184 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
February 27, 1904. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
Calanthe Veitchii. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I am .afraid Mr. Cairns is sticking in tire mud, like some 
of the Ri® si an fleet, and unable to fire his torpedo. So. I will 
steam into action again, and reply to that ill-directed phrase 
of his as we have it at page 112, “ The variety was of very 
ordinary merit.” There is one 1 well-known law m the' vegetable 1 
kingdom that when a plant is propagated by division, the divi¬ 
sions jierpetuate the original plant in every detail, and when 
any division breaks away from the character of the original 
plant it is called a sport, not a variety, and is grown as such, 
usually under another name. The popular Chrysanthemum is 
a good example of this. Calanthe Veitchii is propagated by 
division of the pseudo-bulbs, and is no exception to this law. 
It. was raised in the nursery of the firm of which it bears the 
name, and is not growing in a natural state, so that it cannot 
be vailed by insect fertilisation like imported Orchids. There 
was some reference the other day in the columns of a contem¬ 
porary paper about the difficulty one had in saying when a 
plant belonged to a certain species of Odontoglossum, but there 
is no difficulty of this kind with C. Veitchii ; it does not change, 
and if it did it would not be called C. Veitchii. _ The great 
length of time, however, Orchids, have been in a highly- 
specialised state doe® not favour change—in fact, cultivation 
has changed them very little, except by hybridising. Sporting 
is rare, and what exists is of little consequence. Doubling, so 
common amongst other cultivated plants, is never permanent 
among Orchids. Therefore the changes' amongst Orchids in 
this country are principally the work of the hybridiser. _ C. 
Veitchii is one' of the hybrids, and cannot be called a variety 
of anything. The plant® under discussion have been .grown 
in the same garden for a good number of years without any 
such good fortune as a sport or a hybrid to the grower. The 
phrase, then, “ The variety was of very ordinary merit, ’ is. non¬ 
sense—such a phrase as one would use who wanted to dis¬ 
parage, but could see' no fault that he could point out; in fact, 
it is no criticism. ^ 
The Bothy. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
— X gee in the issue' of The Gardening W orld of 
February 13t-h an article on the above subject, and I sinceiely 
pity our friend “ Japonica,” and also! wonder that he is alive 
to-day to tell his tale of woe in regard to the bothy. 
I myself have 1 been ill bothies, and I can also' speak from ex¬ 
perience', as can “ Japonica,” but I am very pleased to say 1 
have not come through the same miserable holes which lie 
evidently has come through. 
Yet I cannot say I am in favour of the bothy, and 1 also' 
think they should be done away with altogether. However 
tidy they are 1 , I scarcely consider they are the proper places 
for the development of the moral and intellectual qualities de¬ 
sirable in the future gardener. 
I do not for one minute think that all young men are way¬ 
ward, but many young fellows go into the bothy, where they 
are to a great extent their own masters, and where they fall 
into the bad habits of the others. On the other hand, if they 
were in lodgings, and had the restraining influence of a re¬ 
spectable liome°to go- to, it would check many a young fellow 
from the degrading influences which they otherwise are ex¬ 
posed to>. 
Of course, there are some, no matter what circumstances 
they are placed m, who would not be a. bit better, but then what 
respectable people would be. bothered with their coming into 
the house? Hence they would be obliged to leave' the place, and 
the gardening profession would be 1 well rid of such. 
And tben,°again, regarding the food. Unless a woman is 
kept to look after the bothy and cook the young men’s food, 
they often have it not properly cooked, often having to run 
in and see to' it only when at work. 
All this could be done away with were employers to have 
one half of the men married and the other half sirfble, where 
the single ones could lodge with the married me® 
Then the surroundings would be more congenial to the 
growth of those qualities which are so' essential to every would- 
be gardener. . _ 
The gardener of the future must be practical and scientific it 
he wishes to succeed in his profession. He must study the 
science® which underlie it, and I say emphatically the bothy 
generally is not the place conducive to such a state of things. 
The sooner it is done away with the sooner, I am convinced, 
will the general tone of the gardener be heightened and gar¬ 
deners brought up to the standard they- rightly deserve amongst 
the professional men of the world. Though I have not come 
through the same hardships which Japonica ’ has come 
through (and should not like, to, either), yet' bis bints are very 
good to the young gardener who is condemned to life in a bothy. 
W. G. 
Patent Economisers. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —Apparently “ W. H. P.” has received no reply to his 
query respecting Stubbs’ patent economisers. Although un¬ 
acquainted with the names of those who are- using them, I 
may say that the reports from trade sources are very satis¬ 
factory. 
They are being used by several Guernsey market men, ana 
also at home, and a trade journal recently recommended them 
to all who had suitable boilers, such as the saddle, etc. 
I advise “ W. H. P.” to write to the manufacturers, Messrs. 
George Cotton, Ltd., Victoria W orks, Holmes Chapel, Cheshiie, 
who. will supply him with full details. 
Watering. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I am in agreement with Mr. E. Beckett and 
“ Japonica ” as to the desirability of exercising care with regard 
to watering pot plants. Perhaps “ Japonica ” expressed himself 
too severely that “ Experienced One ” saw fit to com [flam. At 
any rate, it so appeared to. myself, but it may have been meie 
fancy. Every writer has a style of bis own, but, personally, i 
favour the cautious penman. _ 
Too much emphasis can be put into an article, which to t le 
critical reader appears to be too overbearing for him to swallow 
off-band. . . . 
As a constant reader of “ G. W.,” and I may say a critical 
one to boot, with a decided penchant for slinging ink at times, 
1 think that some writers do adopt a—well, shall I say a high 
and mighty attitude when describing their methods. How¬ 
ever, the fact remains, some young men do' sling the wa.tei 
about in an unwarrantable fashion. _ 
Some years ago, when pottering about in a large burse ry, 
was simply astonished at the manner in which the youths 
watered the ’Mums as they stood in the rows, during the 
summer. To. me it appeared a kind of “ hobbledehoy trot 
in order to get over them as quickly as possible. Full)’ one- 
half of the water never went in the pots at all—water that I 
knew was badly needed by some of the plants. 
It stands to reason that a plant that makes a quantity of 
fibrous roots must require more water than those. with long 
non-fibrous roots; and as it generally happens- that fibiouv 
rooted plants are growing in lighter soil, water must not be 
stinted. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—I feel very sorry that “ Experienced One ” and also 
“ A Young Gardener” .should have taken " Japonicas excel¬ 
lent and timely remarks on watering as offensive and unjust 
towards us as young gardeners. I believe, myself that Ex¬ 
perienced One” knows better than to find fault with then- 
good advice; also “ Young Gardener ” very likely was not boro 
a gardener, as he very wisely admits that- he is but very young 
as regards the profession of gardening. I have every reason. 
