36 My New Zealand Garden 



interpreted, were : ' That border does not require 

 raking, and when it does it will be done.' He 

 was a really good gardener, and we had recently 

 bought the place with him on it, for he had been 

 with the previous owner for eight years ; but he 

 had always been accustomed to receive all prizes 

 at shows as perquisites, which rather hampered 

 our doings among the flowers and fruit. We 

 watched his superior methods of gardening for 

 four years, and then found ourselves out here. 



I must say that that man was one of the best 

 managers possible, for, besides a large garden to 

 look after, he had a huge conservatory and two 

 other greenhouses, one of which was a forcing- 

 house. Every plant was well understood and 

 attended to by him, single-handed, for a weekly 

 wage of fifteen shillings and no food! I often 

 think of him with reverence. 



We soon came to the conclusion that this 

 climate, situated as we are 100 miles north of 

 Wellington, our capital city, and about 250 south 

 of Auckland, our largest northern city resembles 

 the Scilly Islands. There the vegetation looks 

 almost sub -tropical compared to Cornwall, 

 although only thirty miles off. I suppose the Gulf 

 Stream manages the temperature. Our vegeta- 

 tion matches that of Scilly and perhaps the 

 Channel Islands, but, of course, as New Zealand 

 boasts of about the same dimensions as the 



