548 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
December  20,  19001 
the  novelty  has  turned  out  to  be  nothing  but  the  counterpart 
of  Borne  well-known  variety.  To  put  the  matter  plainly,  this  sort  of 
thing  has  gone  on  until  the  varieties  of  fruits,  flowers  and  vegetables 
are  in  a  state  of  chaos,  and  the  way  to  get  out  of  it  is  by  no  means 
clear.  The  arrival  at  this  condition  of  affairs  has  not  been  sudden  or 
intentional,  but  on  the  other  hand,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of 
drift,  with  financial  interests  perhaps  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  the 
absence  of  the  power  to  govern  the  work,  and  act  as  a  check  on  the 
output  of  varieties. 
There  is  scarcely  any  need  to  particularise.  Take  popular  fruits, 
garden  vegetables,  or  florists*  flowers,  and  try  to  find  out  how  many 
varieties,  so  called,  there  are,  and  having  done  that,  put  those  together 
that  are  so  much  alike  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  the 
difference,  and  it  will  be  observed  at  once  what  a  inuddle  the  thing  is 
in.  Similarity  in  named  varieties  of  plants  is  such  a  common  thing 
to-day  that  we  are, loth  to  trust  a  new  introduction,  and  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  considering  that  no  generally  recognised  system  of 
government  exists.  The  reason  is  simple  enough.  Half  a  dozen 
persons  or  more  are  engaged  in  the  introduction  of  fresh  varieties,  and 
have  pecuniary  interests  at  stake.  One  brings  out  a  variety  that  is 
new  to  him,  so  he  gives  it  the  name  of  some  celebrity,  or  perhaps  a 
friend  as  a  compliment,  and  sends  it  out  as  a  novelty.  He  has  no 
ofScial  means  of  knowing  that  the  same  variety  is  already  in 
cultivation  under  another  name,  and  so  we  get  two  of  them  and, 
yea,  perhaps  half  a  dozen  or  more.  Keen  competition  and  ignorance 
of  the  doings  of  others  engaged  in  the  same  work  may  be  largely 
responsible  for  the  imbroglio  which  exists,  and  it  is  quite  reasonable 
that  there  may  be  another  cause.  I  know  of  no  reason  why  a  raiser 
should  not  send  out  a  variety  that  he  knows  to  be  already  in  culti¬ 
vation,  under  a  fresh  name,  or,  if  not  the  exact  thing,  something  so 
closely  allied  to  it  as  to  merit  no  distinction. 
To  take  a  case  in  point,  one  great  characteristic  of  the  Sweet  Pea 
Show  at  the  Crystal  Palace  was  the  too  much  alike  varieties.  So 
similar  were  many  of  them  that  when  placed  side  by  side  even  an 
expert  could  not  tell  the  difference,  and  whatever  else  the  Classification 
Committee  may  do,  I  hope  it  will  make  a  great  slaughter  here  and 
do  away  with  a  large  number  of  synonyms.  No  one  wishes  this  more 
than  Sweet  Pea  experts  themselves,  and  this  was  revealed  to  me  by 
one  of  the  best  known  growers  in  the  country.  “There  are  too 
many,”  he  said,  “  far  too  many  of  the  same  shade  and  form,  and  half 
the  names  want  cutting  out  entirely.”  Quite  so,  this  is  the  sort  of 
thing  that  wants  doing  in  many  another  family  besides  Sweet  Peas, 
but  it  is  useless  without  preventive  means  against  recurrence.  The 
world  is  too  full  of  varieties  to  have  them  thrust  on  us  in  a  happen 
and  chance  sort  of  way,  and  we  want  a  proper  system  of  registration 
so  that  purchasers  of  new  varieties  may  know  that  they  are  new,  and 
not  the  synonyms  of  something  they  have  already. 
The  same  deplorable  state  of  things  exists  amongst  vegetables, 
though,  perhaps,  it  is  not  noticed  to  the  same  extent,  and  of  all 
subjects  the  indispensable  Potato  is  the  worst.  We  have  our  rounds 
and  kidneys,  coloured  and  white,  and  these  are  split  up  again  into 
varieties  that  have  apparently  no  end.  We  have  slowly  drifted  into 
this  state  of  muddle,  tacking  a  name  on  here  and  another  there  till  there 
are  considerably  more  titles  than  there  are  distinct  varieties.  I  am 
continually  seeing  Potatoes  bearing  names  that  I  have  never  heard 
before,  though  the  tubers  are  familiar,  and  considering  how  many 
local  sorts  there  are,  the  difSculty  of  a  better  condition  of  classification 
is  all  the  greater.  If  this  sort  of  thing  exists  now,  what  will  be  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  the  future,  bearing  in  mind  that  so-called  new 
sorts  are  being  introduced  year  by  year  ? 
Let  every  encouragement  be  given  to  the  work  of  fertilisation  and 
selection.  We  cannot  have  a  superabundance  of  the  beautiful  and  the 
useful,  but  let  us  have  the  work  carried  on  under  some  defined  rule> 
to  act  as  a  guide  to  growers,  and  to  be  respected  by  raisers.  We 
have  too  much  disorder  among  our  cultivated  plants,  varietal  names 
are  handed  out  far  too  liberally,  and  the  man  who  is  the  most  puzzled  is 
the  one  who  tries  to  find  out  the  system  upon  which  the  whole  questioni 
is  conducted.  I  am  afraid  it  does  not  exist. — G.  H.  H. 
Gossip, 
Always  bright,  always  cheery  ;  how  I  do  look  forward  to  the 
advent  of  the  dear  old  Journal.  It  is  all  very  well  ;  you  professional 
gardeners  may  sniff,  and  say  it  is  much  above  my  head — and  so  parts 
of  it  are,  no  doubt,  but  there  is  also  provision  made  for  the  unlettered 
and  unlearned  ;  and  really  often  the  greatest  men  write  in  the 
simplest  style — at  any  rate,  they  make  themselves  the  most  interesting. 
This  is  a  specially  good  number  (December  13th),  and  I  have  had 
such  a  feast.  “  Home-staying  youths  have  ever  homely  wit.”  What 
a  splendid  idea  to  set  the  canny  Scot  off  on  his  travels  to  big  London 
town.  When  will  he  get  another  turn  out  ?  He  makes  sucb  good 
use  of  his  time  and  opportunities  that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  send 
him  off  on  the  Journal’s  account  armed  with  a  big  notebook.  Like 
the  Scot  he  is,  he  is  not  carried  away  with  enthusiasm ;  he  sees  the 
little  weak  spots,  and  takes  care  that  we  shall  know  them  too  I 
Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend  ! 
W.  S.,  WiltsT  writes  feelingly  what  he  knows  of  under-manned 
gardens,  where  everything  is  not  in  apple-pie  order.  If  boys  and 
men  could  be  trained  to  tidy  up  as  they  go  along  there  would  be 
no  great  accumulations  of  work — a  neglected  garden  is  a  sorry  sight. 
Some  people  would  pass  a  heap  of  rubbish  or  big  weed  twenty  times 
a  day  and  never  be  moved  to  effect  its  removal. 
Yes,  the  big  gardens  are  very  interesting  ;  but  privately  I  like  to 
hear  of  the  little  ones — one  feels  more  at  home  there.  I,  for  one, 
never  saw  “  Good  King  Henry  ”  grown  out  of  Lincolnshire,  and  I  am- 
taking  notes  of  the  early  garden  “  mums.”  No,  I  will  not  have  it ;  it 
is  very  very  seldom  a  farmer  is  a  bad  gardener.  If  from  press  of 
business  he  is  not  an  active  agent,  his  wife  sees  that  department  is- 
not  neglected.  The  gardens  are  often  quaint  and  delightful  in  the 
extreme,  and  I  claim  to  know.  I  do  not  wonder  at  the  cottagers 
wanting  the  judges  to  linger  I  the  garden  was  their  all,  and  a  very 
delightful  all.  Talking  of  Rose  names,  I  remember  our  old  groom, 
who  would  insist  on  Tin  Cherapin  and  Charles  Leafborough.  Ah  1' 
poor  fellow  ;  he  is  where  the  flowers  are  immortal. 
We  ought  to  be  among  the  happy  folk,  for  Lilium  candidum 
flourishes  in  our  garden.  It  is  an  imposing  flower,  and  so  much  “  at 
home”  in  the  lowliest  garden.  Late  dessert  fruits  from  Salisbury 
must  prove  this  to  have  been  an  exceptional  season.  I  thought  we 
had  done  well  to  have  a  dish  of  Peas  (Yorkshire  Hero)  November  12th. 
Ah,  well !  the  old  year  has  nearly  run  its  course,  and  it  has  been 
very  pleasant  and  fruitful  one.  We  know  not  what  awaits  us  in  the 
coming  century  ;  we  part  reluctantly  with  this.  I  came  to-day  across 
a  very  happy  thought,  beautifully  expressed  by  the  late  Charles 
Dickens  in  “  The  Old  Curiosity  Shop.”  The  old  sexton  is  talking  of 
the  plants  on  the  graves  (it  is  somewhere  near  the  Welsh  borders)^, 
and  he  says  they  never  flourish  long,  and  he  is  glad  of  it !  Why  ? 
He  takes  it  as  a  sign  that  Time  is  healing  the  broken  heart,  and  that 
the  mourner’s  interest  is  with  the  living  rather  than  the  dead.  Our 
own  time  is  so  short  we  cannot  always  grieve,  and  grief  is  often  so 
selfish.  Once  more  we  twine  our  Christmas  wreaths  and  light  our  Yule 
logs,  and  read  in  the  glowing  firelight  happy  auguries  for  the  coming 
year. — The  Missus. 
