272 WOOD AND GARDEN 



Various degrees of ignorance and narrow-mindedness 

 must no doubt be expected among the class that pro- 

 duces private gardeners. Their general education is 

 not very wido to begin with, and their training is 

 usually all in one groove, and the many who possess a 

 full share of vanity get to think thai", because they 

 have exhausted the obvious sources of experience that 

 have occurred within their reach, there is nothing 

 more to learn, or to know, or to see, or to feel, or to 

 enjoy, it is in this that the difficulty lies. The man 

 has no doubt done his best through life; he has per- 

 formed his duties well and faithfully, and can render a 

 good account of his stewardship. It is no fault of his 

 that more means of enlarging his mind have not been 

 within his grasp, and, to a certain degree, he may be 

 excused for not understanding that there is anything 

 beyond; but if he is naturally vain and stubborn his 

 case is hopeless. If, on the other hand, he is wise 

 enough to know that he does not know everything, 

 and modest enough to acknowledge it, as do all the 

 greatest and most learned of men, he wiU then be 

 eager to receive new and enlarged impressions, and his 

 willing and intelligent co-operation will be a new source 

 of interest in life both to himself and his employer, as 

 well as a fresh spring of vitality iq the life of the 

 garden. I am speaking of the large middle class of 

 private gardeners, not of those of the highest rank, 

 who have among them men of good education and a 

 large measure of refinement, From among these I 



