536 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
December  10,  1903 
a  place  in  any  third  rate  collection,  except,  of  conrse,  it  be  where 
a  special  interest  is  taken  in  this  type.  It  is  an  exception  now¬ 
adays  to  find  even  one  variety  at  an  exhibition. — Sadoc. 
The  Price  of  Flowers. 
Referrini^  to  the  touching  tale  under  this  heading  (p.  522  of 
December  3),  I  am  reminded  of  an  equally  true  and  still  stranger 
Alpine  legend.  In  this  latter  case  it  was  a  young  peasant,  whoi 
was  swallowed  up  in  a  glacier  during  the  honej-moon ;  he  was 
only  twenty  at  the  time.  Some  twenty-five  years  after,  the 
body  was  discovered  by  his  son,  who  was  living  near  with  his 
widowed  mother,  and  (an  otherwise  incredible  case,  the  body 
being  in  perfect  ]jreservation)  of  a  son  being  physically  older  than 
his  father. — A.  C. 
Edwardes  Square,  Kensington. 
This  fine  square,  with  other  property  of  the  Kensington 
family,  was  recently  put  up  for  sale,  but  the  centre  of  the  square 
did  not  sell.  The  London  County  Council  is  anxious  to  preserve 
this  and  many  other  squares  now  much  in  peril  of  being  built 
over,  but  there  is  the  money  difficulty.  Edwardes  Square  was 
laid  out  in  1819  by  Aiglio,  a  notable  Italian  landscape  gardener, 
in  clumps  and  winding  walks.  Since  then  it  has  undergone  some 
alterations.  Russell  Square,  a  still  grander  space,  is  a  memorial 
of  the  work  of  Kept  on,  dating  from  1810,  though  people  found 
fault  with  it  as  being  overplanted.  It  was  Renton  who  wished 
to  lay  out  what  is  called  Cadogan  Gardens  to  represent  a  valley, 
having  winding  w'alks,  sloping  banks,  and  a  .small  lake  in  the 
middle.  At  that  time  the  place  was  called  Sloane  Square,  which 
has  caused  sonie  confusion.  However,  it  became  the  nursery  of 
Salisbury,  a  well-known  botanist  and  author,  and  subsequently 
it  vvas  for  many  years  in  the  hands  of  Tuck,  wlio  had  at  first  the 
middle  garden  of  Eatpn  Square.  In  fact,  quite  a  number  of  the 
.suburban  squares  have  been  occupied  as  nurseries,  though  at 
present  appropriated  to  the  residents  around,  or  to  the  public 
generally. — J.  R.  S.  C. 
- - 
The  Proposed  Gardeners’  Association. 
All  craftsmen  and  industrial  workers  must  organise  “  for 
defence,  not  defiance.”  nowadays,  and  gentlemen’s  gardeners  as 
isolated  units  scattered  all  over  tlie  length  and  breadth  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  are  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and 
their  isolation  renders  them  defenceless  against  imposition  of 
many  kinds.  If  it  be  true  that  “  union  is  strength  ”  it  must 
often  follow  that  isolation  and  weakness  are  often,  even  if  not 
always,  synonymous  terms.  A  well-organised  national  union  or 
guild  of  British  gardeners  would  do  more  than  any  other  thing  I 
know  to  encourage  the  progress  and  improvement  of  gardening 
in  the  British  Islands. — F.  W.  Burbidge. 
This  is  a  .subject  which  has  been  in  the  minds  of  many  gar¬ 
deners  for  years,  and  often  have  I  conversed  with  others  about 
the  advisabilit.v  of  establishing  such  a  guild,  but  I  have  always 
been  met  with  the  question,  “  Would  such  an  association  have 
any  influence  on  our  employers?”  It  is  evident  to  every  think¬ 
ing  man  that  any  conditions  which  would  not  meet  with  the 
approval  of  the  employers,  or  at  least  the  majority  of  employers, 
would  do  little  to  mend  matters.  Gardening  is  a  profe.ssion  which 
gives  no  guarantee.  No  society  can  ever  bring  about  such 
changes  as  gardeners  would  like  to  see.  A  boy  takes  a  love  for 
gardening  at  a  very  early  age  (such  was  my  own  case),  and  he 
becomes  apprenticed.  Three  years’  hard  work,  and  he  struggles  on. 
Pereonally,  I  have  now  had  eighteen  years  in  the  various  depart¬ 
ments,  serving  respectable  periods  under  .some  of  the  best  men 
in  the  countr.v,  particularly  fruit  growere,  yet  I  stand  no  better 
a  chance  of  securing  a  decent  appointment  tlian  a  man  who  serves 
two  years  in  a  college !  A  gardener  is  not  made  in  two  years ; 
no,  but  influence  does  more  than  practical  and  theoretical  know¬ 
ledge  can  do.  The  association  should  make  MERIT  the  key  in 
recommendations.  A  gaixlener,  that  is,  a  man  I  would  think 
worthy  of  calling  a  gardener,  is  a  great  reader.  His  calling 
demands  information  which  he  //iu.st  obtain  from  .several  sciences: 
botany,  chemistry,  geology,  physiography,  and  it  is  well  to  have 
a  good  sound  knowledge  of  geography.  Besides  this,  a  good  gar¬ 
dener  is  generally  found  capable  of  conversing  on  any  subject 
which  is  claiming  the  attention  of  the  imblic ;  in  fact,  he  is  a 
man  of  study.  The  question  is,  How  can  we,  as  a  body,  help 
the  man  who  gives  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  the  profession  to 
obtain  a  reward  in  the  shape  of  an  appointment?  Further,  can 
we,  by  amalgamation,  regulate  the  wages  paid?  The  latter  we 
can  never  do  ;  the  former  can  only  be  done  by  the  help  of  a 
society  like  the  Royal  Horticultural. — W.  B.,  R-oss. 
The  Uncut  R.H.S.  “Journal.” 
Sir  Trevor  Lawrence  once  said  the'  Council  had  now  given 
over  the  barbarous  practice  of  cutting  the  edges  of  the  Society’s 
Journal.  We  Fellows,  then,  who  wish  the  edges  of  the  Society’.s 
Journal  cut,  are  all  barbarianis ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  is  a  pity 
that  so  many  of  us  should  suffer  inconvenience  because  of  the 
“  petty  sentiment  ”  of  a  few,  as  “Chelsonian”  (page  510)  phrases 
it.  Let  the  Council  send  cut  edges  to  those  who  want  such. 
-  This  could  easily  be  arranged. — A  Scottish  Fellow. 
- ♦«♦»* - 
Gardeners’  Proverbs. 
After  reading  the  interesting  article  by  J.  R.  S.  C.,”  page  509,  1 
am  tempted  to  add  some  few  further  examples.  And  first  I  will  give 
an  enlarged  version  of  his  “  Oak,  Ash  ” : 
Oak  before  Ash, 
Have  a  splash  : 
Ash  before  Oak, 
Have  a  soak. 
In  the  “  Quarterly”  of  July,  1876,  it  is  given  as  follows: 
If  the'Oak  open  before  the  Ash 
'T  will  be  warm  and  dry,  with  good  Wheat  to  thrr  s'l ; 
But  if  Ash  leaves  open  before  the  Oak 
There  ’ll  be  cold,  and  of  rain  too  great  a  soak. 
If  the  Oak  and  the  Ash  open  nearly  together. 
Look  out  for  a  summer  of  changeable  weather. 
Weather  maxims  are  almost  endless  ;  pretty  well  every  month  has 
cue  saying  at  least.  I  will  not  inflict  all  these.  Three  or  four  will 
suflice : 
So  many  mists  in  hlarch  you  see, 
.So  many  frosts  in  May  will  be. 
May  has  not  a  good  character : 
Next  comes 'May, 
Whose  withering  sway 
Drives  all  April  flowers  away. 
Charles  Lamb  remarked  of  this  month : 
Unmeaning  joy  around  appears. 
And  Nature'smiles  as  though  she  steers  1 
The  Hop  proverb  is  : 
Till  St.  .lames  is  past  and  gone  ' 
There  may  be  Hops  and  there  may  be  none. 
Probably  drowth  is  better  than  drowning  ; 
Drowth  never  bred  dearth  in  England. 
When  the  sand  doth  feed  the  clay, 
England,  woe  and  well-a-day  ! 
But  when  the  clay  doth  feed  the  sand. 
Then  ’tis  well  for  Angleland. 
I  see  Peas  are  alluded  to.  Beans  have  also  their  ki'endar : 
When  Elm  leaves  are  as  big  as  a  shilling 
.  Plant  Kidney  Beans,  if  to  plant  you  are  willing. 
When  Elm  leaves  are  as  liig  as  a  penny 
You  must  plant  Kidney  Beans,  if  you  mean  to  have  any. 
1  will  conclude  with  Apples,  with  regard  to  which  th.ere  is  a  hemely 
saying: 
An  Apple,  an  egg,  .and  a  Nut, 
You  may  eat  after  a  slut ! 
There  is  another,  more  pleasing  and  very  ancient,  attributed,  1 
think,  to  Sappho,  and  referring  to  wh.at  -a  graceless-  world  has  called 
“  unappropriated  blessings,”  and  describing  her  position  : 
•  Like  a  sweet  Apple  that  hung  up  on  high. 
On  the  topmost  twig  there,  under  the  sky— 
Had  the  Apple  gatherers  then  forgot? 
'  Oh  no  !  they  saw,  but  could  reach  it  not. 
—A.  C. 
British  Ferns. 
The  Hart  s  tongue  Fern,  Scolopendrium  vulgare. 
In  many  parts  of  the  country,  especially  in  the  Western  and 
South-we.stern  counties,  the  Hart’ s-tongue  Fern  is  a  coiiSpicuous 
feature  of  the  wayside  vegetation,  its  long,  strap-shaped  fronds 
projecting  from  the  hedge-bottoms  in  company  with  the  Male 
and  Shield  Ferns  ;  or  on  the  old  walls  and  stone  dykes  we  ma.y 
see  it  in  a  much  dwarfed  state  lodged  in  the  crevices  and  asso¬ 
ciated  with  several  species  of  the  Spleenwort  tribe.  In  the  first 
case  we  may  find  huge  plants  with  fronds  two  or  more  feet  long, 
while  in  the  second  they  wdll  hardly  exceed  as  man v  inches. 
In  this  simple  fact  we  have  one  of  the  distinguishing  features 
of  the  Hart’ s-tongue,  viz.,  its  peculiarly  accommodating  nature 
as  regards  both  free  and  restricted  conditions  of  growth ;  its 
wall  companions,  the  Spleenworts,  we  shall  never  find  growing 
■with  it  in  the  soil  in  the  shady  woods,  nor  shall  we  find,  except  in 
extremel.y  rare  cases,  its  associates  of  the  hedgerow  growing  on 
walls.  Another  marked  feature  of  the  Fern  is  the  undivided, 
strap-like  frond,  a  flat  blade  shaped  like  a  two-edged  caiwing- 
knife,  with  a  central  rib  and  a  stalk,  the  base  of  the  blade  being 
