23 OCTOBER 1926, Page 50

A GARDENER'S ItIAXIBI.

A charming old French gardener was fond of saying (to those who lived in a certain Château during the War) that if only politicians were like gardeners there would have been no Germans in France. We have to see our work a year or more ahead so he argued. The politicians do not look beyond to-day. Perhaps amateur gardeners themselves are a little like the politicians ; they refuse to think about spring bulbs, or winter flowering bulbs in pots, until spring and winter are upon them. The proper date to set the mind on these most lovely things is October, when the earth is still warm and yeasty. In this regard it is now that " Hope is busy with buds of March," or at least should be.

W. BEAcrr THOMAS.