January 24, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
63 
The World of Gardening. 
By F. W. Burbidge, M.A., F.L.S., Y.M.H. 
The gardener, like all other successful people, owes much of 
his good fortune to foresight, or the power of seeing the trend 
of things. Not only must he look ahead, but he must develop 
his perceptions and the prophetic instinct, and so be able to 
recognise the import of those shadows which coining events cast 
before them. All the so-called lucky people do this. Good 
luck is veiy often, even if not always, the result of forethought 
and intelligence, coupled with persistent industry. Young 
gardeners more especially should note this, and begin as soon 
as possible to work towards some definite aim. The policy of 
drift will not pay a gardener any more than it will a trades¬ 
man, a banker, or a stockbroker, all of whom are ever looking 
ahead and acting accordingly, and those who do this with the 
best ability generally win. 
Now, what is the trend of modern gardening? Fine gardens 
have increased in numbers everywhere in the British Islands. 
They are no longer confined to the nobility, but belong now¬ 
adays to the magnates of business or of trade. There never 
were more gardens than at the present time, nor more nor 
better gardeners to manage them, but it is doubtful whether 
the gardeners are as varied in their abilities as the gardens 
are in their variety. What I mean is this: A far too large 
proportion of our gardeners pride themselves on having been 
trained “ under glass,” whereas one of the marked new features 
of our times is the enormous increase in open-air gardening. 
A knowledge of glasshouse gardening is not a sufficient equip¬ 
ment for the gardener to-day, when so much importance is 
attached to gardening in the open air. There has been of 
late yeai’s a mania amongst journeymen gardeners to work 
only “ under glass,” and these men are lost, in a sense, when 
open-air gardens come under their care. A good all-round 
man is wanted in seven cases out of ten, and to a knowledge 
of indoor decorative plants, Orchids, fruit and vegetables, he 
must add evergreen and flowering trees and shrubs, hardy 
and alpine flowers, herbaceous plants and aquatics, and the 
best and most artistic methods of growing them for open-air 
effects. 
Another modem tendency is that employers are themselves 
making a recreative hobby of their gardens, and not only know 
the names of their favourite plants, from Orchids to Asters, or 
the Cedar of Lebanon to the Erinus on the wall, but they also 
read a good deal of the literature concerning them, and now 
and then they really know more about their favourite trees or 
flowers than do their gardeners who grow them! Employers 
of this type are often clear-headed men of business or educated 
people, and no one but a well-educated gardener of good social 
ability will please them for any length of time. The old days, 
when the gardener was an autocrat, seemed to vanish along 
with the small-paned glass roofs and the old brick flues. 
There are nowadays but few places suitable for Andrew Fair- 
service or for the Duke's gardener at Brentham in “Lotliair,” 
who had been so long on the place, to which the family only 
came for three months or so every year, that he considered 
that the gardens belonged to himself, and that the Duke and 
Duchess were only superior visitors. 
Gardeners, then, apart from a broad knowledge of outdoor 
as well as indoor gardening, must also possess amiable social 
ability, not only doing all they have to do well, but also 
pleasantly and agreeably to all concerned. Formerly there 
were gardeners of a very high type, so far as their work went, 
but they were like hedgehogs, bristling all over if their em¬ 
ployers wanted the slightest change made. Such men may be 
tolerated, but they will never be liked, and their real hold on 
a situation will always be insecure. On all sides education 
and social reform are in the air, and no class of men will benefit 
more by observing these and other signs of the times than will 
gaideners. There is no reason why a gardener should not also 
’ e a gentleman at heart, as, indeed, manv of them really are. 
He should also possess some of the clear-headed ability of a 
lawyer to boot, and be able to state a case logically and tersely 
as well. Half the disputes—I might almost say the lion’s 
share, which has been estimated at a half and two quarters— 
between gardeners and their employers are due to misappre¬ 
hensions or misunderstandings that a smattering of logic would 
clear away. There is one simple rule that all gardeners may 
follow with advantage to themselves, and that is, whenever 
they feel aggrieved they should turn the case round and 
imagine that they are the piaster and the master is the gar¬ 
dener ! Then let them honestly ask themselves what they, as 
masters, would do in such a case? 
Of all crafts, callings, or professions—call it what you will— 
none perhaps is SO' much a matter of mutual arrangement as 
that which exists between a. gardener and his employer. There 
is no rule ; eveiy employer is, to a great extent, a law unto 
himself, notwithstanding which, however, the gardener who 
has the privilege of dealing direct with his employer ought to 
value it, and bless his lucky stars that did not land him into 
the hands of the steward or other agent of one kind or another 
that in some places manage the gardener, and try to teach him 
the way in which he has to go, or otherwise, as the case may be. 
But even to this rule there are exceptions, as when the agent 
is himself a gentleman and a good gardener. One of the best 
and happiest head gardeners whom I know has an agent of 
this kind to' deal with, but then they both know by experience 
all the difficulties and drawbacks, climatically, financially, etc., 
of gardening, as well as its successes. 
All things considered, I am not so sure that the isolated and 
unorganised condition of gardeners is not in many ways an 
advantage to them. As a gardener myself, I should shudder 
to think of gardeners belonging to an organisation, or craft 
union, the paid and, to some extent, irresponsible secretary of 
which should decree a general strike on any named date. To 
gardeners themselves I leave the picturing in their mind's eye 
of the result ! No ; a strike is bad enough when men engaged 
in working up dead materials and machinery take part in it. 
Even then a strike is like a battle or a law-suit; to win it is 
nearly as bad as to lose. But one cannot imagine men who 
are growing or managing beautiful, living things—be it animals 
or plants—leaving them in a body to their fate, or, at best, to 
the hands of people who do not understand them. And yet I 
believe in all good gardeners being organised for their mutual 
good, which will also prove to be for the good of their em¬ 
ployers. We may co-operate, but how best to do so< must 
be left for a future paper. Without co-operation, organisation, 
and co-relation the world’s business would come to a standstill, 
and the energy and work of centuries would end in chaos and 
be lost. 
According to the fourth annual report on the destruction of 
Charlock in corn crops in 1902, we are pleased to notice that most 
of the preliminary work necessary in developing the details of this 
process into practical form is now accomplished. By wide and 
extensive operations the strength and quantity of the solution 
most effective to destroy the weed has been fairly established. 
During the past year thousands of acres had been profitably 
sprayed. Farmers now begin to take greater interest in the work 
of spraying, owing to the results that have been obtained in de¬ 
stroying the weed and in getting larger crops. It has now been 
thoroughly proved that Charlock can be destroyed at any period of 
its growth by copper sulphate, but most easily so when the plant 
is young, at which time a smaller quantity is necessary. From an 
economic point of view this is important. Fifty gallons of 3 per 
cent, solution will destroy 95 per cent, of the weed, the remaining 
5 per cent, being chiefly sheltered by the corn. When the weed is 
older more copper is required, but this is a disadvantage to the 
corn crop. Successful spraying should result in an average in¬ 
crease in the worth of corn from four to six bushels per acre. 
Where Charlock is destroyed the corn crops are improved, and 
any grass seeds and clover in the corn remain uninjured. Large 
sprayers with powerful pumps are more successful than the 
smaller machines. The increased worth of corn leaves a profit 
after the expense of spraying has been defrayed ; and the annual 
value of all Charlock infested land will increase until the exter¬ 
mination of the weed is complete. The above notes are extracted 
from the report of Mr. G. F. Strawson, so well known in connec¬ 
tion with spraying machines. 
