THE WELL-CONSIDERED GARDEN 



and seek some other occupation. It is a com- 

 monplace among professions in which idealism 

 plays a part: this idealism is deliberately exploited 

 to the disadvantage of those of whom it is exacted.' 

 This, I think, meets the gardener's case exactly, 

 and, so long as conditions are as they are, garden- 

 ing must necessarily be a labor of love." 



Now hear another, this time on the practical 

 side: "The burning question seems to be how to 

 get away from the fifty-dollars-a-month salary 

 limit. There is no getting away from it so long 

 as people of wealth are willing to hire a laborer 

 who calls himself a gardener, at that price. The 

 remedy, to my mind, is to start a campaign of 

 education among the people who are wealthy 

 enough to hire a real gardener and show them 

 by facts, figures, and statistics that they are losing 

 money by not doing so. A good gardener is worth 

 anywhere from one hundred dollars up just by 

 the same process of reasoning that one would 

 employ in engaging a lawyer or doctor. 



"The larger the estate, the more the responsibil- 

 ity. The larger the responsibility, the higher the 

 salary. If a good man is squeezed down to taking 

 less than he is worth, the greater the temptation 

 to make something on the side. If a poor man, 



216 



