62 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



garden work from the time they were small boys, he has usually to 

 put up with Italians fresh from working on a railroad track or in 

 an iron foundry. These men often speak little English and have 

 absolutely no knowledge of plant life. 



Where there are greenhouses trained helpers are usually found, 

 but in a hardy garden one gardener with men accustomed to the 

 roughest day labor are customary. Now how can it be supposed 

 that beautiful gardens can result from this system? The head 

 gardener is only human, and if he is obliged to do all the planting, 

 sowing of seed, handling of seedlings in their various stages, moving 

 of trees and shrubs, has to remember about all the watering, and 

 pick vegetables and flowers, it is obvious that very much must 

 remain undone. 



This situation is also made far worse by the fact that, owing to 

 our hot summers and cold winters, more than one-half of the most 

 important planting has to be done in May. In April, the ground 

 is usually sticky and wet from melting snow, and in June it is too 

 hot. 



It has also seemed to me that head gardeners as a rule feel they 

 have done their full duty, if only they can produce in a greenhouse 

 roses and carnations as large and stiff as the average florist has for 

 sale. They are often unashamed of the most deplorable looking 

 borders. 



When rich people here learn to care for hardy flowers as they are 

 cared for abroad, our gardens will be just as beautiful, only they 

 will not be so numerous, because the high price of labor makes 

 them impossible, except for the very rich. 



This is why I have talked against lawns and clipped edges. If 

 our one and only gardener spends his time tending them, he cannot 

 be growing new plants, however simple their cultivation may be, 

 and it is by continually sowing new seed and adding fresh beauty 

 that our gardens remain interesting. 



