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HORTICULTURE 



May 24, 1919 



HELP SHORTAGE. 



Facts Brought Out at the Boston Gar- 

 deners' Conference. 

 It was unfortunate that the attend- 

 ance ;ii the Gardeners' Conference held 

 in Horticultural Hall, Friday evening 

 oil last week, was so small, as subjects 

 of vital importance to the craft were 

 brought up for discussion. Martin 

 Ebel, Secretary of the National Gard- 

 eners' Association, was present, and 

 gave a report on general conditions as 

 seen from his office. Apparently the 

 lack of help which exists in New Eng- 

 land is to be found all over the coun- 

 try. Perhaps that statement should be 

 modified somewhat, however. It seems 

 possible to get help if the estate owner 

 is willing to pay the wages asked, 

 which in most instances he isn't. 



The shortage of second men is es- 

 pecially noticeable. In many instances 

 head gardeners are doing much of the 

 work which second men ordinarily per- 

 formed. Laborers want wages which 

 correspond to those paid by big indus- 

 tries. Around New York a great many 

 Italians are going onto the estates. 

 Around Boston it is difficult to get 

 them to go any distance from the 

 cities. If they can live at home they 

 will do garden work, but not other- 

 wise, except in some cases where there 

 are married men with families. 



One of the largest estates in eastern 

 Massachusetts formerly kept from 

 seventy-five to a hundred men. Now 

 there are less than thirty on the place, 

 and of course the grounds testify to 

 the shortage, in spite of the superin- 

 tendent's best efforts. Many estate 

 owners prefer to keep a part of their 

 greenhouses closed and to give up fur- 

 ther development of their places at 

 present rather than to pay four or five 

 dollars a day for laborers. 



It seems to be a fact that the pay of 

 laborers is getting too close to that of 

 the head gardener to be relished by the 

 latter. In many cases the head gard- 

 ener's wages have not been increased 

 to correspond with the general ad- 

 vance. 



As was brought out at the confer- 

 ence in Boston, there is great difficulty 

 in inducing young men to make gard- 

 ening their life work. The question 

 of immediate wages has a greater in- 

 fluence than future considerations. 

 When an office boy can get ten dollars 

 a week and any capable young man in 

 a business house can expect to draw 

 twice that in a short time, they are at- 



trai ted away from the greenhouse and 

 the garden, even though the work in 

 the towns may be much less congenial. 

 country seems to be money mad 

 and the garden craft suffers thereby. 

 It remains to be seen whether the em- 

 ployers will presently increase their 

 appropriation and pay the wages asked 

 to get the men or if they will be con- 

 tent to run short handed until condi- 

 tions change. From the present out- 

 look the latter bet is the better one. 



A HEAD GARDENER'S IDEAS. 



Editor Horticulture: 



Nowadays, even the name "Garden- 

 er" is "Taboo." We are "Superintend- 

 ents" — and farmers and others wheth- 

 er they have any professional ability 

 or not come under the term. And so 

 with gardening papers. Seemingly 

 they have no use for the word. Some 

 other name must do duty, the extreme 

 being reached with "Ornamental Hor- 

 ticulturists." 



There are very few native Ameri- 

 can gardeners in the English sense — 

 men who have served their time. 



In over 30 years as head gardener, 

 I cannot claim to have trained a single 

 American young man, and sent him 

 out as a practical gardener. 



The American young man is un- 

 willing to make any sacrifice for his 



training. He wants journeyman's pay 

 at once. He gets it or quits. 



We have here a fine hardy herba- 

 ceous plant garden, a splendid collec- 

 tion of deciduous trees and shrubs, 

 and the finest collection of rhododen- 

 drons and coniferous evergreens to be 

 found in any private place in the 

 United States. 



Do any of my men spend a minute 

 "during hours" or after, for study. No. 

 Will any of these men take Horticul- 

 ture. No. So there you are. 



Head Gardener. 



CLIMBING ROSES. 

 Editor of Horticulture: 



Dear Sir — The Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society has at last put in 

 their schedule a class for Climbing and 

 Pillar Roses (Hurrah) which will 

 please a good many of the growers of 

 them, and they are increasing yearly. 

 As they add greatly to the exhibit on 

 account of their decorative effect let 

 us hope they will be more sought after 

 in the future. 



One of the reasons why they have 

 not been recognized before was that 

 until recently, there were so few va- 

 rieties that bloomed in time for the 

 June shows. Now, in a normal season, 

 fifteen to twenty kinds can be picked 

 from a collection of the right varie- 

 ties. 



FOR 



BEDDING PLANTS 



OR 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



Call or Write 



W.W.EDGAR CO. 



WAVERLEY, MASS. 



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