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JOUENAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[July 28, 1863. 



limited acquirements, but possessed of ' this coming-out — • 

 tliis adaptation-to-cii'cumstances principle — have been more 

 valued for their sei"vices, and done more good in theii- day 

 and generation, than some gi-eat jiliilosophers and encyclo- 

 psedists of knowledge, whose minds seemed such a vast 

 storehouse of ini'onnation that the bringing-out of that in- 

 formation upon any one object of utility seemed to- be un- 

 worthy of or beneath their serious consideration. 



Again : We slionld never forget — (though the posses- 

 sion of great stores of knowledge is ever compatible with 

 that knowledge being rendered subservient to the common 

 operations of eveiyday life, and the understanding of the 

 principles on which such operations are based will not only 

 enable us to perfonn our work better, but give to work 

 aMd toil an elevated pleasure) — that stUl an intimate and 

 thorough acquaintance with a few branches of knowledge 

 will be more useful and satisfactory than a mere general 

 passing acquaintance with many departments of science ; 

 and therefore, whilst despising no field of investigation, the 

 yotmg gardener wiU act wisely who devotes his attention 

 chiefly to those piu'suits for which he feels he has peculiar 

 aptitude and taste, and which iviU be most useful to him in 

 elucidating and exjjlaining the operations of his evei-yday life. 

 ■ Before alluding to some of these we would clear away one 

 or two misconceptions. The fh-st is, that a gardener cannot 

 be a good scientific botanist without a good knowledge of 

 Latin and Greek. No doubt such knowledge woidd be de- 

 sirable, but not at all likely to be general until emjiloyers 

 shoTT their ajjpreciation of such acquii-ements by a suitable 

 remuneration. It is sufficient to disprove this misconception 

 to state, that many good practical botanists never had the 

 privilege of acquiring even the rudiments of a classical 

 education. The second misconceiition is, that the knowledge 

 of these classic languages is necessary to the right pro- 

 nunciation of the botanical names of plants. The man who 

 pronounces these according to the ndes given by Loudon 

 and others, wiU often do so more con'ectly than the mere 

 classical scholar, but imacquainted with botanical nomen- 

 clature. It is not such an easy matter to decide upon the 

 true pronunciation ; as in our young days, at least, the sound 

 emitted of the same word was oft en very different in Edin- 

 burgh from what it was in London, and in siich cases it is 

 generally best not to ran counter to the stream, but to 

 get into the habit of using the pronunciation that is most 

 popular in your neighboiti-hood. In matters of no moment 

 there is no advantage in mere singularity, though, no doubt, 

 the advocates of the different systems could ai-gue lustily and 

 learnedly on the matter. And. lastly, though we trust the 

 oldest gardeners that know themselves wUl ever be humble 

 enough to learn, stUl it is the nattiral position of the youth 

 under such cu-cumstances to receive rather than to impart 

 instvnction ; .and when young people venture on the delicate 

 ground alluded to by our correspondent, it should ever be 

 done, even as to the pronouncing of a name, with the humility 

 and kindness of a disciple, and not with the assumed pe- 

 dantry of the pedagogue. In the one case the young man 

 will rarely fail to secm-e the warm respect of one who may 

 have much in his power to advance his interests; in the 

 other case he is too apt to arouse a feeling which thus finds 

 muttered utterance, " He is far too knowing to learn fi'om 

 me. Let him alone^why shoidd I bother ? " 



Some latitude, therefore, should be given as to the mere 

 pronouncing of botanical names of plants, though the young 

 gardener shoidd ever aim, not only at pronouncing them, 

 but writing them coiTectly ; and though we should ever look 

 on a knowledge of botany as a great advantage, and stOl 

 more a great source of elevated pleasiu-e, still we do not 

 consider such knowledge as the first essential necessai'y, 

 because we weU know that among the employers of gar- 

 deners there are very many who will excuse a comparative 

 ip^orance of botany, who will not evtn find their ears tingle 

 at the most uncouth pronouncing of the name of a plant, 

 who will be slow to find any excuses for rickety plants, half- 

 filled flower-beds, a want of crisp veget.ables, and a deficiency 

 of ripened, perfect, weU-flavom-ed fruit. 



Though well aw.are of our inability to mark out a course 

 of study that would be generally applicable as the best for 

 all learners, we have no hesitation in propounding in the 

 first place to the young gardener the importance of being a 

 first-rate workman in aU gardening operations, • and the 



thorough comprehending of aU the details of these operations, 

 not deeming even the simplest and the minutest of these 

 beneath his careful attention. These matters were more 

 attended to when the gardener had to go through his 

 regidar coiu'se in different depaa-tments. The division-of- 

 labour principle has so fai' interfered with it, that you will 

 now more frequently meet with a first-rate budder, pro- 

 pagator, planlJ-grower, &c., than with a man who is gene- 

 raUj' conversant mth aU gai-dening operations. ThS all 

 answers weU enough in commercial establishments ; in fact, 

 they could scarcely be conducted without it ; but it ^\tU not 

 answer in a gentleman's garden, where one man must 

 superintend and take an active part in aU operations. 



It is no imcommon thing to meet with intelligent youths 

 that have lived in large gardens, that would cut a sorry 

 figiu-e with spade, hoe, scythe, knife, hammer, or mowing 

 machine, when placed in juxtaposition with a common 

 labom-er. Now the young gardener ought not to bo satisfied 

 until he equals, naj', excels, the labourer in the quantity and 

 the quality of his workmanship. It must be a galling thing 

 for a man looking out for a master's place to see a labourer 

 sent to finish the work which he left in a muddled unsatis- 

 factoi-j' state. We knew an otherwise bright young feUow 

 to whom the sight of a spade was like a nauseous dose of 

 medicine in prospect. For the life of him he coiUd not turn 

 over .a five-feet flower-bed \vithout leaving one side some 

 6 or S inches higher than the other — aye, and he would 

 plant it too in that condition. He had passed his apprentice- 

 ship and journeymanship in stokeholes, potting-sheds, and 

 greenhouses, and knew as little about a scythe as the man 

 who never saw one. Now, much of the neatness and the 

 comfort of a gentleman's garden depends on the superin- 

 tendent being practicaUy conversant with the best mode 

 of doing everything, and the quaJity and the quantity of 

 work that ought to be done in certain circumstances. I 

 once Iieard a pretty quan'el between a mistress and her 

 maid-senrant ; and the latter, stung into eastmg what she 

 supposed withering repixiaches, declared, " I took you for a 

 lady. If I had known that you had previously been a 

 servant I woidd never have sei'ved you, that I wouldn't." 

 Probably the mistress knew too much, and possibly expected 

 too much. The gardener in a gentleman's place is merely 

 a servant with helpers under him, and he wUl best discharge 

 his duty to both by possessing, not merely a theoretical, but 

 practical .acquaintance ^vith all gai-dening operations. Aim, 

 therefore, at being .an expert and a reiidy workman, and you 

 wfll never stand stUl for a tool. Do not be content whUst 

 a laboiu-er can do work better than you can. 



In connection with the use of tools, we would advise ob- 

 taining as soon as possible as much knowledge of mechanics 

 as will enable you to do work weU at the least wear and 

 tear of bodUy energy. Two men will each dig a piece of 

 ground equally well ; but the one wUl not be tfred, and the 

 other gi'eatly distressed, because in the mode of inserting 

 the spade there was more resistance to be overcome, and 

 less leverage power to ovei-eome it, and so with many other 

 operations. A slight alteration wiU often cause a barrow to 

 wheel lightly instead of heavily. One man wUl so set a 

 scythe and regidate the haniUes that he will mow with his 

 body merely slightly bent, another wUl not work uiJess his 

 body is bent over the scythe as if he meant his nose to kiss 

 the ground. The very postiu'e, independently of the working, 

 is fatiguing, and coidd scarcely be endured but that people 

 get used to anything. And so with many other tools. If 

 work is done equaUy weU, the gi-eater case with which it ia 

 done ought ever to be a recommendation. 



Again : As a secirrity against neglecting simple details, 

 we would urge the imi)ortance of keeping a memorandum 

 or diaj-y of aU operations, especially of sowing, planting, 

 gathering, changes of temperature produced cither naturally 

 or artifi(ially, &c. These wiU be of gi'eat ftiturc advantage, 

 and will tend, fi-om showing what is requii-ed in an estabUsh- 

 ment, to dispel the Ulusion that some young men seem to 

 entertain — that the growing a few plants and flowers is all 

 that is requii'ed in gardening. The man who thoroughly 

 masters these Uttle matters may be a most successftd gar- 

 dener though a sti-anger to aU the "ologies;" wliUst the 

 man who neglects them, or considers them unworthy his 

 notice, may be a veiy poor gai'dener, though a Latin and a 

 1 Greek scholar, and a learned philosopher besides. 



