490 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 11. 1904. 
Some there were who considered the Orchids the finest 
feature of thei show, and the central staging certainly made a 
most imposing, two-sided bank of far-reaching beauty and 
interest. Many of the new 1 things are worthy of special men¬ 
tion, but will be found described in another column. We were 
informed that <£2,000 would not buy a certain new hybrid. 
The huge banks of Caladiums introduced an element in the 
way of fine foliage that could-not be .ignored by those who 
fancy these splendid tropical-looking plants variegated in an 
infinity of variety. Crotons and Pitcher Plants were also 
splendid in their way ; and in flowering plants we might 
mention standard Pelargoniums in. their dazzling scarlet 
flowers, Clematis, with flowers like a great Catherine wheel; 
Rhododendrons that have never been surpassed for size and 
beauty of the flowers ; Azaleas, and hardy flowering trees and 
shrubs generally. All of these went to make up a show that 
would be difficult, to eclipse anywhere. 
Salix repens argentea. 
{See Supplement.) 
Our supplementary illustration this week represents a plant 
which, if the gardener were to find growing wild, he would 
take little or no notice of any more than if it was a weed. 
It< is not, particularly common in a. wild state in this country, 
but those who goi looking for 1 it. would be> most likely to. find 
it, growing upon the sands of the seashore. Occasionally a 
large plant or a colony of it may be found on the top of a little 
bank of sand, or, rather, buried in, the sand to, that extent, for 
it usually frequents the drifting sands on the seashore in 
places that seem more fit for a Sea Holly or Salsola Kali than 
for a, Willow. It is true the plant under notice is only a variety 
of the Creeping Willow, which is one of the most, plentiful and 
widely spread in the country, but then the variety is by no. 
means common,/ nor is it beautiful in a wild state, under the 
conditions which we have mentioned. 
The observant student, however, on finding this plant would 
recognise something that might be turned to account upon the 
rockery, where it. would give, an, interesting appearance on 
account of its silvery-grey colour. The nurseryman with an 
eye to business has even, turned it to, good account by grafting 
it standard high on the stem of some other kind, thus making 
a, very beautiful and uncommon weeper of a variety of the- 
Creeping Willow. 
We have been familiar with the plant in gardens, for many 
years as a, Weeping Willow, but during all that period its 
merits have never been fully recognised. We are not at all 
certain, whether it, was not, first grafted in this, way in, America, 
as it ha® a number of names, including that, of S. californica, 
as if the plant had come here from that country. 
The oldest name by which we knew it, in. the grafted condi¬ 
tion was, S. woolseyana, but. other names that have, been given 
to, it in gardens or nurseries are S. .sericea and S. sericea 
pendula. The first, of these two, latter names simply means 
silky, and S. sericea, pendula would simply mean the silky 
Weeping Willow. These, two, latter names are very applicable 
to the, general aspect of the, Willow. We should also, imagine 
that the plant has turned up, or found its wav into, different 
collections, possibly without a, name,, and one has been given, 
to it by different, finders. 
Usually a large number of names is good evidence of popu¬ 
larity, but in, this instance the plant has been too, much neg¬ 
lected to be regarded as a popular one. It, is so distinct, how¬ 
ever, from all weepers in cultivation, and more handsome 
than several which are grown, that, it merits, a, place in col¬ 
lections and would certainly be, worth planting amongst 
collections of trees grown on the margins of ornamental water. 
Many weeks after the new foliage has been made, its, distinct¬ 
ness is clearly shown, off against, the bright green and dark 
green of various other trees, whether weeping or otherwise. 
Being perfectly hardy, and not very particular as to, soil, it 
may be grown under a variety of conditions, provided always 
that the plarjjger places it in a position where it will get a fair 
share of moisture during the summer months. Our photo¬ 
graph. Avas, taken in the Royal Gardens, Ivew, where a fine 
vigorous tree may be seen on the margin of the big lake in 
the pleasure grounds. Since it Avas planted it, has, tlniven well, 
and the shoots, have, more than reached the ground, so that if 
it had been grafted on a, taller stem it would have been even 
finer. 
Gardeners to Organise. 
The British Gardeners’ Association Formed. 
A meeting of gardener’s and others interested in horticulture, 
who came from all part? of the country, was held on Wednesday, 
the 1st inst., at the Essex Hall, Strand, London. It was held 
to consider'proposals for the formation of a National Association 
of Gardeners. The chair AA’as occupied by Dr. Masters, F.R.S., 
and amongst those on the platform were Messrs. G. Gordon, 
K. Drost, F. K. Sander, W. Jordan, superintendent, Hyde 
Park; J. Weathers, Essex County Council ; W. Pettigrew, 
Superintendent of Parks, Cardiff ; and W. Watson, curator, 
Royal Gardens, Kew. The hall was crowded, and there could 
not have been less than 600 present. 
The Chairman, who on rising was received Avith loud applause, 
said it was no fault of Mr. Watson or of his friends on his right 
and left if those present did not know what the objects of the 
meeting were. Most of them, he suspected, had felt that the 
gardener Avas placed, relatively to other professions, in a false 
position. He had a great deal more expected of him, and his 
responsibilities were greater than any other man in a similar 
position. And yet his social station was not Avhat it ought to 
be, and his remuneration was decidedly lower than it ought to 
be. (Hear, hear.) The object of the meeting was to endeavour 
to find some means to remedy this state of things. The em¬ 
ployers complained that they had difficulty in finding competent 
gardeners. Gardeners, on the other hand, as they might see 
by the advertising columns of the horticultural papers, had a 
difficulty in finding situations. It was not long ago since a lady 
stated in the papers that she had a thousand applications for a 
situation as gardener which she advertised. There did not 
appear to be a mistake, as the lady allowed the statement to be 
repeated. Supposing that to be anything like true, it was not 
a proper state of things. It showed that there were a great 
many men professing to be gardeners who had no title to be so 
considered, and one object of the association to be formed was 
to give some guarantee to the employer that the man he em¬ 
ployed would be what ho> professed to be. (Hear, hear.) Cer¬ 
tain proposals would be laid before the meeting as the result 
of previous meetings. They would be asked to say whether 
or not they approved of these. He must ask them not to trouble 
themselves about little difficulties, but to confine their atten¬ 
tion to main principles on which they were in agreement, leaving 
little details to be settled by the committee. (Applause.) One 
thing especially he should like to emphasise, viz., that this would 
not be a trade union. (Hear, hear.) A trade union might be 
a very good thing or it might be a very bad thing, but it had 
a very had name, and the sooner they shook off and had nothing 
to do with anything having a bad name the better. They had 
no wish to coerce or interfere with the individual liberty of 
anyone. They would persuade or dictate to no one, but would 
allow each man to follow the dictates of his oavii conscience as 
honest men should. But they wished fair play for the honest 
men, and they- wished honest men to help them. If by chance 
a man was not honest, they did not Avant anything to do Avith 
him. '(Applause.) The meeting Avas to be -a business one. 
Ihey would have a free discussion within certain limits which 
they must leave to him, but he asked the speakers to be brief. 
Mr. Pettigrew, who was the first one called upon to address 
the meeting, said he had no doubt the provisional committee in 
appointing him to speak for the young gardeners took into con¬ 
sideration his youthfulness. They knew his experience as a 
journeyman diet not go so far back into the dim past as did 
that of some of them. All the same, he Avas exceedingly pleased, 
and felt it a great honour to be allowed to address such a 
meeting. 
Whatever critics might say, and there were many adverse 
critics of the proposed association, he thought every reasonable 
person must confess that the conditions of life and the con¬ 
ditions of labour under which young gardeners were employed 
in many places were open to a great deal of improvement. 
(“ Hear, hear,’ and applause.) Furthermore, he would say that 
