MEN FITTED FOB THE BUSINESS. 11 



dening, either practical or theoretical, when they started 

 the business ; but they were all active working men, " ac- 

 tual settlers," and depended alone on their own heads and 

 hands for success, and not on the doubtful judgment and 

 industry of a hired gardener, who had no further interest 

 in the work than his monthly salary. 



The business of market gardening, though pleasant, 

 healthful, and profitable, is a laborious one, from which 

 any one, not accustomed to manual labor, would quickly 

 shrink. The labor is not what may be termed heavy, but 

 the hours are long ; not less than an average of 12 hours 

 a day, winter and summer. No one should begin it after 

 passing the meridian of life ; neither is it fitted for men of 

 weak or feeble physical organization, for it is emphatically 

 a business in which one has to rough it ; in summer plant- 

 ing, when it is of the utmost importance to get the plants 

 in when raining, we repeatedly work for hours in drench- 

 ing rains, and woe be to the "boss," or foreman, who 

 would superintend the operation under the protection of 

 an umbrella ; he must take his chances with the rank and 

 file, or his prestige, as a commander, is gone. 



