THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



267 



summer he took a trip to Europe at his employer's ex- 

 pense, with power to purchase such rare plants as he 

 might select. His salary is now quite satisfactory to him. 

 Oh ! but you say, this was a rare case ; perhaps it was, 

 but I am sure at the rate wealth is increasing in this coun- 

 try the number of such places will steadily increase. I 

 like to quote Lord Bacon on this point: "When ages grow 

 to civility and elegancy men come to build stately, sooner 

 than to garden finely, as if gardening were the greater 

 perfection.'' 



The problem of how a gardener should set about 

 PREPARING HLMSELF FOR HIS LIFE WORK is, 

 in this country, a serious one. In the older countries of 

 Europe opportunities to acquire a thorough knowledge of 

 all departments are plentiful. There are so many estates 

 on which the grounds are admirably planned and planted 

 and where there are numerous houses adapted for prop- 

 agating and growing everything for the garden ; cold 

 pits and cold houses ; intermediate houses and "stove"' 

 houses with graperies, fruit house* and hot beds, so that 

 a man may get a thorough knowledge of gardening in all 

 branches; and there are many conmiercial places which 

 carry on all lines and where boys may go and learn the 

 business as they grow to manhood. There are only very 

 few such commercial places in America. In this country 

 almost all the trade establishments cultivate specialties, as 

 roses, carnations or palms. Nearly all of our good all- 

 around gardeners get their training abroad, and it is well 

 for any young man who can get a chance to learn gar- 

 dening under such a man, either on a large private place 

 or in a park, some of which in the larger cities, I am glad 

 to say, have now large ranges of glass and grow every- 

 thing but vegetables, which is a very important branch 

 and on which I may have a few words to say later. Some 

 of our colleges have now facilities for teaching gardening. 

 I wish that all of the colleges would follow the e.xample 

 of Cornell, where they have six greenhouses in which 

 students may gain a practical knowledge of plant growth, 

 learn how to prepare soil and manure, and have oppor- 

 tunity to gain a general knowledge of advanced garden- 

 ing. Many of the colleges have now a course in forestry, 

 and I understand that young men getting diplomas, if 

 otherwise fitted, can readily procure employment at fair 

 salaries. It seems to me that the time is now ripe for all 

 the leading colleges to build ranges of glass and have 

 courses in practical horticulture. Graduates from these 

 classes, and otherwise desirable, would have an advantage 

 over uneducated men in securing the best positions. The 

 recent establishment of classes in landscape gardening 

 by the Florists' Club of Boston is of great advantage to 

 those near enough to take aflvantage, and is an example 

 for all similar institutions e\cry where to imitate. 



Important as is the subject of forestry, gardening is 

 equally so. We can see on the part of American business 

 men a growing disposition as soon as they are financially 

 able, to establish gardens for their u.se and enjoyment and 

 as the most pleasant refuge from our all too strenuous life. 



To the gardener who wants to improve himself, books 

 are a paramount necessity. The recorded wisdom of the 

 ages is at your service here. Nicholson's "Dictionary of 

 Gardening" and Bailey's "Cyclopedia of American Horti- 

 culture" should be in the jiossession of every gardener; 

 they describe nearly every plant in cultivation and their 

 cultural notes are of very great value. I will not attempt 

 naming all the good books but cannot refrain from men- 

 tioning Jcnkin's "Art of Propagation and Improvement 

 of Cultivated Plants" ; Professor Taft's "Greenhouse Con- 

 struction" ; Hunt's "How to Grow Cut Flowers" ; Hen- 

 derson's "Practical Floriculture"; Falconer's "Mush- 

 rooms and How to Grow Them" ; Elwanger and Rey- 

 nolds Hole, on "Roses" ; Downing's "Fruits and Fruit 



Trees" ; Peter Henderson's "Gardening for Profit" ; Mrs. 

 Van Rensellaer's "Art Out of Doors"; "The Principles 

 of the Harmony and Contrast of Colors," by W. E. Chev- 

 reul ; Herrington and Smith on "Chrysanthemums." 



Cultivate a love of books; it is a habit that grows by 

 indulgence ; as the fondness for books grows you can add 

 to your library ; all the larger seed houses now carry the 

 best of the horticulture books which you are privileged 

 to look over and select according to your needs or taste. 

 Subscribe for one or more of the trade papers and get 

 your names on the list of the Agricultural Stations so as 

 to get up-to-date information ; the result of the latest 

 experiments along all lines. The seedsmen's catalogues 

 are great educational factors. I know of no greater im- 

 provement horticulturally than in the character and con- 

 tents of these valuable publications. A gardener should 

 study natural landscapes so as to readily apprehend their 

 points of beauty and their beauty as a whole, and then 

 with "the art that doth mend nature," put the finishing 

 touches thereto. 



Every garden may be made more interesting by ex- 

 celling in some specialty ; every gardener should have a 

 hobby. If the place be a small one and your opportunity 

 meagre, take in the flower line, Pansies, Verbenas or 

 Phlox Drummondii or the Herbaceous Phlox and in the 

 greenhouse plants, either Cyclamen, Cineraria, Primula, 

 etc. By saving your own seed, carefully selecting, year 

 after year, the finest, it is astonishing how you can improve 

 the varieties in any species. Like results follow a similar 

 course in vegetables. Buy, for instance, the finest varie- 

 ties of corn and select from these for seed the ears that 

 contain the greatest average of good points, as flavor, 

 size and good appearance and you are likely to get corn 

 better than you can buy. Or if your place and oppor- 

 tunity are greater, start, for instance, making a collection 

 of Conifers, in groups or in single specimens, or a collec- 

 tion of Rhododendrons, or Lilacs, of which there are now 

 so many fine kinds; or Roses or Paconias or similar plants 

 in the hardy garden. Vou will find in a few years your 

 constant and careful pursuit of your hobby will result in 

 making you and the place you represent more or less 

 famous,' and your application to work along a special line 

 will enable you to give valuable points to your fellows. 

 As Emerson says, "If you make shoes better than anyone 

 else you will find a path beaten to your cottage door." 



It is profoundly interesting to study how new varieties 

 come. Nature works, often we know not how, in bring- 

 ing forth new varieties, the influence of heredity undoubt- 

 edly prevails to some extent and instances are not want- 

 ing to show that it does. Let me give you just one in my 

 own experience. Three years ago we made a number of 

 crosses in Carnations, using the variety Harlowarden as 

 one of the parents; you will recollect that this sort has a 

 very long, very desirable stem and we noticed that about 

 one-fifth of these seedlings had this Harlowarden stem, 

 but there were characteristics developed in a number of 

 seedlings which had no visible connection with either of 

 the parents. Sometimes, however, the influence of both 

 parents can be distinctly traced. Time will allow me to 

 mention only one or two instances. Many of you will 

 recollect the introduction of the "Daybreak" Carnation, a 

 charming variety which had not many stems, but these 

 were long and stiff and every shoot i)rnduced a flower. 

 .\bout the same time was introduced "Tidal Wave," 

 which produced many stems but lacking in length ; the 

 crossing of these two varieties produced the famous 

 "Lawson," which inherited the good points of both varie- 

 ties. Among the seedlings with Lawson blood has been 

 found Enchantress, which I think has more good qualities 

 than any other variety and following along this line has 

 resulted in producing a free blooming, vigorous type 



