" 240

" coronarium " 256

HOW THE COLLECTION WAS FORMED

This question may be answered shortly; it was formed--at least the
beginning of it--under compulsion. After fifteen years of very hard work,
Mr. Measures broke down. The doctor prescribed a long rest, and insisted
on it; but the patient was equally determined not to risk the career just
opening, with an assurance of success, by taking a twelve-months' holiday.
Reluctantly the doctor sought an alternative. Yachting he
proposed--hunting--shooting; at length, in despair, horse-racing!
Zealously and conscientiously undertaken, that pursuit yields a good deal
of employment for the mind. And one who follows it up and down the country
must needs spend several hours a day in the open air. Such was the
argument; we may suspect that the good man had a sporting turn and hoped
to get valuable tips from a grateful client.

But nothing would suit. After days of cogitation, at his wits' end, the
doctor conceived an idea which might have occurred to some at the outset.
'Take a house in the suburbs,' he advised, 'with a large garden. Cultivate
some special variety of plant and make a study of it.' This commended
itself. As a boy Mr. Measures loved gardening. In the Lincolnshire hamlet
where he was born, the vicar took pride in his roses and things, as is the
wont of vicars who belong to the honest old school. It was an hereditary
taste with the Measures' kin. Forthwith a house, with seven acres of land
about it, was purchased at Streatham--'The Woodlands,' destined to win
renown in the annals of Orchidology.

But the special variety of plant had still to be selected. It was to be
something with a flower, as Mr. Measures understood; hardy, and so
interesting in some way, no matter what, that a busy man could find
distraction in studying it. Such conditions are not difficult for one
willing to spend hours over the microscope; but in that case, if the mind
were relieved, the body would suffer. At the present day orchids would
suggest themselves at once; but twenty or twenty-five years ago they were
not so familiar to the public at large. One friend proposed roses, another
carnations, a third chrysanthemums, and a fourth, fifth, and sixth
proposed chrysanthemums, carnations, and roses. Though the house and the
large garden had been provided, Mr. Measures did not see his way.

I am tempted to quote some remarks of my own,