514 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



but do not allow one spot of water on the blooms or they 

 will be spoiled. 



Uncidiums as a class do not like too much water on 

 their foliage, and the better plan is to dip the pot in a 

 pail of water. I think the cause of deterioration of so 

 many of this beautiful family is due to a too free use of 

 the hose in general collections, and serious damage is 

 done before being noticed. 



Calanthe I'citchii, that has been at rest in a flat of peat 

 dust has now started to grow, and should be potted. The 

 compost is slightly different. A little cow manure and 

 fibrous loam should be added to the moss and peat, unless 

 your bulbs are large. I should use three-inch pots to 

 conmience with, and no crocks. However, I should use 



crocks in the final p.jts, which are of the six inch size for 

 one bulb. This plant likes heat, and as it makes all its 

 growth in Summer, it is no expense to any one grow- 

 ing it. 



The mealy bug and spider usually assail the plants. 

 They should be carefully syringed two or three times a 

 day. All orchids should stand on a stage, or on inverted 

 llower pots ; they will not shrivel in ash soil or in a hard 

 bed. 



Cymbidiums are noble plants, Loivianmn and eburneiim 

 are by far the most popular varieties grow'n. They like 

 an intermediate house to live in, and a little loam in the 

 compost. Their vigorous spikes often attain a length of 

 twelve feet. 



On the Gardeners' Side of the Fence 



KATHERINE FELLOWS 



AFTER the disturbances and distress of the past ten 

 years, the country is taking up the task of reor- 

 ganization. Many things that lay dormant during 

 the war are reviving, and among these is horticulture. 

 We are going to garden again — not alone for good, but 

 for pleasure — and if not this year, sometime in the near 

 future. j\lany of us will dig in our own backyards, but 

 for others it will be possible only by hiring good workmen. 



This gardener of the future, who will he be, and i;i 

 what garden is he to grow ? 



Recently this question has been much discussed. Some 

 say the lu.xurious and showy places with their burden of 

 overhead expense, are soon to become rare. The future 

 gardens are to be more modest, smaller, less pretentious, 

 but in many of them, whatever the scale, there will be a 

 demand for trained workmen. What of ihe supply " 



^lany articles upon this subject seem to be echoes of the 

 employers' or landowners' views, with special reference 

 to the gardener as a class. It seems curious that other 

 phases of the situation seem to have passed unnoticed. 



Gardening is an art, but it is also a profession. To be 

 a success in any art, one must have a certain aptitude 

 for it. Then it must not be distasteful. In fact, one 

 might say that it is rather essential to find it enjoyable. 

 On the other hand, it is a profession requiring long ap- 

 prenticeship, hard work and illimitable patience. 



Whichever way gardening is categoried, it is usually 

 followed by people who have an inherent love of soil. As 

 an art it pays more than generous dividends. The satis- 

 faction experienced in the work for its own sake is none 

 the less real, although it cannot be felt vicariously. For 

 the most part, this side of the case takes care of itself. 

 The sad fact of the matter is that we face a lack of 

 gardeners, because we have allowed gardening to be so 

 iargelv its own reward. Blue ribbons and medals, how- 

 ever delightful to possess, will not replace necessities. 



The fact is now well known that not only have we lost 

 our present supply of young gardeners from across the 

 sea, but that the sources from which they came in the 

 past, have ceased to exist. The young British appren- 

 tice, who laid down his potting tools for "gat" and bay- 

 onet, fought shoulder to shoulder with mechanics of one 

 sort or another. He learned much about hours of work 

 and still more about wages. \'ery well, we say, create an 

 interest and develop our own source, and from this will 

 come the gardeners of to-morrow. 



To this end suggestions have been made that we stim- 

 ulate interest in children by Nature study, school gardens, 

 letting the minds of the boys and girls "expand to the 



joys of self-expression of outdoor life,'' whatever that 

 may mean. These things are admirable m their place, 

 but here they serve only to obscure the issue. You will 

 never fill depleted ranks of trained gardeners from any 

 source until you offer adequate payment for work done. 



You may look to the institutions that supposedly foster 

 this and allied subjects to bridge the gap. Your opinion 

 as to the desirability of theoretical training is good, but 

 the fact remains that the men graduates show no hurry 

 to follow the practical side of the gardening. Those who 

 turn to it are usually the less capable ones, for the clever 

 or talented man has found innumerable opportunities 

 with more than adequate compensation. '" Young Amer- 

 ica" will never follow a craft, however much it may be 

 its own reward, unless he receives payment propor- 

 tionately. 



There is another element involved in this lack of ap- 

 prentices in the gardening profession. Most sup>erin- 

 tendents and gardeners practically sell their souls to their 

 employers. They must be eternally at the beck and call 

 of whims and fancies. In some cases they are even ex- 

 pected to help beat rugs, hang pictures or move furni- 

 ture. Often they accept their fate with a curious pride in 

 wishing to class themselves as servants rather than be 

 open to the insult of being "shown their place." 



A gardener may have peculiar likes and dislikes, but 

 what of his employer? Are there not blue gardens, white 

 gardens and pink gardens? And on many estates, it is 

 as much as the gardener's life is worth to be caught with 

 a red flower in his white garden. He must rise early and 

 pull them out, lest milady discovers them when she comes 

 mto the garden to enjoy the air. 



Table decorations that fail to please, house plants that 

 leak on polished tables, conservatories that need constant 

 replenishing, become veritable delusions and snares. 



"\'egetables may be raised in excess" to feed some 

 "overfed employers," but it is notorious on almost every 

 estate, the servants are poorly fed as to quality, and sadly 

 underfed as to quantity. The mistress of the house 

 knows that the kitchen exists only from her own table and 

 the accounts rendered. She knows less than nothing of 

 the actual food requirements of a hard working class. 



Again the gardener is blamed because the vegetables 

 sent in daily lie a week in the pantry, and it would never 

 do to doubt the cook I 



Undoubtedly the incompetent, self-seeking, dishonest 

 gardener exists. His prototype is everywhere. On the 

 other hand, the men who are following this profession 

 todav are for the most part worthy of profound respect. 



