December 29,1881.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 
QUESTIONS on this subject are frequently asked 
by owners of gardens, also by young men 
taking charge of gardens for the first time; 
; and certainly the subject is one of great im¬ 
portance to all concerned with horticulture, no 
matter whether they may be owners, lessees> 
gardeners in large places, single-handed men, or 
workmen generally. All have, more or less, to 
do with the management of the garden, and the subject 
deserves and requires much study if the best has to be 
made of everything. 
It is not my intention now to enter fully into the question of 
profit and loss, although there was never a time when this was 
taken more into consideration than now. In my opinion money 
properly expended in labour and other things connected with 
cultivation is amply returned in the produce ; however, be this 
as it may, we may all rely that money spent in gardens at the 
present time is being weighed and considered by owners, and 
economy should be the rule with all. But doing with less 
labour and buying fewer plants and seeds are not the only 
ways of saving. Bad management is the most serious part of 
garden expenditure. Loss and dissatisfaction are the only 
accompaniments to this, and it will eventually do more harm 
than anything else. 
There are many ways of managing things badly. Careless¬ 
ness and neglect are two prominent features in it. Abusing 
confidence and allowing third or fourth-rate culture to take the 
place of first-rate work are other forms. Idle habits and a 
general course of large or small deceptions by anyone con¬ 
nected with a garden may also be included as important items 
in bad management. Good management, on the other hand, 
is a simple matter, easily accomplished by all. An unwaver¬ 
ing desire to keep time and do everything in the most con¬ 
scientious manner are good signs ; and while they give pleasure 
to those who perform them, they are also very gratifying to 
employers. 
Conscience is the helm or regulator of a successful routine. 
A head gardener should have a large share of this, and those 
under him should not be wanting in it, or good management 
will be difficult, at least for a time ; but those with a deter¬ 
mination to persevere in rectifying errors both in themselves 
and others generally succeed in placing things right. 
To induce those employed in the garden to work properly is 
the first and most important step to good management. A 
gardener may have the best intentions, but if those under him 
are otherwise inclined all will not go right. The workmen we 
have found worst and dislike the most are those which make a 
great show before the face and are the most idle behind the 
back. If they think their employer is about they will keep 
their time to a second ; but if he is known to be away, one 
hour or more behind is looked on as nothing. Before-the-face 
work will be done most particularly; behind-tbe-back work 
will only be carelessly done. Trenching will be turned into 
digging, and where there should be a heat of 80°, 50° may be 
the figure. Tools, which should all be placed in one house, 
will be left in out-of-the-way corners, many of them, perhaps, 
never to be found again until they are spoiled. All such prac¬ 
tices as these indicate bad management. All lead to loss, and 
in the end a reduction of the money devoted to horticulture, as 
it is out of all reason to suppose that anyone would continue 
to spend money to uphold such courses. 
Reason in everything and for everything is what is much 
wanted by all to insure perfect garden management ; but it i3 
not always the gardener who is lacking in reason. We have 
known employers who expected more from one man and one 
acre of ground than could possibly be had from three men and 
as many acres of land. Others, again, with two or three vine¬ 
ries could not understand why they had not Grapes all the year 
round when such and such a one had them, but forgetting all 
the time that in their case the number of vineries were double 
or more those of their own. With such employers the most 
skilled managers would never succeed. Still, while many know 
of cases of the kind I have just mentioned, it is also well 
known that kind and liberal employers are often greatly de¬ 
ceived and robbed by those under them, and this may not be so 
much by giving things away or selling them, but the time lost 
through idling, inattention to proper hours, and similar fail¬ 
ings amount in the course of twelve months to a greater loss 
than many imagine. To lose half an hour in the morning, five 
minutes at breakfast time, ter minutes at dinner time, and 
leave off work fifteen minutes before time at night, may not 
appear much day by day, but calculate what those odd minutes 
and half hours will amount to in a year, or, further, ten years. 
This is the true way to look at the matter, and we must act 
accordingly. 
Poor cultivation may sometimes indicate want of experience, 
at other times neglect on the part of assistants ; but if time is 
well kept in the case of the former, and everything is done in 
reason, there is more hope of success eventually resulting than 
with the latter. When we see a young man who knows little, 
but is always at his work diligently ia working hours, we feel 
more satisfied, and have more hopes of him than some which 
may be more forward but less genuine. From Mr. Pettigrew 
and others much good advice has lately been given to young 
gardeners, and on this account I will only remark that much of 
the garden management depends on them. In watering, firing, 
cultivating the soil, and many other duties, they can do their 
work well or most indifferently. They can also be persevering, 
and by painstaking may save the head gardener much trouble ; 
and of this they may rest assured, that as they conduct them¬ 
selves so will their success in life be. Nothing is too much for 
considerate employers to do for deserving workmen, and the 
opposite is the case with the other class. 
Many employers who have found from experience the im¬ 
portance of having workpeople thoroughly trained have 
offered suggestions on the subject, and a correspondent from 
county Wicklow suggests remarks on early rising, doing work 
regularly, placing tools away properly, and other useful matters, 
No. 79.— Vol. III., Third Series. 
No. 1735 .- Vol. I.XVI., Old Series. 
