GARDENERS AND THEIR EMPLOYERS. 



87 



charge of public parks, cemeteries, &c. ; (6) the market gar- 

 dener, a most important section of the profession, dealing ex- 

 clusively with the commercial side of horticulture, which is fast 

 assuming a leading place among our rural industries ; (7) the 

 nursery gardener, whose chief object is the propagation and rear- 

 ing of plants of all kinds in demand by the public ; and (lastly) 

 jobbing gardeners, a class that may be described as an omnium 

 gatherum of all the other branches, and who, on the whole, 

 occupy the least enviable position in the ranks of the gardening 

 fraternity. In the pursuit of a living they have to endeavour to 

 serve many masters, a feat of the most difficult nature, if not 

 impossible of attainment, and therefore jobbing gardeners and 

 their employers deserve more of our sympathy in their difficulties 

 than of the censure that is too often thoughtlessly bestowed upon 

 them. In their ranks are many excellent gardeners and em- 

 ployers who have seen better times, but through stress of circum- 

 stances, failing health, or misfortune, arising from no fault of 

 their own, find themselves in a position where they are unable 

 to command regular daily service or permanent employment, 

 and as a consequence they have had of necessity to take to 

 jobbing, with all its troubles and uncertainties. These drawbacks 

 in the life of a jobbing gardener are much increased by the crowd 

 of worthless failures who, as a last resource, gravitate to this class 

 from all the other branches of the profession after having been 

 cast adrift by their own folly or incapacity. For every piece of 

 work that comes within the legitimate scope of the jobbing 

 gardener these waifs of the fraternity are keen competitors, and 

 by their plausible representations they too often succeed in 

 cutting the capable and reliable man out of an honest job, 

 which he would perform, if employed, in such a manner as to 

 command the approval of all reasonable people. A remedy for 

 this objectionable feature is not easily to be found, but em- 

 ployers of jobbing gardeners will find it to their own advantage 

 to give preference to the experienced man of good character and 

 sound reputation among his fellows. 



The employers of gardeners are as various as the branches 

 of gardening, and perhaps even more difficult to classify in an 

 intelligible manner. In a comparatively limited number of 

 cases the employers are compound bodies, such as (1) the Govern- 

 ment, (2) various public authorities, and (3) private trusts ana 



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