1138 



Women in Horticulture. 



[Mar., 



large ornamental gardens of the country are still carefully main- 

 tained, in many others the fruit and vegetable gardens are now 

 expected to bring in some return. On the other hand, market 

 gardening benefited from the general rise in food prices, and 

 has become a far more important branch of the profession than 

 formerly, although at the present time the prices of vegetables 

 to the grower scarcely cover the cost of cultivation. 



The two factors mentioned have directly affected the employ- 

 ment of women. In commercial work, although a certain stan- 

 dard of quality must necessarily be maintained, quantity of 

 production is of greater importance, and it is here that the 

 physical disabilities of women prove a handicap in competition 

 with men. 



A consideration of these facts points to the necessity of women 

 devoting themselves to those branches of horticultural work for 

 which they are best suited. They must specialise in those direc- 

 tions in which their lack of physical strength imposes least 

 handicap, and in which they have opportunities of exhibiting the 

 special aptitudes of their sex. They must always be prepared 

 to offer the advantage of quality in their work to compensate for 

 the possible lack of quantity. There are certain branches of 

 gardening for which women are specially qualified — for example, 

 propagating work, packing produce, handling seed, glass-house 

 work, flower and bulb cultivation. The remuneration offered to 

 practical workers is not high, and, at the best of times, only 

 provides a living wage, so that it is necessary to find compensa- 

 tion in the delight of an open air life amidst congenial sur- 

 roundings. 



The various openings for women in horticulture may be 

 classified under several heads : — 



1. Private Gardens. — There is still a limited demand for 

 women as gardeners in private establishments, and this demand 

 will probably always exist. While in some cases the woman is 

 engaged on account of her practical ability, in others the 

 employers are themselves women and prefer the advantages 

 which result from the companionship of an educated woman as 

 gardener. The wages offered average from 30s. a week for an 

 inexperienced girl just out of college to 50s. or 60s. with cottage, 

 vegetables, &c, for a head gardener. It is necessary for 

 the woman gardener to be devoted to her work, for the life 

 is often a solitary one, with continuous hard work and very little 

 holiday. Without experiencing the joys which gardening brings 

 to real lovers of gardens, the woman gardener's life would be 

 unbearable. 



