466 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
Situated where I am, I have abundant opportunities to 
see and study these rising, active, and intelligent young 
men. They are being turned out in such numbers that 
I wonder what must become of them all. Now, I have 
noted that nearly all these youths, and their teachers, can 
talk pleasingly on landscape designs, bui that so far as 
practical gardening is concerned, they know very little 
indeed. Yet these men are intruding themselves upon 
those who have forgotten more of horticulture than their 
new fledged landscape artists know, and in not a few 
cases are allowed to draw plans, make changes, and sug- 
gest or even superintend plantings for which they are 
grossly unfitted. I think I am safe in saying that not one 
landscape gardener, architect, or artist — choose whatever 
term you like best — in ten, is competent to draw up plans, 
suggest proper plantings, and see such carried out. 
I will take up another question, one which is of vital 
importance to everyone. I refer to gardeners' remunera- 
tions. I know many gardeners are getting too small a 
salary for the work they are doing. I know also that 
others are overpaid for the little they do and produce. 
I know further that on an average the scale of wages 
may seem low compared with that secured in other pro- 
fessions where a comparatively low degree of skill is 
needed. But conditions have much improved in 25 years, 
the rate of remuneration has advanced, and I believe the 
average practical gardener is, on the whole, more appre- 
ciated than a quarter of a century ago. We must always 
remember that gardening is more or less of a luxury ; we 
cannot fix or regulate salaries by any trades union, co- 
operative or other method : any such efforts would prove 
disastrous to our profession. 
We can, however, instill in the minds of our employers 
that confidence, and almost intimate relationship, which 
should exist between employer and employee. Such noted 
British patrons of horticulture as the Duke of Portland, 
Sir George Holford, the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, Sir Jeremiah 
Colman, and others I might name, look upon, and speak 
of their head gardeners as friends rather than employees, 
and are not afraid to say so on public occasions, when 
both are present. I feel we are approaching in some 
measure that condition here. Once real confidence exists, 
wages will regulate themselves. Let us do our work so 
well that our employers will feel that an advance in salary 
is well merited. All employers are not equally appre- 
ciative, however ; some there are who give praise grudg- 
ingly and find fault unstintedly. It is not necessary, 
however, for any first-class gardener to continue in- 
definitely with such, for there are many kindly and ap- 
preciative employers who would not starve the very souls 
of their employees for want of a few kind words, as some 
are doing. 
Now, fellow members, you may not believe it, but I do, 
that the principal reason why a great many of our mem- 
bers make no headway, is. because they fall considerably 
below the requirements of their employers. They don't 
measure up to their opportunities ; in short, they are 
stand-pats, and not progressives. I feel also that our 
profession is retarded, and seriously retarded, by a large 
proportion of the men within its ranks. There should he 
a weeding out of this incompetent and undesirable ma- 
terial. How it can best be accomplished, I cannot say. 
Many have no right to the name of gardener. Such men 
should never be recommended to positions of trust by 
those who are asked to fill them. 
Co-operation is in the air, and here I can see hopes 
of much benefit to our craft. The National Associa- 
tion of Gardeners is accomplishing a good work, not 
only for its own members, but the profession generally ; 
and T advise every gardener not yet a member, to join it. 
This is the only purely private gardeners' national asso- 
ciation in America, and the only one, in my estimation, 
which can be of real benefit to our members. While we 
have the friendliest of all feelings for the various trade 
bodies — I belong to at least five of these myself — and are 
always willing to help them in every possible way, we 
must remember that they have their own problems to face. 
\\ e also have others fully as complex. We cannot in any 
trade society get that sympathy and ready support that is 
forthcoming in a body largely confined to practical gar- 
deners ; therefore, if we can belong to but one national 
society, let it be the National Association of Gardeners. 
As each year rolls on, our perspective changes, and I 
want to say that it is changing very fast in favor of out- 
door horticulture. I am not underestimating the value of 
greenhouses ; they are, however, not of vital importance ; 
many first-class places have little glass, some none at all ; 
probably these greenhouses are visited a few times yearly, 
at most. They serve their purpose, but are invariably 
placed in as inconspicuous a place as possible, so as not 
to be a blot on the landscape. 
Xow, the outdoor department is ever in view, and more 
men should equip themselves to handle this part effec- 
tively. Trees and shrubs, their proper planting and care ; 
hardy herbaceous plants ; bulbs, both naturally and 
formally planted : tennis courts, their formation and care ; 
fruit trees and their care ; tree surgery, including both 
pruning and cement patching ; spraying, now of vast im- 
portance ; proper rotation of farm and garden crops ; live 
stock and their care ; bird protection — our winged aerial 
fleet is of supreme importance — these are a few subjects 
we should all be conversant with. 
Then again, do not let us give every moment to our 
estates ; we need some relaxation, such as the fraternal 
orders offer us ; but let us, wherever possible, be of some 
little use to the community in which we reside; we can 
all assist in civic betterment, by aiding in the home and 
school garden movement, by encouraging the proper 
planting and caring of trees on our streets, by helping 
along the public grounds movements, and in other little 
ways trying to make conditions more pleasurable for 
young and old. We will get no salary for this, but there 
is the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing good 
to others. 
I have often heard gardeners speak contemptuously of 
book learning, and have even heard some say that they 
never read a horticultural paper. Such men are to be 
pitied — they are never found in the van of progress. Our 
American horticultural papers may not be all that private 
gardeners could wish them to be. but they are filling their 
field acceptably, and every gardener should patronize one 
or more of them. Their price is low, and none of us are 
so advanced that we cannot learn something each week 
if we will do a little careful reading. I wish more gar- 
deners would send communications to the horticultural 
press, as is done in Europe ; I am sure the editors of all 
the papers would welcome such. 
I want to see our noble profession better recognized 
than it is today, to see its craftsmen more looked up to 
and esteemed, to see a better feeling existing between 
employer and employee. Let us all, therefore, labor 
unitedly to seek each others' welfare in a better grasping 
of the needs of our calling, and try to be of special help 
to those who need our aid the most, and remember that 
we who are constantly working assiduously in Nature's 
boundless workshop are working at the same time very 
close to the great Creator of all life; therefore let our 
lives be as harmoniously beautiful and bountiful as are 
the works of Nature's God. 
Extracts from a paper read before the Gardeners' and 
Florists' Club of Boston, and republished by request. 
