THE WELL-CONSIDERED GARDEN 



the young gardener is taught the thorough, prac- 

 tical work of the gardener and goes through all 

 departments, even to the menial work of digging, 

 attending to furnaces, etc. In England the gar- 

 dener has to pay an apprenticeship to the head 

 gardener on some estates. After he has served 

 an apprenticeship to the head, he becomes an as- 

 sistant, then journeyman, then foreman. So he 

 must have at least ten or fifteen years of thorough 

 experience before he becomes head gardener. The 

 trouble with the American gardener is that he is 

 a specialist either in roses, carnations, or orchid- 

 growing, and has not the all-around knowledge 

 of the European trained gardener. 



"You cannot get an assistant gardener in this 

 country to-day for much less than fifty-five dol- 

 lars to sixty dollars per month and board. I 

 mean an assistant in a large garden, where they 

 specialize in fruit-trees, rose-growing, carnations, 

 orchids, palms and foliage plants, and kitchen 

 garden. 



"This, you see, is far better than some wages paid 

 to gardeners. I do not think the average wages 

 paid to a gardener in this country would be equal 

 to one hundred dollars per month. In many in- 

 stances this is the fault of the gardener himself. 



214 



