422 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 20. 1905. 
doctors and agricultural workers, but never have I fallen across 
this hybrid lady. If only D. C. could check his wonderful 
imagination, and talk plain common sense, it might be more 
beneficial. 
The parents whom he so kindly warned not to send their 
daughters to gardening will, I feel sure, never listen to any¬ 
one who rambles on as our friend does. I may have meagre 
ideas of what women should and should not be, but I would not 
quite like to be as narrow-minded as the “ hybrida, ” man. 
I would advise him again to try and shake himself clear of 
those old-world fancies which he so closely hugs and cherishes. 
With some people it is an impossibility to find themselves 
slipping backward and losing all grip of the advancement of 
this age. Never before have such rapid developments in all 
phases of life taken place in so short a time, and it requires 
one to be continually on the alert to keep up with them all. 
Another thing I would like to ask D. C. What experience 
has he had of the lady gardener? If he is only viewing the 
question under discussion from a theoretical standpoint, his 
opinions are really not worth consideration. When a man 
can write and discuss a problem from a thoroughly practical 
knowledge of it, then his opinions are worthy of considera¬ 
tion. An old and true saying in regard to this matter runs 
something to this effect, “An ounce of practice is worth a 
pound of theory.” 
It is a very easy matter for anyone to sit down and reel off 
theory by the yard, and expect people to take note of it, but 
when one who has proved his theory to be unsound writes 
from hard experience, the case assumes a totally different 
aspect. I mentioned before, in a previous letter, how once 
I held the same views as D. C., but now they have changed 
entirelv. This change has been caused bv no other a<mnt 
than experience—my former views were founded on “ theory.” 
The whole of D. C’s. argument works out in the one word 
“ unsuitability," and he, in his opinion, is pleased that Nature 
has treated womankind in such a fashion. Before he goes 
any further with his rejoicings in this direction, I would beg 
of him to give a little time to the study of “ adaptation,” and 
from it gather a few useful hints. 
In conclusion, I would point out to D. 'C. and others the 
amount of raw material in the shape of an inborn love of 
things pertaining to horticulture displayed by nearly every 
woman, and which, if properly treated and developed, gives us 
better results than can be got from some of our so-called 
gardeners. A Member of the B.G.A. 
A Slap-up Climber. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—A climber that I have never seen reference to is the 
Silver Sweet Vine, Atinidia pclygama. It has not been in 
cultivation a great number of years, but appears to be 
unknown to any of my acquaintances. A native of Japan, it is 
really remarkably pretty. The young leaves have a silvery 
white appearace, and, at a distance, appear to be flowers. 
It was, I believe, discovered by Prof. W. B. Brooks, of Mass., 
and it was from his original plants that the trade stock was 
propagated. 
The flowers, which appear in Prof. Brooks’ garden about the 
middle of June, are creamy-white with bright yellow anthers, 
and resemble the Lily of the Valley in form. The foliage is 
wonderfully clean and growth vigorous, although less rampant 
than A. arguta. I have seen splendid examples of it on 
verandas, also in clumps. Growers have informed me that 
cats are very fond of the young leaves, therefore small plants 
should be protected. I may add that these vines have sur¬ 
vived the very hard winters of Massachusetts. Cal. 
To be, or not to be, Apprenticed to Horticulture ? 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—Judging from the letters of your correspondents on this 
subject who may be taken seriously, it is very evident that 
upholders of the system of apprenticeship are decidedly in the 
minority. 
When “ Heather Bell ” opened the correspondence, it was 
very evident that he did so with a sincere desire to' express his 
own views on the subject, and to' ascertain the opinion of your 
readers, as well as to* afford an opportunity of some conclusion 
being arrived at. 
The subsequent correspondence has, however, through the 
instrumentality of one or two bigoted individuals, descended to 
the level of “ mud throwing,” and quite half the space occupied 
lias been wasted in petty wrangling over insignificant points 
quite foreign to the subject in hand, or arising from personal 
objections to opponents’ manner of expressing or signing them¬ 
selves. 
Unfortunately, it is to be feared that there will always be 
individuals who look at everything but themselves through the 
wrong end of a telescope, whose “ education was much neg¬ 
lected in their youth,” who yet have the unbounded arrogance 
to designate their ebullient contributions to otherwise intelli¬ 
gent controversy as “ logical and common sense,” and yet fail 
to grasp the meaning of a sentence which any callow youth 
would not read over a second time. 
It is unkind to expect to be able to reason with individuals 
of such calibre, and consequently, in order to escape prosecu¬ 
tion by the officials of the R.S.P.C.C., it is advisable, when 
replying to their hazy wanderings, to' remember the weaknesses 
of the writers, and use at most only words of less than three 
syllables. Homocea. 
To tire Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,— Really, Mr. Blair, you appear to judge other people bv 
your own standard. To declare that I worked myself into' quite 
a, fury is ridiculous twaddle, and it does not i effect any credit 
on your literary powers. If you will again re-read my previous 
note, you will find that I referred to your withering contempt 
of the parson’s gardener, and seeing that the majority of 
parson’s gardeners are single-handed or have a lad to help at 
the most, I merely asked if such contempt was for all. 
By Mr. Blair’s own admission there are single-handed men 
who “ are ’’ gardeners, and it may therefore be taken for 
granted that the parson’s gardeners have not all emanated 
from the genus labourer. And why is the labourer a subject 
of ridicule? Is. he not indispensable to a large garden? The 
parson’s gardener, however, lias to> be his own labourer, and it 
is safe to' say that he does more real work than the head of a 
big place. But, enough, for to- answer “ Mr. B.” it is necessary 
to wander from the point at issue. As to its being necessary 
to be apprenticed, I say no'. Respecting other trades, I opine 
that I am as familiar with them as he island I might say that 
even in other trades it is not always necessary to be appren¬ 
ticed. Bakers nowadays are not apprenticed, and few butchers ; 
in fact, scores of trades are free to boys. 
Even mechanics are not all made through apprenticeship, 
and I can cite instances of such cases. Technical education 
has spoilt the chances of making a fortune by taking parents’ 
money, and the county councils do good work in showing boys 
how to make the most of a bit of ground. T. A. Weston. 
Degeneracy of Potatos. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir,—There appears to be an extraordinary amount of differ¬ 
ence in opinions respecting the above, but, personally, I fall 
in with some of “ Old Spud’s ” views. 
By selecting the strongest and best tubers it is quite possible 
to. retain a strong, healthy stock. By selecting, I do not. 
merely mean taking a. tuber or two from a. hill, but marking 
off plants that grow vigorously and are true to type, both in 
leaf and flower. 
Each of these plants, or rather, the product of such, should 
be saved wholely ; that is, all the tubers ranging above 1 oz. 
Mere especially would I retain the largest tubers, which can 
