46 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  16,  1903. 
garden  examinations.  There  is  no  compulsion  about  it, 
but  it  is  just  a  matter  of  custom,  and  the  gardener  return's 
to  his  home  quite  contented  with  his  outing.  In  fact,  it  is 
just  his  way  of  spending  a  holiday ;  and  if  he  enjoys  it  I 
can  see  no  reason  why  anyone  else  should  complain. 
There  is  a  peculiar  unwritten  law  of  freemasonry  which 
gives  to  gardeners  the  privilege  of  visiting  each  other’s 
places  ad  lib,  with  a  reasonable  certainty  of  receiving  a 
welcome  and  a  readiness  on  part  of  the  person  visited  to 
drop  whatever  task  he  may  have  in  hand  and  show  you 
round.  If  a  member  of  auy  other  occupation  were  to  visit  a 
gardener,  about  whom  he  knew  but  little,  he  would  probably 
get  straight  looks  and  a  stiff  welcome  ;  but  tell  the  man  that 
you  are  one  of  his  own  calling,  and  have  just  come  for  the 
purpose  of  looking  round,  and  all  reserve  vanishes  like 
vapour.  As  gardeners  you  are  friends  at  once,  and  if  by 
any  chance  you  should  happen  to  have  lived  in  the  same 
bothy  at  different  periods  the  friendship  develops  itself  into 
that  of  quite  a  bosom  character.  Nor  is  there,  moreover,  any 
half-heartedness  about  a  gardener  when  he  is  surveying  the 
charge  of  a  brother  craftsman.  He  takes  a  deep  unfeigned 
interest  in  things,  and  if  it  is  a  characteristic  of  gardening 
human  nature,  for  the  individual  visited  to  enlarge  on  the 
rough  condition  of  the  place  when  he  took  charge,  and  the 
improvements  effected  since,  it  is  all  part  of  the  programme, 
and  the  visitor  knovv's  that  he  will  have  the  privilege  of 
doing  the  same  thing  when  his  friend  calls  on  him  in  turn. 
In  its  way  the  gardening  press  encourages  garden  visit¬ 
ing  by  publishing  descriptions  of  different  gardens  from 
time  to  time  ;  and  though  it  is  no  wish  of  mine  to  quarrel 
with  the  editors  for  doing  this,  I  am  afraid  these  descrip¬ 
tions  are  not  always  very  interesting  to  read.  It  is,  of 
course,  instructive  to  hear  of  fine  establishments,  but  I  am 
afraid  that  when  the  account  of  the  visit  appears  on  paper 
it  often  flavours  rather  too  much  of  the  personal.  The 
world  at  large  is  not  particularly  interested  to  learn  that 
Mr.  So-and-So  has  got  a  fine  batch  of  Chrysanthemums 
coming  along,  or  a  houseful  of  forced  Beans  free  from  red 
spider ;  and  I  mention  this  as  a  hint  to  those  who  describe 
gardens,  to  confine  themselves  to  features  of  general 
interest  and  leave  out  details.  They  can  keep  the  minor 
points  for  themselves,  and  find  plenty  of  interest  in  discuss¬ 
ing  them  with  the  chief  of  the  garden  visited. 
I  am  afraid  also  that  garden  visiting  is  not  always 
prompted  by  a  purely  friendly  and  neighbourly  spirit,  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  so  because  I  once  served  in  an  estab¬ 
lishment  which  had  a  reputation  at  that  time  for  Chrysan¬ 
themums.  Just  before  the  shows  came  on  in  the  autumn 
hardly  a  day  passed  but  that  a  gardener  or  two  dropped  in, 
presumably  to  have  a  look  round,  though  they  took  little 
interest  in  anything  but  the  ’Mums,  and  the  most  curious 
thing  was  that  almost  without  exception  they  were  growers 
and  exhibitors  themselves.  Of  course,  there  was  nothing 
out  of  order  in  the  visits,  and  they  only  wanted  to  see  how 
things  were  looking  in  view  of  the  coming  shows  ;  but, 
bless  you,  they  wouldn’t  have  admitted  that  for  anything. 
I  can  imagine  nothing  more  tedious  to  a  person  who  is 
not  interested  in  horticulture  than  to  go  round  an  estab¬ 
lishment  with  a  pair  of  gardeners.  In  the  first  place,  they 
generally  do  the  round  very  leisurely,  stopping  continually 
to  argue  of  some  little  thing,  and  going  back  a  few  yards 
to  examine  something  that  has  been  overlooked.  Perhaps 
they  are  old  friends,  and  one  drops  a  remark  relating  to 
some  incident  which  happened  in  the  long  ago.  It  is  quite 
enough,  and  the  whole  matter  has  to  be  lived  over  again, 
to  the  intense  enjoyment  of  both  of  them.  Mutual  friends, 
too,  have  to  come  under  discussion,  and  sympathies  are 
extended  to  poor  old  So-and-So,  who  managed  to  lose  his 
place,  and  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  secure  another  one. 
This  is  part  of  the  loyalty  of  the  craft.  Brothers  in  mis¬ 
fortune  are  neither  forgotten  nor  overlooked,  and  the  wel¬ 
fare  of  both  the  unfortunate  and  the  successful  are  freely 
discussed  when  one  gardener  pays  a  periodical  visit  to  the 
establishment  in  charge  of  another. 
Being  a  gardener  I  willingly  and  readily  admit  to  have 
inherited  the  weakness  for  visiting  other  people’s  gardens, 
but  I  have  a  decided  inclination  for  the  establishments  in 
w’hich  I  have  lived  and  laboured  in  the  past.  This  I  take 
to  be  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  many  gardeners,  for 
there  is  a  peculiar  sentiment  that  attracts  you  to  the  garden 
with  which  you  have  been  connected  in  the  years  that  are 
gone._  Old  familiar  scenes  strike  you  in  a  new  light,  you 
take  interest  in  the  changes  that  have  been  made  in  the 
meantime,  and  note  the  r?s\dt  of  certain  operations,  for 
the  performance  of  which  you  were  perhaps  responsible. 
Generally,  amid  the  changes  that  take  place  in  gardening 
establishments,  the  labourers,  or  some  portion  of  them, 
remain  till  old  age  or  rheumatism  necessitates  their  retire¬ 
ment,  and  when  you  visit  the  place  after  an  absence  of 
years  they  welcome  you  with  a  smile  of  unfeigned  pleasure, 
and  the  grip  of  their  horny  hands  is  of  a  true  and  honest 
character.  The  man  who  has  no  sentiment  in  his  soul  is 
an  individual  to  be  pitied,  for  a  good  deal  of  the  quiet 
pleasure  of  this  life  is  obtained  through  the  medium  of  the 
attribute  which  some  people  treat  so  lightly.  Depend  upon 
it  also  that  the  gardener  who  leaves  a  place  without  leaving 
a  friend  behind  him,  or  no  one  to  welcome  him  back  or  take 
an  interest  in  his  welfare,  is  a  person  whose  shortcomings 
it  is  not  well  to  inquire  into. 
Thi'ough  the  very  nature  of  his  occupation  the  gardener 
is  a  nomad,  who  flits  from  place  to  place  with  no  surety  of 
settling  long  anywhere.  It  is  true  there  are  many  who 
stay  for  a  lifetime  in  the  same  establishment,  but  this  is 
their  good  fortune  ;  and  others,  through  a  variety  of  cir¬ 
cumstances  common  to  the  craft,  have  to  pack  their  belong¬ 
ings  again  and  again,  and  pass  on  to  fresh  scenes  of  labour. 
It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  these  men  do  not  forget,, 
and  when  circumstances  permit  they  take  pleasure  in  visit¬ 
ing  the  old  scenes  and  renewing  the  acquaintanceship  of 
old  friends.  Sentiment  may  prompt  it  all,  but  I  take  it 
that  it  is  this  spirit  of  freemasonry  and  good  fellowship, 
that  is  responsible  for  the  gardener’s  weakness  for  garden 
visiting. — H. 
Campanula  garganica  and  its  Varieties. 
For  planting  in  the  rock  garden,  or  on  the  rockwork  edging: 
of  the  flower  border,  we  have  no-  prettier  little  summer  flower 
of  creeping  or  trailing  hahit  than  the  Gargano  Harebell,  as  Cam¬ 
panula  garganica  is  popularly  called.  It  is  more  suited  for  these 
purposes  than  for  planting  on  the  level  surface  of  the  border,, 
but  it  mip'ht  bo  used  to  form  a  small  bed  by  itself,  and  in  this 
form  it  would  be  a  pleasing  thing  for  a  good  while  during  the- 
summer  months.  The  whole  plant  is  rather  downy,  and  it  has 
kidney-shaped  radical  and  heart-shaped  stem  leaves.  These 
stems  are  trailing,  though  they  are  not  of  excessive  length,  so 
that  a  few  plants  together  would  make  a  good  appearance  any¬ 
where  when  in  bloom.  The  flowers,  which  are  of  good  size,  are 
of  a  brilliant  blue-purple,  with  white  centres,  and  are  produced 
in  great  numbers.  The  actual  height  of  the  plant  is  only  a  few 
inches,  raroly  exceeding  six,  and  it  is  thus  onei  of  the  most  useful 
of  our  dwarf  flowers,  from  June  onwards,  wdien  it  comes  into- 
bloom.  There  are  three  well-marked  varieties  of  C.  garganica, 
the  first  to  he  named  being  the  white-flowered  variety  of  the 
type,  and  of  exactly  the  same  habit,  but  with  white,  flowers.  It 
is  in  every  way  as  free  as  the  blue  form. 
Campanula  hirsuta,  .sometimes  called  a  species,  is  even  more 
charming  than  the  type.  It  is  densely  covered  with  greyish  hairs, 
which  give  quite  a  downy  effect  to  the  plant.  Perhaps  it  is. 
owing  to  these  hairs  having  a  deterrent  effect  upon  the  slugs, 
but  these  pests,  which  attack  the  typical  jilant  when  in  gardens, 
infested  by  these  vermin,  do  not  attack  the  hirsute  form  to  any 
extent.  The  flowers  are  a  lighter  blue-purple  than  those  of 
the  type,  and  the  whole  iilant  is  more  slender  and  elegant  in. 
appearance.  There  is  now  in  cultivation  a  scarce  variety  with 
white  flowers.  This  has  just  been  sent  out  from  a  northern 
nursery,  and  having  seen  it  in  bloom  before’  it  was  for  sale,  I 
have  been  glad  to  secure  it  at  the  first  opportunity.  Its  flowers. 
are  pure  white,  and  it  seems  to  he  a  good  doer  in  every  'way. 
There  is  a  considerable  amount  of  variation  in  the  plants  or 
the  species,  but  the  four  named  may  safely  be  taken  as  forming 
the  main  types  of  all  the  forms.  Campanula  garganica  was 
originally  found  by  Tenore  on  Mount  St.  Angelo,  near  Naples,, 
in  Italy,  and  it  received  its  name  from  the  old  name  of  the 
mountain  (Mt.  Garganus).  As  already  said,  it  is  commonly 
known  as  the  Gargano  Harebell  ;  but  another,  and  more  pleasant 
sounding  one,  is  “  the  Harebell  of  St.  Angelo.”  It  was  intro¬ 
duced  in  1832.  The  cultivation  of  C.  garganica  does  not  present 
much  diffioulty,  although  it  prefers  a  di’y  and  sunny  position, 
and  ecccesisive  moi.sture  is  decidedly  injurious  to  it.  I  it 
grows  more  vigorously  if  treated  occasionally  to  a  little  fine 
bonemeal,  well  watered  into  the  soil ;  but  this  is  not  necessary 
in  all  gardens,  and  would  be  injurious  in  many.  It  is_  easily 
increased  by  seeds  or  by  division,  the  latter  being  performed 
in  spring.  Mt  may  be  said  that  it  is  sometimes  beautifully 
grown  in  hanging  pots  and  baskets,  though  the  popularity  of 
C  isophylla  and  C.  fragilis  has  retarded  its  use  in  this  manner. 
— S.  A. 
