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August 23, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



85( 



IDEAL PKIVATE GARDENERS. 



BY F. B. PALMER, OP BBOOKLINE, MASS. 



[Read before the Society of American Florists, 

 In convention at Dayton, O., August 23 (todav), 

 1906.] 



The title of this essay, "The Ideal 

 Private Gardener and His Work," was 

 selected by the executive committee of 

 the Society of American Florists and as- 

 signed to the Boston Gardeners' and 

 Florists ' Club as a fitting subject for its 

 contribution to the literature of this 

 convention. This was perfectly natural, 

 for when questions of a philosophical na- 

 ture are to be discussed, where else would 

 one turn but to the "AtlMfts of Amer- 

 ica," the erudite city of the old Bay 

 State? It may be taken for granted, 

 also, that the Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club of Boston, with its young and virile 

 membership of 325 (this includes ladies), 

 is perfectly able to handle any question 

 that may be presented to it; but when 

 it comes to the individual to whom this 

 essay is assigned, every thoughtful per- 

 son will agree that, while being greatly 

 honored, he is nevertheless confrqnted 

 with a duty both difficult and onerous. 



In the first place, an ideal which 

 would be common to a number of men 

 is difficult of conception — in fact, impos- 

 sible. Ideals are essentially individual, 

 and are more characteristic of the man, 

 even, than his physical features. They 

 change with him from day to day, as he 

 grows in wisdom, always tantalizingly 

 ahead like the desert mirage, yet always 

 incentive to better work and nobler 

 aims. With these thoughts in one's 

 mind it is hard to get down to earth, 

 where even the ideal gardener belongs. 



Old-time Gardeners. 



Before attempting to draw the picture 

 of a present day ideal private gardener, 

 it will be interesting and perhaps help- 

 ful to cast a retrospective glance at 

 types of other days and their environ- 

 ment. They are not so far removed as 

 to be unfamiliar to most of us — indeed, 

 many honored examples are with us yet; 

 and as the procession of bygone forms 

 and faces is conjured up, we bow our 

 heads in reverence. Many of them were 

 splendid exponents of the true garden- 

 ing spirit, were faithful servants, staunch 

 friends of the young gardeners who 

 were committed to their charge, though 

 sometimes severe withal. They bring 

 down to modern times, perhaps more 

 than any other retainer, the spirit of 

 those feudal days, in which the extensive 

 private garden had its birth and early 

 nourishment. 



Chances for Head Gardenerships. 



Under old-world conditions to this 

 day the number of private gardens of 

 any size is a fixed quantity; new cre- 

 ations are few and far between, and are 

 largely offset by the decay and aban- 

 donment of old establishments; so, con- 

 sequently, the market for head garden- 

 ers has always been a dull one. A satis- 

 factory and satisfied incumbent held his 

 position often for life. Not much was 

 required of him in the way of technical 

 or scientific knowledge — in fact, too 

 much of that sort of thing would have 

 spoiled him. He was essentially a re- 

 tainer, although by common consent 

 ranking considerably above the domes- 

 ticij, conser\-ative to a degree, which is 

 always characteristic of those who lack 

 ambition because of the absence of op- 

 portunity, that baneful blight of the 

 old world, supremely happy if a mo<iest 

 pension awaited him, or fortunate if able 



to end his days as the proprietor of a 

 small grocery or public house. 



One easily can realize that under the 

 above conditions there must have been 

 constantly in existence a small Urmy of 

 rejected ones among the body of journey- 

 men gardeners. Head positions not al- 

 ways being awarded with regard to 

 merit, the under-gardeners had little in- 

 centive to acquire an education above 

 the common, the chances being that they 

 would end their days in the ranks with 

 the laborer. These things may explain 

 the anomalous condition that has un- 

 doubtedly existed up to the present time 

 and still exists, viz., that of a large 

 number of intelligent men, engaged in 

 a pursuit so near to nature, so lofty as 

 to transcend almost all others, and, if 

 inclnding agriculture, which it naturally 

 does, so important in the world of eco- 

 nomics as to comprehend all the neces- 

 sary things of life within its scope, and 

 yet who are so poorly equipped with 

 technical and scientific education as to 

 render them, as a class, marked in this 

 respect. 



It finds its most harmful expression 

 in a conservatism which is positively 

 suicidal in this new day and country. 

 Failing to recognize the opportunity 

 that is now before them of lifting 

 themselves and their craft from the 

 realm of drudgery and servitude into 

 that of science and art, where it prop- 

 erly belongs, cherishing the ideal of 

 "My lord" and "My lady," who never 

 interfered, the long hours of labor with 

 small pay, the willing helpers who kept 

 going fourteen hours per day if ordered 

 to do so, no horse power — horses had to 

 go to rest early — no hose, no anything, 

 in fact, that savored of innovation and 



that required new study: those were in- 

 deed good old days. 



'■■'' Modern Conditions. 



Let us turn, however, to the condi- 

 tions which confront us in this marvel- 

 ous age and country. The ordinary slow 

 processes of evolution and national 

 growth have been entirely ignored. De- 

 velopment along economic, social and 

 art lines has been so rapid as to defy 

 the average observer and student to 

 trace it. The nation, from a condition 

 of extreme crudity and devouring en- 

 ergy which might aptly be compared to 

 the caterpillar stage, has suddenly 

 emerged into a state of refinement and 

 keen appreciation of beauty and fert that 

 is as startling and interesting ^to con- 

 template as the bursting forth of the 

 perfect butterfly. Let us hope that this 

 simile may not obtain in its ephemeral 

 sense, however. 



During this period of strenuous com- 

 mercial activity the earth has been made 

 to yield her treasures most bountifully. 

 Nothing in the world 's history com- 

 pares with the development of the natu- 

 ral resoui^es of this country during the 

 last fifty years. The struggle has been 

 terrific, and the confusion even as that 

 of the mighty rapids and whirlpool of 

 Niagara. Out of this maelstrom and 

 into the quiet waters of work well done, 

 victory achieved and fortunes made, have 

 drifted thousands of men who are now 

 seeking rest, recreation and happiness, 

 the end to which all previous effort has 

 been but the means. Back to nature is 

 the word, a^d to the soil which gave 

 them their material wealth, they again 

 look for those more subtle elements that 

 satisfy the soul. These are the men who 



J. H, Patterson. 



(WhoHe services to horticulture have been of utmost valne to the trade.) 



