August  21,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
175 
twenty  fees.  I  am  quite  aware  that  the  sparrows  feed  their 
young  largely  on  insects  but  not  exclusively,  as  some  writers 
would  have  us  believe,  for  I  have  seen  them  fed  with  Lettuces 
which  I  wanted  for  another  purpose,  and  when  the  birds  grow 
up  they  do  not  trouble  much  about  insects  till  such  time  as 
they  have  a  family  to  rear.  Did  they  confine  their  attention  to 
a  limited  number  cf  plant's  which  are  large  and  crisp,  I  would 
not  complain,  but  they  prefer  small  plants  just  beginning  to 
grow,  and  it  takes  a  goodly  number  cf  these  to  satisfy  the 
voracious  creatures.  Besides,  if  as  I  more  than  suspect,  they 
are  denuding  the  country  of  birds  which  are  exclusively  insect 
feeders,  it  is  clear  they  do  more  harm  than  good,  and  that  was 
the  opinion  of  our  dear  old  friend  the  late  Miss  Ormerod,  who 
was  no  mean  judge. — Wm.  Taylor. 
- <♦«»♦► - 
The  Cheddar  Pink  and  Cther  Plants. 
Those  who  possess  what  is  now  termed  a  wall  garden,  are 
usually  able  to  look  upon  the  little  Cheddar  Pink  as  one  cf  its 
prettiest  adornments.  Such  will  be  more  interested  in  it  after 
reading  Mr.  H.  R.  Richards’  description  of  the  wild  rocky 
home  of  Dianthus  csesius.  A  plant  may  be  beautiful ;  it  becomes 
doubly  so'  when  its  surroundings  are  likewise.  And  although 
the  flowers  of  the  Cheddar  Pink  are  frail  when  seen  against  the 
full,  round  garden  Pink,  the  silvery,  compact  foliage  would 
render  it  worthy  cf  a  place  were  it  altogether  blossomless.  That 
place  should  be  by  preference,  an  old  wall  or  rockery,  for  on 
flat  borders  the  plant  is  inclined  to  rot  off  in  wet  winters.  Those 
who  regret  to  see  the  ever  increasing  list  of  extinct,  or  nearly 
extinct  British  plants,  would  only  be  glad  if  all  the  rarer  native 
plants  had  such  a  strong  fortification  to  retire  upon  as  is  the  case 
with  this  Pink.  Plants  that  inhabit  the  rocky  cliffs  and 
mountains  of  an  island  are  well  protected  against  extermination, 
while  some  that  grace  the  grassy  lowlands  with  quaint  beauty, 
as  in  several  of  our  Orchids,  are  too  easily  rooted  out.  In  Edin¬ 
burgh  we  have  a  rare  native  plant  that  is  found  in  much  the 
same  positions  as  is  the  Cheddar  Pink.  This  is  the  Viscid 
Catchfly  (Lychnis  Viscaria)  whose  improved  double  forms  are 
among  the  best  bright  flowers  of  summertime.  Even  in  its  wild 
condition  it  is  a  pretty  plant,  although  often  starved  and  stunted 
in  hot,  dry  seasons.  In  the  good  soil  of  a  garden,  its  flowers 
increase'  in  size  and  its  appearance  improves.  This  pink  Catch- 
fly  grows  plentifully  enough  at  Blackford  Hill,  near  Edinburgh, 
but  nearer  the  city,  on  Samson’s  Ribs,  a  precipitous  cliff  of 
Arthur’s  Seat,  it  is  not  so  easily  gathered.  In  some  years  one 
may  find  it  low  enough  down,  while  in  others  a  climb  up  the 
crumbling  basaltic  pillars  is  needful  to  procure  the  plant.  This 
is  dangerous  to  ribs  other  than  “Samson’s!”  Another  plant 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Richards  in  addition  to  the  Dianthus,  is  the 
elegant  yellow  Welsh  Poppy  (Meconopsis  cambrica).  It  is  a 
perennial  that  likes  to  be  squeezed  by  the  roots,  so  that  a  wall 
or  cliff  affords  it  a  happy  home.  In  Edinburgh  (it  is  not  wild 
here)  the  Welsh  Poppy  flowers  earlier  than  the  native  kinds. 
Its  season  in  the  rock  garden  is  over  now,  and  seeds  are  ripe. 
The  double  flowered  form,  a  plant  decidedly  worth  possessing, 
has  flowered  throughout  the  summer,  and  it  has  yet  a  blossom  or 
two,  compact  and  longer  lasting  than  the  ordinary  one. — D.  S. 
Fish. 
Dear  “  Old  Boy,”  **  ^  Of  a  Place. 
I  am  one  of  a  number  who  think  they  have  a  distinct  griev¬ 
ance,  and,  that,  too,  against  none  other  than  your  own  respected 
self.  I  can  imagine  that  many  of  your  admirers  will  at  once 
be  in  readiness  to  take  up  their  cudgels  on  your  behalf ;  but 
if  I  say  we  complain  more  in  love  than  anger,  I  hope  they 
will  not  be  quite  relentless  with  me  for  being  spokesman.  Our 
grievance  is  this:  You  have  at  various  times  addressed  articles 
of  encouragement  and  advice  to  the  budding  gardener,  the 
enthusiastic  journeyman,  the  aspiring  foreman,  and  the  young 
head  gardener,  all  of  which  we  know  have  been  appreciated, 
taken  to  heart  by  many  ;  but  never  a  word  have  you  written 
to  the  fellow  who  is  “  cut,”  and  whose  luck  is,  or  seems  to  be, 
“dead  out”  as  well,  and  there  are  many  of  us  in  that  pre¬ 
dicament  just  now. 
We  feel,  too,  as  if  we  had  been  unintentionally  misled  by  your 
kind  and  well-meant  advice,  and,  through  it,  have  been 
following  a  wrong  course1,  which  has  to  an  appreciable  degree 
brought  about  our  present  misfortune.  The  latter  we  attribute 
as  well  to  every  cause  imaginable,  excepting,  of  course,  our¬ 
selves,  and  what  Englishman  would  do  that? 
Some  of  us  trace  our  bad  luck  from  the'  advent  of  the  new 
century,  but  as  we  have  a  long  way  to  go  to  the  next,  we  cannot 
reasonably  hope  that  when  it  comes,  should  it  bring  a  better 
vein  of  fortune,  it  would  very  materially  affect  us.  Some' — 
disloyal  members  of  an  honourable  profession — say  the  Corona¬ 
tion  Year  has  brought  bad  luck  to  everybody,  His  Majesty 
himself  not  excepted,  and  that  the  “  screw  ”  is  being  applied 
in  every  direction,  but  in  no  place  more  so  than  in  the  garden, 
and  to  that  reason  their  presence  among  the  unfortunates  is 
attributed.  Others — these  a  very  large  number — ungallantly 
avow  that  the  fact  cf  their  being  out  is  directly  due—  I  use 
their  own  phrasing — “to  the  unreasonableness,  general  cussed¬ 
ness,  and  petty  tyrannies  of  swivel-minded  lady  employers.” 
As  if  any  lady  could  be  awkward,  or  unreasonable,  or  would  be 
if  she  could!  They  say,  too,  that  it  is  perfectly  useless  to 
attempt  to  reason  with,  or  expect  justice  from,  a  prejudiced 
woman.  On  the  latter  I  am  not  prepared  to  express  an  opinion, 
but  I  can  see  wisdom  in  not  pursuing  the  former  course  of 
action.  Some  of  these  degenerates  even  affirm  their  intention 
of  having  nothing  to  do  with  a  “shop”  where  the  “missus” 
is  “  boss,”  but  I  pointed  out  that  the  comparative  rarity  of 
bachelor-governed  gardening  establishments  would  render  them 
liable  to  be  out  a  very  long  time. 
Another  division  (these,  I  am  in  direct  sympathy  with)  say, 
that  on  making  application  for  any  vacant  post,  they  at  once, 
meet  with  the  rebuff,  that  no  foreman  will  be  treated  with,- 
although  the  candidates  may  have  spent  fifteen  or  twenty  years 
in  first-class  gardens.  One  employer  even  went  so  far  as  to  say 
that  he  wanted  a  man  with  at  least  ten  years’  experience  as  head, 
but  when  an  applicant  turned  up  with  the  necessary  experience, 
he  was  immediately  told  that  he  was  too  old  ! 
The  chief  reason,  however,  for  the  iron  having  entered  so 
deeply  into  our  soul,  is  the  fact  that  cur  one-time  bothy 
comrade  is  now  head  gardener  to  Lord - ,  at  a,  salary  of  £120 
a  year,  with  the  usual  perquisites,  scorning  the  advice  you  gave 
us  in  those  articles  we  read  with  so  much  pleasure  a  few  years 
ago,  spent  his  evenings  on  the  cricket  ground,  and  acquired 
the  secret  of  “off”  and  “leg-breaks,”  “leg  theory,”  &c.,  and  is 
now  captain  of  the  club  which  his  lordship  so  munificently 
maintains,  and  presides  at  the  luncheons  so  generously  provided 
for  the  home  fixtures  ;  while  we,  who  in  the  solitude  of  the  bothy 
struggled  with  the  mysteries  of  right  angle®,  equilateral, 
isosceles  triangles,  in  circumstances  very  much  “  off,”  are  peri¬ 
lously  near  being  “  stumped,”  with  scarcely  a  leg  to  stand  on, 
are  confronted  by  an  “asses’  bridge,”  which  no  study  of  the 
elements  of  geometry  will  help  us  to  negotiate;  and  as  the 
weeks  roll  on  into  months,  months  into  years,  our  depleted 
exchequer  becomes.  less  able  to  bear  the  strain  imposed  on  it, 
we  seem  likely,  eventually,  to  be  included  in  a  very  large 
“  natural  order,”  which  was  not  within  the  range  of  our  studies 
for  that  precious  South  Kensington  certificate,  the  common  or 
garden  name  of  which  is,  I  believe,  Ne’er  do  wells. 
This  condition  of  things  is  to  us,  to  say  the  least,  extremely 
disappointing,  although  Lord  So-and-So’s  gardener  says  he  ha® 
but  little  fault  to'  find  with  it,  and  that  if  either  of  us  had  been 
in  his  place,  well — he  would  not  have  been  there,  which  seems, 
logical.  He  added,  too,  that  lie  could  not  see  that  it  was  bad 
luck  which  put  him  in  his  present  position  instead  of  me, 
with  which  view  I  could  not  agree;  and  then  we  dropped  into- 
an  unprofitable  discussion  as  to  what  constituted  good  or  bad 
luck,  but  could  agree  on  no  point  except  that  it  was  bad  luck 
there  were  not  good  situations  for  us  all.  He  told  us  that  it 
was  his  fine  batting  while  living  at  N - ,  as  foreman,  which 
brought  him  into  notice,  and  which  enabled  him  to  obtain  the 
influence  necessary  to  secure  such  a  good  post  as  that  of  head 
gardener  to  Lord  - ,  when  it  suddenly  dawned  on  ue  what 
idiots  we  were  in  thinking  that  it  was  ability,  application,  and 
experience  that  were  the  chief  factors  necessary  towards  obtain¬ 
ing  an  appointment.  Influence  we  had  never  reckoned  with  at  . 
all.  “  H.”  informed  us  as  well  that  even  the  parson  at  N - - 
very  kindly  interested  himself  in  the  matter,  and  wrote 
Lord  - ,  saying  what  a  capital  fellow  lie'  (“  H.”)"  wasi,  and. 
how  useful  he  had  found  him  at  the  village  bun  struggles,  and. 
such-like  institutions,  and  how  delighted  he  should  be  to  hear 
that  Lord -  had  appointed  him  to  the  vacancy. 
We  heard  the  other  day  that  “H”  had  written  down  to 
C -  and  Co.  for  a  man  to  come  up  and  pot  his  Orchids,  as  he 
had  not  a  man  capable  of  doing  it,  which  seemed  to  us  admission 
that  he  could  not  do  it  himself.  An  old  companion,  now  in 
adversity,  whom  we  will  name  “Jack,”  whose  Cat  t  ley  as  at  the 
Temple,  and  Grapes  at  the  Palace,  when  he  was  foreman  at 
G -  Hill,  you  will  remember,  and  who  has  been  walking  the 
streets  of  late,  was  sent  down  to  do  the  potting.  “  H.”  actually 
admitted  to  “  Jack  ”  his  total  ignorance  of  Orchids  and  their 
requirements,  and  “Jack,”  in  that  suave  manner  of  his,'  said 
the  admission  was  perfectly  unnecessary.  He  always  had  a  nice 
way  of  saying  unpleasant  things.  I  expect  “  Jack  ”  will  go  on 
with  his  street  walking  when  he  has  finished,  unless  he  should 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  secure  a  berth,  but,  as  he  says, 
“How  the  pli’oeman  (he  didn’t  say  “  pli’oenxan  ”)  he  is  to  get  a 
second  head  place  without  having  a  first,  he  cannot  very  well 
see,”  and  under  present  conditions  the  latter  is  an  impossibility  ; 
but,  like  the  philosopher  that  he  is,  concludes  that  he  ought  to 
be  big  enough  (he  is  not  exactly  an  infant)  to  squeeze  in  some¬ 
where.  It  seems  to  us  we  have  made  a  mistake  in  not  following 
up  the  cricket  and  the  bun  struggles,  but  we  are  not  quite 
sure  on  the  point.  Any  advice  and  a  little  encouragement 
will,  I  know,  be  appreciated  by  those  who  Never  Despair. 
P.S. — We  get  down  to  Kew  whenever  we  can,  and  as  soon 
as  the  evening  classes  commence  shall  probably  have  another 
turn  at  those  triangles. 
