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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



The Professional Gardener 



M. C. EBEL 



THE professional gardener, I fear, is a very much 

 misjudg'ed individual. Only as recently as last 

 Fall Dr. Sidney S. Wilson, vice-president of the 

 Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, in address- 

 ing a convention of professional gardeners, confessed 

 that up to the time he had been invited to address the 

 meeting he was totally ignorant of the fact that such a 

 thing existed as a gardening profession ; that his defini- 

 tion of a gardener, until he was enlightened, was "One 

 M^ho labored in a garden." He said that he believed 

 that his definition was one universally accepted by the 

 public and that it rested with the gardener to make 

 his profession more widely known. 



The gardener wdio has acquired his knowledge of 

 the difterent branches of gardening through lifelong 

 practice and study is assuredly entitled to greater con- 

 sideration than the garden laborer, though he does not 

 always receive it. Instances are not uncommon wdiere 

 the gardener does not receive as much compensation 

 at the present time for his services as does the laborer 

 whom he employs to work under his direction. That 

 "the laborer is worthy of his hire" is a present-day 

 truism as far as it concerns the ordinary laborer, but 

 it is not so with the average professional gardener. 



While a liberal salary is something always much de- 

 sired by one who works for another, receiving ade- 

 cjuate remuneration alone for his services does not con- 

 tent the gardener who engages in his vocation, not 

 merely for what he can get out of it, but because he 

 loves it. An occasional expression of appreciation for 

 the efforts he puts forth and the recognition that he 

 is more than a menial means much to the man who 

 has made gardening his life work. It fills him with 

 inspiration and encourages him to produce better than 

 before. 



The most serious draw-back to the proper up-keep 

 of a country estate is usually- the lack of interest which 

 the owner manifests in the undertakings of his 

 gardener, and the lack of confidence which he bestows 

 on him, while continually criticizing where credit is 

 due. Naturally this must be disconcerting to the con- 

 scientious worker and hinders him from giving the 

 best that is in him. It results in depriving the em- 

 ployer of much of the pleasure he should derive from 

 his gardens, and in making the gardener discontented 

 with the position he occupies. A professional 

 gardener is more than a servant though unfortunately 

 he is so regarded by many employers. 



Whenever an estate owner finds that his gardener 

 does not meet the requirements the position he fills 

 demand of him. it would be far better for all concerned 

 if instead of tolerating the gardener's inefficiency, he 

 were replaced with one possessing the necessary 

 ability, for the disposed-of gardener, if he has the quali- 

 fications to entitle him to the calling of gardener, will 

 find his right place. 



That the gardener, in common with those of some 

 of the other professions, has not found the dollar the 

 cheapest thins to acquire, as the workers of the pro- 

 tected industries proclaim it is, but instead is feeling 

 the sting of the high cost of everything, is generally 

 true. His compensation is practically the same as it 

 was before war conditions advanced the wage of labor 

 and the consequent cost of living. Yet he finds he 

 must pay the same price for his baby's shoes as the 



eight dollar a day mechanic of the thirty-six working 

 Hour week, on a salary which makes it a problem to 

 the gardener how to make both ends meet. 



While it is justly claimed that the average gardener 

 does not receive in monetary consideration the equiva- 

 lent per month that the laborer on the estate receives, 

 ranging from $3.25 to $3.00 a day, according to the 

 locality, for eight to nine hours' work, it is also coii- 

 ceded that the gardener has his cottage and other 

 privileges in the nature of products raised on the place, 

 but for these privileges the employer usually acquires 

 the gardener's presence on the place for practically 

 twenty-four hours a day for thirty days of the month. 

 Possibly the gardener has himself to blame for being 

 over-looked in the readjustment of affairs that has 

 brought about an increase in the cost of practically 

 everything. He is, as a rule, inclined to hesitancy, 

 whereas if he were to approach his employer in a 

 business-like manner on matters xoncerning himself, 

 he could expect treatment in accordance. 



I have refrained from referring to the gardener- 

 superintendent in charge of the management of ex- 

 tensive country estates. As he must possess so much 

 knowledge outside of the various phases of horticul- 

 ture, such as agriculture, construction, and often engi- 

 neering, besides executive ability, he should also 

 possess the initiative to negotiate with his employer 

 for remuneration according to the value of the service 

 he is called upon to render, without the necessit}' of 

 another pleading his cause. 



Some of the highly esteemed professions have not 

 always borne the high standard they bear today, and 

 they still possess their short-comings. The profession 

 of gardening is striving to elevate its standard and 

 those who have followed its progress during recent 

 years, must agree that it has met with some measure 

 of success. 



The future of the profession now confronts a situa- 

 tion, however, that concerns the owner of the country 

 estate, as much as it does the professional gardener. 

 This is the matter of providing the material to replace 

 those to-day engaged in the profession. Europe has 

 in the past supplied the young gardeners who in time 

 grew up to assume the head gardeners' positions. 

 There is probably no other vocation where the 

 response to the call to arms was in proportion to that 

 of the young men engaged in the gardening profession 

 both here and abroad. A large number now rest "In 

 Flanders' fields where poppies grow." Europe can not 

 supply young gardeners to us as in the past, and so 

 it remains w-ith us in this country to attempt to arouse 

 the interest of our young men in the work. There are 

 many young men, both of American and of foreign 

 birth, who. on being graduated from school, do not 

 want to enter the office or shop but would welcome a 

 call to the great out-doors. Others, desiring to take 

 up a profession, find that they cannot do so owing to 

 their lack of resources, but gardening presents an op- 

 portunity to engage in a profession and "earn while 

 you learn." 



To arouse the interest of these y<Tung men a care- 

 fully planned campaign is essential ; first, to inform 

 the educational sources of the country concerning the 

 opportunity that professional gardening offers voung 

 men whose leaning is towards the art ; second, to pro 

 \ide places on country estates where young men who 



