The Gardener and His Profession 
By W. N. Craig, * Massachusetts. 
IXEED not say how ancient and honorable is our call- 
ing, and surely the Almighty, when he placed our 
earliest forefathers in the Garden of Eden, must have 
given them a glimpse of Paradise itself. We their successors 
in these later years, while we may often complain of our 
lot, should remember that as tillers of the brown soil, 
we have at once the most lovable, fascinating and en- 
thusing of professions. We work in the most wonderful 
laboratory in the world, and even though many of us 
may not have the scientific attainments we might wish, 
in spite of some discouragements, failures, and possible 
drawbacks, we know and feel as much of the great secret 
of life itself as those who spend countless hours reading 
and soliloquizing over protoplasm, and the essence of all 
being. We plant, prune, sow, and reap, of not only things 
horticultural, but faith and hope. We garner rugged 
natures, and given rude health, our sleep, in spite of 
unavoidable worries, is so sound and sweet, that frenzied 
financiers and moneyed kings would fain have the com- 
parative freedom from care and restful repose which is 
ours. 
The very word "gardener," to come back to the more 
practical part of our subject, is ofttimes a misnomer. 
The United States Census statistics state that gardeners 
outnumber florists over two to one. I do not know who 
are classed as gardeners. Probably jobbing gardeners, 
market gardeners, and the general handy men who earn 
some considerable portion of their income from caring 
for gardens, are included in this category. What I have 
to say will refer to only a small fractional part of this 
body, commonly known as private gardeners, but more 
correctlv as professional gardeners. 
The gardener is, or should be, not only one who is a 
florist, but very much more ; he should have a good 
general knowledge of horticulture in its broadest sense, 
and this is not by any means all, for there are an in- 
creasing number of calls for men who are good gardeners 
but who in addition are capable of handling all details 
of estate management, and the man who is to fill these 
positions must be wide awake, energetic, eager to learn, 
and never satisfied to muddle along in any happy-go- 
lucky way, as is too often the case today. 
To be a good practical gardener in itself requires a 
great deal of care and forethought ; I doubt if there is 
any other occupation which requires one to have his 
senses more keenly alert. A trifling omission today, or 
a little oversight tomorrow may seem unimportant at the 
time, but may cause much worry and anxiety at a later 
date. One of the best friends a gardener can have is a 
■carefully kept diary of operations, of the weather, time 
crops mature, etc. I was advised when a boy to keep 
one, and have continued it religiously, and I can honestly 
say that for the little time necessary to keep it, no 
gardener should be without it, particularly would I urge 
upon young men to do so. 
I have often been glad in my early gardening days 
I had the rare good fortune to serve under one who was 
not only a good practical gardener, but a good botanist. 
I still highly prize a collection of 420 varieties of the 
British flora I collected after work hours, while I was 
still a journeyman. I wish I knew more botany: it is of 
great help to every practical gardener. We often hear 
the remark that good botanists never make good gar- 
deners. This is not at all true ; where could we get a 
better example of both than in one of our fellow mem- 
bers — the respected superintendent of the Plarvard 
Botanical Gardens (Mr. Cameron). The value of botany 
may not be very apparent while you are young, but its 
knowledge will be very helpful as you advance in life. 
The majority of us have not had the advantage 01 col- 
lege, or even high school training; and it says much for 
the grit, perseverance, and skill of many who, spite of 
these educational drawbacks, have risen to good positions 
and are in many cases leaders in their profession. Times, 
however, are changing, new conditions have arisen and 
now face us ; and we must equip ourselves to meet them. 
I refer more particularly to the so-called college grad- 
uates who are being trained to fill posts such as we now 
occupy. 
I believe largely in a college course, and that the young 
man who can have both a horticultural and agricultural 
training in such colleges as Amherst or Cornell, while 
they may gain less of the really practical work than on a 
private estate, will gather, nevertheless, a good theoretical 
knowledge of the fundamentals of our profession, and 
will, in many cases, be more eager for knowledge and 
quicker to learn than those who have started at the foot 
of the ladder and are slowly but diligently plodding along 
in the regulation way. 1 have sufficient faith in the col- 
lege course to recommend it to any who are able to send 
their boys there. Certainly, if any of my own boys show 
a sincere desire to follow in their father's profession, I 
would feel it were money well expended to send them 
there. 
I think, however, that the college bogy has been held 
up too much. I don't believe that a college course at all 
fits a man for assuming charge of even a small estate. 
The drawbacks in our agricultural colleges today are, that 
really practical men are to a large degree lacking. I don't 
mean to infer that the professors are not bright, intelli- 
gent men ; but how many of them have had any great 
degree of practical horticultural training? When our col- 
leges select men who are first-class growers to have 
charge of their greenhouses and grounds, men who will 
be free from petty interferences, from the more purely 
theoretical teachers, then they will turn out young men 
who can with greater confidence apply for positions where 
practical worth is needed. Even then, I doubt if such 
men would be competent to take charge of any positions 
before spending a year or two on some private estate. 
Let us, however, be fair ; let us be tolerant ; remember 
that these young American boys should have a helping 
hand and not be sneered at, rebuffed, and discouraged. 
Do not forget that, while we may pass through life with- 
out a college course, in the years that are coming the 
need of more scientific attainments will be greater than 
now, and botany, chemistry, and other essentials will be 
much more necessary. The practical gardener of the 
future, the estate manager of the future, must know these 
things, and he who thinks otherwise will be woefully left 
in the procession. 
Then we have, or may have, competition from another 
source. I refer now to the so-called landscape gardeners, 
or architects, as some prefer to call themselves. To some 
of these, men on a high plane, with a national reputation, 
we would all be ready to doff our hats ; but there are now 
a veritable flood of these embryo landscape gardeners, 
female as well as male, being turned loose on suffering 
humanity. I don't refer for a moment to the jobbing 
gardener or florist who has the magic words "landscape 
gardener" printed on his letterhead, but to the more cul- 
tured product of Amherst, Technology, and Harvard. 
465 
