March 23, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
477 
and finely so in September, when you can cut long 
leafy sprays for filling your vases. The typical form 
of Cosmos bipinnata has flowers of a beautiful shade 
of purple, but there are white and sulphur coloured 
varieties, though in our opinion the purple is the 
best, as it resembles a very refined small single 
Dahlia. The finely cut foliage is handsome. 
SUTTON’S SELECTED HYBRID 
AQUILEGIA. 
In gardening literature we read of hybrid plants 
where no one has ever been able to prove hybridity. 
On the other hand the hybrid origin of certain plants 
is warmly disputed, even where the raiser felt abso¬ 
lutely sure. There will always remain, no doubt i 
some questions admitting of dispute, but few we 
believe have any doubt that many of the Aquilegias 
hybridise freely with one another. Certain plants 
have been introduced from the Rocky Mountains, 
namely Aquilegia chrysantha and A. caerulea. Their 
specific distinctness has been disputed by some, but 
that is a harder nut to crack than the question of 
progeny being raised between the two. The flowers 
of the first named are of two or more shades of 
yellow, while A. caerulea has blue and white flowers. 
They have been freely intercrossed, and an interest¬ 
ing lot of colours have been produced as a result. 
A. canadensis has also been used to some extent, and 
the two or three species mentioned are responsible 
for the plant represented by the accompanying illus¬ 
tration placed at our disposal by Messrs, Sutton & 
Sons, Reading. The Rocky Mountain Aquilegias 
and their hybrid progeny may be recognised by the 
long spurred flowers carried on long and graceful 
stalks well above the finely divided foliage. They 
are of the easiest culture in any ordinary garden soil, 
and may be raised from seed by the ioo or i.ooo in 
boxes stood in frames, and afterwards planted out in 
the open when they have made a number of leaves. 
To guard against dry weather about the time of 
planting, it would be advisable to transplant the 
seedlings from boxes into others, or into frames in 
soil containing a good percentage of leaf mould. 
They will root freely in the latter and lift with soil 
upon the roots. If the frames are gently heated in 
the early stages germination will take place more 
rapidly. The plants will flower in May and June of 
the following year. These Columbines are magnifi¬ 
cent for cutting, and equally so for garden decora¬ 
tion. By growing and flowering them in pots they 
are equally handsome and amenable for conservatory 
decoration. 
GARDENERS’ GRIEVANCES. 
This subject is still receiving a great amount of 
attention and occupying many a column in this in¬ 
valuable paper. As the same matter has collapsed 
before, it will more than likely happen in this case. 
There can be no improvement whatever if the sub¬ 
ject is not taken up by the heads of our departments. 
A gardeners’ union would improve us, if we could 
only bring about the same. There is but a minority 
of us speaking on this abortive discussion with much 
diversity of opinion. To have the high and low 
paid journeymen in a place may suit some cases, but 
it should not be encouraged. But when twelve 
years a journeyman, no doubt we would echo a rise. 
Half holidays for gardeners would be more general 
if the men in their respective places would fight for 
it. Journeymen are much in fault with the matter 
of wages. They should refuse taking these places, 
where 15s. is their weekly pay. There are two 
kinds of places, which are termed by gardeners bad 
and good, a bad place being considered a rough 
shop, with all outside work, a lot of marketing, a 
bad bothy and, perhaps, not a very considerate head 
gardener. Such places should be rejected by young 
gardeners, and then both gardener and employer 
would be brought to their senses by the scarcity of 
men. 
A writer mentions the intemperate habits of us 
young men. He will find that in other trades and 
professions. We need no improvement in that line, 
although there are black sheep in every flock. The 
originator of this discussion—Mr. Blair—in a past 
paper draws attention to grievances of the head gar¬ 
dener. They are nil in comparison with the junior’s. 
If we could all be of one accord, the union would 
succeed. This discussion ought to be in the 
columns of other gardening papers, to take a still 
wider circuit of opinion.— A. V. M. ( Journeyman ), 
Coltness Gardens. 
I am afraid we are encroaching somewhat on our 
kind editor’s space with our discussion, but as our 
friend from Bristol has brought forward a few ques¬ 
tions, I hope Mr. Editor will find room for another 
short article. Our friend from Bristol says " he has 
received his training in small establishments, but 
can hold his own with men who received their 
training in large establishments, and even learn 
them a lot.” I have no doubt but that he can do 
so, but would it be impossible for him to learn any¬ 
thing from men who have received part of their 
training in large establishments ? I think not. We 
must give and take and help one another, as it is a 
profession in which it is impossible to exhaust the 
lessons to be learnt. 
Then he coasiders that in England men call them¬ 
selves gardeners if they happen to labour in a 
garden. That is so ; but I contend that a gardener 
is better defined in large establishments than in small 
ones. Certainly a great deal depends on whether 
the estate is well kept or not. In many small estab¬ 
lishments a gardener is a gardener in the proper 
sense of the word, and his crops, both inside and 
out, are very meritorious, reflecting considerable 
credit on the cultivator. He also asks where the 
establishment is that employs fifty gardeners. I 
must answer that the grand old gardens are in 
England ; and will also mention that there is a dis¬ 
tinction made in these gardens between gardeners 
and garden labourers. 
Here we meet many of his friends from across the 
borders, and soon learn to respect them ; and I will 
corrobate him when he says they always leave their 
mark behind. They are fine fellows and set a good 
example of perseverance and energy. Whatever 
success in life I have, I owe to the training I 
received in those gardens, for which I am very 
grateful. I have also been in small establishments, 
but the training did not help me so much as the 
training I received in those grand old gardens, when 
the instructors and my fellow gardeners made life 
worth living.—C. P. C. 
ANNUALS. 
These are now coming much into favour in all 
gardens. They are to a vast extent superseding the 
rooted section of plants, which require time and 
labour all the year. There is such an innumerable 
stock of annuals, that a selection must be made. A 
few of the most effective are, Sweet Peas. Salpi- 
glossis, Scabious, Godetia, Malope, Coreopsis, Mig¬ 
nonette, Cornflower (Cyanus minor), Linaria, 
Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist), Nemesia, Sweet Sultan, 
Eschscholtzia and Candytuft. The above are also a 
selection for exhibition, being all included at the 
Edinburgh September show, 1900. The class for 
annuals does not receive so much attention as is due 
to them. No names were attached to the bunches of 
annuals shown. The tickets of prize winners were 
marked " Should have been named,” as if unknown 
to the judges. Hardy and half hardy were also in¬ 
cluded in each lot. The difference of the first and 
second stands was that the former consisted of small 
compact bunches devoid of foliage, the latter the very 
extreme. The naming of the varieties shown won 
be interesting to spectators and facilitate the judging ; 
also debar other than annuals being staged. 
Hardy annuals are those that flower from seed 
sown in the open the same year. Choose a border 
with a good exposure to sun. The soil being of a 
light nature, some rotted leases should be dug in the 
previous autumn. The last week of March and first 
days of April is a good time for sowing, if climatic 
conditions be favourable. Fork the border over in 
the morning if it is likely to be a good day. In the 
afternoon go over it with a wooden rake, working a 
nice mould on the surface and as level as possible. 
If the seed be sown in lines it must be shallow, a 
mere mark with a stick run down the line is deep 
enough for the reception of the minute seeds. The 
best method is to sow broadcast, covering the seed 
with the wooden rake, working it with care along the 
bed. Steel rakes are to be discarded for such work. 
Annuals when sown are very rarely looked at again, 
until all is an entangled mass of weeds, and a few 
flowers to be seen striving for life. Unless the 
thinning, watering, staking and weeding be carried 
out, we will have little reward for our labour. Thin 
