110 



HORTICULTURE 



July 25, 1914 



THE GARDENER'S PROGRESS. 



Editor HoRTKVLTrRE: 



Summed up, the contention of "An- 

 other Assistant." in your issue of July 

 18, is that after fifteen years' experi- 

 ence a gardener should be qualified to 

 assume the full responsibilities of his 

 profession. Few will disagree with 

 him on that point and I believe that 

 "An Assistant" who wrote in the pre- 

 vious issue will concur that if a man 

 has had the opportunity of fifteen 

 years of thorough training and is then 

 incompetent, his competency as a gar- 

 dener is never likely to prove of much. 

 I infer from "An Assistant's" remarks 

 that he had in mind a class of so-called 

 assistants which exists within the pro- 

 fession, just as does the class of so- 

 called gardeners, and that his griev- 

 ance is directed against this class and 

 not towards assistants that possess the 

 ability that is manifested by the con- 

 tributors in the arguments they pre- 

 sent. 



Assistants are no more to blame for 

 the existing unfavorable condition 

 than these gardeners who profess to 

 be competent but who are no more so 

 than the assistants who menace the 

 profession by seeking to assume the 

 charge of an establishment with no 

 more knowledge of gardening than 

 what was acquired through two or 

 three years' service in greenhouses, 

 and who will bid for a head gardener's 

 position at a salary so low that no able 

 gardener can compete; and whose ac- 

 tion invariably results in another 

 score against the profession by some 

 inconsiderate estate owner who knows 

 so little about horticulture himself 

 that he cannot distinguish between a 

 competent and an incompetent gar- 

 dener when it comes to selecting one. 

 This is the age of young men, and 

 opportunity awaits the assistants who 

 are thoroughly proficient in their pro- 

 fession, which must include executive 

 ability as well as ability to produce; 

 and such young man should not per- 

 mit themselves to be held in the back- 

 ground, for if they do how is the good 

 in them to be uncovered? We have an 

 illustration right at hand in your two 

 correspondents. Their articles have elic- 

 ited favorable comment, but they con- 

 ceal their identity behind nom-de- 

 plumes. Able men are continuously 

 sought and there is no telling what 

 their signatures, disclosing the au- 

 thors, might have brought to them. 



What "Another Assistant" states re- 

 garding the horticultural societies is un- 

 fortunately true to a considerable ex- 

 tent; but there is a growing tendency 

 to make the meetings of local societies 

 more educational and many of them 

 now manage to have an essay or lec- 

 ture at each meeting. Assistants are 

 also being recognized; for one of these 

 societies has inaugurated a plan to 

 award a prize for exhibits made at 

 each monthly meeting by assistant 

 gardeners, and this is likely to be fol- 

 lowed by other societies as the prac- 

 tice comes to their notice. The co-op- 

 erative movement between various so- 

 cieties will bring about more serious 

 consideration of the problems which 

 confront the profession of gardening 

 than has heretofore been given to 

 them. 



As an answer to the question — "If 

 your present day gardener has gained 

 success in this slip-shod manner, what 



is to hinder the assistant from accom- 

 plishing the same end?"— let it be said 

 that the day of the "rule of thumb" 

 methods is a thing of the past. Effi- 

 ciency now counts with those engaged 

 in gardening just as it does with those 

 engaged in any other vocation. If it 

 has accomplished nothing more, the 

 recent controversy on the gardeners' 

 problems has been fruitful in stirring 

 up discussion among those most vital- 

 ly interested— the gardeners them- 

 selves. We should have more of it and 

 HoKTKULTUBE is to be commended for 

 the space it is giving up to it. 



M. C. Ebel, Secretary, 

 National Ass'n of Gardeners. 



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ABILITY THE JUST TEST IN GAR- 

 DENING. 



My wortby friend, from Newport gay. 

 Sings once again with inspired lay, 



For uplift leaves us this solution— 

 "My children, you must all obey." 

 But this is not dame Natures way; 

 Since dawn of time, she's pointed aye. 



Steadfastly to evolution. 



Fast come the college graduates 

 To superintend the. large estates 



While we sit by. lilie headless muttons. 

 They climbed not merit's rugged frame, 

 No reference bears their ex-boss' name; 

 They stand upon their college fame; 



Not private flunkies, minus buttons. 



Against such menace, what do we? 

 To all our great profession's free; 



Admit it, make a true confession. 

 Put on your kilts, I'll don my knickers 

 And stroll with you along the breakers. 

 There we'll agree to oust the fakers. 



Injurious to the profession. 



Let gardeners all united stand. 

 And haste the day in this fair land, 



When we shall be forever free. 

 Why should it be, that wealth can tramp 

 On freedom, and men's character stamp? 

 Can wealth extinguish life's great lamp — 



God's divine props to liberty? 



Da\!D S. ATlLLEP. 



July 20th, 1914. 



A LILY FEAST. 



A field of 50,000 liles in bloom is 

 certainly a rare sight outside of Japan. 

 Yet that was the treat extended to 

 the members of the Horticultural Club 

 of Boston and a few other invited 

 guests by R. and J. Farquhar & Co., 

 on Thursday, July 16, when a party 

 of about thirty gentlemen gathered 

 around the hospitable board at the 

 Parker House as guests of Messrs. Far- 

 quhar and were thence conveyed to 

 Roslindale, where the aforesaid field 

 of Lilium myriophyllum is now in full 

 bloom and then to the extensive nur- 

 series and greenhouses of the firm at 

 Dedhani. 



Lilium myriophyllum we have illus- 

 trated and described before, on several 

 occasions. Its wonderful fecundity is 

 evidenced in the fact that Messrs. Far- 

 quhar have in the short space of time 

 since receiving the first bulbs and seeds 

 succeeded in producing 50,000 bloom- 

 ing bulbs. A most significant fact is 

 that this exuberance is all displayed 

 in the New England soil and climate 

 — surely a supreme test for such a 

 plant. Here is a bulb with unlimited 

 commercial possibilities for forcing or 

 for the garden and we do not have 

 to look to Japan, Holland or any other 

 foreign source for our supply. Among 

 the guests were Robert Craig of Phila- 

 delphia and Judge C. W. Hoitt of Nash- 

 ua, N. H., both of whom made spirited 

 addresses at the symposium. It was 

 learned that Messrs. Farquhar will add 

 another very large house to their Ded- 

 ham range this season. 



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Mignonette 



BODDINGTON'S 

 MAJESTY 



TTHE Onest ot .-lil the Fancy 

 * Varieties of Mignonette fo'r 

 Winter forcing; seed saved 

 from select spikes under glass. 

 We have received many testi- 

 monials with regard to the ex- 

 cellence of this variety. 



Trade Packet 60 cts., 's ounce 

 $1.00, ounce $7^50. 



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M BODDINGTON M 



SEEDSMAN 



M 342 West HlhSt., - NEW YORK m 



"These Prices are for the Trade S5 



Only." J3 



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