246 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March. 25, 1905. 
in the gardening profession is, to- say the least, rather out of 
place. 
“ H. B.” tries to be funny at my expense when I say the 
“ garden boy ” is a. confounded nuisance usually. I only said 
what is true all the same, for usually this “ garden boy ’ is one 
of those who have no ambition to learn any trade, and who 
cannot make up his mind what he would like to work at. He 
has usually no interest in gardening, and not having a specified 
time to serve, his ambition is to do as little as ever lie can. 
He knows that his service may be cut short at any time; 
whereas the apprentice has chosen his profession, and with any 
intelligent lad the ambition is to 1 learn as much as lie can. 
Also, for his own credit every gardener who employs an appren¬ 
tice tries to teach him all he can, so that, looked at fiom any 
point, I cannot see how “ H. B.” or any other one can condemn 
the apprentice system. C. Blair. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—“Fair Play” certainly gives “fair play to his 
imaginary powers! Where, in my letter of March 4th, did lie 
find any phrase in which I advocated the necessity of an 
apprentice receiving a poor wage'? If he will again read my 
letter, I do not think he will discover me recommending the 
advisability of paying for an apprenticeship. That is quite 
unnecessary; indeed, the apprentice should receive a leason- 
a.ble wage, according to his ability, even at the first. . W hen 
he has found where I advise paying for an apprenticeship, then 
will I find it needful to discuss the question of the poor man’s 
son. 
“Fair Play” believes in the B.G.A. He apparently does 
not deem it necessary to serve an apprenticeship ; and thinks 
that an examination is not to be considered as regards practical 
men. Puzzle! find the qualified, according to “Fair Play’s 
system, tit- to become a member of the British Gardeners Asso¬ 
ciation. James P. Dickson. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—The apprentice or garden boy is indeed a mystery 
in the horticultural world, and so is the conundrum in Mr. 
Blair’s letter. To answer this question in the present instance 
would be somewhat unnecessary, seeing that the question will 
'in varvino- degrees tend to answer itself through the British 
Gardeners’ Association. The B.G.A. is not receiving the 
support it deserves. Some gardeners say they are too old, 
others are waiting to see if it turns out a success before 
joining. Their whole life is spent in strategy. Every advance 
in their direction is a wile, and every conclave of servants a 
cabal. Something of this spirit is found in Matthew Arnold’s 
verse: — 
“ But no; they rubbed through yesterday 
In their hereditary way, 
And they will rub through, if they can, 
To-morrow on the self same plan.” 
Northern Scot. 
Spathoglottis aurea Gatton Park Variety. 
A very distinct and handsome variety of S. aurea under the 
above name was exhibited at the meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on March 14th by Jeremiah Colman, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. W. P. Bound), Gatton Park, Reigate. It was 
raised at Gatton Park from the ordinary form of the species, 
fertilised with its own pollen. The distinctions of the Gatton 
Park variety are much darker golden-yellow flowers, while 
the crimson on the side lobes and crest of the lip have disap¬ 
peared, leaving only a veiy few small insignificant spots. The 
variety is thus very nearly a pure golden-yellow one, and 
though the distinctions may not be apparent to the casual 
observer they are well marked to the connoisseur, and make 
the Gatton Park variety an important one owing to the 
greater intensity of colour. 
On the Editor’s Table. 
Violets from Staunton Hall Gardens. 
Mr. Joseph Smith, gardener to R. P. Caff ©rata, Esq., Staun¬ 
ton Hall, Orston, Nottingham, sends us a beautiful bunch of 
Violets with the following note: —“ I am sending you a few 
Princess of Wales Violets for your table. They are not quite 
up to our usual form, as they lack a little in colour. I find 
them most useful for room decoration. I bunch a few sprays 
of Asparagus plumosus and draw the Violets through it, which 
leaves them light and pretty. Their scent, as you will discern, 
is splendid. I am packing them in wet moss and hope they 
will reach you in good order. You will see I had to shorten 
the stalks to get them into the box.” 
The flowers were delightfully scented, as our correspondent 
says, and as far as colour is concerned we find little room for 
fault-finding. The stalks of these flowers were about 6 in. long 
even after they had been cut, and the flowers were quite giants 
in their way for Violets. The blooms measured close upon 
14 in. either way. The leaves accompanying them were of 
large size and in excellent condition, showing that Mr. Smith 
understands the cultivation of this popular spring flower. The 
flowers sent us were veiy much envied by others. 
Cyclamen Webbs’ Perfection. 
In last week’s issue we gave a short note concerning the 
beautiful strain of flowers which were sent us by Messrs. Webb 
and Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge. The memorandum contain¬ 
ing the names of the varieties had been carefully laid aside and 
overlooked when wanted. We can now supply the names of 
the flowers we described. The giant white one was Mont 
Blanc; the relatively small intense crimson flower was 4 esu- 
vius; the beautiful rose-coloured variety was named Rose 
Queen. We learn also that all of these three varieties are new, 
having been added to the strain known as Webbs’ Perfection. 
The colours of all of them were certainly well marked, distinct 
and handsome. 
Dr. Van Fleet’s New Gladiolus. 
With reference to the item concerning my new hybrid 
Gladiolus quartinianus in the London Gardening World, of 
January 7th, 1905, I would say that in my description of the 
hybrid in the “ Rural New Yorker,” of October 29th, 1904, 
page 782, I simply stated that my hybrid was bred from G. 
quartinianus superbus, a garden or horticultural variety of the 
type raised some years ago in Europe. Although G. quar¬ 
tinianus was introduced from Africa early in the eighties, it 
apparently has never been in commerce; certainly not in 
the American trade. I have never been able to procure a 
corm of the type species, but through the kindness of Max 
Leichtlin, of Baden Baden, Germany, I have secured G. quar¬ 
tinianus superbus and hybridised it with G. Primeps and many 
other varieties of garden Gladiolus, chiefly of the Childsii and 
Nanceianus strains. Many interesting hybrids resulted, the 
best of which, the cross with Princeps, I have described as a 
late blooming giant garden Gladiolus. The typical quarti¬ 
nianus I understand has four to nine blooms. G. quartinianus 
superbus has frequently twelve to fifteen blooms, but with me 
it is very late blooming, requiring glass protection to open 
the flowers. The new hybrid, however, bears as many as 
twenty-five blooms on the main spike, and more than one 
plant has had twenty-five blooms in addition on the side spikes. 
■ If planted early in our locality, it blooms during August and 
September, ripening seed outside before frost. The flowers 
are large and open well, retaining very little of the hooded 
form of G. quartinianus. 
W. Van Fleet, in “ Gardening ” (Chicago). 
Forsythia edropaea, the new Golden Bell, native to Europe, 
is now in flower at Kew for the first time. The flowers are light 
yellow, moderate in size, and the leaves ai'e ovate and serrate. 
