"Young Gardener" says: "I notice that the Gardeners' Monthly interests itself in a wide range of intelligent topics. I therefore make no apology for inquiring whether a recent writer who used ' two waterpotfulls of liquid' would not have done better if he had said 'two waterpots full?' "

[The English grammar is peculiar in this, that it is founded on the meanings of words, rather than on the words themselves. For instance, the genders are constructed on the sexes of the creatures we talk about, and not on the mere form of a word as in some languages; hence we can oftener get at the correct form of the words desired by studying what we mean to say, than by following merely the rules of the schools. Again, for instance, we say " I should hate to be a man like him," or " I should hate to be a man like he," with equal propriety according to what we mean by " like." The last seems harsh, and would hardly be tolerated in school, but if we put its equivalent, " such as," in its place, and say " I should hate to be such a man as he is," you see it is correct. Further, the schools tell us to say " two and two are four," and that "two and two is four," is shocking. If we mean that two articles and two other articles make four articles, "two and two are four" is correct; but if we mean to ask the sum total of the figures 2 and 2, that sum total "is" 4.

Now for the two waterpots full. This would be the form with those who feel that our language should go by rule and not by sense. It is the common form with scholastic people. But the person who uses it is not referring so much to the water pot, or whether it is exactly full or not; but he wants to convey the idea of a definite quantity. Full is used in the sense of a "filling." You are to use the filling of a cup, pot or hand - or two " fillings " or " fulls " of these. Indeed, we do not use the two words "waterpot fulls or hand fulls," but make one word to represent a measure or quantity - waterpotfuls or handfuls.

If one does not care to be criticised for his belief, however, it is fortunate that the English language is so elastic that he can change the whole form of the sentence, and still be right. - Ed. G. M.]