March  12,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
223 
of  a  very  large  house  of  Vines  in  1844.  The  border  was  all  inside, 
and  it  was  trodden  nearly  as  hard  as  a  public  road.  The  Vines 
were  then  old  with  thick  stems,  and  they  are  still  in  fine  bearing 
order.  I  seldom  met  with  finer  foliage  and  Grapes.  The 
variety  is  Black  Hamburgh.  Some  of  these  old  Vines  were  lifted 
and  put  in  fresh  eoil  about  1850,  and  put  into  a  hard  trodden 
border.  My  impression  is  that  many  of  the  evils  in  Grape¬ 
growing  would  be  avoided  by  making  hard  borders,  and  never 
allowing  them  to  be  long  dry  on  the  surface. — David  Thomson. 
ANEMONE  VERNALIS. 
The  genus  in  which  this  plant  is  included  contains  so  many  attrac¬ 
tive  and  showy  herbaceous  plants,  with  flowers  ranging  through  the 
whole  gamut  of  colours,  from  pure  white,  yellows,  and  reds  to  full  blues, 
and  many  of  which  show  themselves  so  responsive  to  the  arts  of  the 
cultivator  and  hybridiser,  that  no  apology  is  needed  in  introducing  a 
figure  of  one  of  the  most  interesting,  though  delicately  coloured  species. 
A.  vernalis  belongs  to  that  section  of  the  genus  which  includes  the  well 
known  Pasqueflower  (A.  pulsatilla),  A.  montana,  and  A.  patens,  of 
which  latter  a  figure  was  published  in  a  recent  volume  of  the  Journal, 
in  which  the  distinctive  feature  is  a  long  pubescence  on  the  members 
of  the  involucre  and  the  outside  of  the  petals.  In  A.  vernalis  these  long 
silky  hairs  are  of  a  foxy  yellow  colour,  which  contrast  very  pleasingly  with 
the  delicate  mauve,  blue,  and  pearly  tones  of  the  calyx.  It  is  quite 
dwarf  in  habit,  the  flowers  springing  from  a  tutt  pinnate  leaves,  and 
rising  to  6  or  8  inches  in  height.  It  makes  a  pretty  pot  plant,  or  would 
be  suitable  to  some  cool  corner  of  the  rockery.  It  must  on  no  account 
be  allowed  to  get  dry,  rejoicing  in  well  drained  but  moist  situations. 
It  is  a  native  of  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees.  The  plant  from  which  our 
illustration  (fig.  32)  is  taken  was  brought  over  by  the  Director  of  the 
Royal  Gardens,  Kew. 
SINGLE-HANDED. 
“Wanted,  single-handed  gardener,  thoroughly  practical  man; 
must  understand  fruit,  glass,  kitchen,  and  flower  garden,”  so  runs 
the  advertisement,  and  I  venture  to  say  when  such  lines  are 
scanned  in  the  many  bothies  throughout  the  kingdom  that  nine  out 
of  every  ten  of  the  readers  will  turn  from  the  paragraph  with 
something  like  disgust ;  and  yet  the  fact  remains  that  some  of 
those  may  perhaps  find  themselves  in  a  position  in  after  years 
which  compels  them  to  readily  accept  a  single-handed  situation,  so 
that  the  knowledge  is  requisite  all  the  same. 
In  all  occupations  we  have  what  might  be  called  a  ladder  of 
positions.  Some  are  fortunate  enough  to  reach  the  summit ;  others 
have  to  content  themselves  with  a  place  at  the  bottom  ;  some 
perhaps  having  once  reached  the  various  stages  on  the  ladder  and 
even  the  top,  but  through  some  caprice  of  fortune,  or  may  be  their 
own  fault,  have  come  down  more  quickly  than  they  climbed  ;  and 
there  may  be  others  still  who  are  just  starting  at  the  only  safe 
place — the  bottom — and  are  looking  aloft,  buoyed  with  fire  of  hope 
and  ambition  as  they  mount  slowly,  yet,  we  hope,  surely,  the 
various  rounds  of  the  ladder.  Of  course,  there  are  midway  stages 
also,  and  some  of  the  occupants  of  these  have  to  stand  by  and  look 
on,  as  others  with  greater  ability  or  steadier  determination  pass 
by,  and  leave  them  behind  in  the  climb  of  life. 
We  may,  perhaps  with  some  benefit  to  ourselves,  look  at  the 
occupation  of  gardening  in  this  light ;  and  if  we  look  closely  we 
shall  see  ample  room  for  making  the  contrasts  of  social  position  in 
our  calling.  A  short  time  ago  when  walking  through  Hyde  Park 
my  attention  was  directed  to  an  actor,  evidently  down  on  his  luck, 
trying  to  raise  funds  by  performing  before  a  crowd  of  people, 
with  the  road  as  his  stage  and  the  trees  and  green  grass  as  his 
scenery.  During  his  opening  remarks  he  spoke  of  his  reduced 
circumstances,  and  proudly  claimed  to  belong  to  the  same  noble 
profession  as  Sir  Henry  Irving.  No  one  could  deny  it  certainly, 
and  it  occurred  to  me  that  sentiments  somewhat  similar  might  be 
applied  to  gardening. 
Single-handed.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  why  it  should  be,  yet 
the  fact  still  remains  that  many  gardeners  occupying  fairly  good 
positions  look  upon  their  single-handed  brethren  of  the  craft  with 
a  feeling  intermingled  with  contempt  and  pity,  the  former  senti¬ 
ment  perhaps  being  prompted  by  the  undeniable  fact  that  they 
both  belong  to  the  same  calling,  and  the  latter — well  that  hardly 
needs  explanation.  I  dare  venture  to  say  that  there  are  amongst 
those  who  read  these  lines  some  who  when  in  the  company  of  a 
number  of  gardeners  have  heard  something  like  the  following. 
“  Where  is  So-and-so  now,  who  used  to  be  at - Hall  ?  ” 
“  Oh,  poor  fellow,  he  is  in  a  single-handed  place  now.”  That  is 
invariably  enough  ;  the  unfortunate  gardener  has  dropped  from 
their  circle  to  one  somewhat  lower  in  the  social  scale.  If  he 
manages  to  rise  again  he  is  welcomed,  and  receives  congratulations, 
but  as  for  the  former  descending  to  him  in  his  reduced  position — 
well,  that  seems  out  of  the  question. 
There  is,  perhaps,  no  better  field  for  studying  these  contrasts  of 
social  position  than  at  a  large  horticultural  show  like  those  held  at 
Shrewsbury,  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  York.  There  you  will  find 
gardeners  well  known  in  the  horticultural  world,  admiring  or 
criticising  the  various  exhibits  ;  and  a  little  further  on  is  a  group 
with  a  much  less  important  air.  It  is  needless  to  add  to  what  class 
they  belong.  A  nod  is  invariably  the  only  mark  of  recognition 
between  them,  but  look  closer  and  you  will  see  that  the  latter  are  as 
FIG.  32.— ANEMONE  VERNALIS. 
enthusiastic  in  their  praises  or  as  severe  in  their  criticism.  Surely 
there  is  no  disgrace  about  earning  an  honest  living  as  a  single- 
handed  gardener,  as  there  are  many  men  now  holding  high  positions 
in  the  horticultural  world  who  once  belonged  to  this  lower  section, 
doing  their  duty  in  it,  and  losing  no  opportunity  of  improving 
themselves,  until  at  length  they  received  their  just  reward,  proving 
that  “Nothing  succeeds  like  success.” 
There  seems  to  be  an  impression  that  a  man,  to  take  a  single- 
handed  situation,  or  one  where  only  two  or  three  others  are  kept, 
requires  little  ability  ;  but  this,  as  many  holding  these  positions  can 
testify,  is  an  erroneous  idea.  In  large  establishments  there  is 
generally  a  capable  foreman,  responsible  to  the  head  gardener,  for 
the  various  departments,  the  latter  taking  supreme  control.  And 
again,  in  such  an  establishment,  if  a  crop  fail,  arrangements  can  be 
made  so  that  it  is  not  missed  to  any  large  extent.  But  in  small 
places  the  case  is  very  different  ;  our  single-handed  friend  has 
no  such  facilities,  the  failure  of  a  single  crop  is  a  serious  matter  for 
him,  especially  if  he  is  unable  to  give  a  satisfactory  reason  why. 
