564 THE GARDENER. [Dec. 



country, and, if so, they will find sundry openings not obtainable in the old 

 country. There is not by any means so great an improvement in the pay of the 

 gardener as of the labourer. Men satisfied with second or third class places, or 

 single-handed ones, may find their expectations answered — others not. If, how- 

 ever, there is less high gardening here, there are more chances in other ways. 

 The nursery business is fairly profitable, and in nurseries young men may find 

 good places from time to time ; and the cut-flower business— that is to say, the 

 growing of plants for the flowers they yield in winter — is still more so. The best 

 course of all for a young gardener is, after he has succeeded in saving a few hun- 

 dred dollars, to try and secure some ground of his own — not difficult in this 

 country — and establish himself as a nurseryman, grower of cut flowers, or mar- 

 ket-gardener. The two first may be, and often are, combined. The difficulty is, 

 of course, to get the means to start with, but the well-to-do florists round the 

 large cities came without a dozen dollars, and the coming men can win with the 

 same weight. But all should understand that success must be preceded by years 

 of patient labour ; therefore it should be attempted by no man who is not 

 young. Unless engaged for good situations previously, it is folly for gardeners 

 past their youthful prime to come here. Botanic gardens may be said not to 

 exist in this country, so there are but few chances for the budding curator. The 

 finest gardens in the country are the great public parks, such as the Central 

 Park at New York, and Fairmount Park at Philadelphia, — vast and beautifully 

 diversified pieces of ground, happily not yet overdone with flower-beds. But 

 parks of this kind are of necessity so few that they are scarcely worth alluding to 

 in this connection. In distant parts of this country, as most people know, 

 grants of land are to be had for the asking, or for a very low price ; but it need 

 hardly be added that to commence life on such, some little capital is required, 

 but not more than could be accumulated after a few years' work here. But the 

 hardships, loneliness, and inconvenience of out-settlement life are not such as 

 should be willingly encountered by any but the hardy, vigorous, and young. 

 Life in the backwoods or back-prairies may seem very nice in books, but it 

 means hard work and scant reward for a good many years. It is the second 

 generation that reaps the benefit of it. Yet with all its difficulties numbers of 

 young men from the long-settled and populous New England States go out west, 

 and say they like their lot there very well. Sometimes, too, town -bred men go 

 forth to break the virgin sod, and the young gardeners of England and Scotland 

 ought to be able to compete with any of these. The one charm among all the 

 difficulties encountered here is, that they lead to independence at last ; but that 

 life may not be thrown away in the attempt, it is necessary to begin young. 

 Briefly, then, the advice to gardeners thinking of coming here should be : If you 

 have a good or even a middling place at home, or even a good prospect, be con- 

 tent, and make the most of things as you find them around you. But if you are 

 young and strong, and poor and friendless, come and fear not, for no matter what 

 you turn your hand to here, you are almost certain to arrive at a better end than 

 the many poor gardeners at home, who are as dependent for their precarious liv- 

 ing at the end of a long life of hard work as at its commencement." 



