INTRODUCTION. 9 



the necessity and advantage of an education for their children 

 considerably beyond what they themselves have received. 



It is a common complaint among gardeners, that they are 

 not sufficiently paid, and that a man who knows little more of 

 gardening than a common labourer, is frequently as amply 

 remunerated as a man who has served a regular apprenticeship 

 to his business. This is perfectly true where the gardener is 

 nearly or equally devoid of elementary instruction with the 

 labourer. But the remark does not apply to gardeners who 

 have either received a tolerable scholastic education, or have 

 made up for the defect of it afterwards by self-improvement; 

 or if it apply to them, the blame is their own. We know from 

 the information of some respectable nurserymen, as well as of 

 our own knowledge, that there are a number of proprietors in 

 this country who cannot get gardeners so well qualified as they 

 wish, and who would gladly increase the emolument for a supe- 

 rior class of men. We also know that there are some noble- 

 men who do not allow their head gardener more than the 

 wages of a servant in livery : but this evil we trust to see re- 

 formed ; for if good gardeners be not sufficiently paid, they 

 will soon cease to be produced. If a class of superiorly edu- 

 cated gardeners were to come forward, they would create a 

 demand for themselves, on the principle that demand is in- 

 fluenced both by the supply and the quality of the article. Be- 

 sides, as to education, parents will recollect that the better their 

 children are educated, the fitter will they be to change their 

 profession, if they should not succeed in it, or to suffer the 

 disappointment with patience, and make the most of it, if they 

 cannot do better. The same remarks will apply to agronomes. 

 We substitute the word agronome for the hateful appellation 

 bailiff, till some of our readers shall furnish us with a better. 



Having now stated at length the nature and object of the 

 Gardener's Magazine, we proceed to lay before our readers 

 such communications as our friends have favoured us with, 

 hoping to render succeeding numbers more and more interest- 

 ing as the circulation of the work extends, and its correspond- 

 ents increase in number. We invite all those who take an in- 

 terest in gardening to assist us by their advice, and by the com- 

 munication of information on every subject connected with the 

 work : we especially invite practical gardeners to come forward 

 and support a work calculated to promote their own honour 

 and advantage. Let them not make as excuses the being un- 

 accustomed to write, want of style, &c. but let them fix on a 

 subject, begin it at once, and write straight on to the end, re- 

 gardless of every thing but the correctness of their statements. 

 This done once or twice, a good style will come of itself. 



