138 Professional and general Knowledge 



so purely his own, that all the devices of designing men 

 will be insufficient to deprive him of it. It is a mighty 

 resource, which will give an elevation and a sublimity to 

 his conceptions ; enable him to perceive the true nature of 

 things; raise him above those deep-rooted prejudices which 

 he had cherished as positive truth ; and, fixed upon a found- 

 ation too secure to be ever swept away by the force of reason- 

 ing or the strength of argument, deliver him from many an 

 unnecessary fear, and prove a great source of comfort and 

 consolation to his mind, when forced to contend with the 

 trials and adversities of life. Although it is clearly the duty 

 and the interest of all to exert themselves, in order to keep 

 pace with the march of intellect ; it is peculiarly imperative 

 upon the young man who aims at filling the situation of head 

 gardener. As then he will be under the necessity of con- 

 versing or corresponding with his employer, it is requisite he 

 should possess a scientific as well as a practical knowledge 

 of his profession, and that his attainments in general infor- 

 mation should be such as will enable him to act and conduct 

 himself in a manner consistent with the sphere of life in 

 which he must move. 



Although it may be deemed the height of presumption in 

 one, who is but young in years, and consequently has had 

 only limited observation and experience, I cannot but say 

 that, notwithstanding the many examples we possess of in- 

 dividuals who, in spite of the difficulties they had to con- 

 tend with, on account of the wages of journeymen gardeners 

 being so unaccountably and vexatiously low, have yet risen 

 to respectability, if not to eminence, in the attainment of 

 knowledge ; there are still many who idly, uselessly, if not 

 criminally, spend that portion of time which ought to be 

 devoted to mental improvement. I have conversed with many 

 upon this subject, and have frequently been told that the 

 acquisition of knowledge was attended with no advantageous 

 result; that interest was the only thing now-a-days; and that, 

 since a person of considerable influence had promised to do 

 something for them, they would not deprive themselves of 

 enjoyment, and destroy their eyesight and constitutions with 

 poring over books. I wish there were no truth in their 

 statement, and that true merit would be sufficient to work its 

 own way. I should not have adverted to this, if I were not 

 fully convinced that it is by the attainment of knowledge 

 only, that gardeners will maintain their place in society, and 

 because I consider that to ignorance and indifference many 

 of the evils of which we complain may be traced. I have 

 frequently heard it made a subject of complaint, that in some 



