THE 
GARDEN ALBUM 
AND REVIEW. 
APRIL, 1906. 
L.C.C. GARDENERS AND 
CERTIFICATES. 
Not a little commotion has been caused 
amongst gardeners employed by the London 
County Council, by the regulations that are 
now in force as to promotion. 
The following “ Memorandum ” from the 
Chief Officer to the Gardening and Labour 
Staff has been issued from the Parks Depart¬ 
ment, n, Regent Street, W., nth August, 1905. 
“ The Council has ordered as follows :— 
“(a) That the wages of Gardeners in the 
Parks Department be 28/- a week, rising by 
annual increments of 1/- a week to 30/- a week, 
subject to a certificate in each case as to efficiency 
and good conduct. 
“ ( b ) That in order to become entitled to the 
further increments of wages, gardeners be 
required to pass, in the 1st or 2nd class, the 
examination in Practical Horticulture, held by 
the Royal Horticultural Society. 
“ ( c ) That as far as possible vacancies as 
gardeners be filled by promotion from the ranks of 
labourers , of such men as shall pass the 
Examination in Practical Horticulture, held by 
the Royal Horticultural Society. 
“ The desire of the Council is that the 
gardeners who pass the examination in the first 
or second, shall, subject to good conduct and 
suitability in other respects, form a class from 
which promotions to vacancies in the higher 
ranks of the service may be made. 
“It is further intended that vacancies for 
gardeners which will from time to time arise 
shall be filled , as far as possible, by promotion, 
from the ranks of labourers of such men as have 
passed the examination, and a third-class certi¬ 
ficate will qualify for this. But men so 
promoted would not be entitled to the two 
further increments until they had obtained a 
first or second-class certificate. 
“A copy of the preliminary notice of the 
examination to be held by the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on Thursday, January nth, 
1906, is attached to this Memorandum. 
“ All necessary facilities will be afforded to 
those members of the staff who desire to enter 
for this examination. They must give notice 
to the Chief Officer of their intention to do so, 
and they will have to pay the Society’s fee of 5/-. 
“It is pointed out that the expensive book 
(‘Thompson’s Gardener’s Assistant’), which is 
referred to, may be consulted at the Library of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, which is open 
to all daily from n to 5, and possibly can be 
seen also at various local free libraries. 
“ Any further information desired can be 
obtained on application to me, 
“ Jno. J. Sexby, Chief Officer.” 
We have italicised certain words from which 
it may be clearly inferred that the Parks Com¬ 
mittee of the London County Council have 
very hazy ideas as to the difference between a 
gardener and a labourer. Indeed they seem to be 
utterly confused between the two classes, and 
it is astonishing that a public body like the 
L.C.C. does not appoint a trained gardener of 
undoubted ability to advise them on all Horti¬ 
cultural matters concerning their parks and 
gardens. 
The curious point about these regulations is 
that gardeners who receive 28s. per week are to 
be recruited from the ranks of labourers. This is 
something like recruiting the ranks of the militia 
from the cadets at Sandhurst. The absurdity 
is probably due to the general ignorance pre¬ 
vailing as to what constitutes the training of a 
gardener. Like all public bodies, the Parks 
Committee of the L.C.C. probably think that 
“anyone can be a gardener,” and to give a touch 
of irony to the subject they have decreed that 
the “ vacancies for gardeners shall be filled as 
far as possible by promotion from the ranks of 
labourers of such men as have passed the 
Examination, and a third class certificate will 
qualify for this.” 
The way in which gardeners are taken into 
the employ of the London County Council is 
not altogether very satisfactory. It appears 
there ^re two kinds of gardeners—“ tem¬ 
porary ” and “ permanent.” Each applicant 
agrees, or must agree, at the outset to serve 
three months’ probation. After that he may 
be recommended to the Chief Officer by the 
Superintendent to fill a vacancy on the per¬ 
manent staff. It is said that in some cases 
where a man happens to know a member of the 
Parks Committee or other Councillor he may 
secure a permanency in three or four months. 
Other men, however, have been known to serve 
as a “ temporary ” hand for five or six years. 
One of the most galling grievances apparently 
to gardeners under the L.C.C. is that they 
have to work under officials, some of whom 
have no knowledge whatever of gardening 
matters. It thus happens that a man may be 
working on a sub-tropical bed one day, and 
acting as a general scavenger the next. 
The entire system appears to be faulty, and 
perhaps one can hardly blame those who have 
to carry it out. There is, however, now no 
reason why the parks and gardens of the 
