Febrnary, 1910 
EDITORIAL. 
ee 
qy" heard a man say that given 
plenty of sunshine and pleuty 
of water he would undertake to 
grow anything that the earth could 
produce. That was not an idle 
‘boast, because the man had in addi- 
tion the other necessary auxiliaries 
of brains and system. ‘Thus it may 
be understood that the inanimate 
elements of nature require these 
animate facilities to bring them to 
fruition. All such statements may 
appear commonplace enough, but 
we fancy that they are not sufh- 
ciently recognised by producers as a 
whois. In demonstration of this 
one n2ed only look over the fences 
of two gardens alongside each other 
and see where brains aud system 
are at work on one side, and cn the 
work is carried on 
We have in mind 
one 
other where 
without them. 
two orchards adjoining. In 
the trees are struggling for an 
existence under neglected condi- 
tions. The trees make a game 
struggle of it in putting forth their 
leaves in the Spring, and without 
any help from the master mind 
which should assist their efforts, 
make. some show of life. Next 
comes the bloom, and in due seasou 
the fruit, but with them also come 
the diseases of various kinds un- 
checked, and pests as vigorous as 
the leaves and bloom and _ fruit. 
“They all grow together, but the 
husbandman looks only at the fruit, 
and when the consumers will only 
buy at a starvation price he sits 
down and curses what he miscalls 
his luck. ‘he proper name is 
neglect through the lack of brains 
or the idleness to use what little he 
has. 
On the other side of the fence, 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
under the same influence of land 
and atmospheric conditions you see 
the trees smiling with a vigor that 
is refreshing. ‘The land has been 
well cultivated, the trees pruned of 
all superfluous growth, sprayed as 
a preventative against disease. He 
cleans the land and the trees in the 
same way that he washes his body 
to prevent himself being poisoned 
with dirt and the microbes of dis- 
ease. The 
keeps himself clean and healthy, 
process of washing 
and his trees are like himself. He 
jooks good and healthy, his trees 
look the same. He bears good fruit 
as shown in his bank balance and 
general demeanour. He does not- 
grizzle at bad luck nor bemoan his 
lot in life. As the man is so is his 
The one is a reflection 
If there is one thing 
business. 
of the other. 
a man should not do it is to grumble 
at himself. Jnfortunately he 
grumbles at everything but himself, 
but he should never have cause to 
do so. _ 
The tidy, industrious brainy man 
has neither time nor occasion to sit 
down and grumble at anything or 
anybody. He is too happy. He 
works, and watches and thinks— 
not about himself. but about his 
business. He has the same diffi- 
culties to encounter, but he meets 
them strong and prepared, with the 
result that what would prove great 
- difficulties to some are only to him 
incentives to greater strength. Is 
this ideal moralising ? Maybe it is. 
But the sentiment of it is what 
makes the 
struggling for an -existence and 
difference between 
living a happy wholesome kind of 
life. 
Now the sun is shining strong 
and hot—and if the trees and plants 
that are growing and producing 
_ wreck it. 
5 
fruit have not been well cared fot 
the produce will be poor and un- 
profitable. Land well cultivated, 
trees well provided for, the sun is 
Nature’s element to bring the fruit 
of labor in just and fair proportion. 
If we look at a ship upon the sea 
and think what a wonderful creation 
of man’s genius, care, and, 
calculation it is we say that if the 
engineers who built it had not care- 
fully planned every detail in the 
material of which it is made, in the 
methods under which the materials 
had to be put together, and the 
fashioning of it, the ship would not 
float, and if it did the storm would 
Now if we compare the 
building of a ship to the making of 
an orchard or garden or farm or 
sheep-run, we.quickly see- that~-the 
fault in failure is not with the raw 
materials so much as the engineer 
—or producer. 
Thus we now come back to our 
friend who says that with sunshine 
and water he can grow anything. 
And we repeat, so he can, provided 
he has the brains and system. While 
these are being freely and properly 
utilized he has no fear of the 
results. 
Received. 
‘Surron’s AMATEUR GUIDE IN 
Horticunture For 1910.—By the last 
mail from England we have received the 
above mentioned publication, and we can- 
not pass over the receipt of same without 
congratulating Messrs Sutton & Sons 
upon their production, which is a master- 
piece as regards seedsmeb’s catalogues. 
Tn addition to instructions for the culti- 
vation of vegetables and flowers it 
contains no less than 269 illustrations, 
produced in a most realistic manner, 
many of which are worked in various 
colors Some idea of the immensity of 
Sutton & Sons’ business may be gathered 
by the fact that during the summer of 
1909 this firm had over four miles of 
Sweet Peas alone under comparative trial 
at their Experimental Grounds, near 
Reading, which comprised 1,285 varieties. 
and selections, 
