September 2, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



33;. 



THE PRIVATE GARDENER. 



A paper read by Wm. Ducknam before the 



S. A. F. ami 0. II. Ml II:, Inn 



I was much surprised and pleased 

 to receive from your secretary an in- 

 vitation to read a paper on the sub- 

 ject of the "Gardener." I am also 

 glad to note that your society has hon- 

 ored my profession — the first time, I 

 believe, in the history of your organ- 

 ization that it has been directly and 

 distinctly recognized. This may part- 

 ly account for the lack of interest of 

 the gardener in your society and his 

 failure to become a member in large 

 numbers. Not to my knowledge has 

 there been a general appeal to the 

 gardeners to join the S. A. F. & O. H. 



For some reason or other only a few 

 gardeners hold membership in the S. 

 A. F. & O. H., although the idea pre- 

 vailing in the minds of some, that 

 they are not wanted, is erroneous. 

 Fuiniamentally our Society is a trade 

 organization, and the mere addition of 

 "Ornamental Horticulturists" to the 

 Society's title has added very little 

 and few members. 



The national flower shows held in 

 the past have been well supported by 

 the gardener and these exhibits have 

 been much appreciated by your So- 

 ciety. These exhibitions should be 

 well supported by every one in the 

 allied trades and professions in which 

 we are so much interested and I trust 

 that many such exhibitions will be 

 held in the future. 



The relation between the private 

 gardener and the florist is of the very 

 nearest, and easily traced, for you 

 have only to look in any direction and 

 you will find some of the most suc- 

 cessful florists of this country who 

 have graduated from the ranks of the 

 private gardener. It is not my inten- 

 tion to enumerate or name all of them 

 any more that it is to omit any names, 

 but a few come to my mind who start- 

 ed their career as private gardeners 

 and such training as they then re- 

 ceived is admitted by them to have 

 always been a help to them in their 

 business. 



Their names as they come to me at 

 this time are J. N. May, E. G. Hill, 

 J. K. M. L. Farquhar, Thomas Roland, 

 Peter Fisher, F. L. Atkins, A. T. Bod- 

 dington, C. H. Totty, and unless I am 

 mistaken the late Peter Henderson 

 started his career as a private garden- 

 er and perhaps gave more and better 

 advice to young men than any one 

 else, and many today, whether florist 

 or gardener, owe to him a large meas- 

 ure of their success and all over this 

 broad land his influence is still felt. 



The private gardener has done his 

 part in the development and advance- 

 ment of this country, both by his work 

 directly and indirectly, for any estate 

 he has charge over his work comes 

 directly to his employer and the ma- 

 jority of them take a keen delight in 

 having his place well kept, growing 

 and producing flowers, vegetables and 

 fruits, and to have all this a little bet- 

 ter than his neighbor. Then again 

 where there are such places of this 



NEW HARDY VINES. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a collection of Chinese ornamental 

 vines in pots, grown at Aldenham 

 House, England, by E. Beckett, gar- 



dener to Hon. Vicary Gibbs, from 

 seeds collected by E. H. Wilson on the 

 Arnold Arboretum's first expedition to 

 China, and presented by Professor C. 

 S. Sargent. 



kind the community in general and 

 the trade benefits by it. I have never 

 yet heard anyone say that he did not 

 love the flowers, no matter how much 

 he might dislike some other things, 

 and while those who cannot have a 

 large garden, do try, and do have, and 

 imitate those of larger proportions, 

 therefore I claim the work of the gar- 

 dener has a most refining and broad- 

 ening influence in every locality, and 

 has done much towards making this a 

 better land, and a better world. 



As much as the private gardener has 

 done for horticulture there remains 

 much he could do and I refer to the 

 most interesting branch of hybridiz- 

 ing. Some has been done I admit, but 

 in my opinion he has neglected his 

 opportunities. The cause of all this 

 I am unable to explain, but it occurs 

 to me the most of it can be laid to 

 lack of interest or indifference, for 

 surely a number of ' gardeners have 

 the time and convenience, for it can- 

 not be said he doesn't know how. 

 There might have been some excuse 

 for this twenty or thirty years ago, 

 but conditions then and now are very 

 much changed. I don't mean by this 

 that gardeners are any better today, 

 but there are very many more large 

 estates where opportunity presents it- 

 self that were not in evidence at that 

 time, and I urge the gardeners to give 

 this more consideration and do your 

 part towards the advancement of hor- 

 ticulture. 



One has not to look far to see what 

 can be done. For example, the roses 

 raised by M. H. Walsh in the past 

 few years have startled the world. I 

 am unable to say how much time and 

 thought Mr. Walsh devoted to this 

 work, but if he spent his whole life he 

 would feel well repaid in giving the 

 world varieties of roses that otherwise 

 might never have been born, and all 

 honor to the man who raised Excelsa, 

 Delight, Lady Gay and Hiawatha, etc., 

 and who at this time I believe to be 

 in the ranks of tr^e private gardener. 

 Then let us take courage and set our 



minds to doing something that will be 

 a joy and pleasure to others as well 

 as to ourselves. 



Novelties or something new always 

 attract the gardener and you will find 

 him among the first to try or test 

 these, no matter whether flower, vege- 

 table or plant, he is ever eager to se- 

 cure them and when one stops to con- 

 sider, it seems inexplicable, the lack of 

 interest or utter indifference, that it 

 appears almost criminal, then let us 

 create or at least try and improve 

 some flower or plant over what we 

 found it. 



Since the gardener has become bet- 

 ter known and more generally ap- 

 preciated by his employer a mutual 

 feeling has sprung up between the 

 two. This is true in a great many 

 ways and is as it should be, and 

 comes as the first aid to our social ana 

 moral status. In our profession, let 

 the man who has the opportunity, 

 show by precept and example to the 

 less informed, and particularly to the 

 young man under his charge, that 

 moral influence so necessary for the 

 upbuilding of our honored calling. For 

 they are the men who will be called 

 upon to carry on the work where we 

 are compelled to lay it down. Whether 

 he be florist or gardener let us beware 

 that we grasp more of our opportuni- 

 ties and take our stand where we 

 rightfully belong. 



The need of the tin 's seems to be a 

 scheme or scope of op ation in which 

 all interests should ui te for horti- 

 cultural advancement. . national so- 

 ciety such as we have, ei, <rged to the 

 extent of founding and m. Staining a 

 garden after the manner of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of England, at 

 Wisley, and previously at Chiswick. 

 gardens that for over fifty years have 

 done excellent work such as we need 

 to have in this country. 



Instead of pleading with the state 

 legislatures for appropriations and 

 greenhouses at state experiment sta- 

 tions, could not more and better work 

 of this kind be done in a garden be- 



