224 STUDIES IN GAEDENING 



geometrical patterns. Perhaps the gardener does not 

 listen. Perhaps he thinks you cannot be really so 

 foolish as you seem; or, perhaps — and this is the 

 most probable explanation — the habits of a lifetime 

 are too strong for him, and as he plants he obeys un- 

 consciously his instinct for symmetry and order. 



Whatever the explanation may be, these incidents 

 make pleasant relations difficult; and, for the en- 

 thusiast, unpleasant relations with his gardener are 

 intolerable. They must be even worse for the gar- 

 dener, since he cannot openly rebel except at the risk 

 of losing his livelihood. It is his business, you may 

 say, to please his employer; but he is human, and 

 the more his heart is in his work the more eager he will 

 be to do work after his own heart. Every good gar- 

 dener is something of an artist, however perverse his 

 taste may seem, and he needs to be humoured like 

 an artist. But then his employer too, if he is an en- 

 thusiast, is also something of an artist, and probably 

 not content with mere humouring. It may be a point 

 of honour with him to have no bedding plants in his 

 garden. It may be a point of honour with the gar- 

 dener to have some. When this is the case the humane 

 employer usually makes some concession. He sees 

 that if there were no bedding plants his gardener 

 would lose all interest in his work and pine away. 

 Therefore he gives him a piece of the garden to play 

 with and does not grudge the time he spends upon it, 

 provided he will do as he is bid elsewhere. This com- 

 promise is not perfectly satisfactory to either party. 



