Jnne £7, 1S72. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 





THE BEST GARDENERS' UNIONS. 



^^'^W^'F* ^THIN the past tliree weeks I, .iml no 

 I- », /^ It' tloubt all the gavJeuers -whose uames ap- 

 peal- in the "Year-Book" or "Horticul- 

 tural Direetoiy," have been favoured with 

 two circulars, both, I think, relating to 

 subjects well worthy of the serious con- 

 sideration of the horticultural community, 

 especially that portion known as gar- 

 deners. Of those circulars I have some- 

 thing to say, and knowing that the Editors 

 of this .Journal, true to their motto, " For Gardening and 

 Gardeners," have at heart the welfare of all those who 

 labour in the horticultural field, ever ready to render 

 assistance towards their intellectual, moral, and physical 

 improvement, and sympathising with the unfortunate and 

 afflicted, I have the gi'eatest confidence in asking at their 

 hands .space for the conveyance of my sentiments on the 

 subjects treated of in the cu-culars. 



The first of the circulars (I take them in order as 

 received) is headed, " Union of Gardeners," which is 

 avowedly to secure " a strike " to raise gardeners' wages. 

 It emanates from a gardener, one who characterises the 

 work he has undertaken as "just and necessary." As 

 with every other union, the first call that is made is for the 

 sinews of war — ('. e., " numbei'S and funds." The second 

 cu'cular proceeds from the oflice of this Jom-nal, and is a 

 call for help on behalf of the gardener or his widow — the 

 poor and infirm old who " in the evening of life have not 

 tlie means of aiding themselves." It is a solicitation of 

 aid for the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution. 



Now, I have come to the conclusion (and no doubt all 

 who have read and thought over the subjects named in 

 the circulars, have also passed judgment) on the subjects 

 named. I, and they, have seen in them merit or defect, 

 subject worthy of oiu- identification with tlic movement, 

 or, on the other hand, refi-aining fi-om it. Whatever con- 

 clusion you may have anived at I tiiist you will " go in " 

 for that which upon caku and serious consideration you 

 find to your mind most "just and necessary ;" that you 

 will decide for tliat which has most merit, and give to 

 that which is most to your credit, and calculated, if need 

 be, to confer the most benefit. I give my views on these 

 subjects for the consideration of those who have not come 

 to any conclusion or are lukewarm in the matter. 



Of the " Union of Gardeners " I have long been of 

 opinion that we need a union of gardeners, but a very 

 different one ft'om that aimed at in the circular to which 

 reference is here made. What we require is a Gardener's 

 Improvement. Benefit, and Annuity Society — one in which 

 we can rely on the co-operation and see established with 

 the free consent and kindly aid of employers. It is about 

 as baiTen a thought as can well be conceived to think that 

 in forming a union, ostensibly to raise gardeners' wages 

 by means of a strike, gardeners will be able to bring 

 employers to accept their terms ; for it should be borne 

 in miad that gardening, as regards its best patrons, is 

 more a luxury than a necessity. It is not unlikely that 

 No. 587.— Vol, XXII . New Sebies. 



in case of a strike employers would refrain from garden- 

 ing altogether, or that part which necessitates then- em- 

 ploying professed gardeners, ratlier than be imposed upon 

 by "those who would dictate and have them accept terms 

 that may be fi-amed with a view to the advancement of 

 then- own interest without any just regard to the claims 

 of others. Instead of a union of gardeners being " just 

 and necessarj-," or likely to result in the gardener receiv- 

 ing a higher rate of wages, or in anywise improving his 

 social state, I am convinced that it would only result in 

 evil. It would cause a nimiber of steady and weU-con- 

 ducted men to be thrown out of employment, and whilst 

 they are being kept in idleness by the contributions of 

 those at whose instigation the strike is made, the place 

 would be filled by some one on the cstabhshmcnt in whom 

 the proprietor sees energy and perseverance tufficient to 

 oaiTy out his instructions, and at a wage the gardener 

 who has left would have scorned in his lowest extreme of 

 adversity. In tliis way many situations would be lost, if 

 not for ever, at least for the lifetime of the present pro- 

 prietor, and there is nothing for the gardener who has 

 left but to wait until those he has alhed himself with can 

 find him the place they have led him to dream of— a 

 place where there is a prospect of secm-ing the " right of 

 position he ought to occupy with regard to the fi-uit of 

 his industiy." ^^^lat that right may be I must confess 

 to be imabie to comprehend. It may be higher wages, 

 lessened hours of labour, or both, or fomething to be found 

 only in a union dictionary— which, by-the-by, contams 

 but httle, except that by striking or thi-owing yourself 

 out of employment, Uving on "half a cake," and that 

 CTiven you by another or others, allowing your wife and 

 family through your iiUeness to suffer privafon cr get 

 you into debt, you hope to wring from your employer 

 more wages and less hours of labour ; the former, perhaps, 

 enablini' you after a loug time to clear off the debt you 

 have contracted through the strike, and the lessened 

 hours of labour too frequently preventing your ever doing 

 so throuo-h the gi-eater opportunity you have of nidulging 

 in the social glass and frequenting places of recreation, 

 which take aU, and more, than the increased pay, so that 

 the old score nm up tlnough the strike is forgotten, and 

 the state of that man is worse than it was before the 

 sti-ike— all he wants now is another strike. 



There are also in a union dictionary weekly, fortmghtly. 

 or some sort of periodical contributions that go for keeping 

 men on strike for higher wages, less hours, &c., whUst, 

 though nothing is said of the part paid to agitators or 

 delegates, who swallow up a goodly part of the contribu- 

 tions Strange that men should contribute to keep others 

 in idleness— agitating forliigher pay, and paymg before the 

 strike as much as they can hope to receive for a consider- 

 able time after they have secured then- object, if ever they 

 do secm-e that ; for no sooner is one strike over than they 

 are asked to contribute to the funds of the union either 

 in anticipation of another strike or one m some other 

 locality, so that with increased wages they are always 

 under contribution to that which is to secure them m 

 time a return with interest, which is one of those thmgs 

 No. 1239.- Vol. XLYH., Old Series. 



