BOMBAY GARDENS 



iliai tLt ■■ Sitfti-b or Mi n/-S((hvb are their master* In more than name. 

 Should the h/a/i be left entirely to himself, be will soon become 

 • -a re less and negligent, and continue to do all kinds of work just as 

 his father did, and his grandfather before him. (In fortunately the 

 iiutJi is not a gardener in the right sense of the word, and he has, 

 as a rule, no interest or love for his plants, which he treats quite 

 mechanically, without elver thinking of them as living subjects. He 

 will water a plant whether it is dry or not, that makes no difference 

 to him, he thinks it his duty to water every pot, regardless of its con- 

 tents, and he often wastes water by continuing to water a plant that 

 has been dead for a. long time. He will generally know w r hen and 

 how to propagate plants or to transplant or repot them, how to clip 

 the lawn or grass border ; but it is far from safe to leave him alone 

 in any kind of pruning, or he is sure to disfigure the plant. He 

 knows something about weeding, but his religious superstitions will 

 rarely allow him to uproot certain plants, as the sacred " tulsi " 

 (Ocymum sanctum), or the holy "peepul" (Ficus reliyiom), and should 

 a plant, which he knows not to be a weed, happen to have found its 

 way into a pot or tub, containing quite a different plant, he will 

 sooner allow the former to kill the latter, than ever think of uproot- 

 ing it. He has a perfect horror for caterpillars, chiefly the hairy 

 ones, and it is only with the greatest reluctance that he consents to 

 pick them off, when told, and unless closely watched he will not 

 willingly destroy them. He will seldom of his own accord think of 

 supporting a plant with a stick or trellis-work before actually neces- 

 sary, and he will then as a rule choose the thickest possible pole he 

 can find, or the stoutest rope he can get hold of. At first he will 

 probably, if you understand his language — which, by the way, is 

 Mahratti — meet your remonstrances with incredulity, and use all 

 his eloquence, which principally consists in varied repetitions, to 

 persuade you that such and such a thing cannot possibly be done in 

 this country, that this plant must certainly die if you transplant it, 

 or that that one will never flower any more if you prune it, and so 

 on, until he discovers that you are firm and knows more than himself. 

 Then you will find that your labour is not wasted, and that he is 

 willing to learn, and be taught, and that in reality he is less 

 of a blockhead than vow gai&hl at first believe, One oJ his favourite 



