Prospects of Gardening and Gardeners, 131 



because, as the higher classes get poorer, they will live more 

 upon their own estates, and enter more and more into country 

 pursuits. They will give up forcing various sorts of fruit and 

 vegetables, so as to have them ripe at unnatural seasons, when 

 their only value consists in the difficulty and expense attending 

 their attainment; but every country seat will have its arbore- 

 tum, and herbaceous ground, and there will be no end to the 

 number of representative systems of hardy plants. As the 

 attention of landed proprietors, and particularly that of their 

 wives and daughters, will be now more exclusively directed to 

 botany, and other branches of natural history, thev will ob- 

 viously require from their gardeners more knowledge in these 

 sciences. That they will find persons possessing this know- 

 ledge, and, at the same time, obtain from them a more varied 

 and more extended description of service, we have not a 

 doubt ; because the situation of head gardener, or general 

 manager of an estate, is too comfortable a one not to produce 

 abundance of candidates, with whatever degree of skill for 

 which there may be a demand. In respect to wages, though 

 these may be nominally smaller than at present, they will 

 always be such as to command at least as many of the com- 

 forts and conveniences of life as gardeners now enjoy; most 

 probably more. 



Our object, in making these remarks, is to prepare the minds 

 of gardeners for the comparatively new state of things which 

 they will find gradually coming upon them. The young and 

 scientific have nothing to fear ; every year their value will be 

 better and better understood : but the young, whose education 

 has been neglected, and the grown-up gardener, who belongs 

 to what may be called the old school, may henceforth both 

 lav their account with falling rather than rising in the world. 



We have always strongly recommended to gardeners, whe- 

 ther informed or uninformed, to emigrate to America or 

 Australia, rather than remain in this country ; but we more 

 especially recommend this measure to the last class. If they 

 can only raise as much money as will pay their passage to 

 New York (51. per head, the party providing food and 

 clothes), or to Sydney (30/. per head, including food on 

 the voyage), they will be certain of finding employment, 

 as common labourers, at from 4s. to 5s. a day in both these 

 parts of the w r orld ; while the price of excellent food and 

 lodging does not exceed a shilling a day in either. After 

 working a few years, as much may be saved as will enable the 

 party to retire to the back woods of the United States, or 

 the bush of New Holland or Van Diemen's Land, and to 

 purchase a farm of 200 or 300 acres. Let no gardener, how- 



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