538 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 20, 1895. 
scullery maid, and wouldn’t be bossed by petticoats 
anyway; he left on the very next train. It was 
annoying, for I was anxious to get my Roses 
planted as soon as possible, as Mr. Cuttings had 
informed me that I w^as already late for such work, 
it being the end of October. However, by 
abundance of manure and plenty of heat I had no 
doubt of soon catching up. I had selected American 
Beauty as my chief crop, having noticed that they 
always command such a high price, and I calculated 
that even at the conservative estimate of one flower 
a day for each plant, I should pay for my entire 
establishment that winter, and have enough left for 
a European trip besides. I must confess, however, 
that my hopes were not realised ; every kind of bug 
and worm known to floriculture appeared to make 
itself at home in my houses, and by the time I had 
conquered the insect world, there wasn’t anything 
left of those unfortunate Beauties except bare sticks. 
However, they were not entirely valueless, as I 
planted the houses with English Cucumbers, and 
trained the Vines over the dead Rose bushes; the 
effect was really unique, and I noticed that even Mr. 
Cuttings was evidently surprised when I took him in 
to look at them. 
I had given some attention to the question of 
bulbs, as a very intelligent gentleman from Holland 
had given me a lot of information on the subject, and 
the bulbs were so remarkably cheap that it was 
impossible to lose much by them, even if they didn’t 
all bloom freely. My Tulips were rather disappoint¬ 
ing, however, as they failed to produce a succession of 
flowers ; after cutting one crop all my efforts to start 
them blooming again were a failure, and I had the 
same trouble with Hyacinths. I suppose they were 
not really strong bulbs. My Bermuda Lilies didn’t 
bloom at all. I had a difference of opinion con¬ 
cerning them with my second foreman. He was 
potting them in very rich earth, with an abundance 
of manure. I knew that couldn’t be right, as I had 
seen Lily of the Valley forced in nothing but pure 
sand, and there seemed no reason why Bermuda 
Lilies should be treated differently from any other 
Lilies. My foreman objected strongly to this—he was 
opinioniated, like most Scotchmen—and he simply 
pulled off his burlap apron, and remarking “Do as 
ye like, mon, but I’ll no be a pairty to starving yon 
puir bulbs,” he left me. I thought McCulloch acted 
in a very hasty manner, but Mr. Cuttings has since 
informed me that none of the florists grow Bermuda 
Lilies in pure sand. 
I must own that I found a great deal of difficulty 
in securing adequate help that really met my views. 
As I had entered the business with the firm intention 
of elevating it I did not desire the type of gardener 
I have so often seen about commercial establish¬ 
ments, who seem to have no idea of the refinement 
of their occupation. I tried to give my views to my 
third foreman, but though a most respectable young 
man and well recommended, he didn’t seem to 
sympathise. He said, with unnecessary vigour, 
“ Well, sir, if you want a lot of bloomin’ livin' 
pictures around this place you can get ’em, but I’m 
looking for men that can work, and if my men are 
shy on culture you can bet they’ll hustle when it 
comes down to work." His views, though crudely 
expressed, seemed to work admirably in actual 
practice, and I have always regretted that circum¬ 
stances caused him to leave me. 
My experience (I have certainly had experience) 
leads me to disagree with those who regard the 
Carnation as a money-making flower. I decided to 
grow Carnations quite heavily, as I noticed by the 
daily papers they brought from §2 to $4 a dozen, 
and didn’t require any artificial heat except in very 
severe weather. I had some idea of growing them 
in frames, the same as Violets, but my Violet experi¬ 
ence was so discouraging that I gave up the idea. 
Instead of growing my Violets faded away like a 
vision; first they became afflicted with an eruptive 
skin disease uncommonly like vegetable measles, and 
then they absolutely melted. I have heard of an ice 
plant, but lam quite sure the ice plant couldn’t melt 
any faster than my Violets did. When I named the 
matter to Mr. Cuttings he simply told me my Violets 
had “ the disease," and I had better burn whatever 
was left of them, and not replant till the next season. 
So my Violet frames were empty and useless until 
my foreman planted them with Spring Onions, 
Radishes, etc., which was well enough, only that my 
wife had christened our place “ Violetsholme," and 
it was embarrassing to acknowledge that the Violets 
were chiefly Onions. But to return to the Carna¬ 
tions. My foreman dissuaded me from growing 
them without any heat, and I was amazed to find 
that they needed as much attention as Roses. 
However, I picked a few flowers in November, and 
sent my first consignment of 400 to Mr. Addem, the 
commission dealer, with a good deal of pride. 1 was 
rather shocked when my consignment slip came 
back, crediting me with 97 cents. I immediately 
went to interview Mr. Addem, and was very 
pleasantly received by that gentleman, but when I 
mentioned my Carnations he told me in a genial 
manner that he didn’t expect to sell them at 
all, only he had met with a man who didn’t know 
Carnations w'hen he saw them. It appears, from 
what he told me, that commission men have a 
prejudice against consignments of long and short 
stemmed Carnations of all colours, packed loosely 
together in the box, and I found that if I expected 
to sell my flowers they must all have long stems, 
and be packed as tenderly as Sevres china. This 
must diminish the profits very seriously, although 
Mr. Addem tried to persuade me that there is more 
money in selling 100 flowers at $2.50 than 300 at 
50 cents. But I was not obliged to puzzle long over 
the question of selling flowers; as the politicians 
say, I was soon confronted by a condition, not a 
theory. If my Violets appeared to suffer from 
measles, my Carnations undoubtedly had small-pox, 
most objectionable pustules appeared all over the 
leaves, and gouty-looking swellings at every joint. 
My foreman said they had “ the disease," but this 
was so very indefinite that I consulted Mr. Cuttings. 
He pronounced it a combination of rust and purple 
joint. I asked him what to do, and he told me 
genially that I might use Bordeaux mixture for a 
time, if I wished—then I could throw the plants out 
and burn them, and be sure that the place was 
properly disinfected before I planted Carnations 
there again. This mention of disinfecting gave me 
an idea of antiseptic treatment, so I painted all the 
steam pipes with tar and then burned pans of 
sulphur through the houses, but this utterly failed, 
and the plants never rallied. I have since learned 
that the sulphur treatment was unwise, and that 
nothing will ever grow in those houses so long as 
there is any tar left on the pipes. This is embarrass¬ 
ing ; it seems that my only resource is to buy a lot 
of incubators and turn my Carnation houses into a 
chicken run. I hope chickens don’t mind coal tar. 
So my first season left my Rose houses filled with 
Cucumbers, Carnation houses full of chicken coops, 
and Violet frame full of Onions—to say nothing of 
my experience. I think I shall try Orchids next— 
it is absurd to think that an experienced man of 
business can not master the details of such a simple 
profession in time—that is, if his money holds out— 
although at times I doubt whether the profits are as 
great as the newspapers lead us to believe. I think 
I shall try raising new Roses and Chrysanthemums 
—the process is not difficult, and the remuneration 
very large ; otherwise my outlay must be charged 
to profit and loss.— -J. Robinson Sharpe, in " American 
Florist." 
-—ogo--- 
A GARDENER’S EDUCATION. 
(Concluded from page 522.) 
Upon leaving school it should not be supposed 
that the lad has finished his education by any means. 
He has only passed up among the higher boys, if I 
may so phrase it. He has left the school for the 
University, the University of life—the highest school 
at which any student may attend, and it now rests 
with him to improve upon and adapt to the 
exigencies of every-day-life the knowledge gained in 
his earlier years. I have purposely asked the 
opinions of successful gardeners with regard to this 
subject, men whom I have known to have received 
superior education in their younger days, and it is 
rather remarkable to note how closely their verdicts 
agree together: “that their education only com¬ 
menced when they left school and passed forth into 
the world to make their own way." 
As a rule, when a boy starts as an apprentice in a 
good garden it is in the role of crock boy. He is 
expected to perform the odd and menial jobs among 
the houses, to run errands and to make himself 
generally useful. This is, I think, an excellent plan, 
as it enables the youth to get a general idea of the 
kind of work going on, and prepares his mind for 
taking in, presently, in detail the particulars of the 
requisite operations peculiar to the various depart¬ 
ments. After not more than eighteen months of this 
kind of work he should be moved on into the flower 
garden, in which he must spend at least a year, so as 
to get an acquaintance with ihe routine of work in 
this department. The year of probation over there, 
a like period should be spent by him in the vegetable 
and hardy fruit gardens, after which eighteen months 
of under-glass experience will be necessary, half of 
this time at least being passed in the fruit houses. 
Our young friend will now emerge a full-blown 
journeyman, and if he has taken advantage of the 
facilities granted him for improvement educationally, 
should have rather more than an elementary know¬ 
ledge of his calling. He will now be about twenty 
years of age, and will have pretty well developed 
those natural characteristics which shall afterwards 
determine his course in life, for it should be borne 
in mind that the bending of the twig often indicates 
the shape of the future tree. At least a year’s stay 
in each of three good private gardens or nurseries as 
a journeyman gardener should now follow, for it 
must by no means be forgotten that to get about 
the country, to see fresh faces, to learn fresh ways, 
and to get a more extended and liberal view of life 
in general and his chosen profession in particular, is 
in itself no small part of the education of a 
gardener. 
At any rate, any situation that our young friend 
takes as a journeyman should be accepted with a 
view to the gaining of experience that shall be the 
most suitable for the particular branch of the pro¬ 
fession he intends to follow. Thus, if to be the 
head gardener in some nobleman’s or private gentle¬ 
man’s establishment is his own aim, he cannot do 
better than keep in touch with gardens of this kind. 
If, however, he would prefer to become a superin¬ 
tendent of public parks or pleasure grounds, then a 
year or so in one of the London parks or in an 
establishment like Kew will be of inestimable 
service. In all cases it is well to decide upon the 
mark to be aimed at, and then to strive earnestly 
to hit that mark whatever it be. The man who, like 
Reuben of old, is unstable as water has this warning 
sounding in his ears—“ thou shalt not excel ’’—and 
we all should, I think, unanimously agree in dubbing 
a man who wavered in his aim like the uncertain 
wind as a very poor tool indeed. 
During all this time the standard of excellence 
and proficiency to which our young friend will attain, 
will in a great measure be governed by the use he 
makes of his spare time. The long winter evenings 
are laden with immense possibilities for self-improve¬ 
ment, and should not be suffered to glide by on idle 
wings. Attendance at science and art classes, 
where these are get-at-able, is a most profitable 
way of spending spare time, and if the studies 
pursued there have a bearing upon horticulture so 
much the better. As subjects for study at such 
classes, I might suggest botany, both systematic and 
economic, chemistry, physics, freehand and geo¬ 
metrical drawing, entomology, etc. The thorough and 
systematic perusal of several good books on garden¬ 
ing will be of inestimable value to the student. 
Works like Dr. Lindley’s “ Theory and Practice of 
Horticulture," Thomson’s " Gardener's Assistant,” 
and McIntosh’s " Book of the Garden," are worth 
their w-eight in gold. These, too, should be supple¬ 
mented by books dealing with special subjects. 
Thus, a good book on Orchids, another on stove and 
greenhouse plants, as well as works devoted to the 
detailing of the culture of vegetables, hardy fruits, 
etc., may be mentioned as items on a list that might 
be indefinitely extended. The weekly study of one of 
our horticultural papers is also a matter of consider¬ 
able importance, as it will serve to keep the student 
well informed with regard to current topics, the in¬ 
troduction of new plants or fruits, and hints as to 
the cultivation of the same. 
I must not forget to give honourab'e mention to 
the gardeners' mutual improvement society. Be he 
a young man or be he old, be he illiterate or be he 
learned, a novice in his profession or a practical 
and successful gardener, he can always gain some 
knowledge by- consistent and regular attendance at 
the meetings of a good mutual improvement society, 
and the great popularity into which these institu¬ 
tions have jumped of late years is sufficient 
guarantee of the high esteem in which they are held 
by the more thoughtful element of the horticultural 
public. In societies of this kind the youthful 
member gets most forcibly impressed upon his mind 
