THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



579 



THE 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



OF AMERICA. 



MARTIN C. EBEL, Managing Editor, 



Published by 



CHRONICLE PRESS 



M. E. MAYNARD, President. A. A. FAY, Sec'y. 



Office of Publication 



1 MontKomery Street, Jersey City, N. J. 



New York Office 



236 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK CITY. 



Subscription Price, 12 Months, $1.00 :: Single Copies. 10 Cents 



Foreign, $1.50 

 Entered as second class matter February 18, 1905, at the Post Office at 

 Jersey City, N. J., under Act of Congress o£ March 3, 1879. 



Published on the 15th of each month. 



Advertising forms close on the 10th preceding publication. 

 For information regarding advertising rates, etc., address Advertising 

 Department, Gardeners' Chronicle, Madison, N. J. 



ADOPTED AS THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE 

 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS 



President, Vice-President, Treasurer, 



WM. H. WAITE. A. J. SMITH, JAMES STUART, 



Yonkers, N. Y. Lake Geneva, Wis. Mamaroneck, N. Y. 



Secretary, MARTIN C. EBEL, Madison, N. J. 



TRUSTEES FOR 1913. 



Peter Duff, Orange, N. T.; William Kleinheinz, Ogontz, Pa.; William 

 Ouckham, Madison, N. J.; Alexander MacKenzie, Glen Cove, N. Y. ; John H. 

 Oodds, Wyncote. Pa. 



DIRECTORS. 



To serve until 1914 — Robert Angus, Tarrytown, N. Y.; Robert Bottomley, 

 New Canaan, Conn.; Carl Schaeffer, Tuxedo Park, N. Y.; E. Wetterlow. 

 West Manchester, Mass.; T. J. Kempton, Baychester, N. Y.; E. Trethewey. 

 Tarrytown, N. Y.; Alexander Fraser, Newport, R. I. 



To serve until 1915— John Shore, Harrison, N. Y.; Thomas Proctor. 

 Lenox, Mass.; William ^. Craig, North Easton, Mass.; Frank E. Witney, 

 Fishkill, N. Y.; Robert Williamson, Greenwich, Conn.; F. Kirk, Bar 

 Harbor, Me.; James Bell, New York, N. Y. 



To serve until 1916 — Thomas W. l.oean, Jenkintown, Pa.; John F. Huss, 

 Hartford, Conn.; John W. Everett, Glen Cove, N. Y.; A. Bauer, Deal 

 Beach, N. J.; John W. Jones, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Alexander McPherson, 

 Washington, D. C; James C. Shield, Monticello, 111. 



Vol. XVI. 



JULY, 1913. 



No. 9. 



At a local society meeting recently it was protested 

 that the professional gardener had no representation 

 on the Park Commission in the community in which 

 the society is located, and it was advocated that steps 

 should be taken to force the authorities to place gard- 

 eners on all park boards and shade tree commissions. 



We were urged to devise some means by which this 

 could be brought about. Being unfamiliar with the 

 local conditions, our first question was, "What is 

 there in it to belong to the local board?" We were 

 informed that it is a labor of love; and so we advised 

 our gardener friends not to envy the fellow who may 

 be seeking a position to which there is nothing more 

 attached than hard work; where the man who, by 

 ]ierforming his duties conscientiously, will, every time 

 he pleases one man, displease another; will seldom 

 hear from those whom he pleases and will invariably 

 be criticized by those he displeases — although being 

 criticized for well-doing is no disgrace. 



But, we ask, what is there really to be profited by 

 the gardener who seeks a jjosition on a board or com- 

 mission to which no compensation is attached for ser- 

 vices rendered? When such commissions require 

 practical men to carry out the work wliich they ha\e 



planned, they then iiui.-l seek the gardener, and, in 

 his capacity of landscape architect, superintendent, 

 gardener, etc., he is engaged and compensated for his 

 work ; and these are the positions to strive for. 



It is argued by those of the local society advocat- 

 ing the placing of gardeners on commissions that ap- 

 pointments to such commissions should carry a salary. 

 They do in larger cities, but in small communities where 

 there are citizens — men of property and otherwise locally 

 interested — who are willing to devote their time to these 

 boards, it is not customary nor necessary. 



The gardener must also realize that the exception 

 is the rule where he is found to be a property owner 

 of his community, and that usually he remains only so 

 long as he is satisfied with his conditions. W'hen a better 

 opportunity seeks him elsewhere, he is nearly always 

 ready to take advantage of it, and then he loses all inter- 

 est in that locality from which he moves. Not so with 

 the man whose resources are invested in his home and 

 other local interests ; and the man that pays ta.xes is 

 usually looked upon as the man best qualified to spend 

 the appropriations voted out of taxes. 



Do not understand us as opposed to gardeners on 

 commissions or public boards — our motive for the atti- 

 tude we here assume is simply to reason from the other 

 point of view. There are two sides to every question, and 

 it is always well to weigh both. For our part, we are of 

 the opinion that the gardener generally does not take the 

 interest in local public affairs that he should. Gar- 

 deners are known to be law-abiding citizens, and we 

 have observed that most of them are highly esteemed ; 

 and where they manifest a proper interest in the pub- 

 lic welfare the gardeners' interest is usually recog- 

 nized. Nothing is to be gained, however, by getting 

 together and decrying the ability or motives of others 

 outside of the profession; this v^'ill only develop 

 greater opposition on the part of those assailed. 



LET'S GET ACQUAINTED. 



If I knew you and you knew me, 

 'Tis seldom we would disagree. 

 But never having yet clasped hands, 

 We often fail to understand 

 That each intends to do what's right. 

 And treat each other "honor bright" ; 

 How little to complain there'd be 

 If I knew vou and vou knew me ! 



THE GARDENER. 



To some all in life is the vigor of strife — 



To fight on low plains and high ridges ; 

 To some it is joy their strength to employ 



In rearing up buildings and bridges; 

 Some would fain rule the lands, and to some are the 

 hands 



That fashion the beauties of art, 

 But mine is a calling more deeply enthralling, 



'Tis dealing with Nature's own heart. 



Let riches, or fame, or praise be the claim 



Of some as the fruit of their toil — 

 But the rapture of seeing i>lants brought into being 



From naught but the bare ugly soil, 

 'Soft buds toelicit, and llowers exquisite. 



From the dead ground bring out blooming lives. 

 To win from the clods great blessings of God's — 

 'Tis for this that the gardener strives. 



— Herbert S. Richland. 



