The Gardener and His Profession 



By W. 



I need not say how ancient and honorable is our calhng, 

 and surely the Almighty, when he placed our earliest 

 forefathers in the Garden of Eden, must have given them 

 a glimpse of Paradise itself. We, their successors, in 

 these later years, while we may often complain of our 

 lot, should remember that as tillers of the brown soil, 

 we have at once the most lovable, fascinating and en- 

 thusing of professions. We work in the most wonderful 

 laboratory in the world, and even though many of us 

 may not have the scientific attainments we might wish, 

 in spite of some discouragements, failures, and possible 

 drawbacks, we know and feel as much of the great secret 

 of life itself as those who spend countless hours reading 

 and soliloquizing over protoplasm, and the essence of all 

 being. A\'e plant, prune, sow, and reap, of not only things 

 horticultural, but faith and hope. We garner rugged 

 natures, and given rude health, our sleep, in spite of 

 vmavoidable worries, is so sound and sweet, that frenzied 

 financiers and moneyed kings would fain have the com- 

 parative freedom from care and restful repose which is 

 ours. 



The very word "gardener," to come back to the more 

 practical part of our subject, is ofttimes a misnomer. 

 The L'nited States Census statistics state that gardeners 

 outnumber florists over two to one. I do not know who 

 are classed as gardeners. Probablv jobbing gardeners, 

 market gardeners, and the general handy men who earn 

 some considerable portion of their income from caring 

 for gardens, are included in this category. What I have 

 to say will refer to onlv a small fractional part of this 

 body, commonly known as private gardeners, but more 

 correctly as professional gardeners. 



The gardener is, or should be, not only one who is a 

 florist, but very much more ; he should have a good 

 general knowledge of horticulture in its broadest sense, 

 and this is not by any means all, for there are an in- 

 creasing luimber of calls for men who are good gardeners 

 but who in addition are capable of handling all details 

 of estate management, and the man who is to fill these 

 positions must be wide awake, energetic, eager to learn, 

 and never satisfied to muddle along in any happy-go- 

 lucky way, as is too often the case today. 



To be a good practical gardener in itself requires a 

 great deal of care and forethought : I doubt if there is 

 any other occupation which requires one to have his 

 senses more keenly alert. A trifling omission today, or 

 a little oversight tomorrow may seem unimportant at the 

 time, but may cause much worry and anxiety at a later 

 date. One of the best friends a gardener can have is a 

 carefully kept diary of operations, of the weather, time 

 crops mature, etc. I was advised when a boy to keep 

 one, and have continued it religiously, and I can honestly 

 say that for the little time necessary to keep it, no 

 gardener should be without it, particularly would I urge 

 upon young men to do so. 



I have often been glad that in my early gardening days 

 I had the rare good fortune to serve under one who was 

 not only a good practical gardener, but a good botanist. 

 I still highly prize a collection of 420 varieties of the 

 British flora I collected after work hours, while I was 

 still a journeyman. I wish I knew more botany : it is of 

 great help to every practical gardener. We often hear 

 the remark that good botanists never make good gar- 

 deners. This is not at all true : where could we get a 

 better example of both than in one of our fellow mem- 

 bers — the respected superintendent of the Harvard 



N. Craig. 



Botanical Gardens (Mr. Cameron). The value of botany 

 may not be very apparent while you are young, but its 

 knowledge will be very helpful as you advance in life. 



The majority of us have not had the advantage of col- 

 lege., or even high school training ; and it says much for 

 the grit, perseverance, and skill of many who, spite of 

 these educational drawbacks, have risen to good positions 

 and are in many cases leaders in their profession. Times, 

 however, are changing, new conditions have arisen and 

 now face us, and we must equip ourselves to meet them. 

 I refer more particularly to the so-called college grad- 

 uates who are being trained to fill posts such as we now 

 occupy. 



I believe largely in a college course, and that the voung 

 man who can have both a horticultural and agricultural 

 training in such colleges as Amherst or Cornell, while 

 they may gain less of the really practical work than on a 

 private estate, will gather, nevertheless, a good theoretical 

 knowledge of the fundamentals of our profession, and 

 will, in many cases, be more eager for knowledge and 

 quicker to learn than those who have started at the foot 

 of the ladder and are slowly but diligently plodding along 

 in the regulation way. I have sufficient faith in the col- 

 lege course to recommend it to any who are able to send 

 th.eir boys there. Certainly, if any of my own boys show 

 a sincere desire to follow in their father's profession, I 

 would feel it were money well expended to send them 

 there. 



I think, however, that the college bogy has been held 

 up too much. I don't believe that a college course at all 

 fits a man for assuming charge of even a small estate. 

 The drawbacks in our agricultural colleges today are, that 

 really practical men are to a large degree lacking. I don't 

 mean to infer that the professors are not bright, intelli- 

 gent men ; but how many of them have had any great 

 degree of practical horticultural training? When our col- 

 leges select men who are first-class gron'^rs to have 

 charge of their greenhouses and grounds, men who will 

 be free from petty interferences, from the more purely 

 theoretical teachers, then the\- will turn out young men 

 who can with greater confidence apply for positions where 

 practical worth is needed. Even then, I doubt if such 

 men would be competent to take charge of any positions 

 before spending a year or two on some private estate. 



Let us, however, be fair; let us be tolerant: remember 

 that these young American boys should have a helping 

 hand and not be sneered at, rebuffed, and discouraged. 

 Do not forget that, while we may pass through life with- 

 out a college course, in the years that are coming 

 the need of more scientific attainments will be greater 

 than now, and botany, chemistry, and other essentials will 

 be much more necessary. The practical gardener of the 

 future, the estate manager of the future, must know these 

 things, and he who thinks otherwise will be woefully left 

 in the procession. 



Then we have, or may have, competition from another 

 source. I refer now to the so-called landscape gardeners, 

 or architects, as some prefer to call themselves. To some 

 of these, men on a high plane, with a national reputation, 

 we would all be ready to doflf our hats ; but there are now 

 a veritable flood of these embryo landscape gardeners, 

 female as well as male, being turned loose on suffering 

 humanity. I don't refer for a moment to the jobbing 

 gardener or florist who has the magic words "landscape 

 gardener" printed on his letterhead, but to the more cul- 

 tured product of Amherst, Technology, and Harvard. 



