February 11, 1905. 
4 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“The countless leaves of the Pine are strings tuned to the lay the wood-god sings.”— Eme son. 
Weekly Prize 
FOR 
Short Articles. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World l 
will give a cash prize of Seven Shillings and c 
Sixpence for the best paragraph, or short ? 
article, sent by readers during the week, and' S 
Two Shillings and Sixpence as a second < 
prize. The Editor’s judgment must be con- J 
sidered final, and he will be at liberty to use 5 
any of the contributions sent in. The para- < 
graph, or article, must not exceed one \ 
COLUMN IN LENGTH, but the value, rather than 
the length, of the article will be considered in £ 
making the award. Competitors may send in < 
items of news or comments on news ; hints of 
practical interest to gardeners or growers of <. 
plants', fruits, or flowers ; successful methods of ( 
propagating plants usually considered difficult; ) 
or CONTRIBUTIONS ON ANY SUBJECT COMING < 
WITHIN THE SPHERE OF GARDENING FROPER. < 
Letters should be addressed to The Editor, ? 
marked “COMPETITION,” and posted not later l 
than Friday night to ensure insertion in the t 
issue of next week. £ 
The following Coloured 
Plates have appeared in § 
recent numbers:— 
August l.—BORONIA HETEROPHYLLA. \ 
September 12.—SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
October 3— LILIUM AURATUM PL A- 
TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
November 14.—ROSE MME. N. LEVA- j 
vasseur. t 
January ’ 2 —HYBRID TEA-SCENTED : 
ROSE IRENE. 
January 30. — TUBEROUS BEGONIA ' 
COUNTESS OF WARWICK. 
February 27--A FINE STRAIN OF ’ 
GLOXINIAS. s 
April 2. — WISTARIA MULTIJUGA 
RUSSELLIANA. 
May 7 —CACTUS DAHLIA DAINTY. 
June 4. —CACTUS DAHLIA SPITFIRE. 
July 16 —ROSE LADY BATTERSEA. 
October 1 . — GEUM HELDREICHI 
SUPERBUM. 
October 15.—ROSE HUGH DICKSON. 
Back numbers may be obtained from the 
publishers, price 2£d. post free. 
--- 
This week we present a Half-tone 
Plate ot 
SUBTROPICAL GARDEN AT ALDENHAM 
HOUSE. 
Next week we shall give a Half-tone 
Plate of 
SCILLA PERUVIANA. j 
The prize last week in the Readers’ 
Competition was awarded to “ G. F. 
Drayson,” for his article on “ Sweet ; 
Pea Countess Spencer,” p. 96 , 
---- < 
See alterations in the prizes above. 
Views and Reviews. 
British Gardeners’ Association. 
The above association is now making 
appreciable headway in establishing the 
society which was founded on February 23rd 
last year, and confirmed at a public meeting 
on June 1st. The account of the meeting 
was fully reported in our pages at the time, 
and will be -fresh in the- memory of all those 
who made themselves acquainted with the 
facts of the case. More recently local 
meetings of gardeners have bee a held 
in various parts of the country, as our pages 
for several months past have testified at in¬ 
tervals. Other meetings, it will he seen, are 
prospected which can scarcely fail to arouse 
an interest in the association amongst those 
for whose benefit it is intended. 
The original understanding was that 500 
members would he necessary befoie the asso¬ 
ciation proceeded to establish a London 
habitation and a home. We understand that 
already more than 400 members have 
applied and been accepted by the committee 
of selection, and by the time the other pro¬ 
posed meetings have been held the hands of 
the association must he greatly strengthened 
and encouraged to proceed with the objects 
they have in view. These local meetings 
have been of great advantage to gardeners 
in bringing before them the real objects of 
the association, showing that such objects 
are feasible and that there are responsible 
head, gardeners in the country who are not 
afraid to give their support openly to the 
establishment of a British Gardeners’ Asso¬ 
ciation. 
Other professions have organisations for 
the regulation and control of their affairs, 
and in some cases they have smaller con¬ 
stituencies than gardeners have. Such being 
the case, why should not gardeners control 
their own affairs in matters which concern 
the community as a whole? They constitute 
ail important part of society and part of the 
public weal. Gardening is a necessity as 
well as a contributor to the pleasures and 
amusements of the wealthy. Fruits and 
vegetables when grown in one’s own garden 
can always he obtained in fresher condition 
than in the markets, where they may have 
been brought from a distance, and have at 
least lain there some days before being sold. 
We admit that we should never have had 
the pleasure and opportunity of learning 
what is a new Potato if it had not been be¬ 
cause the produce was grown in a.garden or 
field close by, and within easy reach of the 
cooking pot. 
Modern requirements also necessitate the 
production of flowers in greater or lesser 
quantity and more or less every day, so that 
if all these things had to he procured from 
the market or public stores they would have 
to be paid for, and in many cases the pro¬ 
duce is admittedly inferior because lacking 
in freshness. Taking these things for 
granted, the gardener has a right to exercise 
control over his affairs, and to expect pay¬ 
ment in kind for value received, not neces¬ 
sarily at his own valuation, hut certainly as 
a living wage, and not to he regarded merely 
as the cheapest labour obtainable. Labour 
that is absolutely necessary should he re¬ 
munerated at a price which would enable 
the labourer not only to he independent 
while young, healthy and strong, hut it 
should also enable him to make provision 
for a rainy day, so that a man of foresight 
and economy could make provision that will 
prevent him requiring the aid of charity, 
and stand him in good stead against the 
possible day of adversity. 
There is already an established market 
for a gardener’s labour, whether in public, 
private, or market garden establishments. 
Some may assert that this market is greatly 
overstocked and unreznuneratiye. Such an 
occurrence is common to all other vocations, 
and, as in those cases, the gardener should 
have a right to regulate and improve that 
market by every legitimate and constitu¬ 
tional means. Some young men who have 
been pushed into the profession against 
their will, it may he, might adopt other 
occupations for which they have more apti¬ 
tude and natural predilection, and this would 
certainly be of benefit to themselves as well 
as horticulture. As a market may be im¬ 
proved by the withdrawal of an article for 
which there is no demand, and by placing 
another of more uniform and recognised 
C 
commercial value, so would the profession 
be improved by the thinning out of those 
who have neither a liking for it nor a desiie 
to improve their opportunities and position. 
Neither of these things need he antagon¬ 
istic to the interests of the employer, be¬ 
cause if beneficial to horticulture it must 
also be to the benefit of those who employ 
horticultural labour. Gardening in its best, 
forms demands not only skilled workers, hut 
men who can reflect and plan for the future 
many months or even years ahead. A gar¬ 
dener’s occupation, indeed, requires some- 
