42 



HOKTICULTUEE 



July 11, 1914 



THE REASON FOR CHEAP GAR- 

 DENERS. 



Editor of Hokthvlture; 



Dear Sir:— While Mr. Watson has 

 been breaking a lance with the sec- 

 retary of the N. A. G. respecting the 

 merit.s and demerits of the aims and 

 objects of that organization, some of 

 the younger school have been looking 

 on and, like the young rooster, would 

 like to try a hand a-erowing now that 

 the old ones are through, or appar- 

 ently so. So we beg to be allowed 

 to set forth our views as one who is 

 working in the ranks of assistant 

 gardeners and therefore able to bear 

 the trend of feeling in that direction. 

 The desire of most persons who en- 

 ter gardening is to get to the top, and 

 that as soon as possible. So should 

 it be; but there is one very important 

 factor which many seem to overlook. 

 "Will I be competent to hold a job 

 and can I give results that would re- 

 flect credit upon the profession to 

 which I belong?" is a thought that oc- 

 curs to a very small percentage. The 

 fact that a man has worked as assis- 

 tant for fifteen years, or that he is 

 thirty years old ne.xt birthday, does 

 not make him a competent gardener 

 any more than because he can run a 

 greenhouse satisfactory he can also 

 manage an estate. Another thing that 

 is responsible for inefficiency among 

 gardeners is that as soon as a young 

 man enters the business he wants a 

 job in the "houses" so as to be steady, 

 and no attention whatever is paid to 

 the outdoor branches of the work 

 once he has started to pull weeds out 

 of the benches and scrub the walks. 

 Furthermore, there are some in our 

 ranks who have had a limited experi- 

 ence in more than one branch of the 

 art, and who do think they are fully 

 equipped for the many duties that de- 

 volve upon the real gardener. 



A short time ago we read in a well 

 known trade paper an advertisement 

 something like this: 



"WANTED— Situiiliiin as Ueiul Gardener 

 or Superintendent un sientlenian's country 

 estate. Life experience in all branches ef 

 horticulture. First-class references. Age 

 23." 



Comment is needless, but this 

 serves to show that some who enter 

 the profession think it can l)e learned 

 in a very short time. Fifteen years 

 seems a long time to put in before 

 one becomes a competent gardener, 

 but many of our best men put in all 

 that and some more before they got 

 out on their own hook, and they un- 

 doubtedly did a good deal of private 

 study on subjects which are side 

 issues so far as gardening itself is con- 

 cerned, but which, nevertheless, are 

 indispensable in the management of 

 a country estate. The moral of all 

 this is that there are too many "neg- 

 lected opportunities" amongst the raw 

 material from which the estate man- 

 ager is recruited or should be re- 

 cruited. After many of us have neg- 

 lected our opportunities we become 

 restless and dissatisfied and deter- 

 mine to start out for ourselves. A 

 place turns u]), and there are others 

 like us who feel the same way, but 

 there is the determination to have the 

 job at even $.^0, so on goes the price- 

 cutting until the poor fellow has suc- 

 ceeded in persuading himself that he 

 has at last made his mark and the 

 employer deluded into believing that 



he has engaged the services of a com- 

 petent man at low water rates. 



The fact that such methods are re- 

 sorted to needs only the evidence of 

 the men who hold such low priced 

 jobs and who, as Mr. Smith says, are 

 only too well paid. These same men 

 when they were assistants would have 

 refused a place which would have af- 

 forded them a wide and useful field of 

 experience if the wages were not at 

 least $5 per month more than they 

 had in the previous place. So again 

 we have to admit that as assistants 

 we prefer wages to knowledge and ex- 

 perience. In Europe it is quite the 

 custom to sacrifice wages to get to a 

 place that has a reputation; in fact, 

 to the British journeyman gardener, 

 wages are a secondary consideration. 

 Hence the success of the British gar- 

 dener. 



In conclusion we want to say to 

 Mr. Watson that we believe that the 

 cause of low wages is incompetent 

 gardeners, who have only themselves 

 to blame for their incompetence. We 

 believe, however, that there is some 

 good old stuff among the boys yet. 

 and. like many of our bosses. We only 

 want a little encouragement and 

 credit whei'e it is due, to help us 

 along, and we are pre]iared to listen, 

 too — at least some of us. 



An Assist.\>'T. 



"THE HAPPY GARDENER.' 



Reply to Alexander jMacLellan's poem. 



Ceiirse Watson strolled across liis store, 

 'Mong implements and seeds galore. 



Tool; from the rack a garden spade, 

 Said he, "The lad who man's this tool. 

 No slave is he to Union rule. 

 He graduates from nature s school. 



He's happy, healthy and well-paid." 



A Newport bard, who read G's prose, 

 Sirayed where the ocean c)d)s and Iio^^■s. 



Twice daily at connn.and of lime. 

 The rolling waves leapt to inspire, 

 And filled his poetic soul with fire. 

 As on the beach he tuned Ids lyre. 



And there set George's prose to rhyme 



He told how gardeners held the keys, 

 To all the flowers and shrub trees. 



That with our craft, naught was amiss; 

 That gardening was a, work of love — 

 And quoted George, this fact to prove; 

 To better things. Why slionhl we move? 



Our calling was a perfect bliss. 



Oh I 'lustrious poet, cease thy muse; 

 (io look around, and don't confu.se. 



Th.v poetic picture's not the stuff. 

 Come take from us those wondrous keys 

 .\nd lock all ports beyond our seas: 

 Stop inexperienced gardeners, please, 



i'^rom our shores: here we've enough. 



Why waste thy sympathy on wealth 

 Who trots the globe, for joy or health. 



While oft the gardener is dismissed. 

 Perhaps the brother's old and, gray. 

 As to seedstores he winds his way. 

 ISehold! this picture of dismay. 



Oh! poet, say not, o\ir i-alling's blest. 

 D.wii) S. Miller. 



Tuxedo, N. Y. 



Avon, Mass. — Embert P. Oliver flor- 

 ist, has just won a suit in the court at 

 Brockton against a local heating con- 

 cern for failure of the apparatus in 

 his greenhouses to furnish adequate 

 heat according to their guarantee. The 

 place froze up twice during the cold 

 spell last winter but the defendants re- 

 peatedly refused to make any repara- 

 tion, hence the suit. The jury award- 

 ed Mr. Oliver $1496.22 to cover value 

 of frozen plants and cost of putting the 

 heating outfit in proper condition. 



HARDY MAGNOLIAS. 



Extract from Bulletin No. 58 of the Arnold 



Arboretum. 



Muynolia glauca of the Atlantic coast 

 region from Massachusetts to Florida 

 blooms in early .June. No small tree 

 is a more delightful inhabitant of the 

 garden, where it is an object of beauty 

 throughout the year with its bright 

 green branches in winter and its beau- 

 tiful leaves which are dark green and 

 very lustrous above and silvery white 

 below, and which remain on the 

 branches at the north without change 

 of color until the beginning of winter 

 and in the south till early spring. The 

 small, creamy white, cup-shaped flow- 

 ers continue to open during many 

 weeks, and especially in the evening 

 fill the air with their delicate pungent 

 odor; they are followed by the cone- 

 shaped fruits which are common to all 

 Magnolias and are showy when the 

 scarlet seeds hang from them on slen- 

 der threads. Every one with a garden 

 who makes the acquaintance of this 

 plant wants to grow it; it is easily 

 raised from seed, and at the end of 

 three or four years' seedling plants are 

 of saleable size. In spite of the de- 

 mand for it, which would increase if 

 plants could be had. it is almost im- 

 possible to find this Magnolia in Amer- 

 ican nurseries. Magnolia Thumpson- 

 iand is also in good bloom. This is a 

 hybrid raised in England many years 

 ago between M. cilauia and the Ameri- 

 can Umbrella-tree, M. tiipctala. It has 

 leaves like the leaves of M. glauca, 

 which it also resembles in the perfume 

 of the cup-shaped pure white flowers 

 intermediate in size between those of 

 its parents. Unlike many hybrit 

 which are usually hardier and more 

 vigorous than their parents, Af. 

 'rhonipsoniana is less hardy than either 

 M. glauca or M. tripetala. and some- 

 times has been killed to the ground in 

 severe winters. The latest of the Mag- 

 nolias is M. mairophvlla. This hand- 

 some tree is interesting for it has 

 larger leaves and larger flowers than 

 any other plant of the northern hemi- 

 sphere beyond the tropics. A native 

 of the south from North Carolina to 

 Louisiana, it is perfectly hardy here; 

 it is best planted, however, in shel- 

 tered positions as the leaves are easily 

 torn and disfigured by the wind. 



On the Administration Building is 

 a fine plant of the Jai)anese climb- 

 ing Hydrangea iH. pctiolarisj. In 

 the country this plant is usu- 

 ally seen climbing up the trunks and 

 spreading over the branches of trees, 

 but it has been found capable of at- 

 taching its stems firmly to brick-work 

 and therefore to be useful in covering 

 walls and buildings. The bright green 

 foliage makes a handsome contrast 

 with the broad heads of flowers which 

 are surrounded by a row of neutral 

 ray flowers of medium size. Two 

 oai'ly flowering shrubby Hydrangeas 

 are H. Brctsrhnculvri from north- 

 ern China and its variety setchuenen- 

 siH from western China. The former 

 is an old inhabitant of the Arboretum 

 and is a tall, free-flowering shrub well 

 worth a place in all collections. The 

 variety which is less well known ap- 

 pears to be perfectly hardy and equal- 

 ly free-flowering. 



