iH UG I, Cvans 
"If any one be in rapture with his own 
knowledge, looking only on those below 
him, let him but turn his glance upward 
toward past ages, and his pride will be 
abated, when he shall find there so many 
thousand wits that trample him under foot.’ 
Any time we begin to think we know it 
all, something is sure to abate our pride. 
Gardening like all other human pursuits 
and avocations has its surprises, its mo- 
ments of rapture and moments of disil- 
lusionment. Gardeners are like doctors and 
lawyers, you can get diametrically oppo- 
site opinions from them on almost any 
phase of the cultivation of plants. | know 
one veteran fern grower who will only grow 
Maidenhair in leat mold, and another suc- 
cesstul grower who prefers to grow them 
in clay. Curiously, they both grow them 
well. 
| am of the present opinion that the 
majority of flowering trees and shrubs, 
taking for instance Erythrinas (Corals) and 
Hibiscus, respond satisfactorily to two or 
three applications of ammonia sulphate 
in spring and summer, about three weeks 
apart. This particular fertilizer, of course, 
has to be used with care, the ground 
should be wet before application and 
throughly soaked again after applying the 
fertilizer. Never use too much at a time, 
little and often is much safer than a heavy 
dose at one time. In fact, no plant should 
ever receive a double dose of fertilizer, 
it will do more harm than good. If your 
Hibiscus bushes are full of yellow leaves, 
the treatment given above will wholly alter 
their appearance and performance; how- 
ever after the full pomp and pageant of 
mid-summer when the cool weather draws 
near, it is better to discontinue stimulat- 
ing plants which are sensitive to cold, es- 
pecially if they are planted in heavy soils. 
To come back to the subject of knowl- 
edge, often when interviewing some young 
man seeking employment, | have asked 
him about his experience, and the young 
man has said, ‘Well, | think | can say, | 
know all there is to be known about grow- 
ing plants,’ | think to myself here | am in 
the waning autumn of my lite, knowing 
very little and here is this young man, who 
knows it all already. To paraphrase Oliver 
Goldsmith, ‘And still | gazed, and still the 
wonder grew, that one small head could 
carry all he knew." 
HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE? 
TRAVELING SALESMAN 
Being the further impressions of our Phillip Chandler. 
Cannes is worth at least two days—the 
pine-clad coastline looking west to the 
Esterel Mountains—red wind-worn rock, 
many-headed rocky peaks, and magnifi- 
cent pine woods. Then there are the public 
parkways, all much the same and rather 
badly done but gay and tropical-looking. 
And one must wander the residential 
streets for glimpses of handsome town- 
house gardens behind high iron grill fences 
draped with Wistaria and Bougainvillea. 
Palms and succulents are definitely the 
motif of the entire Riviera, French and 
Italian. Palms include everywhere and in 
quantity, quality and every possible mani- 
festation and use, the magniticient Phoenix 
dactylifera, the fruiting date palm, often 
quite effective architecturally, particularly 
where under adverse conditions of little 
root room, wind’ and no feeding. In rich 
soil the plant gets fat and characterless. 
In parkways amid street, and on both sides, 
the use of Pheonix dactylifera in various 
sizes, or uniform, faced with Chamaerops 
humilis (native), Cordyline australis, Yucca 
gigantea (here called Y. elephantipes) and — 
Agave (Century Plant) and Aloes is par- 
ticularly pleasant. 
Unfortunately the palm and succulent 
plantings are occasionally studded with 
native Live Oak (Quercus ilex) clipped 
round into balls or umbrellas and spattered 
beneath with Petunias and Marigolds, as 
is also done in California by misguided 
gardeners who wish to inject some color. 
With all the wonderful succulent tropicals 
for color filler—Rochea coccinea,Crassula 
falcata, Kalanchoe and Aeonium and Se- 
dum by the dozen, the Bergenia, Limonium, 
and endless Senecio, why one must turn 
to temperate climate summer flowers just 
for color, the horticulturist will never know. 
They do make great use however of the 
hardier Aphelandra (same one we have), 
Datura (Angel's Trumpet), and Strelitzia 
(Bird of Paradise). Some old clumps of both 
S. regina and S. nicolai are said to have 
been blooming for more than a century. 
Cannes has a magnificent beach front 
known as La Croissette, the crescent, shin- 
ing clean sand, expensive beach accomo- 
dations and a clean wide promenade lined 
with Palms and Lantana, the water clean, 
clear and indescribably blue, alive with 
sail boats, canoes, rowboats, surtboards, 
and inimitable pedalo, which looks like a 
