GARDENS AND GARDENING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18675, 3 October 1922, Page 4

GARDENS AND GARDENING.

Fouit hundred years have passed since Francis, Bacon adjudged gardening to be the purest of human pleasures and the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man. The Spring Show of the Dunedin Horticultural Society, which will he opened to-day, comes as a timely reminder of the truth of that authoritative dictum. In the course of the four' centuries i;reat strides, have been made in the science of pardoning, and specialisation in various directions has produced marvellous results for which man may be inclined to take the entire credit.

Yet as Maeterlinck in one of his illuminative* essays clearly sets forth, the intelligence of the flowers is in no wise, inferior to any knowledge that man may possess. The Belgian philosopher, whose close observations in' the gardening realm are continually revealed in his writings, cites the system of fertilisation observed in the case of the orchid. After remarking upon the ingenuity and deft dexterity of tho process, he draws the following striking parallel: Is it not exactly in this manner by means of trifles, of'successive overhaulmgs and rctouchinirs, that human inventions proceed? We have all, in tho latest of our mechanical industries, foil-"-ed the tiny but constant improvement m tho sparking, tho carburation. the eluten, and the snoed gear. It would really seem as though ideas came to the flowers m tho same way as to us. Tho flowers grope in the same darkness, encounter tho same obstacles, tho same ill-will, m the same unknown. They have tho same laws, tho same disillusions, the samo slow and difficult triumphs. They would appear ta possess cur patience, our perseverance, our self-love, the same varied and diversified intelligence, almost tho same hopes and the same ideals. They . struggle." like ourselves, against a great indifferent forca that -ends by assisting thorn Their inventive imagination not only follows the samo prudent and minute methods, the samo tiring, narrow, and winding paths; it also has. unexpected leaps and bounds that suddenly fix definitely an uncertain discovery. The reason for the formation of a Horticultural Society is that it seeks to link the intelligence of the flowers to the intelligence of the gardener, and out of this intelligent co-operation to reap the finest results to the joy of the beholder. Because of their mingled joy and beauty, gardens and flowers have ever been a favourite with tho poets, among whom T. E. Brown stands well nigh supreme with the well-known lines: A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot Rose plot. Fringed pool, Ferned .grot— The veriest school Of peace.-~ In these stormy days of wars and rumours of wars, there are multitudes of meti who find peace in a garden. The Horticultural Society's spring show is probably the favourite exhibition of the year because, while all spring flowers are undeniably welcome, the daffodil is the king of them all. Many of the poets have addressed beautiful lines to the daffodils, but in quaintness and truth nothing nas ever surpassed Herrick's stanza: Fair daffodils, we weep to see Yon haste away so soon ; As yot the early-rising sun Has not nttain'd his noon. .Stay, stay _ ■ Until the hasting day Has run But to tho evensong; And having prayed together,: wo Will go with you along. We have short time to stay, as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay, As you or anything. Wo die As your hours do and dry Away * Like to the summer's rain; Or as the pearls of morning's dew. Ne'er to bo found again. Herriek's lines are suitable to the occasion, since a special event of this week's spring show is tho competition in daffodils between Canterbury and Otago. This competition is especially attractive in that it will serve to reveal the amazing variety and the almost matchless perfection attained by. horticulturists in the cultivation and fertilisation of these "yellow flowei*s." When it is remembered that not many years ago the daffodil was despised., and treated as little better than a weed and that today its form and. texture are for ever changing, .Austin Dobson's attempt at moralising falls flat and rings untrue. "What ye have been, ye still shall be," exclaimed the poet. "When we are dust, the dust among,- 0 yellow flowers."