ADVICE TO YOUNG GARDENERS. 
405 
science there are several cheap elementary books, one of which should 
always be in the garden lodge. It is a dry subject to a beginner, but 
the study of it becomes at last exceedingly interesting. 
Geometry and mensuration are also necessary for the gardener; for, 
though those portions of knowledge are not required in the usual routine 
of his business, they are often useful to him in forming designs, more 
especially if it be necessary for him to represent, in the first place, his 
alterations or improvements on paper. The art of mapping is indis¬ 
pensable ; and the ability to represent any disposition of the garden 
upon paper, facilitates very much the practice of tracing the same on 
the ground; indeed, if he cannot do the one with the scale and com¬ 
passes, he would find much difficulty in executing the other with 
accuracy. 
Astronomy need not be a part of his studies, except as an amuse¬ 
ment ; but meteorology he ought to make himself well acquainted 
with. Gardeners, like shepherds and sailors, should be “ observers ol 
the face of the sky; ” they are much in the open air, and they should 
habituate themselves to notice atmospheric changes, so as to acquire a 
foreknowledge of what is most likely to happen on the morrow. It is 
a great advantage to be able to foresee the approach of frost, or rain, or 
even of dry weather. The barometer is of little or no use as a weather¬ 
glass ; it only indicates the weight of the air at the present instant, 
but cannot show what the weight will be five hours hence. Thermo- 
meters are, however, particularly necessary, as well in the open air as 
under glass. 
Next to the knowledge of all the more useful branches of gardening, 
a practical knowledge of botany is of the greatest consequence to the 
young man who intends to qualify himself for a respectable place. 
Botany is now-a-days so interwoven with gardening, that no prac¬ 
titioner of the latter is thought anything of, unless he also knows 
somewhat of the former. The care and culture of exotic plants is, in 
many cases, the principal part of the gardener’s duty; and he receives 
as much applause for the successful culture of curious plants, as he has 
for the production of the finest vegetables or the richest fruits. 
The botanical names of plants is the first thing to be attended to, 
because this is the most useful part of the science. It has been said, 
indeed, that a man may be an excellent botanist, though he may not 
know the name of a single plant. This has reference to a man’s scientific 
acquirements : but science alone will not do for the gardener ; he must 
be a practical botanist, by becoming conversant with the names, and 
nature, and native habitats of the collection, to lead him to the right 
method of treating them. Practical botany also includes the propa- 
