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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, 1911 



Gardening as a Profession for Women* 



Emilia Houlton, Calgary, Alberta 



WOMEN can be clever in different 

 ways — some by intuition, some 

 by education, and some by a sub- 

 lime audacity. Natural gifts are divided 

 among us in a curious manner. For in- 

 stance, a woman may have a great love 

 for flowers, yet be totally unsuccessful 

 in growing them. Again, while having 

 a keen artistic eye for their beauty as she 

 sees them growing, may have no sense 

 as to the artistic grouping of them, if 

 she should be required to lay out her own 

 garden. Hence we see at once how 

 necessitous it is to make sure that we 

 have the necessary combination of natur- 

 al gifts in order to be successful in what- 

 ever profession we may take up. Some 

 people would have us believe that women 

 cannot be successful as gardeners, 

 though why they think so it is hard to 

 say. There is no doubt that one of the 

 chief drawbacks to the pursuit of garden- 

 ing by women has its root in the expres- 

 sion : "To dig I am ashamed." A vis- 

 itor arrives and finds the lady of the house 

 doing her own gardening. Generally 

 speaking, an apology is offered, as if 

 there could be anything ignoble in doing 

 one's own digging, or any work needing 

 to be done in the garden. 



A woman surely looks as well with a 

 hoe, or rake, or knife, scissors, nails and 

 shreds, nailing fruit, roses or other flow- 

 ers against a wall, as at lawn tennis, or 

 any other of those innocent games in 

 which she is expected to take part. In 

 fact, the very usefulness of the labor adds 

 a fresh charm to those who undertake it, 

 and Tennyson's "Gardener's Daughter" 

 could never have looked half so fascinat- 

 ing had she not been training and mak- 

 ing fast that rose shoot round the win- 

 dow. To the true gardener, the earth 

 is as sweet as a nut, and she feels not the 

 slightest repulsion in handling it. The 

 very smell of the fresh earth is an anti- 

 dote to disease, and most healthful to 

 those who dig it or stir it up. 



SOME HARD WOKK. TOO. 



In connection with the relation of 

 women to gardening as a means of a liv- 

 ing, very extravagant vjews exist. There 

 are many who would have us believe that 

 the work consists only of gathering fruits 

 and flowers, dressing vases, arranging 

 plants and such-like pleasant operations. 

 Let us then assure ourselves that such 

 work only represents the sunny side of a 

 serious occupation. We must be pre- 

 pared for the real hard work at the begin- 

 ning, scientific study as our work pro- 

 gresses, and watchful care ever. To be 

 a successful gardener a love for the sub- 

 ject is the first necessity, and a sufficient 

 knowledge of botany to understand the 



peculiar properties of the organs of a 

 flower. 



SOME SPECIAL LINES. 



One department of gardening where 

 a woman can always be more successful 

 than a man, because of her more patient 

 nature, is in the improvement of a par- 

 ticular flower or vegetable, to do which 

 she must find out what has been done 

 with it by the trade growers, procure 

 seeds of the most approved types, and 

 work for an ideal, maybe enlarging the 

 bloom, making it bloom more freely, or 

 creating a new color, and, in the case of 

 vegetables, procuring earlier, larger or 

 finer flavored produce. Then again, for 

 woman's deft fingers is the taking up of 



getic, intelligent woman, other possibil- 

 ities of adding to the income in connec- 

 tion with her garden would occur, such 

 as keeping bees and poultry. It may not 

 sound very feasible at first, perhaps. A 

 man would say, how about keeping the 

 varieties of flowers distinct? To a 

 woman gardener that would be easy, as 

 she would keep her choice blooms cov- 

 ered with a fine gauze to protect them 

 from the bees, and the poultry would be 

 kept in wire runs, say between the rows 

 of small fruit trees, allowing space suffi- 

 cient to prevent the birds reaching the 

 fruit, the poultry manure being benefi- 

 cial to the trees. 



PHYSICALLY BENEFICIAL. 



However, let us return to the question 

 in hand — "Gardening as a Profession for 

 Women." Surely everyone will admit 





A Well Arrufcd Artistic Smill Garden that Promotes Health aad Gires Pleasure 



such work as cross-fertilization, and of 



The BQbstance of an address read by Mrs. 

 Houlton at a meeting ot the Calgary Hortionl- 

 tural Sooiety. 



hybridising plants. 



I know of one lady in England whose 

 sweet peas have not been raised by hap- 

 hazard methods, but with a fixed idea, 

 and a well considered purpose. The fine 

 form of the blooms, sometimes with dou- 

 ble standards, and the refined texture of 

 the petals from outdoor pickings, the 

 daintiness and the purity in the colors, 

 the delicacy of the tints and markings, 

 all show great enterprise on the part of 

 the grower. There are very many annu- 

 al plants that could be taken in hand in 

 a similar manner, but the work is too 

 delicate, and the patience needed too 

 great for the generality of men. 



MAKING A GOOD LIVING. 



Most professions open to women, 

 which are suitable to them both as wom- 

 en and workers, are, generally speak- 

 ing, overcrowded, so that the desirabil- 

 ity of breaking fresh ground is very ap- 

 parent. It is not a wild idea of my own 

 conception, but one which is drawn from 

 the facts that many women today, both 

 in the old country and also in Canada, 

 are getting a good living from the pro- 

 fession of gardening. Let us be quite 

 clear in our minds that while a good living 

 can be made, such a thing as a big for- 

 tune is a remote possibility. To the ener- 



that the fresh air and sunshine which en- 

 viron those at work in the garden is 

 equally beneficial to women as it is to 

 men. Admittedly certain work is hard 

 in connection with the preparation of the 

 soil in spring. The woman who is mak- 

 ing gardening her profession must hire 

 some help ; therefore, man and machinery 

 can be brought to her aid for the heav- 

 ier work. 



ADAPTED TO THE WOEK. 



In floriculture woman is certainly at 

 her best. Her innate refined taste for col- 

 oring, her natural artistic sense of ar- 

 rangement, combined with the gift of 

 love for all that is most beautiful in na- 

 ture, peculiarly fits her for this niche in 

 the professions. Flowers need very care- 

 ful handling, gentle fingers are required 

 when picking out the faded leaves or 

 withered pruning or grafting. How suit- 

 ed, then, for these arts are women. 

 Some men will say — How will women 

 stand the rainy and cold days? My an- 

 swer is this — She would do as the gar- 

 deners do today. Wet days she would 

 employ herself with work needing atten- 

 tion in the greenhouse or potting shed ; 

 on cold days she would clothe herself 

 warmer and work harder, and so keep 

 herself warm. 



It is not my purjjose in this paper to 



