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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  19, 1895. 
them,  and  so  portentous  are  they,  and  in  some  instances  so  clearly 
shadowing  forthcoming  events,  that  my  somewhat  prolix  prefatory 
remarks  have,  I  trust,  helped  to  adjust  the  mental  telescope  for 
a  peep  into  futurity. 
In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  ignore  the  presence  of  that 
essentially  practical  spirit  of  the  age,  which  may  be  roughly 
designated  as  profit — a  spirit  of  too  vigorous  a  growth  to  be  any 
longer  confined  to  its  special  domain — the  commercial  world.  There 
are,  indeed,  but  few  private  gardens  into  which  it  has  not  now 
entered,  either  in  its  boldly  assertive  form  or  cloaked  in  some 
disguise  it  can  readily  assume  at  will.  In  the  latter  case  its 
influence  may  be  more  of  the  negative  kind  of  counting  the  cost 
than  of  seeking  for  marginal  profits,  but  where  this  spirit  has 
entered — and  where  has  it  not  ? — then  its  more  palpable  develop¬ 
ment  may  be  looked  for. 
Obviously  these  are  signs  which  can  no  longer  be  ignored. 
That  they  are  disagreeable  to  some  who  would  fall  back  on  easy 
going  is  plain,  but  the  good  old  times,  whatever  their  goodness 
consisted  of,  are  gone  for  ever,  and  it  is  a  matter  for  regret  to 
observe  that  with  some  “  while  Knowledge  comes,  wisdom  lingers.” 
The  more  liberal  and  comprehensive  viewers  of  the  present  must, 
willingly  or  unwillingly,  see  that  a  revolution  is  slowly  yet  surely 
working  out  far-reaching  results — results  which  will  eventually 
place  the  gardener’s  position  on  the  soundest  basis  it  could  possibly 
have,  by  showing  a  balance  on  the  credit  side  of  the  ledger. 
This  profit  may  not  necessarily  be  visible  in  a  salesmaster’s 
returns,  for  this  occasion  may  or  may  not  arise.  The  produce 
which  yields  in  the  market  a  clear  profit  over  cost  of  production 
is  not  depreciated  in  value  for  home  consumption.  No  narrow 
view  should  be  taken  of  this  subject.  All  conditions  vary  with 
circumstances.  In  one  garden  the  market  value  of  its  produce  may 
be  expected  to  pay  for  the  labour,  in  another  “  the  master  ”  looks 
for  a  choice  Orchid  bloom  for  his  buttonhole,  valued  at,  say,  53., 
but  objects  to  an  expenditure  of  more  than  43.  in  skill  and  fire 
heat  to  produce  it.  Conspicuous  or  obscure  examples  will  illustrate 
the  same  principle,  and  that  reconstruction  on  these  lines  is  going 
on  is  clearly  demonstrated,  to  me  at  least,  by  signs  of  the  times. 
All  is  changing  except  the  broad  ethics  of  political  economy  ; 
these  will  and  must  endure. 
Yery  pleasantly  and  satisfactorily  has  many  a  garden  been 
conducted  until  this  spirit  of  profit  has  entered,  then  perhaps  the 
haunted  man  who  ignores  the  ghost’s  bargain  is  doomed  to  hear 
“  We  can  no  longer  afford  to  keep  a  gardener,”  or  “  We  must  have 
a  cheaper  man,”  and  that  the  cheaper  man  may  prove  the  dearer 
in  the  long  run  is  of  but  little  moment  to  him  who  is  immediately 
concerned.  But  this  spirit  of  the  times  if  wisely  propitiated 
according  to  the  degree  its  presence  is  felt  should,  and  doubtless 
will,  change  the  superfluous  into  the  necessary,  and  instead  of  not 
affording  to  keep  a  gardener,  the  verdict  will  be  changed  to  “  We 
can’t  afford  to  do  without  one.” 
One  of  these  vexatious  problems  which  is  engaging  the  minds  of 
many,  the  pens  of  but  a  few,  is  the  overplus  of  gardeners  relative 
to  situations.  In  an  endeavour  by  one  writer  in  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  to  grapple  with  this  evil,  on  lines  which  I  am  not 
prepared  to  criticise  here,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  project  was 
either  too  visionary  to  elicit  an  expression  of  opinion  from  our 
practical  penmen  or  that  gardeners  were  too  diffident  to  take 
further  notice  of  the  matter  ;  if  the  latter,  then  I  take  it  for  a  bad 
sign  of  the  times.  Anyway,  subsequently  to  the  study  of 
‘‘Invicta’s  ”  dismal  picture,  which  may  or  may  not  be  as  black  as 
he  painted  it,  the  formation  of  a  Company  for  Celery  culture  was 
noticed,  and  this  event  may  possibly  foreshadow  the  inauguration 
of  some  similar  co-operative  scheme  for  the  benefit  of  the 
“  waiting  ones.” 
Co-operation  on  pacific  principles  is  now  so  well  understood,  and 
its  benefits  so  forcibly  illustrated  in  various  phases  of  life,  that  it 
can  no  longer  be  viewed  with  the  suspicion  it  may  have  once 
entailed.  Witness  the  moral  to  be  extracted  from  the  joint  essays  ' 
on  another  problem  lately  published  in  these  pages.  Not  one  of 
those  essays  alone  unravelled  the  knot,  but  from  the  joint  efforts 
of  these  practical  writers  are  to  be  gathered  the  fruits  of  experience. 
And  what  is  the  moral  that  anxious  and  interested  readers  should 
extract  from  this  combination  of  effort  ?  Is  it  not  rather  that 
up-to-date  men  must  go  a  little  beyond  that  by  anticipating  public 
tastes  and  requirements?  A  careful  re-perusal  of  those  admirable 
essays  on  what  to  grow  to  pay  in  winter,  will,  I  think,  endorse  my 
interpretation  of  this  sign  of  the  times. 
And  what  of  the  “Lessons  by  the  Way;”  lessons  on  fruit 
culture  ;  evidence  of  the  demand  which  still  exists  for  superior 
produce,  which  must  be  so  put  before  the  public  as  to  please  the 
critical  eye  as  well  as  the  critical  taste  ?  Tricks  of  trade  they  may 
be,  but  necessary  to  him  who  would  hold  the  trumps. 
Last  (for  present  consideration),  not  least,  is  that  keen  desire 
permeating  these  pages  to  reduce  all  culture  to  a  scientific  basis. 
Mysteries  of  success,  or  of  failure,  are  cleared  up.  Chance  work  is 
being  rapidly  eliminated,  and  the  modern  gardener  in  knowing  what 
to  do,  provided  he  has  the  energy  to  do  it,  is  rapidly  advancing  to 
— what  ?  Such  signs  of  the  times  yield  the  happiest  auguries  for 
the  future.  Much  that  perplexed  our  forefathers  is  being  revealed 
under  the  search-light  of  science,  and  the  way  is  paved  to  things  as 
yet  perhaps  but  faintly  foreshadowed  in  the  horoscope  of  gardening. 
So  may  we  look  on  a  past  with  pride,  yet  wisely  see  that  the  old 
order  of  things  has  changed  and  be  prepared  to  act  accordingly. 
Doing  this  should  at  the  present  enable  us  to  view  the  future  with 
confidence. — Seer. 
HARDY  FLOWERS. 
Though  summer  has  gone,  and  ere  long  we  shall  see  Nature 
casting  off  her  summer  robe,  when  “  Autumn’s  fire  burns  slowly 
along  the  woods,”  we  stiU  find  in  our  gardens  many  objects  of 
beauty  to  repay  those  who  love  them,  for  their  care.  These  objects 
are  many,  and  we  need  not  wander  far  to  see  enough  to  think  and 
to  write  of.  Yet  we  are  all  the  better  after  looking  round  other 
gardens,  to  see  some  new  flowers  or  some  well-known  favourites, 
either  better  grown  than  we  can  boast  of,  or,  mayhap,  inferior  to 
our  own  ;  and  (not  the  least  of  all  the  pleasures  of  seeing  other 
gardens)  to  talk  with  kindred  spirits,  and  enjoy  these  chats  about 
flowers,  which  are  all  too  seldom  our  lot,  save  through  the  medium 
of  pen  and  ink. 
Some  days  before  writing  a  few  hours  were  spent  in  two 
gardens,  full  of  interest  to  admirers  of  the  beauty  of  our  hardy 
flowers.  One  of  these  gardens  is  an  old  one,  with  its  high  brick 
walls  weather-stained  and  lichen-mottled,  and  containing  within 
its  bounds  a  wealth  of  flowers,  both  old  and  new — some  Nature’s 
own  production,  and  others  produced,  or  at  least  changed,  by  that 
art  which  “  does  mend  Nature.”  The  other  is  smaller  and  newer, 
but  having  within  its  grey  granite  walls  a  fine  collection  of 
herbaceous  border  plants.  Of  some  of  these  plants  we  seek  to 
tell,  and  one  needs  no  copious  notes  to  recall  their  appearance, 
which  still  seem  present  to  our  “  inward  eye.”  Thus,  as  they 
present  themselves  to  our  thoughts,  we ^ shall  endeavour  to  tell  of 
their  beauty  and  their  worth. 
It  is  the  time  of  Sunflowers  and  their  allies,  and  as  we  lock 
through  the  army  they  muster  before  us  we  cannot  but  recognise 
their  brightness  and  beauty.  Helianthi,  Harpaliums  (botanists 
will,  perhaps,  pardon  their  separation  here),  Heliopsis,  Coreopsis, 
Rudbeckias,  Heleniums,  Silphiums,  and  others  of  similar  nature 
stand  before  our  admiring  eyes,  with  their  golden  rays,  and  black, 
brown,  green,  or  yellow  centres.  So  far  as  I  know  there  are 
no  double  flowers  save  the  Helianthuses,  and  of  these  but  few. 
One  of  the  flnest  is  Helianthus  Bouquet  d’Or,  a  very  beautiful 
form  of  excellent  habit,  and  with  double  flowers  of  a  rich  golden 
hue.  A  fine  plant,  with  leaves  of  a  healthy  green,  and  fully 
garnished  with  its  golden  blooms,  was  a  very  beautiful  object  in  a 
large  border  filled  with  many  good  hardy  plants.  Unfortunately 
this  Sunflower  is  not  absolutely  hardy  without  protection  in  some 
gardens,  and  I  know  of  seyeral  places  where  it  succumbed  to  the 
severity  of  last  winter.  The  plant  I  am  now  speaking  of  did  not, 
however,  suffer,  and  its  beauty  will  well  repay  one  for  any  little 
trouble  involved  in  covering  it  with  some  dry  litter. 
It  is  an  unthankful  task  to  make  any  depreciative  remark  about 
a  plant  one  has  already  commended,  bat  a  note  of  this  kind  is 
sometimes  a  needed  service.  Thus  we  can  in  this  way  say  a  little 
about  one  of  the  Heleniums,  which  has  been  much  admired. 
