132 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  18,  1897. 
or  second  week  in  June  if  the  sowing  is  made  early  in  May  as 
advised,  and  should  the  weather  prove  hot  and  dry  the  plant*  are 
liable  to  suffer  very  much.  It  is  therefore  sometimes  advisable  to 
wait  a  week  or  more  to  endeavour  to  secure  the  right  opportunity, 
and  in  any  case  a  thorough  supply  of  water,  both  before  and  after 
planting,  will  be  needed. — A  Countryman. 
(To  be  continued.) 
PRECEPT  AND  PRACTICE. 
{Continued  from  page  89.) 
Continuing  our  brief  introduction  to  nomenclature,  names 
denoting  colour  present  probably  the  least  difficulty  to  a  beginner, 
and  once  grasped  are  easily  retained.  Alba,  white  ;  aurea,  golden  ; 
viridis,  green  ;  cyanus,  bright  blue  ;  rosea,  pale  red  ;  purpurea, 
purple,  are  duly  represented  by  Anemone  japonica  alba,  Valeriana 
Phu  aurea,  Ixia  viridiflora  (probably  the  most  telling  example  we 
have  of  a  green  flower),  Centaurea  cyanue,  Primula  rosea,  and 
Justicia  purpurea.  From  the  principal  colours  spring  many  equally 
expressive  terms,  which  our  young  student  cannot  fail  to  become 
acquainted  with  according  to  his  desire  for  knowledge  and  steady 
application  to  acquire  it.  Variegation  and  marking  may  here  be 
coupled  with  colour.  Variegatus,  or  variegata,  is  a  name  speaking 
for  itself,  whilst  guttatus,  spotted  ;  punctatus,  dotted  ;  pictus, 
painted  ;  marginatus,  edged  ;  and  vittatus,  striped,  are  equally 
adapted  for  our  purpose,  and  need  not  further  detain. 
Habit  is  revealed  by  such  names  as  procumbens,  procumbent — 
spreading  on  the  surface  ;  erecta,  erect ;  dependens,  hanging  ; 
prostratus,  prostrate;  spiralis,  spiral  ;  plicata,  plaited — folded  like 
a  fan  ;  all  of  which  can  be  identified  respectively  by  observing 
the  manner  of  growth  of  Gaultheria  procumbens.  Cupressu*  erecta 
viridis,  Cantua  dependens,  Dianthus  prostratus,  Vallisneria  spiralis, 
and  Panicum  plicatum.  The  native  homes  of  many  of  our  plants 
are  constantly  before  us  in  such  names  as  capensis,  the  Cape  ; 
sinensis  (or  chinen*is),  China ;  indica,  India  ;  japonic*,  Japan  ; 
brasiliensis,  Brazil ;  persica,  Persia  ;  with  a  holt  of  others  fairly 
easy  of  recognition.  Those  names  which  have  now  been  noticed 
are  samples  of  what  may  be  termed  descriptive  names — that  is, 
describing  in  some  way  or  another  some  characteristic  of  the  plant 
they  are  appended  to.  A  passing  notice  of  names  not  included  in 
the  above  category,  which  for  our  purpose  we  will  call  generally 
distinctive,  may  conclude  this  subject.  These  require  but  little 
explanation,  the  bulk  of  them  being  names  of  honour  resolving 
themselves  into  two  classes,  the  first  of  which,  ending  in  i  or  ii  (the 
Latin  genitive  singular),  as  Veitchi,  Douglasii,  Burbidgei,  have 
been  awarded  to  particular  varieties  in  recognition  of  the  dii- 
coverer,  introducer,  or  raiser.  Purely  complimentary  names  are 
(or  should  be)  diitinguished  by  the  qualifying  termination  of  anus, 
ana,  or  anum,  as  Sanderianus,  Devoniana,  Lowianum. 
There  is,  I  believe,  some  little  confusion  of  ideas  still  existing 
relative  to  these  qualifying  terminations  of  names  of  honour.  The 
simple  rules  I  have  endeavoured  to  lay  down  are  the  grains  picked 
up  when  the  argument  was  thrashed  out  in  a  potting  shed  some 
thirty  year*  ago.  Since  then  I  have  found  the  correctness  of  the 
principle  endorsed  by  a  very  high  authority  upon  the  matter. 
Respecting  the  use  or  omission  of  capital  letters  in  writing  these 
distinctive  or  descriptive  names,  the  matter  whilst  being  of  some 
importance  is  one  upon  which  even  “  doctors  differ.’'  We  can 
therefore  only  follow  such  customs  with  their  variations  as  are  to 
be  found  in  carefully  edited  plant  literature.  Some  trade  catalogues 
leave  little  to  be  desired  in  plant  nomenclature,  but  many  are  in 
that  respect  faulty.  The  Index  Keivensis  ought  to  be  the  standard 
authority,  but  it  has  been  weakened  by  the  different  renderings  of 
certain  name*  in  subsequent  “  Handbooks  ”  from  the  Royal 
Establishment.  Once  more  I  would  beg  young  readers  to  under¬ 
stand  that  these  explanatory  remarks  upon  nomenclature  are  but 
the  desultory  digging  up  of  a  few  old  Latin  roots  in  that  vast  field 
through  which  many  pass  unheeding  the  rich  stores  buried  beneath 
an  apparently  hard  crust  ;  but  what  a  pleasure  it  is  to  find  such 
revelations  of  character  to  enhance  the  value  of  a  world  of  beauty. 
Greek  roots  are  occasionally  to  be  met  with.  Chryso,  yellow  ; 
chloro,  green  ;  and  erythro,  red,  for  example.  Reference  to 
•tandard  works  and  personal  observation  will  not  fail  to  detect 
their  right  of  being.  The  Latin  tongue  being  the  foundation  of 
speech  in  France,  Spain,  and  Italy  one  cannot  proceed  far  without 
noticing  the  connecting  link  between  those  languages  and  the 
great  importance  it  has  in  its  bearing  upon  our  subject.  Owing 
to  a  series  of  short  papers  entitled  “Bothiana”  having  appeared 
so  recently  as  1895,  vol.  xxx.,  commencing  on  page  330,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  repeat  the  several  hints  there  laid  down 
for  self-tuition  in  the  bothy  or  prior  to  entering  it,  but  I  would 
ask  our  young  student  to  turn  back  to  them  if  he  can  conveniently 
do  so,  and  assimilate  in  the  morals  there  conveyed. 
To  attempt  any  course  of  self-tuition  in  a  desultory  manner  is 
simply  out  of  the  question  with  those  who  wish  to  reap  the  highest 
possible  benefit  ;  hence  in  spite  of  what  has  been  previously  pro¬ 
mulgated,  I  will  venture  to  express  a  few  thoughts  upon  this 
matter.  Looking  back  on  early  life,  and  recalling  the  memory  of 
one  of  the  stiffest  battles  I  ever  fought  with  myself,  I  cannot  but 
sympathise  with  those  boys  who  are  fighting  now  the  same  battle, 
and  fighting  it,  as  practically  they  must,  alone.  Over  this  subject 
hangs  the  crisis  by  which  we  are  henceforth  to  be  governed  by 
inclination  or  guided  by  reason.  Supposing  some  young  reader 
has  now  the  moral  courage  to  commence  a  series  of  apparently 
well  planned  lesson*  with  all  seriousness  of  purpose,  what  are  the 
unseen  dangers  so  fatal  to  many  who  thus  begin  ?  It  may  be  that 
a  lad  has  fashioned  his  plans  upon  a  mistaken  judgment  of  their 
ultimate  utility,  and  after  starting  a  dawning  consciousness  that 
su  h  is  the  case  tempts  him  to  make  a  fresh  start  in  another  direc¬ 
tion  ;  this,  in  its  turn,  may,  from  a  similar  cause,  entail  further 
change,  a  state  of  things  which  may  be  prolonged  indefinitely. 
Such  is  not  of  uncommon  occurrence  in  life,  but  most  disastrous. 
I  have  said  somewhere  before,  and  must  repeat  it,  that  a 
vacillating  policy  is  of  all  policies  the  worst.  Our  young  student 
cannot  contemplate  too  seriously  the  lines  *  f  self-tuition  he  is 
about  to  lay  down,  and  he  may  also  endeavour  to  form  a  fair 
estimate  of  the  leisure  he  is  likely  to  command,  with  an  appr  ximate 
filling  in.  For  obvious  reasons  this  might  be  done  on  a  sliding 
scale,  in  fact  should  be,  according  to  season  and  its  contingent  calls 
of  duty  upon  the  leisure  hour  ;  but  at  starting  this  sliding  scale 
must  entail  a  certain  danger  of  slipping  to  our  youngest  travellers, 
therefore  I  would  rather  *ee  them  adopting  some  *imple  course  of 
reading,  writing,  drawing,  and  what  not,  for  the  first  twelve  months. 
Having  laid  down  your  rules  of  self-instruction  for  this  period,  let 
them  be  unto  you  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  till  the 
term  has  expired.  If  on  the  expiration  of  one  month,  or  two,  or 
three,  the  conviction  is  forced  upon  your  mind  that  some  little 
mistake  ha*  been  made,  that  it  would  be  better  to  change  a  subject, 
and  “  zigzag  ”  in  something  else,  do  not  give  way,  I  beseech  you, 
unless  from  circumstances  over  which  you  have  no  control.  I 
would  rather  see  you  pursue  a  somewhat  mistaken  course  of  self- 
tuition  for  twelve  months,  for  the  loss  may  be  but  small,  the  gain 
infinite,  possibly  affecting  the  whole  course  of  life. 
Self-imposed  tasks  are  seldom  easy  ones  at  this  age.  Can  you 
lay  down  a  year’s  course  of  training  for  the  leisure  hours  and  keep 
the  track  with  unflagging  zeal  ?  If  so  you  are  more  than  conqueror. 
Probably  not  more  than  one  in  a  dozen  can  accomplish  this  ;  but  each 
should  try  to  be  that  one.  Its  importance  may  not  be  immediately 
rocognised,  but  it  is  the  secret  of  success.  Only  those  who  have 
fought  such  battles  and  gained  them  know  the  subtlety  of  the 
unseen  enemy  who  is  overcome.  Granted  this  most  desirable  state 
of  things  the  rest  is  comparatively  easy,  for  our  labours  are  now 
metamorphosed  into  a  most  delightful  recreation  worthily  crowning 
the  day’s  work.  A  conscientiously  kept  diary  is,  I  think,  an 
invaluable  aid,  the  act  of  writing  alone  being  particularly  helpful 
to  engrave  things  upon  the  memory.  A  large  folio  office  diary  13  by 
9  inches,  interleaved  with  blotting  paper,  three  days  on  a  page,  is 
probably  the  best  we  have  at  present  for  the  purpose.  The  blotting 
pages  I  invariably  use  for  pencilling  down  any  surplus  memoranda. 
Used  in  the  ordinary  way  as  a  blotter  I  think  disfigures  the  book  ; 
perhaps  you  may  think  so  too,  and  keep  a  sheet  of  ordinary 
blotting  paper  for  the  purpose.  In  any  case  let  your  diary  be  a 
model  of  cleanliness  and  neatness  ;  there  is  no  pride  or  pleasure 
taken  in  a  smeared  or  smudged  volume  These  small  things  are 
the  indice*  of  character,  and  have  not  been  beneath  the  notice  of 
that  great  satirical  writer  Pope,  who  said,  “  E’en  copious  Dryden 
wanted  or  forgot,  the  greatest  art—  the  art  to  blot.” 
As  we  receive  so  many  good  things  from  Fleet  Street  it  may  be 
that  some  day  we  shall  have  a  “  Gardeners’  Diary  ”  on  the  same 
lines  as  the  office  diary  mentioned,  with  the  substitution  of  relevant 
memoranda  for  that  better  suited  to  commercial  men.  Such  would 
come  as  a  boon  and  blessing  to  most  gardeners,  especially  young 
ones.  I  venture  to  think  that  a  diary  with  fac-simile  covers  of  the 
bound  volumes  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture ,  and  so  arranged  as 
to  be  worthy  of  bearing  the  same  moito,  “  For  Gardening  and 
Gardeners,”  would  be  gladly  availed  of  by  most  members  of  our 
large  family,  and  even  at  a  necessarily  increased  cost  would,  indeed, 
be  worthy  of  ourselves  and  our  shelves. 
However  ;  Boys !  do  not  wait  for  the  good  things  coming. 
Remember  a  diary  i*  all  but  indispensable.  Make  the  best  use  of 
the  best  to  hand,  in  which  sec  down  all  your  memoranda  decently 
and  in  order.  We,  of  all  men,  must  conform  to  heaven’s  first  law 
in  all  phases  of  our  life  and  work,  however  trivial  they  may 
appear,  carrying  those  grand  precepts  into  our  practice  which  have 
ruled  since  “  Yonder  spheres  sublime,  pealed  their  first  notes  to 
sound  the  march  of  time.” — An  Old  Boy. 
(To  be  continued.) 
