THE PRIVATE GARDENER. 101 



creasing in this country the number of such places will steadily 

 increase, I like to quote Lord Bacon on this point : — " "\Mien 

 ages grow to civility and elegancy men come to build stately, sooner 

 than to garden finely, as if gardening were the greater perfection." 



Before proceeding further it may be well for us to consider that 

 we are in Boston; Boston, a city rich in horticultural history, has 

 always been foremost in encouragement of advanced gardening. 

 Here in 1S29 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was incor- 

 porated "For the purpose of encouraging and improving the science 

 and practice of horticulture." Ever since, and before that time, 

 Boston has been the foremost American city in horticulture. In 

 1822 the first gardening periodical, The New England Farmer 

 and Horticultural Journal was founded, followed by Hovey's 

 American Magazine of Horticulture, and Barretts' Horticultural 

 Register in 1835; the first greenhouse in the country, history says, 

 was built in Boston by Andrew Faneuil about the beginning of the 

 18th century. And today in the excellence of its parks and pri- 

 vate gardens, in proportion to its population it is easily inlthe 

 front. Those who love gardening in any branch, find in Boston a 

 congenial atmosphere; Boston has been the home and scene of the 

 life work of many famous gardeners. I look upon Jackson Daw- 

 son as the best all-around propagator and plantsman that America 

 has known, and the late Fred Harris, for nearly half a century at 

 Hunnewell's famous place at Wellesley, was a model for private 

 gardeners to imitate. 



The problem of how a gardener should set about preparing 

 himself for his life work is, in this country, a serious one. In the 

 older countries of Europe opportunities to acquire a thorough 

 knowledge of all departments are plentiful. There are so many 

 estates on which the grounds are admirably planned and planted 

 and where there are numerous houses adapted for propagating 

 anrl growing everything for the garden; cold pits and cold houses; 

 intermediate houses and "stove" houses, with graperies, fruit 

 houses, and hot beds, so that a man may get a thorough knowledge 

 of gardening in all branches; and there are many commercial 

 places which carry on all lines and where boys may go and learn 

 the business as they grow to manhood. There are only a very 

 few such commercial places in America. In this country almost 



