THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 15, 1905. 
308 
annuals can be raised by being sown outside first week of May, 
but poor success accompanies it. This section contains sorts 
that have all the qualities attributed to our hardy division, 
and may even outrival it. 
The formal system in flower-gardens is yet prevalent. Beds 
of Geraniums, Calceolaria^ are first-considered subjects, and I 
might say involve a great deal of labour; barely three months 
in the flower-garden, when cuttings must be secured, necessitat¬ 
ing labour unspeakable for poor remuneration. But this is 
giving way to annual plants that give less worry and are de¬ 
cidedly more effective and economical. What could eclipse 
displays of Stocks, Salpiglossis, Nemesia, Antirrhiniums, Per- 
illas, Nicotiana, Bicinus, all, you may say, raised annually? 
Give preference to the first six half-hardy annuals for a com¬ 
petitive stand. 
Salpiglossis, Nemesia, Sweet Sultan, single Comet Aster, 
Phlox Drummondi, and Scabious generally stand as half-hardy. 
Schizanthus, Gailfardia ambligodon, the medicinal plant, 
Bicinus Gibsoni, Perilla and Nicotiana for sub-tropical work. 
Cosmos have much praise lavished on them, being treated as 
bush Chrysanths and flowered indoors, although they do 
admirably in herbaceous borders or shrubberies. However, 
my intimate friend inclined to' no favour by such severe 
lines: — 
" Oh, Cosmea! Oh, Cosmea, why ever don’t, you bloom? 
At present you are only taking up a lot of room. 
I thought that when I planted you I’d have a pretty show, 
But my hopes are being blasted as higher up you grow.” 
Cosmeas, with finely cut foliage, long stems and single 
flowers, invariably the;best in floral arrangement, are no mean 
attraction in vases. Alonso,as 1 , Zinnias, and the Ice Plant (Me- 
sembryanthemum crystallinum), with its formidable name, 
complete the half-hardy, drifting to pot cultivation. 
A. V. M. 
(To he continued .) 
Himalayan Rhododendrons. 
Blooming at present in the Himalayan house are' a few plants 
of B. ciliatum grouped together, making a very showy display 
of flower, the individual plants standing perhaps 5 ft. to 6 ft. 
high and as many feet through. The flowers are produced 
from a, scaly imbricated bud borne at the tip of each terminal 
growth. They are of a delicate white colour when fully ex¬ 
panded, but on opening first they have a faint tinge of rose, 
The leaves are about 2 in. or 3 in. long, glabrous on the upper 
surface, and underneath covered with minute scales. This is 
a remarkably free blooming species, and even in quite a young 
state it produces flowers abundantly, endowing the plant, with 
one of the primary essentials for good parentage; also it is of 
dwarf, compact habit. B. fragrantissimum, B. multiflorum, 
B. praecox, and B. sesterianum are a few in which the blood 
of B. ciliatum foams a prominent feature. 
It is a native of the Sikkim Himalayas, growing at an eleva¬ 
tion of 8,000 ft. in rocky, rough places, and rarely found in 
woods. 
B. racemosum is another veiy pretty little species coaning 
from a different quarter of the globe—namely, Yunnan, where 
it grows at an elevation of 8,000 ft. to 10,000 ft above sea- 
level. It is quite hardy in the London district, and makes a 
useful addition to any collection, being of a dwarf, compact 
habit, and producing its small, feathery flowers in profusion. 
This would also be a suitable subject for crossing; its dwarf, 
free-flowering nature would be well infused in some of the more 
straggling, lanky flowers. Mac. 
Sparrow Club at Freshingfield. —Under the presidency of 
the Hon. 'Walter Vanneck a meeting of farmers and others 
interested m the question of bird enemies had a meeting for 
the purpose of forming a sparrow club. It was resolved to levy 
a rate of Id. per acre to pay for the sparrows and eggs brought 
in by collectors, 
Letters to the Editor. 
To he, or not to be, Apprenticed to Horticulture ? 
lo' the Editor of The Gardening Wop.ld. 
I do not agree with “ Homocea ” where, in his letter of 
April 1st, he designates this discussion as an argument over a 
mere - term, for to my mind n is a matter of real importance 
whether or not any distinction is to be made between two such 
boys as “ Homocea ” describes. I say emphatically there is no 
difference between those two boys of eighteen years ; therefore 
there is no just reason why the former should be considered 
more of a gardener than the other, and I also hold that because 
the latter comes out, as well as the former, the apprenticeship 
was a farce. 1 thank “ Homocea ” for stating the qualifications 
for membership of the B.G.A., and am heartily glad to find that 
society does not require apprenticeship indentures. 
Cab.bager asks how 1 would do if I went as journeyman 
to a head gardener to. engage as foreman, and the gardener 
asked where I had served my time. I should simply 'produce 
references from former employers, which are of far more value 
than mere indentures. “ Cabbager’s ” tirade against the am¬ 
bitious labourer may be eloquent., but is out of place here, for 
we are dealing with lads who wish to learn gardening—not 
labourers. I have, however, very little esteem for a man who 
considers it, his duty to keep any of his fellows as low down in 
the social scale as possible. 1 wonder whether that labourer 
referred to at the end of “ Cabbager’s ” letter is led by a chain 
on those rare occasions when he is required within the garden 
wall. 
Mr. Blair accuses me of working round the subject, without 
evei touching the 1 main point in question. Mr. Blair evidently 
has not yet, discovered what is the main point here, for while 
1 have held fast to my subject, he has groped around for some¬ 
thing or anything to divert attention from the one and oiil- 
point at issue, as, for instance, his discourse on the ambitious 
labourer, and his question anent making the gardening profes¬ 
sion the dumping ground for all and sundry. Where have I 
said anything about making our profession a “ dumping 
ground ” ? Nowhere! consequently there is no need to answer 
the question as to why I recommend such a course. 
1 lie, way in which Mr. Blair gives me the whole bone in reply¬ 
ing to my last letter is simply delightful. I said : “ If lads 
can be apprenticed freely and receive such liberal wages, it 
seems strange that any lad will work in a garden without being 
apprenticed.” Mr. Blair says : “ The answer to this is so 
obvious that I need only say, for the benefit, of ‘ H. B.,’ that our 
average lad is no fool.” 
1 hanks, Mr. Blair. I have held all along that it is foolish 
to, serve apprenticeship, and now you admit that is the very 
reason why lads will work in a garden without being appren¬ 
ticed. Had you said that at the start, we should never have 
disagreed. Heather Bell. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
8ir,-—A our correspondent, Mr. Blair, is content to argue on 
any point save the one at issue, viz., whether it is essential or 
no for a youth to, serve a term of. apprenticeship in order to 
learn the rudiments of horticulture. 
In addition, the same gentleman’s letters are evidently 
written without reference to his opponent's printed statements, 
relying, to, all appearance, on a fnemory more erratic even than 
the most careless of garden boys. 
It would be a sheer waste of time and space to explain to 
Mr. Blair why noms de plume are used in preference to the 
writers own names, but, I might say that if my own was as 
descriptive of my pen-work as Mr. Blair’s is of his, I should 
have less reluctance to use it. But to the point. 
Evidently in the matter of the B.G.A. Mr. Blair is a, “ sitter 
on the fence. If the rules are not to his liking, why does he 
not join and use his influence to have them altered ? It is the 
“ approval or otherwise ” of the members which will ultimately 
