day do not hold 
the position amongst skilled workmen that 
they did many years ago. Other skilled workers 
are advancing more rapidly than gardeners in 
the science and practice of their various occupations. 
This no doubt is owing to their living in towns and 
being within easy reach of school and college. They 
have also a shorter day's work than gardeners, 
which enables them to improve their general know¬ 
ledge and thereby take an intelligent interest in all 
that is going on around them. So that gardeners of 
to-day have not so much right to say " uz gardeners 
and other learned men ” as Andrew Fairservice had. 
— W.K. 
A Curious Plant.—Besides coal, other fuels are 
used in Peru for smelting operations, and one of 
these fuels called "Yareta” by the natives, is 
obtained from an exeedingly curious plant, which is 
very common on the hills and mountain sides. The 
plant is called Bolax Glebaria in the report of the 
Bureau of the American Republic, but it is referred 
to Azorella caespitosa in The Index Kewensis. This 
Bolax is said to be a highly resinous plant, and to 
have a stunted and spreading habit, forming mounds 
which are often as much as 20 ft. across. These 
mounds are split open by the natives with long, 
chisel-headed bars, and left to dry for three or four 
months, after which the pieces are collected and 
sold as fuel. As it is of slow growth "Yareta” is 
becoming scarcer each year, and now costs about 
35s. a ton, but even then it is cheaper than coal, for 
coal of good quality will fetch as much as £7 per ton. 
PHYLLOSTACHYS VIRIDI-GLAUCESCENS. 
