554 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



thing ; and the rising generation, if it is wise, need not wonder to 

 find those belonging to a previous generation laughing at what they 

 are not in sympathy with, and cannot understand. I do not wish to 

 cast any slight on years, be they few or many, for it is quite certain 

 that there are hoary-headed sages completely abreast of every new 

 matter belonging to their own favourite department of knowledge ; 

 but nothing should be accepted without a reason from any one, and 

 statements are worthy of approval only in so far as they express truths. 

 I often wonder who those are who joke about certificates ; and until 

 the names of a few are served uj) in print, no notice should be taken 

 of inferences drawn from premises perhaps without a foundation. 

 Doubtless there are plenty of cunning but ignorant fellows who hold 

 good posts, and who generally promote in proportion as the sponge is 

 used, or sometimes as their wives suggest, but they are not likely to 

 show themselves before the public. And also it is certain that stupid- 

 ity can adorn a shovel or a hoe, but intellectual training alone can give 

 any one that power for classifying details, and that nicety of discrim- 

 ination, which lead to a proper distribution of duties, and to the right 

 subordinate getting into the right place. It is but too well known that 

 in gardening, as in most other things, advancement is not always and 

 instantly in proportion to merit ; but I hope no one will be discour- 

 aged by this, for I have a strong faith in knowledge rightly used, and 

 belonging to an upright character, meeting with a suitable reward 

 somewhere ; for if one rank is closed, other ranks are open. It seems 

 to me intolerable, in a world full of real work requiring to be done, to 

 find people engaged in trying to destroy a thing good, if not perfect ; 

 and this is pretty much the case with those who attach hard names to 

 what the Society of Arts is endeavouring to perform ; for, in so far as 

 I am aware, not one of the detractors has yet suggested any improve- 

 ment on the method of procedure employed by that useful body. To 

 pull down without any capacity for building up again — to be a spoliator 

 and nothing more — seems to me to be one of the most thankless tasks 

 on the face of the earth. The being whose business lies in such a 

 channel is an object of pity rather than of envy. A good deal, too, 

 has been written about grinding^ but, as applied to gardeners, I hardly 

 know what either it or the term cramming means. A young man, who 

 works twelve hours per day, has surely time enough for reflection over 

 the few facts he is able to acquire in the short space he can call his 

 own. 



And then on the subject of apprentice fees, as having a bearing on 

 the gardener's financial interests rather than on his education, I may 

 say at once that I classify myself with those who go against jDayment 

 in that way. I call the taking or demanding a premium, in the 



