CHAPTER XXIY 



MASTEES AND MEN 



"iSiow that the owners of good places are for the most 

 part taking a newly-awakened and newly-educated 

 pleasure in the better ways of gardening, a frequent 

 source of difficulty arises from the ignorance and ob- 

 structiveness of gardeners. The owners have become 

 aware that their gardens may be sources of the keenest 

 pleasure. The gardener may be an excellent man, per- 

 fectly understanding the " ordinary routine of garden 

 work ; he may have been many years in his place ; it is 

 his settled home, and he is getting well on into middle 

 lite; but he has no understanding of the new order of 

 things, and when the master, perfectly understanding 

 what he is about, desires that certain things shall be 

 done, and wishes to enjoy the pleasure of directing the 

 work himself, and seeing it grow under his hand, he 

 resents it as an interference, and becomes obstructive, 

 or does what is required in a spirit of such sullen 

 acquiescence that it is equal to open opposition. And 

 I have seen so many gardens and gardeners that I 

 have come to recognise certain types; and this one, 

 among men of a certain age, is unfortunately frequent, 



