December 25, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
267 
especially if he hails from a town ; he should also be 
allowed to assist in the preparation of the ground for 
planting and the sowing of seeds of the different 
kinds of vegetables at their various dates. He should 
also assist with the watering-can, when necessary, 
and be able to use all the tools requisite for this 
department as time goes on. He should assist in 
gathering the fruit when it is ripe, and be shown 
when it is fit, and how to gather the various kinds. 
He should carefully watch (even if he is not put to 
help) the proceedings anent the summer pruning of 
fruit trees and bushes, as well as that of the winter 
routine. 
I consider he ought to serve at least two years in 
the kitchen garden, and, if possible, be moved into 
the flower garden for another twelve or eighteen 
months, especially if the latter is away from the 
kitchen garden any distance, and where a regular 
staff of men is kept for each department. After this 
insight into kitchen garden work, he will be at home 
with the spade, fork, hoe, rake, and such like 
tools. He must be taught how to use the scythe and 
shears. He will get an insight as to bedding 
arrangements in early summer, and again in the 
autumn, as well as the general routine practised in a 
well-kept garden, where neatness should always be 
noted. 
His next move should be under glass, and his first 
duty there, for a few months at any rate, should be to 
work with the foreman or a good journeyman to get 
an insight as to airing, shading, and watering. As 
you all know, the last named is of the utmost impor¬ 
tance in gardening. A man with no knowledge as to 
the requirements of a plant in a pot could very soon 
do a large amount of damage. He should spend one 
year at least with the plants, and another year or 
more in the fruit department, when, if he has done 
between three or four years outside as advocated, I 
consider he ought to make a change, and if possible 
get into another county, as we d i not know in what 
part of the countrv we may get placed in after life, if 
we are fortunate enough to get a charge. I consider 
this migrating, if I may so term it, from one county 
to another, is essential in gardening, as the climatic 
conditions vary so much that we should be placed 
at a great disadvantage If, for comparison’s sake, 
we say that a man has spent all his time in Devon¬ 
shire,but eventually meets with an appointment some¬ 
where in the north of England, in such a case he 
must rely upon outsiders to a great extent as to what 
may be termed hardy, and about what date it may 
be safe to put out tender bedding plants, etc. Hence 
the necessity of making our experience as wide as 
possible in this respect. 
I think two years is quite sufficient for a young 
man to remain in one place after his first post. What 
he requires is to gain new ideas and fresh experience, 
because each of us gardeners has our own modus 
operandi as it were, and in after life he will be able to 
use his own discretion as to which method or practice 
he should think the most successful. 
And here, I may say, that I am not an advocate for 
apprentices. I think this used to be more customary 
years ago than now, and the average time, I believe, 
was from three up to seven years. Now this is a 
long time to be compelled to keep a youth, especially 
if after a year or so he should get sick and tired of 
gardening, as I have known several to be. It is 
equally as hard for the youth to have to stay. We 
must have a love for gardening, and be heart and 
soul in our work before we can hope to be successful. 
Here, let me give you an instance of how a love for 
gardening placed a friend of mine, after only seven 
years’ practice, in a responsible position as head- 
gardener with eight or nine men under him. Up to 
the time he was twenty-five years of age he worked 
as a journeyman blacksmith. He got his appoint¬ 
ment (there were over one hundred applicants for the 
post) about nine years ago, and to his credit still 
holds it. When he was at his trade, if ever I met 
him, he very soon began to talk about gardening. 
He was always asking, which did I think was the 
best Cucumber or the most prolific Pea to grow, and 
so on. Such a persevering man merited success, I 
consider. 
Well, to return to my subject ; while we are pro¬ 
bationers we ought in all our spare hours to en¬ 
deavour to educate ourselves by reading, studying, 
etc. Happily things are better now than they were, 
say from twenty to thirty years ago. Night or con¬ 
tinuation schools are provided now in most villages, 
and all young gardeners should avail themselves of 
this opportunity whenever it offers, to improve their 
education in the matter of writing, arithmetic, 
geometry, and such like. They should also make it 
a practice to keep a diary by them so as to be able to 
enter, each day, what work has been done under 
glass as well as outside, which they may in the future 
find of great service to them as a book of reference. 
It not only tends to improve their handwriting, it also 
instils as it were, practical work into their memory. 
We must still follow up this jouth from his first 
place. His next move should be as an improver, 
and after a year or so as journeyman, then event¬ 
ually as foreman or second gardener. When he 
reaches this latter post he should be capable of 
managing the men and keeping things in general in 
working crder, any day the gardener may be away 
from home. He should also endeavour to gain as 
much knowledge as he possibly can about the culti¬ 
vation of all kinds of plants, flowering and foliage 
alike, as well as that of fruit, also the propagation of 
those that may be required in each department He 
must carefully notice the various temperatures each 
hcuse is kept at through the night, as well as that 
during the day, especially in the case of fruit culture, 
because the temperature is increased as the crops 
and season advance. He should be a keen observer 
and see how Peach, Vine, and Fig trees, and similar 
fruits are pruned, tied, disbudded, pinched, and, 
eventually, the crops thinned, where necessary. All 
these details he should carefully watch, and, as I 
have said before, chronicle in his diary. 
The potting of different species of plants, too, 
must claim attention as well as the composition of 
the soils to be used ; the staking and tying of plants 
so as to learn to use no more stakes than are really 
necessary to keep the plant symmetrical; for too many 
of them not only injure a plant, when driven down 
among the tender roots, but they are an eye-sore as 
well. And if there should be any new glass houses 
being erected, new boilers or piping put in, all 
young gardeners should if possible keep in eye on 
the work. I do not mean that this should be in 
their employer’s time, but in their own dinner hours 
or after their day’s duty is done This insight may 
probably, in fact will be sure to, prove of immense 
service to him in after life. 
I have lightly touched upon the subject of water¬ 
ing, but just a few words more, as I consider it of 
vital importance in gardening. No plant should 
have water given it unless it is really necessary ; and 
when this is given see that the plant operated on is 
well soaked. Especially is this the case where much 
peat may be the staple compost. Take Ericas, for 
instance. These are most impatient of being sodden, 
but when water is required they should be gone over 
and watered twice at least, so as to get the hard ball 
of soil thoroughly moistened. 
Again, when manure water has to be giveD, or a 
fertiliser put on plants that may have their pots 
filled with roots and require assistance, see that it is 
not used too strong ; far better to give it weak, and 
renew the dose in a day or two than have have it too 
strong and jour plant, perhaps, collapse, as indeed I 
have seen Strawberry plants in pots do when swell¬ 
ing off their fruiq solely on account of the stimulant 
being too strong. It is a much better plan to err on 
the side of safety. 
Airing or ventilating is another point in gardening 
that requires careful judgment. It should be put on 
at intervals, and increased as the sun gains power, 
not left until a bouse registers, say, ninety degrees, 
when with a moderate amount cl air it should not 
have registered more than seventy-five or eighty. To 
rush in and open top and bottom ventilators at once 
and so create a draught is most injurious to tender 
growth, be it plants or fruit. The reducing of the 
ventilation calls for special mention. Often we get 
an hour or so of bright sunshine, and then the 
horizon becomes overcast. Especially is this the 
case in the early spring months, a most trying time 
for gardeners, as most of you well know. When this 
change takes place the amount of air or ventilation 
should be immediately reduced, or taken off al¬ 
together as the case may require, so that the house 
is not allowed to fall below its usual temperature had 
there been no sunshine. In fact, the man in charge 
must ever be on the alert as it were, when the sun 
keeps popping in and out, as only half an-hour’s neg¬ 
lect in this respect may wreck a whole house of 
valuable plants or fruit. 
Shading, too, requires judgment, and to be put on 
at the proper time, if it is a movable one, which it 
should be wherever practicable,so that the grower may 
reap the benefit of all the light possible when the 
day proves cloudy. An hour’s sun, about mid-day, 
say in April or May, would cripple, if not entirely 
destroy such plants as Calceolarias, Cinerarias, cer¬ 
tain stove plants, Orchids, and a host of others that 
require a certain amount of shade for their well¬ 
being. There are no more trying months than 
March and April for us gardeners, so great care 
is necessary in this department. 
Young gardeners, too, should assist in the embel¬ 
lishment of the mansion with plants and cut flowers, 
and the decoration of the dinner table. This last- 
named experience is a very necessary adjunct to the 
qualifications just given, as most employers consider 
this an acquisition nowadays, and it is better for us 
all to be moving with the times, or up-to-date if I 
may so term it, with this feature of gardening. In 
some large establishments, a man is kept entirely for 
this work, and is termed a “decorator”; but I 
believe these are few and far between. 
I had intended to have lightly touched upon 
botany, but I find a paper is being prepared for your 
next meeting on that subject, so will leave it to a 
better authority. These young gardeners or assis¬ 
tants should be of good address, quick, obliging, and 
not be above being told or corrected by their chiefs, 
while ever attentive to their many duties. In fact, 
they should keep this old injunction ever before 
them: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might.” 
These details (and there are many more, no doubt, 
in my opinion) all assist in laying the foundation, as 
it were, of a young man wishing to attain to the all- 
important and responsible position of a gardener, be 
it head over others or where only one man may be 
employed. Who is there amongst us that has the 
love of gardening at heart and has not this ambition ? 
Let me quote one of our great writers—Bacon:— 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures and 
the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man.” 
(To be continued.) 
MESSRS. HURST & SON AT THE 
HOLBORN RESTAURANT. 
On Saturday evening last (i8th inst.) a dinner was 
given at the Holborn Restaurant, London, by N. N. 
Sherwood, Esq., to the staff of Messrs. Hurst and 
Son, 152, Houndsditch, London. This was the 
third of the series, the first being given on the 21st 
December, 1895, to celebrate the majority of Mr. 
William Sherwood, the eldest son of the host. Last 
year the function was to celebrate the introduction 
of his two sons, Mr. William and Mr. Edward 
Sherwood, to the firm of Messrs. Hurst & Son. 
Last Saturday there were 119 present at the dinner, 
99 of whom were members of the staff, and 20 
visitors. The chair was taken by Mr. Sherwood 
himself, the vice-chair by Mr. H. AitOD, and at four 
other tables Mr. T. N. Cox, Mr. J Hodgson, Mr. T. 
Bray, and Mr. Locke acted as croupiers. 
The following list includes the members of the 
staff present who have been thirteen years and 
upwards in the service of the firm, the numbers 
after the names indicating the years they have been 
with Messrs. Hurst & Son —Messrs. J. Hodgson 33, 
T. N. Cox 29, S. Dixon 29, W. W. Polden 28, T. 
Swift 28, C. Papworth 26, E. Smith 25, R. C. 
Tucker 24, John Kay 23, N. Lukins 23, Sheldrick 23, 
Mills 23, Hugh Aiton 22, Riden 22, T. Bray 22, 
Newby 2r, A. B. Crichton 21, W. Cox 21, T. Thake 
21, S. N. Sampson 19, A. W. Elphick 17. F. Clarke 
17, D. Shearer 16, D. Fairley 16, T. N. Cox, Sen. 16, 
W. Parker 16, G. T. Bargery 16, J. Meldrum 15, F. 
Wheeler, Jun. 15, H. Bray 14, V. Cummings 13, A. 
Laker 13, and T. A. Baldwin 13. 
The following visitors were present:—Messrs. R. 
Gofton Salmond, Geo. J. Ingram (of the Gardeners’ 
Royal Benevolent Institution), D. Pell Smith, W. 
G. Innes, B. Wynne, James Herbeit Veitch, F.L.S. 
(of Messrs. Veitch & Sons), Fred. Wood, W. Louden, 
G. Fagg, John Curran, City Press, J. Wright, V.M.H., 
of the Journal of Horticulture, J. Fraser, F.L.S., of 
the Gardening World, Thos. Mackenzie, M.H.R. 
of New Zealand, E. Prentis, Geo. Townsend, T. L. 
Smith, Chas. Carler Page, N. Van Lessen, and A. 
Dandridge. 
A lengthy and excellent toast list and programme 
was got up, the artistes for the most part being mem¬ 
bers of the staff of Messrs. Hurst & Sod, as on 
former occasions. After the tables were cleared the 
